In a message dated 9/7/2005 10:38:11 A.M. US Eastern Standard Time, atielking@insightbb.com writes: Dear Mr. Hains, I am quite envious of your cemetery commission's budget. Why, in Hancock Co. we are quite lucky to receive anything and have had our highest budget ever this year of $2,300. Henry Co. receives nothing from the county and relies on donations Then most likely a cemetery like Cottrell would never have been saved in you county unless the ancestors had a lot of money to put into it. You do realize that there is more steel reinforced concrete in that retaining wall below the ground than that you see above ground? That there are over 20 tri-axle dump truck loads of fill dirt that had to be hauled over the cemetery to make the slope and another three of rip-rap stone which had to be hand placed on top of a weed barrier that first laid over the fill dirt? another load of #8 gravel. Then about 350 feet of the industrial grade chain link fence because the farm fence just would not fit well in following the contours of the cemetery. And before that there was the volunteer work to remove the scrap metal and trash and probe the cemetery and drag and dump all the junk that was on the grounds. Followed by considerable brush and tree removal. Then the Cottrell family, at considerable cost had a GPR study done that indicated nearly 90 graves in the cemetery. A cemetery we had only about 37 names for. The GPR guy marked the places where graves were most likely present with colored chalk. Then I came on short notice that evening and drove short pieced of rebar to mark the most likely location of the head stone for each grave. Later, Greg, the Twp. Trustee came by and put flags on those locations and drove the stakes into the ground, thus marking the locations for a metal detector to find for years to come. This cemetery required a lot of work and expense to save. I am sure there are others here that do a lot of work on their own time and spend some of their money getting the job done. But then again, it gets my dander up when folks question our commitment and that is exactly what was done in the forum by more than one poster and thus I felt it necessary the challenge those statements. Even today I see a message saying they hope none of their ancestors are buried in Madison county. A statement that indicates that person would rather have had us leave that junk yard alone and let it erode away slide down the hill with her ancestors bones and all. Quite a statement. You have your opinion about concrete and we have ours. I will say I will not be so judgmental about your methods. I figure reasonable folks look at the cemeteries around them, determine what the problems are and what the primary mechanisms of damage to grave markers are given the local situation and conditions, and then make decisions as to what is the best method to preserve the markers given what they have seen and learned. Learned not just from seminars and books but from what they actually see in their cemeteries. Rob Hains.