I have lurked in the background watching this thread and have decided to put in my two cents worth. I am Roger Brick and I live in Chillicothe (20 miles south of Trenton) I am also the first cousin of the list owner. (so be nice.) I am a member of Livingston County Abandoned Cemetery Association and have adopted a Native Grass Cemetery (Macedonia, about 1.2 acres and established about 1849) in Livingston County and have maintained it for about 6 years. (FYI Livingston County has 114 cemeteries and 43 are classified as abandoned) What makes everyone think that a cemetery should be neatly mowed with neat rows of stones? These old cemeteries were native prairie grass when they were started and most likely were only cut once a year (with a hand scythe) or burned off by the families of the people buried there. Pathways were cut to the gravesites when burials that occurred when the grass was high. One reason that these cemeteries contain native prairie grasses is that they have never been exposed to modern farming techniques. The cemetery that I take care of is on highway 65 and has very easy access. So easy, that it has been vandalized 6 times since 1964. I am happy to say that it has not been vandalized since I have started to take care of it. I round up a crew and burn it off every other spring after I carefully mow or weedeat around each stone to maintain a 2 or 3 foot barrier from the fire. I then keep it mowed neatly until about the middle of June so that relatives will have easy access to their ancestors graves around Memorial Day. I then let it grow up until the next spring. The tall grass grows 4 to 5 feet high and (in my opinion looks nice, is animal friendly and keeps vandals out) The Old City Cemetery in Trenton is very accessible to vandalism due to its location by the golf course and close to town. If allowing the grass to grow discourages any late night visits by kids then it is worth the trouble. Another positive aspect is there is less damage to stones from constant maintaince. There has been more damage to stones in these old cemeteries from well-intended maintence than from any other cause. If you are interested in the information contained on the stones in a cemetery, support the local genealogical society and encourage the sharing of information that will remain long after you are gone and the stones in the cemetery are turned to dust. That information could be in digital pictures, readings of the cemeteries preserved in electronic media, and in printed form. Roger O. Brick, D.C. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jorge Awapara" <jawapara@ruf.rice.edu> To: <MOGRUNDY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 10:07 AM Subject: [MOGRUNDY-L] Old City Cemetery | Hello Grundy County group, | | I am wondering if there ARE any folks out there in Trenton who even look at | this list. Maybe not.. I am wondering if it would do any good for all of | us interested in this to write or e-mail or call the Mayor's office in | Trenton? or perhaps some county office to ask if something can't be done to | improve the situation in that cemetery. Does anyone know what county | office should be contacted? Does anyone know who the mayor of Trenton is. | I agree with Maxine that it is only an excuse to do nothing to put up a | sign saying it is a prairie grass restoration area. Please ... why in the | cemetery for heavens sake? It is really inexcusable! | | Harriet M. Awapara | |