Cemetery Work Session 2021

On September 7, board members met at the Cemetery to add new dirt, level, rake, fertilize and seed the new gravesites. Twice during the year, the board members meet at the Cemetery to prepare the newest gravesites for seeding. With conducive weather conditions, the new grass seed will be green and growing by the spring of 2022. The goal of the board is always to have as many new gravesites as possible established with grass for Memorial Day. Thanks to board members Steve Yocum, Scott and Larry Dobson for performing these tasks.

On October 2, board members met at the Cemetery and this time the goal was to work on some of the older monuments. Some of the board members worked on removing mold and algae from the monuments and sprayed appropriate solutions on them to brighten and clean the monuments. Other board members worked on raising, leveling, and repairing many of the older sunken and slanting monuments. Some monuments required new foundations while other monuments needed the foundations to be made level again. Some of the older, tablet-style monuments had to be anchored to their foundations to keep them from leaning or falling. The Wills Cemetery board members take pride in supporting the Cemetery and their pride shows when visitors come to the Cemetery.

Pictured are Jim and Judy Clark spraying on a solution to help discourage mold and algae from growing on the monuments. After spraying some careful scrubbing also helped to brighten the monuments.

Pictured are Kenny Carter and Brandon Barber securing an old tablet-style monument to its base. This old monument was loose in the foundation and was leaning. After the procedure, the monument was secure standing straight.

Pictured are Kenny Carter and Brandon Barber preparing a new foundation for this flat, granite monument that had nearly sunken out of sight. With a new foundation, the monument is placed several inches above the grass, level, and can easily be seen and read. With the machine’s help, picking up the monument and returning it to a new foundation made the job much easier.

During that same October work session, the board of directors received two checks for $500. The check pictured is from Caring Hearts of Peculiar and other check was from The First Church of Peculiar. Both donations were given to the Cemetery to be used to purchase wreaths for buried Veterans from Wreaths Across America. Wreaths Across America has as its mission REMEMBER, HONOR, and TEACH. Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve and their families. Teach the future generations about the value of freedom.

Pictured is Larry Dobson, President of Caring Hearts of Peculiar AND President of Wills Cemetery, board members Brandon Barber; Gary Krabiel, Jack Reid, Judy and Jim Clark.