On what was one of the chilliest mornings in recent history, I made my way down to the meeting at the Woodstock town hall, which was advertised in the Woodstock Times a few weeks ago. The way I read the ad, I thought I was going to a brain storming session regarding the Woodstock Cemetery. I thought the meeting would be led by a group of concerned Woodstockers who wanted to have input about forming a new board of trustees for the Woodstock Cemetery.
Of course, I’m used to “Woodstock Time” and arrived about ten minutes late. There were about three dozen interested people seated in the chairs provided, with Supervisor Bill McKenna hosting the meeting.
My friend, Terry Breitenstein, who has shepherded the care of the administrative part of the cemetery for almost two decades, was speaking about the dilemma the cemetery board of Trustees had faced when I arrived.
After about 45 minutes of questions and what seemed to me like confusion, Supervisor McKenna asked for a show of hands of who wanted to volunteer on the new cemetery board of trustees. I use the word confusion, because, as the multiple questions and comments were tossed about, there were times when the term “the board” was used, and if you weren’t really paying attention, a new comer would have trouble discerning between responsibilities of the cemetery board and the Woodstock town board.
Never the less, when the request for a show of hands was made, there were no volunteers for a new board of trustees. I think that everyone understood a comment by one attendee who said “it doesn’t really matter, old board of trustees or new board of trustees, there is still the problem of not having enough income to run the cemetery”. So, that’s really it in a nutshell. There hasn’t been, for a number of years, enough income from the sale of graves to support the maintenance and up keep of the Woodstock Cemetery. Now, the Woodstock Town board will administer the financial needs of the Woodstock Cemetery. If you want to know how this is going to take place, it sounds like supervisor McKenna is the point person at the moment. He will be consulting with the state association of cemeteries as to what to do next.
Truthfully, this is uncharted territory for a parties involved. Usually a town takes over a cemetery when there is no longer any land left for burials. Our cemetery is still an active cemetery, with plots available for sale. Also, along with the sites for burials, there is a house on the property that has been used for the past two decades as a home by Shay and his family. ( we are fond of the history of this little house, as it is reported to have been built by Walter Mower. Living on the property has been part of his compensation package. It remains undetermined what will come of this relationship, as Shay is no longer employed by the now defunct board of trustees. ( we are fond of the history of this little house, as it is reported to have been built by Walter Mower)
Lastly, there was a lot of enthusiasm from volunteers/ plot owners who wanted to help with whatever the cemetery property needs. (fundraising, historical, deeds, maps, clean-ups etc. If anyone interested, please contact the supervisor with your interest and in what manner. Bill McKenna - supervisor@woodstockny.org
At some point, I will try to put together volunteers who are interested in helping maintain some of the older graves in the old section of the cemetery. I will keep you posted.
My friend, Terry Breitenstein, who has shepherded the care of the administrative part of the cemetery for almost two decades, was speaking about the dilemma the cemetery board of Trustees had faced when I arrived.
After about 45 minutes of questions and what seemed to me like confusion, Supervisor McKenna asked for a show of hands of who wanted to volunteer on the new cemetery board of trustees. I use the word confusion, because, as the multiple questions and comments were tossed about, there were times when the term “the board” was used, and if you weren’t really paying attention, a new comer would have trouble discerning between responsibilities of the cemetery board and the Woodstock town board.
Never the less, when the request for a show of hands was made, there were no volunteers for a new board of trustees. I think that everyone understood a comment by one attendee who said “it doesn’t really matter, old board of trustees or new board of trustees, there is still the problem of not having enough income to run the cemetery”. So, that’s really it in a nutshell. There hasn’t been, for a number of years, enough income from the sale of graves to support the maintenance and up keep of the Woodstock Cemetery. Now, the Woodstock Town board will administer the financial needs of the Woodstock Cemetery. If you want to know how this is going to take place, it sounds like supervisor McKenna is the point person at the moment. He will be consulting with the state association of cemeteries as to what to do next.
Truthfully, this is uncharted territory for a parties involved. Usually a town takes over a cemetery when there is no longer any land left for burials. Our cemetery is still an active cemetery, with plots available for sale. Also, along with the sites for burials, there is a house on the property that has been used for the past two decades as a home by Shay and his family. ( we are fond of the history of this little house, as it is reported to have been built by Walter Mower. Living on the property has been part of his compensation package. It remains undetermined what will come of this relationship, as Shay is no longer employed by the now defunct board of trustees. ( we are fond of the history of this little house, as it is reported to have been built by Walter Mower)
Lastly, there was a lot of enthusiasm from volunteers/ plot owners who wanted to help with whatever the cemetery property needs. (fundraising, historical, deeds, maps, clean-ups etc. If anyone interested, please contact the supervisor with your interest and in what manner. Bill McKenna - supervisor@woodstockny.org
At some point, I will try to put together volunteers who are interested in helping maintain some of the older graves in the old section of the cemetery. I will keep you posted.
