Chichester NH
Cemetery Trustees’ meeting
October 7,2024
The Cemetery Trustees met on October 7, 2024 @ 1:00 p.m. at the Historical Society building. Ruth Hammen, Fred Shaw & Brenda Boswak were in attendance.
OLD BUSINESS
Joseph Beachy, Extol Tree Care LLC, has cut down and removed the large dead Ash tree in the Burying Yard. This project has been on the ‘to do’ list for several years and has finally been accomplished!! Joseph was very accommodating and patient with the many, many plan changes we came up with to get this tree removed. Not a single gravestone was disturbed, the sacred ground was minimally invaded, no one was injured, and this dangerous tree is no longer a liability concern for the Selectmen. We are very pleased with the professional, respectful, safe way Joseph conducted the removal process of the tree.
Garry Kalajian, Ararat Forge, met with us at Morrill Cemetery to see the new iron gate he has created for us. It is absolutely beautiful, and we are once again, very pleased with Garry’s craftsmanship and professional manner. Garry joined us at the Historical Society building to discuss the options for repairing the broken gate hinge at Batchelder Cemetery. The current gate is much smaller than the opening in the wall. He will provide us with the size of granite posts needed to hang this gate properly and securely. We will work on acquiring the needed granite posts over the winter. While we were visiting Morrill Cemetery, we discovered another very large, dead limb had fallen into the cemetery, damaging one gravestone and lodging deeply into the ground. This limb is from a dead tree located on an abutting neighbor’s property. A large limb fell in the cemetery last fall from the same tree and the property owner cleaned up part of it, after Brenda visited their house to inform them of the limb and ask them to clean it up. Lane Hodgkins, Hodgkins Painting & Maintenance, cleaned up the remaining debris last Spring. Brenda will draft a letter to send to the property owner requesting removal of the tree debris and will file a copy of the letter with the Selectmen’s office.
NEW BUSINESS
It’s time to ramp up the promotion and advertising for Wreaths Across America event, once again. December 14, 2024, is the date scheduled for this event. Brenda has requested the Town Administrator to reserve the use of the Grange Hall parking lot for this event. People have already volunteered for the event and sponsored wreaths. Brenda will check with Lee Beachy about the new easels he is creating for the ceremony wreaths.
Fred and Brenda and Ruthie have all been busy marking cornerstone placement locations and Ruthie continues assisting with interments.
Ruthie is planning on attending a seminar tomorrow presented by the New Hampshire Cemetery Association.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Boswak, Cemetery Trustee, Secretary