Town of Chichester Cemetery Trustees’ meeting
March 4, 2024
The Cemetery Trustees, Ruth Hammen, Fred Shaw, and Brenda Boswak met at 9:00 a.m. at the Historical Society building.
OLD BUSINESS
Brenda attended the Proposed Town Budget public hearing on February 6, 2024. There were only a couple of questions, the Board of Selectmen, and the Budget Advisory Committee, both voted unanimously to recommend our warrant article for 2024 town meeting. A couple of volunteers offered to remove the wood from the tree that Tim Mayville cut up that fell into Hook Cemetery. Ruthie received a request to purchase a ‘Right to Inter’ in Leavitt Cemetery by Sharon Allaire. She will coordinate a time to meet Sharon in the cemetery to choose a lot, once the gates are opened for the season. Ruthie also received an inquiry about the Metcalf lot in Pineground Cemetery.
NEW BUSINESS
Garry Kalajian, of Ararat Forge, met with us today to present designs he has created for new iron gates at Brown Cemetery, Morrill Cemetery & Knowlton-Edgerly Cemetery. We are very pleased with his proposed designs. We made a couple of minor design changes and requested that he proceed with an estimate for those gates. Fred has created a document for the ‘Receipt of cornerstone payment’. This document will provide us with proof of submission to the Town of Chichester, the money received from the purchaser, for cornerstones that we will order for them. The town holds that money until such time as an invoice is presented to them, by the Cemetery Trustees, for payment of cornerstone creation and installation. We will begin using that document as of today. We briefly discussed implementing monument size, material, design, etc. restrictions to the ‘Rules & Regulations’. Brenda will contact Don Cotnoir, NH Monuments, to verify if previous gravestone restoration cost estimates are still valid and ask him for an estimate to restore the gravestones at Perkins-Maxfield Cemetery. Marion Jones has been cleaning gravestones at that cemetery and they are beautifully white, now, and completely intact, but lying on the ground. It would be wise and cost effective to have those gravestones restored to an upright position as soon as possible. Ruthie will email Jodi Pinard for verification of the account where the donation from Martha Dodge-Wilkerson is located. We used only a portion of that donation during the 2023 season. We have begun the removal of Remembrance Wreaths from the veterans’ gravesites. All Remembrance Wreaths will be removed by March 16. Busby Brambles farm on Smith Sanborn Road has once again accepted the wreaths for feed for their barnyard animals.
The meeting was adjourned @ 11:40 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Boswak Cemetery Trustee, Secretary