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Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
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By Daniel Iverson BLACKFOOT – Items believed to be stolen from headstones at Grove City Cemetery may actually be missing due to its annual post-Memorial Day cleanup.  Contributed Photo
This photo shows some of the items that have been removed from the local cemetery.
Apparent misunderstanding between cemetery administrators and the public caused residents with family and friends interred there to assume the items were stolen, prompting a series of letters to the editor and even police reports.
While thieves may be responsible for a few of the items, the majority are safely within cemetery grounds, removed by the sexton during the regular cleanup process.
Mayor Mike Virtue said the public was notified of the cleanup through signs and had the opportunity to retrieve unapproved decorations.
“Large signs at both entrances to the cemetery the week of Memorial Day said these things will be taken off,” he said.
But despite the signs, several owners were still surprised to see their items missing. One Blackfoot woman said shepherd’s hooks at the headstones of her father and her son disappeared more than a year ago, and she didn’t see any signs.
Carma Jensen said she discovered the hooks missing while bringing a flag to place at her son’s headstone for St. Patrick’s Day last year. She called the police to report a theft, and police even questioned a suspect about it.
After receiving a tip from a friend, Jensen visited the cemetery June 11 and found the hooks were there behind the shop the whole time.
“There they were, my son’s and dad’s shepherd’s hooks that were gone for a year,” she said. “That was way before the new sign was put out.”
Jensen’s son passed away December 1993, and she said she obtained permission from the sexton at the time before placing the decorations there.
“Our shepherd’s hooks had been there for 14 years and had no problems,” she said. “There was no notification, no letter. I didn’t see anything in the newspaper that things were being changed.”
Virtue said confusion about the annual cleanup is nothing new.
“Every year after Memorial Day, the same issues come up,” he said.
According to Virtue, the sexton needs to remove obstructions to do his job.
“If we get a lot of stuff out there, then it makes his job difficult,” he said. “He can go laterally, but he can’t go in between the headstones. He has to do those by hand.”
The size of the decorations might be only one of the reasons for removal.
“The majority of it we take is weathered and worn and is starting to look kind of bad,” current sexton Phillip Meline said. “Everything is already discarded unless it’s something big such as a shepherd’s hook or a statue or anything still in good condition.”
According to Virtue, Meline and the city are rewriting the ordinance to specify which types of decorations are permitted and which are restricted. After the ordinance is drafted, a public hearing will be scheduled to receive feedback.
“I have people who died in my family,” he said. “I understand the reason to honor the dead, but it has to be a balance. We want to be reasonable, but you can’t build shrines.”
Items yet to be discarded are behind the shop and may be retrieved.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 June 2009 )
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