By Kimberly Gasuras
CCN Reporter

BUCYRUS — After family members of people buried at Oakwood Cemetery became upset when items were removed from hundreds of headstones recently, cemetery officials are exploring new ways of communicating with the community.

“We ruled with emotion and compassion for a few years and allowed items to stay on the stones that were not attached, but it got out of control. We had no choice but to begin implementing the rules that were already in place,” cemetery office manager Sheraton Richardson said.

The board meets twice per year and more often if needed, while the trustees meet more often. According to Richardson, the board last met on June 7.

The minutes from that meeting, submitted by Richardson, read:

It was brought to the attention of the trustees that the cemetery appearance was getting out of control, according to our rules and regulations. After much discussion about enforcing by compassion instead of the written rules and regulations, the board moved to follow the rules and regulations by what is written in black and white. Val Spreng moved to follow the rules and regulations as they are written. The motion was seconded by Linda Steiner. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned.

The rules at the center of discussion include, “statues are not permitted unless attached to the base of the monument with double stick tape. Remembrance lights or candles will not be permitted unless they are attached to the monument.”

Richardson also said flowers and mulch may be placed in front of a gravestone within 12 inches of the base of the stone.

“Nothing can be placed behind a stone because that is actually someone else’s gravesite,” Richardson said.

Mike Saam, superintendent of the cemetery, said items not attached to the gravestone have caused many issues, including one in which a man was injured.

“We do not dig graves by hand anymore and use a backhoe instead. This means that gravestones must be moved to get the backhoe in place when digging a new grave,” Saam said. “Items have fallen off and broken and in one instance, the lawnmower ran over an item, causing pieces to fly in the air and cutting the man’s face that was mowing.”

Saam said even though state law only requires cemeteries to be mowed once per month throughout the summer, the staff at Oakwood works very hard to keep the cemetery nice and safe for everyone.

David Naysmith, an eight-year employee of Longstreth Monuments, said he personally has been involved with more than 1,000 burials in more than 100 cemeteries throughout the area.

“Oakwood Cemetery is one of the best-kept cemeteries in North Central Ohio,” Naysmith said.

Spreng said the cemetery is a non-profit business and cannot afford to be sued.

“What if those pieces had hit a visitor to our cemetery?” Spreng said. “That would have been tragic.”

Spreng said the rules must be followed.

“Our staff is now removing items on a daily basis that are not attached to the stone per the rules that have been in place for several years,” Spreng said.

Board member Tom Kinn said when a grave is purchased, the person is not purchasing the land but is actually purchasing the right to be buried on the land of Oakwood Cemetery.

“Oakwood pays the property taxes and insurance on the land. If anyone gets hurt on our property, because of something a loved one has placed on the grave, the cemetery is liable for that,” Kinn said.

The cemetery’s board of trustees currently has approximately 21 members. Richardson said to become a board member, a person must own at least one plot at the cemetery and may submit a letter of request to become a member that is then considered and voted on by the current board.

Steiner said if people have ideas for the future, they may submit a letter to the board.

“We consider all requests and when we feel it is warranted, we make changes to the rules,” Steiner said.

Steiner said a person sent a letter asking why solar lights were not allowed to be placed on gravesites.

“The board discussed it and decided we would allow two solar lights to be placed on each grave. We are open for suggestions and questions,” Steiner said.

While board members said that signs were placed throughout the cemetery by the end of June to alert people to remove items that were not attached to the stone before the clean-up occurred during the week of Aug. 6, many residents said they did not see the signs or live outside of the area and did not have access to the signs. Richardson said to remedy the situation, she has created a Facebook page to update residents on when board meetings will occur, rule changes or updates and when clean-ups will be happening.

“We are now, though, doing a clean-up of items not attached to the stones on a daily basis,” Richardson said.

Richardson said people should also check their items periodically to ensure the adhesive is still working and the items still are attached to the stone.

According to the cemetery’s new Facebook page at Oakwood Cemetery Association there still are many items that have not been collected that were removed during the massive clean-up. Those items need to be picked up by Aug. 31 or they will be discarded.

A list of all the cemetery’s rules may be found on their Facebook page.