By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
The Positive Seekers held a meeting Monday evening looking to add some positivity to one of Bucyrus’s historic cemeteries that has fallen into disrepair.
While members of the Positive Seekers spoke about attempts to repair grave markers at the Union Cemetery, they also noted the challenges they face before doing so. During the meeting the Positive Seekers spoke of using the Genealogical Society, Historical Society as well as the city in order to find matches to the unmarked graves in the cemetery.
Joe Graham explained where the group is at in the process for the restoration project.
“What we are working on doing is hammering out the details of the stuff we need to do in the background in order to be able to move forward with restoring the individual gravesites,” Graham said. “We are trying to freeze the cemetery in its current condition so it doesn’t get any worse and then hopefully being able to make improvements over time heading up to the bicentennial anniversary.”
One of the options the Positive Seekers discussed was using an archaeology department to find an undisturbed location on the cemetery grounds to create a memorial to those buried in the cemetery that can’t be matched.
There are a few hurdles that the group has to overcome for the project to get off of the ground other than not having name matches for the unmarked graves. One of the big problems facing the group would be if family members don’t give permission for a gravesite to be restored.
During the meeting the Positive Seekers also discussed the hurdle of not knowing who officially owns the cemetery, and that some of the graves could be on private property.
The Positive Seekers also discussed creating a 501C3 non-profit in order to collect donations and grants in order to fund the restoration project.
The Positive Seekers concluded the meeting by agreeing to meet again on the Union Cemetery issues at a future date.
RELATED CONTENT: Positive Seekers seek positive changes at Union Cemetery