Westerlo Rural Cemetery needs your help

Enterprise file photo — Marcello Iaia

Like many historic cemeteries, the Westerlo Rural Cemetery is in need of funds.

To the Editor:

The Westerlo cemetery is one of the oldest in New York State with burials back to 1800.  Do you know we have veterans as far as back as the Revolutionary War, through the Civil War right up to the most recent conflicts?

When you pass by around Memorial Day or Veterans Day, you see how many of our veterans who fought for our freedom are from right here in Westerlo. Not only that, but many local families, friends, and neighbors are buried here. 

We need your help.

The cemetery has had a complete change of officers and directors this year. All these members are volunteers.  In order to honor those who are buried here, and will be in the future, we now need your help to maintain the cemetery.

The state mandates what we can or cannot do in cemeteries, while offering no assistance in the cost of operating.  The only source of guaranteed income is the interest generated by permanent investments that the state regulates on how much from each funeral must be deposited as such.  All but $50 goes to that fund.

We average eight burials a year. Years ago, with high interest rates, there was a high yield for operating costs, but today it’s around $2,500, which has to cover everything — insurance, state fees, repairs, lawn mowing, trimming, equipment, back fill in the cemetery, road care, and gas. 

The cemetery is about seven acres of which three-quarters is being mowed and trimmed at this time.  The equipment the new officers started with this year is in bad shape and needs to be repaired or replaced. Again, we need your help.  

Reality is, if we exhaust all funds and options, we are forced to turn the cemetery over to the town.  The guidelines under which towns are required to care for cemeteries are neither what we expect to see nor what our deceased family and friends deserve.

Please help us maintain our rural, historic cemetery by making a donation today.  Your gift is extremely important to the Westerlo Rural Cemetery because it provides resources that make an immediate impact, which will help us through these interesting — and tough — times.

All donations are tax deductible and should be sent to “Westerlo Rural Cemetery” and mailed to the Westerlo Rural Cemetery, Post Office Box 29, Westerlo, NY  12193.  If you wish a receipt, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. 

Did you know you can also remember the cemetery with an endowment or life insurance policy?   While making out your tax-deductible donation, mark it on your calendar to do it each year

In addition, are you aware that, if you have a headstone on your family plot, by law you and your family are the ones responsible for the care of that stone? Many didn’t know that.

We are planning a fall cleanup day on Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon and we plan to put up flags for Veterans Day, and then in the spring we’ll have a cleanup day on April 30, 2016, again from 10 a.m. till noon.

Your entire family is invited! In addition, we need more volunteers to serve on the board.  We need you!  Please mark your calendar.

To get email notifications for upcoming meetings and events, please send an email to [email protected] and please identify yourself.

We plan on doing more fundraisers in the next year or so and hope you will be behind us in our endeavors to keep your cemetery going. We are planning to put the cemetery grave information online for historians and people connecting to their family tree, erect some fencing, repair abandoned historic stones, plant flowers and trees in strategic areas, and install boxes for cremation.  

We are posting our next meeting on the town of Westerlo website — http://townofwesterlony.com — so please mark it on your calendar and come join us. We are trying for Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m.

A very heartfelt thanks to you for taking the time to understand our dilemma, read our letter, and sending a gift today.  Your donation will make a world of difference.  We promise you.

Betty Filkins, vice president

and Steve Peck

Fundraising Committee

Volunteers of the Westerlo Rural Cemetery

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