After a rainy spring kept public works employees from their usual mowing rounds in Gorham and vandals damaged Westbrook’s oldest cemetery, both communities are facing the tough question of how to care for cemeteries.
In Gorham, Town Council Chairman Burleigh Loveitt has suggested the town consider contracting its mowing out to a private company to take the burden off the Public Works Department. Westbrook is facing the tougher question of how to pay for damage done to gravestones by vandals.
In general, communities all over the state could do a much better job of caring for their cemeteries. The condition of cemeteries in this state runs the gamut, from well maintained to complete disrepair. Local governments and private citizens both bear the burden for this.
We were all kids once and know that teenagers, without other activities to occupy them, sometimes get into trouble. They hang out in places they shouldn’t and sometimes vandalize public property. That being said, it’s hard to imagine teenagers, or anyone for that matter, displaying the callousness and disrespect required to vandalize gravestones.
If Westbrook police ever catch those responsible for damaging gravestones at Saccarappa Cemetery, the vandals should be forced to fix up the cemetery as community service. Perhaps, some of the descendents of those buried there could join them, to help them understand that each of the gravestones is connected to a person.
Those who destroyed them certainly have ancestors of their own buried somewhere. Would they treat those stones the same way?
Connecting the stones to people is why a project two local historians have just started could be so important. Westbrook residents Suzan Norton and Donna Conley have just started collecting information about people buried in Saccarappa Cemetery for a documentary.
Perhaps, the schools could get involved in the project, or a similar one. Cemeteries are a wealth of history and genealogy. Making etchings of headstone engravings could be a great art project. Students might even be able to learn a thing or two about poetry by reading epitaphs.
Adults need to do more to instill a respect and appreciation for cemeteries in young people. One way to do that is by showing that adults have enough respect for cemeteries to care for them. When a young person walks into cemetery that’s overgrown with grass, weeds and trees and filled with broken and toppled gravestones, that doesn’t send a message that it’s place to be respected and cared for.
Anyone who has ever cared for a cemetery knows that it isn’t an easy job. It takes a long time to cut the grass around all the stones, pick up trash and prune the trees around them. Police can’t always be there to make sure no one is vandalizing it. But it’s an important job, and Westbrook and Gorham need to make sure there’s enough manpower to care for cemeteries and make sure that caring for them is a priority.
As for the gravestones themselves, descendents of those buried there, or anyone who cares about history, should make sure the headstones get repaired when they’re broken. Those buried there are, after all, our former mayors, legislators, police officers, firefighters, teachers, and military veterans, as well as our parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.
Brendan Moran, editor
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