There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the decision Woodland Cemetery officials made to begin enforcing the rules of the cemetery more strictly.

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the decision Woodland Cemetery officials made to begin enforcing the rules of the cemetery more strictly.

A lot of folks don’t like the fact they can no longer place flowers directly on the graves of loved ones – they have to be up off of the ground and out of the mowing area. Not having control over where you can place flowers and other items to memorialize your loved ones can be frustrating, but due to safety reasons the rules have to be followed.

There’s no question that some of the items placed in the path of a lawn mower can be dangerous as its blades can turn a harmless object into a deadly one. The board has to take this into consideration. If someone is visiting the cemetery and gets injured by an object flying from a lawn mower, the cemetery could be the subject of a law suit.

It’s also a fact that most of the people who are voicing their opinion on the issue are the ones who do take care of their loved ones’ graves and make sure it is kept nicely. Unfortunately, there are others who live out of town and cannot take care of the graves on a regular basis. There are also those who, for one reason or another, do not take or make the time to care for graves.

Because of this, there cannot be exceptions to the rules.

The cemetery board needs to make it a priority to post the rules in an area of the cemetery where those visiting can plainly see them. The board also needs to make sure that each time a lot is sold at the cemetery a copy of the rules is distributed. By doing this it will be clear what can and cannot be done to the graves.

Rules are made to be followed and, most of the time, they are in everybody’s best interest. By making the rules available now the cemetery board can prevent headaches in the future.