WALHALLA, N.D. — Following a request to dissolve the Walhalla Cemetery Association, the town is seeking new people to take it over.
Carol Wieler, one of the three members of the association, said there aren't enough people to keep it going and she would like to be done, although she will continue taking donations for it until someone is found who can take it over.
“(It’s a) sad deal,” she said.
Wieler said three members of the association, which oversees Hillside Cemetery, have died in recent years. Due to the declining membership, Wieler has handed off the selling of cemetery plots to Tom Askew, the funeral director of Askew Funeral Homes. Wieler and the city have also hired an independent contractor to mow the cemetery.
However, Wieler said the contractor has a new job this year and might not be able to find time to mow. The cemetery, due to its hills and slants, is also difficult to maintain, and the contractor has raised his price. There are volunteers, such as girl scouts, the local 4-H club and Choice Bank employees, who come to pick up sticks.
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Money for the association is also on a decline. While the city does levy funds for the association — around $4,000 to $5,000 each year, Wieler said — donations are slimming down as donors age and die. Younger people, she said, don’t realize the amount of work it takes to keep up the cemetery.
“Every little bit counts,” she said.
Melissa Gapp, the city’s auditor, said the Walhalla City Council decided during its April 1 meeting to seek out new members for the association through local Protestant churches. The city will ask ministers to mention the association to churchgoers and ask if people may be interested in joining.
If new members aren’t found and the association dissolves, the responsibility to maintain the cemetery would fall on the city. Gapp could handle the book work, but due to her other duties, some things, like sending out notes to donors, “could go by the wayside,” she said.
“I don’t have the time,” she said.
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