Trending
To the editor:
Hello, my name is James J. Taylor, a former resident of Wellsville whose parents, grandparents and other relatives are buried at Spring Hill Cemetery. Recently, I have learned that the cemetery has removed all previous grave decorations from each grave, and are now limiting grave decorations to just seven days before and after a holiday.
For several reasons, I am deeply concerned with these latest actions and hope that the Village of Wellsville will consider returning to the previous cemetery rules. First, many items that were removed from individual grave sites, such as large pots and statuettes, that were intended to stay at each burial site for a long-term period, were quite costly, and now the families of their deceased loved ones are now without the decor purchased to honor their loved ones, but are also out hundreds of dollars as well. The insulting nature of this is further compounded by the fact that Wellsville is a low income community, with many residents living on pensions or fixed incomes. Residents spent hard-earned money to honor their loved ones, and now those items were simply thrown away by the stroke of a pen. While nothing can change the past, this event will certainly be remembered by all of those who lost items at the cemetery.
Secondly, for those non-residents or former residents who are not frequent visitors of Wellsville, but have loved ones buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, it will be impossible for those to leave any decorations on a grave site, unless their visit happens to be near a holiday. It is simply wrong to deny family and friends a way of honoring their loved ones, who may have traveled thousands of miles just to visit their grave site, and were completely unaware of the current regulation change. It is also wrong for residents and non residents alike to be unable to leave semi-permanent decor, such as large pots, statuettes, flags or bushes on a grave site, especially when so many other cemeteries across the area permit such decor.
People come to cemeteries to honor their loved ones who now sit in heaven. I am asking city officals to please allow these relatives a proper way to honor them until they meet again.
James J. Taylor,
Warren