"Darke County Genealogy Society plans meeting" - March 3, 2019 - 2:00p.m. - Garst Museum - Misti Spillman presents program about headstone cleaning and restoration

Darke County Genealogy Society plans meeting

"Misti Spillman, Executive Director at Preble County Historical Society and 2018 Volunteer of the Year at Woodland Cemetery, in Dayton, Ohio, will be at the Garst Museum on Sunday giving a program about headstone cleaning and restoration for the Darke County Genealogical Society. 
Learn more on how to properly care for and clean headstones. 

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Program is free and open to the public. 

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Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00 pm - Garst Museum, 205 N. Broadway St. in Greenville."

"Man sentenced for theft of cemetery funds"

Man sentenced for theft of cemetery funds

This report is the latest regarding the thefts against the Belmont County Memorial Park in Saint Clarisville, Belmont County, Ohio.  The cemetery has 1,867 memorials posted for it on "Find A Grave." 

Sadly, recent serious crimes committed against Ohio's cemeteries and their lot owners are not as rare as we would like to think.  

The Facebook Group "Cemetery Advocacy Group" is dedicated to:
“... people who have loved ones buried in Fairview Memorial Park in Delaware, Ohio, Suburban Memorial Gardens in Dover, Pennsylvania and Grandview Memorial Park in Ravenna, Ohio to discuss issues with the cemeteries.”  

Floral Hills MemoryGardens – Pickaway County location

The "Columbus Dispatch", April 3, 2016

"Volunteers Struggle to maintain abandoned cemeteries"

Floral Hills MemoryGardens – Ross County location:

"Clean Up Floral Hills Memory Gardens" on Facebook

June 1, 2018 - "Chillicothe Gazette"

Floral Hills Memory Gardens Remains Plagued by Absent Owners

Ohio History Connection - "Enact Better Legislation to Protect Ohio's Human Burial Places"

Among the main focus issues of the Ohio History Connection on Ohio Statehood Day for its 2019 "Legislative Priorities" will be enacting better legislation to protect Ohio's human burial places.

  

This proposal helps us build upon and advance the belief that "All Cemeteries Matter" - which further translates into all gravesites and graves markers for them matter.  

Gravesites sit on land, whether it be at sprawling modern day cemeteries or "memorial park"settings, or on single gravesites left from long ago farm lands that have been built upon by developers.  These sacred spaces are more vulnerable than ever because too many have already been lost.  

Too much history and respect have already been lost.  One of the reasons for this crisis is that over time the laws provided little to no safeguards to protect them.  

Taking stronger steps now can prevent further harm to Ohio's cemeteries that they have for far too long faced.