GREAT FALLS — Cemeteries are the eternal resting place for our loved ones. Paying respects in the form of decorations can alleviate the hole in our hearts when a family member or friend leaves the Earth. Across the globe, cemeteries are beautified to show respect for the dead. At Highland Cemetery in Great Falls, living family members are outraged over the maintenance of the cemetery.
“I think it’s terrible,” exclaimed Janelle Vantighem.
Janelle and her two sisters are stewards of three family members' graves. Their stewardship began in 1977 after the passing of their father. Nearly 45 years later, the three feel they are expected to maintain their family’s plots.
“It’s supposed to be perpetual care when you buy your plot but it’s not.”
Highland Cemetery (website) is a historic, non-profit association, founded in 1911. It is maintained by a private trust and governed by a board of directors. Its goal is to “maintain a peaceful, beautiful, and reverent location for you to pay respects to your loved ones.” That statement is according to a brochure that can be found at the main office of the grounds at 2010 33rd Avenue South.
Within the last three years, the board of directors appointed a new Executive Director to fill a void in the cemetery staff. Within that, the cemetery has overcome a water issue that some would say is the “downfall” of the property.
MTN News recently shared the cemetery's new decoration guidelines in a Facebook post, which sparked more than 50 comments from upset patrons.
Vantighem doesn’t feel the work they are doing should be done by her and her sisters.
“We do it because we care.”
Vantighem isn’t the only family upset with the way operations are run at Highland Cemetery, Kim Lockman, a Belt resident frequents the cemetery to visit her husband, Rickie Lockman.
While in a phone interview, Lockman recalled her husband Rick who passed away in 1993. The Vietnam veteran and KMON radio host, “Al Decker” should not get lost in the weeds. She felt he was forgotten in overgrown weeds.
“It really breaks my heart to see his grave in the condition it is. I can even send you a photo of the grave after I cleaned it away. There wasn't even any grass there. It was just solid weeds. Veterans deserve better than that,” express Lockman.
She also explained that one of her husband’s biggest fears for Vietnam Veterans is that once they are all gone, they will be forgotten. The state in which her husband’s grave sat in irony to what he didn’t want to happen was sitting beneath overgrown grass.
“I don't know, I just feel everybody deserves better treatment, but especially the veteran’s section. It’s just awful to do that…”
Personal feelings aside from family members of those who rest at Highland Cemetery, Chris McVeda was hired as the director nearly three years ago. He inherited a century-old water system, and gopher infestations, and implemented an old policy into action.
“People are still welcome to put flowers out, and artificial decorations from November 1st to June 15th. It used to be that you could have them any time except October 1st to November 1st, just for a fall yard cleanup. We just lengthened that, bumped it up, so it's clear for the mowing season.”
This new change only comes to the flat marker section.
Here is the updated Decoration Schedule:
March 15: All Christmas/holiday decorations are to be removed.
June 15: Only real flowers will be allowed for decoration in flat marker sections during the summer months. All other decorations must be removed in flat marker sections for summer maintenance. Fake flowers and all other decorations may be placed again beginning November 1st.
October 1: All decorations in all sections must be removed for fall clean-up.
November 1: All decorations may be placed in all sections again, according to their specific section guidelines.
***Special occasion decorations are permitted for two weeks then must be removed. ***
Highland Cemetery is 30+ acres of land maintained by two full-time employees and a handful of part-time and seasonal employees.
Lack of funding, a small staff, and an uptick in cremations are leading to the cemetery lacking income.
“They used to have three or four full burials every week, you know, a casket burial. With cremation now, we don't have near the business that they used to.”
McVeda feels he has a good staff when operations are running at total capacity. In the summer months, the cemetery hires many high school students to help with the workload. Still, the Highland Cemetery staff is working through the kinks which they feel will be a step in the right direction.
“It’s been a learning curve, but we are moving forward and we hope that everyone can see that.”
* Questions or comments about this article/video? Click here to contact Ryan.
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