First Step In Beautification Process Complete At Lincoln Cemetery
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After nearly 2 years of work, a Montgomery cemetery with history of being an eyesore has finished the first step of its beautification process. Throughout the years, Alabama News Network has updated you with the process it’s taken to improve Lincoln Cemetery. We’ve seen the grass at least 2 ft. long, even open graves. But cemetery volunteers say today, the people buried here are buried with the dignity they deserve. The gates are up at Lincoln Cemetery. So are the fences. Pillars, too. Along with a driveway for people to visit their loved-ones buried here. “I would like to take this time to present the certificate of appreciation to you: the Montgomery Sunrise Rotary Club, Mr. David O’Meara,” Said President of the Montgomery Cemetery Authority, Phillip Taunton, as he presented a certificate to to the Rotary Club. Taunton says the work couldn’t have been done without funding from the Montgomery Sunshine Rotary Club and the city. They paid for the improvement — a price tag of about $45,000. “It started out with a goal to just improve the cemetery. In doing that, we thought about the things a cemetery needed most. It needed to stabilize some of the ground it needed beautification and needed attention from the community,” Said O’Meara. Attention that was definitely needed — the cemetery was neglected. Some of the graves were unmarked. There was even an open grave found with bones out in the open. “Before all of this, this was the worst that I had seen at the time,” Said Taunton. He says the cemetery will never be in that state again. Cemetery Volunteer, Phyllis Armstrong, hopes the new facelift will also help the community upkeep the gravesites. “You can abandon a house and a few days it’s vandalized the same thing with the cemetery and when you see it’s cared for and people looking after it they won’t bother it like they did,” Said Armstrong. Part of that $45,000 from the city and rotary club has also given the Montgomery Cemetery Authority new equipment to like lawnmowers, weed eaters to the cemetery authority. If you’d like to help the Montgomery Cemetery Authority, whether you want to donate money or volunteer, e-mail Phillip Taunton at philliptaunton@yahoo.com.
