2022 Annual Report

The Cemetery Commission had one plot purchased this year, in Middlebrook Cemetery, and we received three donations throughout the year. We sincerely thank our benefactors for their generosity and appreciate their support. Unfortunately, mowing and maintenance expenses have increased by approximately $2,000. Despite this increase, our budget request from the Town has remained the same at $13,000 for 2023, as we currently have adequate funds to cover this expense for next year.

The highlight of our year was the commemorative ceremony held on September 28th in the West Fairlee Village Cemetery by The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. The ceremony was to honor William Cox, a Tea Party participant, in anticipation of the 250th anniversary in 2023 of the Boston Tea Party. Special thanks to the West Fairlee Historical Society for their help in getting the word out, assisting us in hosting and coordinating the event.

We were able to keep the veterans’ flags up again until after Veterans’ Day, for the fourth year in a row. We are happy to be able to honor all of our veterans by doing this. We had to properly discard approximately 50 flags (as they were damaged/no longer suitable), but we still have enough in our inventory to cover the 85 veterans’ graves that we honor (throughout seven of our cemeteries) before having to purchase more next year. We needed to purchase six flag holders, which are quite expensive ($55/each), and have them in reserve, as needed.

Two commissioners also attended the Post Mills Cemetery Association meeting in July to learn from our neighbors about best practices and ideas. The meeting was enlightening, but being they are a private entity (not owned by the town of Thetford), their structure and funding is broader than ours. Still, the Commission is always open to ideas and learning.

Tombstone repair is needed throughout our cemeteries, but finding an adequate resource for such work is proving to be extremely difficult. Some of the cemetery signs have been cleaned (scraped and repainted), but maintenance on others is still needed.

We are always in dire need of volunteers to help with beautification and cleaning our cemeteries and tombstones. We welcome anyone to assist with doing so with their own family plots, as well as helping in general, at any time. The general public is always welcome to join our annual meeting in the Spring.

Respectfully yours,

The West Fairlee Cemetery Commission