MV Cemetery needs volunteers, money

MONTE VISTA— Winter is typically the downtime for work at the Monte Vista Cemetery— but board members and volunteers have continued to stay busy.
Several volunteers recently spent a day securing a long-vacant house on the historic cemetery grounds that had become a hazard due to broken windows and mice living inside. The group boarded up the windows to keep curious passersby, vagrants and kids from entering the home, which had become a liability, said Monte Vista Cemetery Association president Kathleen Ellithorpe.  
Though vandalism and trespassing aren’t common at the cemetery, they do happen on occasion. In early January, the cemetery association received a call from a dog walker who discovered tire tracks in certain areas of the cemetery. Two of the older headstones had been slightly pushed over, and there were spinout tracks near the chapel, Ellithorpe said. Gates used by the vandals to access the cemetery will now be locked, and cameras are being installed in key locations. “We took good pictures of the tire tracks, which may help us find the vandals along with security-camera photos if the vandals return.”
The cemetery association is a non-profit organization that depends on donations to stay up and running. A recent letter sent from the association to about 1,500 community members brought in some money as well as offers for lawnmowers and a dump truck to help with burials and maintenance. But the cemetery still needs help due to aging equipment and increased water costs, which comes to several thousand dollars a year. The cemetery also needs industrial riding lawnmowers, weed eaters and a one-ton chassis truck that can be retrofitted with a dump bed and volunteers with a track hoe or small backhoe to help with burials on short notice.
Ellithorpe said the cemetery has a small chapel that can be used for events, which would also help bring in money. The quiet setting offers stunning views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and fascinating walks among the headstones of some of the Valley’s first settlers.
For more information about the cemetery or to donate and/or volunteer, contact the Monte Vista Cemetery Association at 852-5196. The association meets at 5:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at 121 Adams Street in Monte Vista. Meetings are open to the public.


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