Desecration and a Mess!

[Nancyg1]

My spouse & I visited about a month ago. I remember that your group was attempting to clean up the cemetery; however, we were appalled and saddened at what we saw! Although I was aware of the desecration of the tombstones through the years (some of my former friends are actually some of the culprits) I had heard someone was cleaning up the place; WOW! the weeds inside were at least 4 feet tall, everywhere, the fence was either knocked down or flattened in places and was literally falling down in others. The pond needs to be dredged and cleaned out, as you will probably find more tombstones in there, grafitti was on other places; if the FPD is "cleaning" up the place, as they say, Todd Stroger and his people had better do a much better job than this; but, of course, Todd probably doesn't really care much what we think! But again, our taxes are paying for the SWAP people to be there cleaning, so they need to do a better job of this! The gentleman I spoke with in the Cemetery said they were told they could not work in there, or they would be sued by FPD! This is a horrific situation, which demands that the dead be treated with more respect than this. I cried when I observed the situation there!

[Aten]

Nancy, you should go back and see the place now all weeds are down. The fence actually got destroyed from trees that have fallen and they were just removed over the summer by the FPD and stacked outside the gate. In fact the dead trees that were still standing in the cemetery were removed just last week by SWAP and thats who cleaned up the weeds this time and raked the place. Anyone can cleanup there but as far as power tools go that for sure is not allowed.

[bachelorsgrove_com]

But again, our taxes are paying for the SWAP people to be there cleaning, so they need to do a better job of this!

I appreciate the feedback Nancy! The efforts by S.W.A.P. this month was actually very effective. It is usually not possible to complete all tasks in a single day and for the most part help is required by various teams. Some of the material they removed would have taken a long time for other volunteers and a multi-team effort, within guidelines that are safe for everyone, is definitely needed. Considering the legal issues surrounding the cemetery in 2009 S.W.A.P. has been able to provide assistance in ways that the GRP has been put on hold with. For that they should be commended!

The task of getting the large trees removed off of the fence earlier this year was a large one. Although they are now located outside of the entrance to the cemetery, their complete removal is part of another process. Then with the wonderful help of S.W.A.P., their resources do have some limitations when it comes to the complete removal of the material they cut. So it will take another team to go in and properly dispose of it without causing various problems associated with invasive plants that still have seeds on them. You don't want to go spreading those seeds around and making matters worse in the future. Burning the material on-site is one of the ways to help control it.

With something as delicate as a cemetery, along with the care and preservation of the surrounding forest preserves, it will take experts, time, and a lot of love from volunteers to make it all happen. I personally admire what it takes to take care of something that has been neglected for so long. When you start to look beyond just taking care of the cemetery and give special attention to the surrounding preserves you can start to see a much bigger picture.

The gentleman I spoke with in the Cemetery said they were told they could not work in there, or they would be sued by FPD!

As for people getting in trouble for going in by themselves without a permit and using power equipment, it's not that anyone would be "sued." But there are some things that could land them a heavy fine. For the most part it is just a simple matter of making sure everyone will be safe. Of course there are some other delicate issues involved and there are rules and regulations in place for a good reason, but the primary one is safety. For example, can you imagine what would happen if someone were to bring a lawn mower in the cemetery and some of the broken glass on the ground were to hit someone in the eyes? If everyone didn't have safety glasses on, as well as someone there to make sure people were being safe, you could end up with a major disaster!


Pete

[rashore]

I agree Pete... I know we are able to remove trash without someone there with a (license, certification?) to do heavy duty things, and I for one am glad that there is some sort of regulation for anything beyond trash removal. Folks sometimes get some crazy ideas on what is a good thing to to in areas like BG. It would be horrible if someone was hurt or killed trying to something helpful.
I would cheer anyone who wants to pick up litter and get rid of it. It would be awesome if we all could just tend to neglected places like BG as much as we want to, but we can not. Too many lawsuits show that no good or stupid deed goes unpunished, lol.
BG is really somewhere to go to several times to get a real feel of the place. Don't let one visit cause you to pass judgement.. The place could have just been having it's bad grow out before it's much needed trim:)