January 12, 2023 |
The best land value in Saratoga may be a cemetery plot.
Bigfoot 99 sat down with members of the Saratoga Cemetery District to discuss how they work to maintain the town’s graveyards.
On January 10th, at 6 p.m., the Saratoga Cemetery District gathered in the Donnan room of the Platte Valley Community Center for their monthly meeting.
Formed in 1989, when Saratoga residents voted to accept a mill levy, the cemetery district was formed to oversee the town’s burial grounds. Jim Wiant is the president of the Saratoga Cemetery District. He explained the purpose of the board and the extent of their coverage.
The Saratoga Cemetery District uses a monthly property tax payment from the county to maintain the town’s burial grounds. Wiant said, before the creation of the district, Saratoga’s public works department was responsible for the graveyard.
The Saratoga Cemetery District was formed specifically to manage the graveyard within the town’s limits. Wiant said, if a private burial ground requires assistance, they may reach out to the cemetery district for help.
Wiant said new fencing is the most common form of assistance the cemetery district provides to smaller burial grounds.
Aside from the Saratoga Cemetery, behind the lumber mill, the cemetery district is also responsible for maintaining the old Cadwell Cemetery on Pennock Mountain Road, east of town.
The land for the town’s cemetery was donated by the family of Taylor Pennock, a prominent figure in Saratoga’s history. The Saratoga Cemetery District’s president said the graveyard doesn’t take up the entirety of the donated land.
While the Saratoga Cemetery District isn’t responsible for overseeing the other burial grounds in the county, they do offer finical assistance if possible. Many of the graveyards around the area are on private ranches. Cemetery district members Chuck McVey and Jamie Campbell said, with state permission, it’s still legal to inter people on private land.
McVey is also the supervisor of Saratoga’s water and sewer department.
Some of the oldest graves in the Saratoga Cemetery date back to the 1880’s.
Time and weather have taken a toll on the headstones. Campbell and McVey talked about how the cemetery district plans to preserve the information about the people buried there without disturbing the grave markers.
The Saratoga Cemetery District uses the money it receives from the county not only to maintain the cemetery, but also improve it. In May of 2009, they built an outdoor pavilion. In past years, they have repaved the parking lot and planted trees. More recently, they have installed sprinklers on the south side of the graveyard. Along with working on the fence and chapel, McVey said they plan to improve the pavement from Pic Pike Road to the cemetery.
The Saratoga Cemetery District has a fulltime caretaker in Garold Galbraith. He relies on help from high school kids to weed and mow the graveyard during the summer, but he said it’s getting hard to find young people willing to work. McVey said the groundskeeper position doesn’t pay a lot, but it’s a great job for a teenager.
Baggs is the only other town in the county with a dedicated cemetery district.
