June 05, 2004
Saturday

We have written to let Mayor Weinstein and the Ketchikan City Council know of our pleasant interaction with the personnel at Bayview Cemetery. Steve Scheldt and his assistant, Dave Nordland, have always been polite and very helpful when we have dealt with them.

On Friday, May 28th we planted a tree and several bushes as a memorial to our son, Sam. We arranged the planting ahead of time with Steve who was very willing to help facilitate our plans. He provided his assistant Dave to help us with our project, but in reality Dave did most of the hard physical work which involved digging and moving very large rocks and building rock walls. This was more help than we had expected. Dave did this hard work cheerfully and without taking a break. He seemed to take pride in the work he was doing and making sure it was done correctly. We were very impressed and most appreciative!

It has been our impression during this past year when we have visited the cemetery on a regular basis that the grounds are not only being well cared for but that the caretakers are compassionate people who truly care about making it a place that meets the needs of the people who come there to mourn their family and friends.
We wonder, however, if the maintenance of the cemetery may be being done on somewhat of a shoestring budget. We believe that Steve is good at salvaging materials that have been discarded elsewhere to put to use at the cemetery. We applaud his ability to recycle and make do in creative ways. The fact that there is only one water spigot for that large expanse of lawn and plantings seems very problematic. We visited during the recent long stretch of beautiful, hot sunny weather and saw long stretches of hose trying to get water to all parts of the cemetery. We hope that in future budget cycles the cemetery will be remembered for the important and necessary benefits that it provides.

Bayview Cemetery is a beautiful asset to our community not only for those of us who have loved ones there, but also to others who just enjoy walking through the park like garden setting. Thank you Ketchikan and the staff at Bayview Cemetery!

Sincerely,

Dave and Karen Pitcher
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

Post a Comment -------View Comments

Submit an Opinion - Letter

Sitnews
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska