Maintenance & Improvements

Gravestone Maintenance & Cleaning, Grounds Maintenance, Restoration, and Improvements Program

Maintaining the church building, the grounds, and grave markers at Mountain Home takes a considerable amount of time, money, and supplies. The single largest expense is mowing and weed eating the grounds from Spring until late Fall when the grass stops growing each year.

Also, basic maintenance on the church building is required. It’s hard to determine when a water leak in the bathrooms might occur, or when a strong storm will cause damage to the steeple and create a leak as it did in February 2024, but without fail, some things happen and require immediate attention.

The graves and grave markers also need some routine maintenance. Older graves and surrounding ground sometimes sink creating a safety hazard, requiring additional dirt to be added and leveled to correct the problem. With the passage of time and multiple harsh weather events, grave markers often sink unevenly, and the seal holding the base to the upper stone is broken down. This creates a safety hazard, and increases the risk that a grave marker may tip over and break. These issues often require professional help to correct issues with the larger (heavier) markers. And finally, the grave markers need to be cleaned from time to time so they can be read.

The bottom line is this – in the absence of a few dozen volunteers supplying their
time, tools, equipment, supplies, and fuel, considerable finances are needed just
to maintain the basic requirements of care.

Here’s What We’ve Done With The Grave Markers

In 2022 we began a project to clean all the grave markers, to straighten the ones that needed it, and beginning with the flat military service markers to raise those that were sitting too low as a result of ground build up over long periods of time.

When the project began in January 2022, there were just over 200 markers that were illegible and just over 350 that were very difficult to read, and almost 250 that were showing significant signs of foreign matter buildup. A total of 9 workdays were completed to clean all the grave markers in the cemetery between January 2022 and May 2023.

In January 2023 an assessment was completed to determine the number and type of repairs needed throughout the cemetery to the grave markers. Due to the passage of time and inclement weather including wind, heavy rains, and abnormally cold and hot temperatures experienced at Mountain Home, the following repair needs were identified:

1. 143 upright markers need straightened (they are leaning)
2. 117 flat markers or foot markers need to be reset to bring them back up to the appropriate level in relation to ‘ground level’.
3.  59 upright markers need to be reset to their base (the passage of time and weather has loosened them, and they are no longer sealed in place)
4.  29 upright markers need to be reset as one side has sunk and the marker is no longer sitting level from one side to the other as they were when installed.
5. Just over 200 markers need to be edged in a manner to keep the grass from continually pushing up around the marker.

Between March and mid-May 2023, the following repairs were completed prior to Decoration Day on May 28, 2023:

•  29 military foot markers were raised,
•  6 upright markers of Civil War Veterans were straightened,
•  6 military foot markers and 36 others were ‘edged’ to remove the grass that was getting close to growing on to the markers as they were not below ground level enough to require resetting.

 The remaining repairs and maintenance will be undertaken through several planned workdays in 2024.

As of August 1, 2023, the following represents the graves at Mountain Home with type, age, and number.

Our Plan Moving Forward

We will follow an annual protocol for keeping the grave markers clean now that they are on the way to a good state of repair. Additionally, twice each year the grave markers will be checked for other needed repairs and as identified, materials and supplies will be secured, and workdays scheduled to complete the required work.

Grounds maintenance is an ongoing requirement, and the costs of keeping the grass mowed and edged alone has increased more than 5x since 1993. There have been general contributions to the basic grounds and building maintenance, however, those have barely kept pace with the costs required. Therefore, we have included grounds maintenance in our core programs so a greater level of attention can be placed on this important ongoing requirement.

Finally, we include restoration and grounds improvements as part of the core programs. The following are currently known examples at the time of the corporation’s founding of improvements needed.

1. Since its founding, there has been an outside table used for dinner on the ground on the annual Decoration Day, and in years past on other special event occasions. Currently, the existing table area is in very poor repair and is barely usable. Construction experts estimate by 2025 it will no longer be usable. [The top of the table was replaced on May 4, 2024.]
2. There is a single lane interior road that runs alongside the church and around the outside edge of the oldest part of the cemetery which intersects with the County Road. There is a need for signage to ensure traffic travels in one direction to maximize the area for parking of vehicles on Decoration Day and for graveside funerals and burials.
3. There is also a need to establish a specific garden for cremation burials and markers as the plot requirements for cremation is much smaller than for a casket. There is a growing number of people choosing cremation as the cost of funerals have continued to increase as have the costs of caskets. By establishing a specific area, the land can be used more effectively and offer a purposely designed garden area that will be both respectful of the land and offer a lovely area of remembrance.
4. There are over 150 graves marked only with a stone. It is believed these are actual graves and not just markers. However, the Corporation believes it is in the best interest of the cemetery to explore technological options that could confirm the presence of human remains in these plots and then to erect a more permanent marker. Extensive research regarding both elements will be completed and the board will review and make decisions based on the requirements stated in the bylaws.

While there are other improvements that need to be made over time, the four detailed are the most pressing and will be the first items undertaken by the Corporation based on several years of comments and requests.

There will be an ongoing effort to determine improvements needed to the grounds that will contribute to the best utilization of the land, protection of the land, church building, and cemetery, safety, and security of those who visit, and contribute to the preservation of the cultural history.

All these activities will be undertaken by various members of the board, and volunteers, and if required outside contractors, or one or more subject matter experts, if needed, to ensure the work is completed appropriately. [All outside contracts will be chosen through bylaws Article VII, Sections 7.1-7.2 and Article IX, Section 9.5.]

How are these activities funded?

These activities will be funded through a variety of sources including, donations, fundraisers, overage funds from Always Remembered and Adopt A Grave programs, and possibly from fundraisers (e.g., bake sales, auction of donated goods and services), and grants.

Why do we have these programs?

These activities are at the core of our mission. When it was founded in the 1860’s, family, neighbors, and fellow church members maintained the grounds. In those days, families lived in the community unlike now when some families are dispersed across the country, without easy means to show up for a workday as they did 160 years ago, or even 70 years ago.

Additionally, some families that are buried at Mountain Home no longer have any living descendants in the regional area, and some had no children to carry on after they left this walk of life.

The Heirs of Mountain Home was founded to build upon the traditions and strength of character exemplified by the founding generations of Mountain Home Baptist Church (as the cemetery of the church at Chestnut Grove with a church house for funerals, decorations, and other special events) in the 1800’s to teach new generations the value of community, service to their fellow citizens, love for God, Family, Country, and Community. By their example and passed down through each generation, taking care of the cemetery and preserving it, sharing facts and stories of the past, learning how to do things, sharing experiences of God’s love and mercy, and the importance of remembering our past so our future might be better.

These activities allow for the passage of information, skills, and traditions from one generation to another, and the love of God, country, family, and community, thereby furthering the core mission of the Heirs of Mountain Home.