After a group of concerned citizens pleaded for Rosehill-Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum to better upkeep their grounds, owners of the cemetery said they plan to meet those demands within 45 days.
Robert Garner, Director of Operations for the Kentucky Market of Park Lawn Corporation, said that as the owner of the cemetery he has been in contact with some members of the concerned citizens’ Facebook group and he is working to fix the problems they are experiencing.
Garner said the problem arose after the pandemic left the company at a loss for hiring people. To combat the issue, they offered bonuses and other incentives but that didn’t result in anything forward progress.
He said it’s a problem not just for the Owensboro cemetery but across the commonwealth as well as the nation.
Addressing the issue upkeep, Garner said the mowing process for the Rosehill-Elmwood Cemetery is a three-day process. Each day focuses on a different step in the process: mowing, trimming, and blowing — in that order.
“This is all weather permitting. If we get an abundant amount of rain, there’s nothing that we can do until the rain stops and the grounds are dry,” Garner said.
As part of the initiative, Park Lawn contracted a mowing crew that has aided in other parts of the state to come in once a week until all the grounds are well maintained whether it be the grass or the leaves.
With the end of the mowing season on the horizon, Garner said he hopes to shift the attention to maintaining the headstones that are leaning and sunken.
When it comes to interacting with the families of the loved ones, Garner said he feels horrible for the families but also asks for some understanding as the company just needs a bit of extra help.
“I think if everyone would take a step back — because I have loved ones that are buried in cemeteries in Kentucky — and putting myself in those shoes, I’ve had to take a step back and understand what is going on with this pandemic and how it has affected what’s going on [across the state],” Garner said.
