WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Volunteers clean up Gilbert's Graveyard

Volunteers clean up Gilbert's Graveyard

By Cheryl Mercedes - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A local cemetery that's under investigation by the state attorney general's office is getting a major overhaul. After seeing the deplorable condition of Gilbert's grounds, a group of volunteers from Ethel, La. decided to pitch in and help.

Gilbert's graveyard was filled with overgrown grass and weeks before Jim Parker and his crew of Green Leaf Lawn Care workers tackled the disheveled grounds. Overgrown grass and weeds are still wedged between some of the head stones. A lot of them are covered. Plot owners who have loved ones burried here say visiting has been a challenge. "My father in law was so bad we could hardly walk back here because the grass was so high," Reverend Hosey Rogers said. "When it rains we can't even get back here," Eric Davis pointed out. "It was horrible, really messy," Lisa Kelley said.

In the past, if they wanted the grass cut, they would have to do it themselves. Some of them still do. Slowly, but surely though, things are getting better. Parker and a couple of volunteers are doing the hard part. "There's holes, tombstones sunken into the ground. You have to take your time going around the headstones, the grass, weeks, it's pretty difficult." Parker said.

The caretaker, Lymus Washington, says plot owners are supposed to pay $25 a year to maintain the grounds. But, the problem is, he's having a hard time tracking a lot of them. "Most fell by the wayside, because people who own the cemetery passed away," Washington said.

While that may be the case, those visiting the grounds friday morning said they had no idea such a fee existed. "I thought once you put them in the cemetery and pay the amount of money, I didn't think you had to pay. No other place charges that amount," Bettie Cobb said.

There's no way to prove the fee exists, Washington explains, because the owners have passed. So, now it's up to him to find the means to keep the place looking nice. But, he cannot do it alone. He says if plot owners step up to the plate, he'll take care of the rest. From the sound of things, that just might work. "You don't want to see your loved ones growing with all that grass," Cobb said. "It looks a whole lot better, it does," Kelley said.

Washington says he intends to keep it that way, long after these folks put the finishing touches on their loved one's place of rest. If you have any questions or would like more information on the annual upkeep fee, you can call Washington at 362-9856.

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