Kahoka Cemetery Spring Clean-Up Scheduled

 By Mike Scott

Kahoka Cemetery’s spring clean up will be held April 6-12 this year.
The Kahoka Board of Aldermen recently revised the city’s policy on flowers and decorations at the cemetery, to allow for more efficient mowing and trimming in the cemetery.
According to the new policy, all cemetery flowers must be placed off the ground. Flowers and decorations should be placed in vases attached to the stone, a top-of-the-stone saddle, or on shepherd-style hooks off the ground, placed near the stone’s base.
Although not addressed in the city policy, many graves have decorations such as statuary, stepping stones, and easels with memorial plaques or stones. If such decorations can be mowed over (like a stepping stone in the ground) or not moved to be trimmed around, such as easels stuck into the ground, there should not be any problems.
Statuary should be attached to the stone, or placed on decorative rock around the stone, so it doesn’t need to be mowed around.
Contract mowers may remove any other flowers, and glass and tin-type containers are not allowed and will be removed.
During the cleanup, families are asked to remove any flowers they want to keep. Those in attached vases, on hooks or saddles will not be bothered.
New flowers may be placed on graves on or after April 13. The city recommends those flowers be tagged with a name for identification purposes.
As always, families are permitted to maintain their own grave sites, including trimming and mowing. Under those conditions, other flowers and grave decorations are permitted.
If you plan to maintain a family gravesite, please contact City Hall, so they can inform the mowing contractor and cemetery sexton.