Turkey Creek Township Trustee Barb Griffith reported Monday on an unwitting snafu by the contracted groundskeeper of Bethel Cemetery.
In remediating the condition of the cemetery’s vegetation, the groundskeeper removed two cedar trees in the northeast corner of the cemetery.
Griffith heard from three citizens who objected to cutting down the trees and her subsequent research at the historical society revealed the following:
According to “Early Wawasee Days,” a book written by Eli Lilly in 1960, “These trees bear mute and almost forgotten witness to two tragedies and agonizing heartbreaks that scourged the Morrison family and their close friends in the long ago.”
In the late 1800s, before any bridge connected Morrison’s Island on Lake Wawasee to the mainland, children would row or skate across the lake to attend school. One of the Morrison boys, while skating to shore, broke through a patch of thin ice and drowned.
The following spring his brother was killed in a shooting accident. Both boys were buried in Bethel Cemetery and even 50 years ago, the significance of the trees was fading from the community’s collective memory.
As Lilly wrote, “A mere handful of people, passing along the Cromwell road, are able to comprehend the meaning of the melancholy aeolian whispers of the soughing wind in the uneasy tops of the two cedars planted to make the graves of these two youngsters.”
The board briefly discussed replacing the trees with grave markers, shrubs or other commemoration, and decided to table any decision until the cleanup and restoration of the remaining cemeteries is complete.
Griffith has requested anyone with ideas for marking the boys’ graves to call her at (574) 457-4175.
In other business:
• The board approved purchase of onboard computers for the fire department’s vehicles, echoing the unanimous decision of the fire board which met immediately preceding the advisory board meeting.
• Fire Chief Mickey Scott presented the fire territory’s year-to-date budget, noting all expenditures were in line for the year, except for some unforeseen vehicle repairs which have consumed roughly half of the repair parts and equipment repairs line items.
• Scott announced the department will hold its annual chicken and pork chop fundraiser at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 4, at Fire Station 1. Prices will remain the same as last year ($6 for chicken and chops, $1 for corn on the cob). The fundraiser will continue until the food is sold out, with no pre-sale of tickets.
The board will next meet at 7:15 p.m. Monday, June 8, in Syracuse Town Hall.