Letter to the Editor:

I have watched over the years the ups/downs of Hillcrest Cemetery concerning its upkeep. I’ve seen the good, the great and the bad, but what’s happening now doesn’t even fall into the bad category. It’s far worse. I have so many family members buried here; most recently my Mom. It’s depressing, bothersome, annoying and makes me angry at the disrespect in how it’s maintained. People over the years bought those plots (we have 16) and entrusted when they paid for them the final resting place of their family members would be upkept.

The city was fortunate to have this land deeded to it many, many years ago. It’s the final resting place of quite a bit of our town’s history. It tells a story. Sometimes a sordid one and sometimes a gracious one, but a lot of our towns history nonetheless. From countless wars to the Yellow Fever to the Reconstruction Era to the Roaring 20s to the Mid-South big city bosses to present, it’s all there. This is why this cemetery is on the National Historic Register, one of the major reasons why it has brought so many to our town who love to study the past/make personal connections and why those visits have led to tax dollars flowing into our local economy.

I remember years ago, Coach Cummings (Charles) and I and a few others here in town and from Rust College and some of our history students from Byhalia High School stumbled upon the fact that Hiram Revels was buried here. Many knew this, I found out later, but I did not, except through a project being done in one of our history classes. When we realized this, we all joined together, met, and worked diligently on cleaning his family plot. As I went by it Saturday, it mortified me to see its current state, one clearly of disregard and disrespect. Then I went to my Mom and Dad’s gravesite - those same emotions hit me again, but closer to home, naturally. Then to my grandparents, great grandparents, former church members, past friends, etc. Anyone’s site that’s held dear to me, and I was sickened. I have always heard you can tell much about a community’s leadership in how they treat their children and their dead. I remembered that quote Saturday as I walked around.

So, what’s going on? I do know at one time there was a bidding and contract granted to cut the cemetery, as it is a massive undertaking. What happened to that contract? I have seen one guy out there every day this week cutting and weeding, but good gravy, there’s no way. That’s not a one-person job. I don’t know all the answers, but I do know some of them. However, whatever the questions and the responses (which need to be addressed), I have no intention of hashing them out here. Sometimes questions and their answers can only be addressed after an issue has found its immediate resolution. If a small child were about to fall from a broken swing to the ground and get injured, I certainly wouldn’t stand around discussing the whys. I’d just try to catch the baby. Of course, later I’d dig into the whys and try to make sure nothing like this happened again. Point being, this needs to be fixed now.

I have several times gone out to cut, blow off the grass, weed-eat and poison around our family plots this year. I did it again this past Saturday, but as I was doing it, my only thought was “what about people who are buried here that no longer have family living here or their family members have all passed away?” Well, you can go to Hillcrest and see the answer to that question. It’s readily evident.

I hate feeling I need to address this in different venues, such as this one. I’m busy. I work and pay my taxes a plenty, and I just expect the services to follow appropriately, but it’s not regarding this issue. Whoever oversees administrative tasks, out of respect for a large group who have passed (including my parents) and for the fulfillment of the trust that was placed in the city government when my family and many others paid for those plots on the land deeded to the city many years ago for burials, please mend the broken fences (literally) and groom the place. Prayers this baby gets caught before it hits the ground and measures are put into place to protect any possible falls in the future.

Jerry Moore

Holly Springs