By KATRINA BRANDON
“DEAD fields under the sky, scattered rose petals brown and turning up at the edges” taken from the Stephen King novel, Pet Sematary may be a familiar description for most cemeteries, but not so the new-look Moe Memorial Park Cemetery.
The golden arches stand at the gates of Moe’s cemetery with two bright lights, highlight the path deep beyond the wall.
On Tuesday, February 20, the new entranceway was raised on the Cemetery Road side, bringing an inviting glow to where the past rest their heads. The entry now reads ‘Moe Memorial Park Cemetery 1882’.
“It’s pretty well looked after. The real old graves start in 1882, but that isn’t even the official opening. That was only when the government recognised it as a cemetery. There have been burials here before 1882. I think it goes back to 1879,” volunteer Karl Loehr said.
“We are trying to keep the cemetery as good as possible and make it look neat. I was looking at the front entrance and thinking, ‘jeez there’s something missing here’.”
Mr Loehr has been a volunteer with the cemetery for seven years, and wants to do many projects to improve its look. As well as the new entrance way, there are plans for more seating.
After much thought and research, Mr Loehr said this was his favourite design for the cemetery entranceway. It also helped complement the wall behind it.
“I probably had four different ideas about what to put there. Trying to find someone to build it is another problem. I couldn’t build it; it’s too heavy,” he said.
“Hopefully, it won’t need maintenance. It looks quite good and blends in with the rest of the stonework erected some time ago. The stonework has little archives for ashes.”
Mr Loehr said the feedback on the new entrance had been positive.
Like other community groups, volunteer numbers are scarce at the cemetery, where they have many ongoing projects, including finding old graves that were never registered.
“It takes quite a bit of effort. If you see the grass you have to cut at home and look at the extent of it here, edging, and other stuff that we have here, a lot is involved,” he said.
“We are always happy to get volunteers to come and give us a hand.”
Later in the year, the Moe Memorial Park Cemetery team hopes to hold more working bees to help with additions such as the new entranceway and so the cemetery can stay in good condition.
