Coming together to preserve Bosque Bello Cemetery

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
February 18, 2018 5:38 p.m.

About 50 people spent about an hour on a beautiful Saturday morning, February 17, 2018, attending a meeting at the Fernandina Beach Branch Library to show their interest in preserving Bosque Bello Cemetery. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge community interest in forming a Friends group to help the city preserve, protect, and maintain the historic cemetery in addition to finding ways to provide room for growth.

Judging by the number of attendees who signed volunteer slips, it appears that the community is supportive of such an initiative. The next meeting will build on this interest to create organizational structure for the group, which is currently operating under a very basic framework provided by the Amelia Island Fernandina Restoration Foundation. Adrienne Burke, who wears many hats including that of Restoration Foundation Secretary, is temporarily chairing the effort.

The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. at the Fernandina Beach Branch Library.

Although the deterioration of the ancient section of the cemetery has been a source of complaints for many years, the city has never had sufficient resources to address the many problems that have accumulated over the more than 200 years of the cemetery’s existence. Organizers hope that an infusion of volunteer assistance in maintenance, repair and landscaping can reverse that trend and turn Bosque Bello into an attractive historic cemetery reflecting the populace’s veneration for its history and appreciation of parkland. Fundraising both in the way of private donations and grants will be an important part of the effort as well.

Restoration Foundation President Adam Kaufman kicked off the meeting by introducing Fernandina Beach City Manager Dale Martin, who thanked people for their interest in helping the cemetery. Martin, the first city manager in recent years to show interest in preserving the historic cemetery, said, “I can’t say that the city has done a good job over the years in maintaining the cemetery. But I want to move forward. If we consider Bosque Bello a jewel of the city, we need to treat it as such.” Martin went on to suggest creating a 3-5 year plan to address outstanding issues, such as restoration of headstones, security and growth. He suggested using other cemeteries as a model. He said he was heartened by the community’s support, which he believes will be important in planning and financing the necessary work.

Vice Mayor Len Kreger and City Commissioner Chip Ross were also in attendance along with many city staffers.

Adrienne Burke provided a brief overview of the development of the current Bosque Bello Master Plan adopted in 2015 by the City Commission. Burke referred the audience to the plan, which is available on the city website. She said that it took 2½ years to compile the report because it is so exhaustive. She credited city staff and community members for devoting the time and effort to pull together all the various cemetery records, documents, maps, etc. that were located in many places in the city and around the community. She also credited the Amelia Island Genealogical Society (AIGS) for its re-surveying of Bosque Bello, which should be completed this year.

Burke said that the three most important issues for Bosque Bello at this time are proper maintenance and care; security; and providing for future growth.  She also spoke to the importance of leadership in moving forward with cemetery improvements.

Both Kaufman and Burke emphasized that many groups are doing much positive work in Bosque Bello, including the city. Kaufman said that the organizers of a potential Friends of Bosque Bello were not intending to undo or redo valuable work that is currently underway. Rather, he saw the Friends group as a facilitating and coordinating effort, which would include representatives of the various organizations and groups to help insure that work being done by one group would not be duplicated by another group. Kaufman said he hoped that other important community groups such as the AIGS, the Tree Conservancy, the DAR, etc., would join in the effort.

Kaufman explained the role that could be played by the Restoration Foundation in a Friends group. He reminded the audience that as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Restoration Foundation is able to receive financial contributions. He explained that the restoration of the Train Depot and the building of the train platform had been done as public private partnerships as opposed to city-managed and financed public improvements. He said that being able to manage construction projects in such a way avoided many obstacles that purely public projects must face, thereby saving time and often money.

While the city has budgeted $30,000 to build a columbarium this fiscal year, that could be augmented by private money donated to assist in hiring a designer and building a facility that could be expanded as needed to accommodate growth.

A columbarium (columbaria, plural) is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of urns holding the cremated remains of the deceased. Currently, there is no such facility at Bosque Bello. So called “cremains” may be buried in plots of a size to accommodate coffins.

Nan Voit manages the Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for current plot sales in the newer portion of the cemetery. In response to an audience question she said that the city’s earliest burial records date to the 1920’s and 1930’s. The city does not have records of plot sales in the Ancient Section.   Attempts to locate such records have been unsuccessful to date.

Burke spoke to the problems resulting from erosion as soil washes over grave markers following heavy rains. Burke said that some of the unmarked graves can be located by ground penetrating radar, but without a marker, the identity of the deceased cannot be determined.

She also talked about damage to old trees caused by storms as well as the damage to old graves caused by tree root intrusion. There is a need for a landscape plan prior to planting new trees and bushes in Bosque Bello, and she hoped to find volunteers to work on such a plan.

Audience members were provided with the two pages of recommendations included in that plan, one of which was the formation of a Friends group.

Kaufman distributed a proposal for the organization and mission of a Friends group clearly stating its relationship with the Restoration Foundation. That proposal is provided below:

• The Friends of Bosque Bello will be established as a separate independent organization that will affiliate with the Amelia Island Fernandina Restoration Foundation an IRS 501 (c) 3 organization to help insure the long term care and maintenance of the City of Fernandina Beach’s historic Bosque Bello Cemetery. The Friends of Bosque Bello will work with the City of Fernandina to ensure the future integrity of the Cemetery.
• The Friends of Bosque Bello will organize activities and promote contributions for the restoration, preservation, conservation, maintenance, safekeeping and security of the Cemetery. The Friends of Bosque Bello will support efforts that emphasize the local and national historic significance of the Cemetery. The Friends of Bosque Bello will partner and cooperate with the City and other organizations interested in the historical heritage and maintenance of Bosque Bello Cemetery.
• The Amelia Island Fernandina Restoration Foundation will establish a separate and distinct account for the receipt of funds and other charitable contributions that support the undertakings and activities of the Friends of Bosque Bello Cemetery. In addition, the AIFRF may contract with the Friends of Bosque Bello and the City of Fernandina Beach jointly to facilitate and enable the construction of improvements and additions to and the preservation of the Cemetery by independent contractors and agencies.

Adrienne Burke is developing a mailing (email only) list to notify those interested future meetings or developments and volunteer opportunities. Anyone who did not sign up at the meeting, may request to be included in future notifications by sending an email to [email protected].  Until a more formal organization is established, information will also be available on the city’s and the Restoration Foundation’s Facebook pages.

Individuals desiring more information or wishing to take leadership roles in the fledgling organization are encouraged to contact Burke or Kaufman via the email address above.

The Fernandina Observer will continue to provide announcements of upcoming meetings and/or activities.

The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. at the Fernandina Beach Branch Library.

Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.