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Richard Gillies runs the Bobcat.
Randy Madsen, left, confers with Bishop Will Ramsay.
Upon entering Oracle from the west, the marquee at the Oracle Fire Station posted “Community Service Project at Oracle Cemetery”. Although a blessing to the area, the recent monsoon season also caused grasses and vegetation to spring up at the cemetery. On Saturday, October 18, community residents from San Manuel and Oracle came together for Make a Different Day under the direction of Bishop Will Ramsay of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide the needed manicuring.
Families efficiently whacked down the overgrowth and pulled weeds while Richard Gillies spent his morning bulldozing erosion ruts with a Bobcat tractor to smooth out the roadways. Keith Eager pruned and loaded dead tree limbs and clippings into his trailer to haul away. Mr. Eager volunteers several hours a week to help with the ever present maintenance needs since the cemetery receives no public or private maintenance funds. Lorelie McRae and Cindy Watson provided water and refreshments for the volunteers.
Lorin McRae and local author/ historian, Cathy Ellis, have been diligently working for months to locate and identify all of the grave sites on a global positioning system (GPS) datasheet registry. Because some of the sites are unmarked, Mr. McRae has left notes at these sites requesting that visitors provide missing information. Mr. McRae shared that his father had provided a similar service to the cemetery in St. David, so he felt the need to do likewise for the Oracle Cemetery.
Cemetery volunteer caretaker, Reggie Ramsay, was greatly appreciative of this and previous efforts to help keep the cemetery presentable and groomed for visitors paying their respects to deceased family, friends and acquaintances. Mr. Ramsay shared that multi-faith church groups from North Carolina and California have come during the summer months to provide maintenance service to the Oracle Cemetery. These efforts are labors of love and respect.
There is an ever present need for service volunteers at the cemetery. Interested individuals or community groups can contact Bishop Will Ramsay at wllramsay381@gmail.com or the JustServe.org website to coordinate projects to help maintain the Oracle Cemetery as a place of peace and serenity.
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