Citizens not happy with Libby Cemetery maintenance

The loss of a loved one is difficult for everyone and once the funeral passes many people choose to spend their time talking to and paying respects to their loved ones by decorating their graves.

My family and I are no different and we have numerous family members buried at the Libby Cemetery. Each year we decorate the graves of our numerous family members for holidays and special occasions with flowers and decor. This allows us to feel close to our loved ones while honoring the life they lived.

We follow the rules and regulations set forth by the City of Libby, but recently it appears the city does not even follow its own regulations and rules. My family decorated numerous graves for the memorial holiday with the understanding that the decorations could be up until June 11.

However, this was not the case as the decorations were removed from not only my family’s graves but also many other graves and tossed into the trash pile they have onsite.

The newly purchased decorations were broken there or picked over by others who were scavenging the pile. This blatant disrespect by the City of Libby is not only offensive to the residents who wish to honor their loved ones and family, but also detrimental to the grieving process.

Additionally, it is financially a burden to continually purchase new decor to honor the loved buried there. We have addressed this issue in the past as members of my family have met with city employees over lawn care and the treatment of headstones.

We discussed with the employees the way that the mowers were scraping up against the larger headstones and causing damage. The first time we had this discussion was in 2008 and again in 2011 but as of today the damage is still happening.

Libby is a beautiful place and the cemetery also looks beautiful, but for the money city employees make they should maintain the area better without causing damage.

There is a need for weed eating around not only headstones but the perimeter and it should be done without causing further damage to the headstones.

It is very DISRESPECTFUL and DISGRACEFUL to not only the grieving families but also the City of Libby.

Sincerely,

Dawn Braaten, Plains, Montana

Helen Brickey, Simms, Montana