Good afternoon.
I am Cheryl Willis Patten, the president of the Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA), and I am here on behalf of our membership -- over 700 strong - to speak in support of LD 1244 - An Act to Increase the Penalties for a Person Who Vandalizes Cemetery Property.
MOCA was founded in 1968 through the efforts to Dr. Hilda M. Fife of Kittery, Maine. Our group is dedicated to the preservation of Maine's old graveyards; but any issue pertaining to cemeteries is of importance to us. We believe that all graves should receive respect and reverence.
One of the most heart-wrenching aspects of my position as president of MOCA is to receive phone calls from folks who have suffered through the desecration/vandalism of a cemetery. They want to know what they can do, who they can contact for help in restoring the gravestone of grandfather, great-grandfather - the stone of someone who was historically significant to the history of a town, or even in some cases, someone they never knew personally, but with whom there was a "connection". Someone who they stopped to see and 'visit with' when they were in the area. Perhaps they were attracted by the beauty of the stone itself, the graceful work of the carver, the unique inscription, an unusual name or even their own name carved on the stone. Who knows what attracts us to these outdoor historical and cultural museums?
I do know that there are particular cemeteries where I enjoy just stopping by and visiting on a clear summer day. To me it can be a wonderful place for regaining a sense of what's important in life and a place to calmly meditate and regain a sense of proportion. This is LOST FOREVER once a cemetery has been vandalized. Perhaps some of the stones can in some way be pieced together, but they will NEVER be the same and the cemetery itself will never "feel" the same to anyone who enters it.
Vandalism on cemeteries is incomprehensible and infuriating. When vandals strike cemeteries they are attacking not only those no longer living, but also they are assaulting and insulting you and I. Over the last few years local newspapers have listed case after case of vandalism where the cost to taxpayers - if they could ever afford to attempt repairs - would be tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in each instance. These costs are for the physical stone, there is no way to attach an amount to the huge emotional and sentimental damage.
The Kennebec Journal of September 20, 1997 reported vandalism at Mount Hope Cemetery in Augusta.
The October 12, 1998 issue of the Waterville Sentinel reported that 109 gravestones had been damaged in Vassalboro.
The 56 vandalized headstones at the Beth Israel Cemetery in Bangor were the topic of a Maine Sunday Telegram story on October 25, 1998.
The destruction of the stone of Harry J. Dawe was the topic of a
November 11, 1998 Waterville Morning Sentinel article by Colin Hickey.
Mr. Dawe was a soldier who died on a Japanese prisoner ship in 1945 and
his stone in Lakeview Cemetery in Oakland was vandalized. According to
Mr. Hickey, "A half century later, the memory of Harry J. Dawe remains
dear in the hearts of his surviving family members. The vandalism to his
grave hit the family hard - again."
A July 1, 2000 Waterville Morning Sentinel article by Anthony Christian indicated that 107 stones had been damaged in Bridge Cemetery in Madison.
The May 18, 2001 issue of the Morning Sentinel newspaper reported vandalism at the Roman Catholic Cemetery on Grove Street in Waterville.
On July 8, 2002 the Kennebec Journal reported that over 130 grave sites in Mount Hope and Forest Grove Cemeteries in Augusta had been vandalized. In that same article an Augusta police officer is quoted as saying that he had also investigated a case of graveyard vandalism there "just last year."
A WMTW web page article on July 31, 2002 reported that on Waldo Street the Abbot Cemetery in Rumford had had more than 19 graves damaged and police reported that luckily someone had phoned in a complaint or it was likely that the vandals would have done more damage.
Vandalism in cemeteries in both Ripley and Canaan were reported in a Central Maine Newspaper article on August 29, 2002. In West Ripley Cemetery over 18 stones were damaged and in Salisbury Cemetery in Canaan 15 or 20 stones were damaged.
In November of 2002 over 120 monuments in Elmwood Cemetery in Guilford were damaged.
These examples are only a few, from mostly central Maine newspapers. An examination of any other newspaper in the state would lead you to many other examples of cemetery vandalism/desecration that have occurred in other parts of the state.
Cemetery vandalism is not a new problem, but is one where the perpetrator needs to have the harshest possible penalty since the actions of cemetery vandals damage not only property, but they also have an ongoing impact on the lives of any living descendants of those whose final resting places are desecrated.
An editorial in the September 3, 2002 Morning Sentinel said it better than I can. It said, "...when a loved one's gravestone is smashed, [that] act leaves scars that last long after the damage is repaired. We live in communities that should reassure us with a set of collective values. We assume that our neighbors share values that say it is wrong to smash a gravestone ...When it is made clear to us that we are living side by side with people who live by a different moral and ethical code, it is disturbing and isolating. The bond of trust that links us is broken and isn't repaired easily. All of this is a long way of saying that these crimes go beyond the monetary damage they cause. They are serious violations of our rights and should be dealt with severely... After all, these are not only objects that are broken and destroyed. All of this affects real people. The sooner that message is understood, the better off we all will be."
We, as members of MOCA, view cemeteries as a unique part of our cultural and historical heritage. Each cemetery has stories to tell and once vandals have destroyed the stones, then not only will folks forevermore feel a sense of desecration, but, the history is lost - the history of Maine, of individual towns and the history of families.
Please support LD 1244.
Thank you.
"Cemeteries are more than resting places for the dead, they're windows
into the past."
Lloyd Ferris, Maine Sunday Telegram, July 25, 1999
Lives are commemorated,
Deaths are recorded,
Families are reunited,
Memories are made tangible,
And life is undisguised.
This is a cemetery.
Communities accord respect,
Families bestow reverence,
Historians seek information,
And our heritage is thereby enriched.
Testimonies of devotion,
Pride and remembrance,
Are cast in bronze to pay war tribute
To accomplishments and to the life - not death - of a loved one.
The cemetery is a homeland for family memorials
That are a sustaining source of comfort to the living.
A cemetery is a history of people -
A perpetual record of yesterday
And a sanctuary of peace and quiet today.
A cemetery exists because -
Every life is worth loving and remembering - always.
From the MOCA Archives -- not attributed