June 15, 2006

Dear STC members:
As you have noticed, we have not issued our newsletter, The Gravestone Speaks, since early last year. Michael Emery spent a decade as the editor and he needed to take a well-deserved break. We have not found another editor. Since we do not have a newsletter, we won't be charging dues. We will accept donations. We will continue to keep folks abreast of preservation news, with letter or email. We get lots of calls, and we want that to continue. We are open to suggestions.

The board of directors of Save Texas Cemeteries, Inc. has taken a long look at our organization and evaluated the progress we have made since STC was founded in November of 1994. We also took a look at where STC should be going.

In 1994 our goals were established on the fact that cemeteries were being destroyed at the worst and ignored at the best. No state agency dealt with cemetery preservation. The official State Cemetery in Austin had not been restored. The Texas Historical Commission did not even have a cemetery coordinator, like they do now (Gerron Hite). There was no one to call. Of the 50,000 burial grounds and cemeteries in Texas, only 125 perpetual care cemeteries administered by the Texas Banking Commission (now the Texas Department of Banking) had oversight. At that time the Texas Funeral Service Commission had no interest in cemeteries.

In 11 years STC has come a long way! With the help of the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, we established the Official Cemetery Visitation Days, the first Sunday of April and October. These rules have helped many folks visit a cemetery on private land with locked gates.

Our seminars and workshops have been very valuable in our efforts to preserve tombstones and cemeteries. The hands-on seminar given by Jim Stasswender at Austin Monuments was an example of our educational efforts. We have traveled throughout Texas to spread the message of cemetery preservation and the importance of this to the heritage of Texas and Texans! We want STC to be able to help in areas that are not available from the Texas Historical Commission, along with their county commissions and other organizations.

An area that is so important is the issue of permanent signs that not only give the name of the cemetery, but the name and telephone number of an interested person who is willing to be the contact. Our signs are made of metal, and the lettering is designed to be long-lasting. They are only available from us, and the cost has gone up to $50. You can learn more about our signs here at our web site.

We will continue to help with cemetery access to follow up after a visit on one of the Official Cemetery Visitation Days. We have had great success in helping folks deal with reluctant landowners. In 1900 most of the cemeteries in Texas were private, and the cemetery family still owned and resided on the property. In 2000, very few family cemeteries are on land still owned by the family.

STC is very instrumental in assisting in the process of establishing cemetery association for a cemetery. We feel an association is the best way to preserve a cemetery. We have guidelines on how to form a nonprofit corporation, both State of Texas rules and how to become an IRS Exempt Organization (501c3). I cannot stress enough how important it is to do this for every cemetery! STC focus has become the place to call and get help on where to go and who to contact of help, sort of a clearinghouse for cemetery information.

We have had many folks that were charter members and have paid dues for 11 years! We appreciate their support more than you can imagine. We hope to stay in contact with the friends we have made!

I am returning/enclosing dues checks that have been sent in for 2006. Since we don't publish a newsletter, we won't be charging dues. As I said, we welcome donations--everything is the same--we just don't have a newsletter.

With Texas love,

Karen R. Thompson
President, STC

P.S.
Read on for some information about the scope of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and its impact on cemeteries.