The Editor:
Do you have a relative or friend buried at Green Acres Memorial Gardens in Weyburn? Would you like to have flowers remain on their headstones year-round? I do and I am asking for your help.
Green Acres Memorial Gardens in Weyburn and Souris Valley Memorial Gardens in Estevan are both administered by the province of Saskatchewan's Department of Justice. They have a policy that all flowers are removed from the graves as of Oct. 1 and cannot be replaced until April 1. Rarely, is there any permanent snow before Nov. 1 and in the past two years, there has been hardly any snow all winter making the cemetery look like a horse pasture between October 1 and April 1. Even when there is snow, it is rare for the flowers to be completely covered. It also makes the cemetery and graves of loved ones look abandoned.
The caretaker for the cemetery in Estevan says he wants the flowers to remain on the headstones during the winter so that when it is necessary for snow removal, he can see where they are. The caretaker in Weyburn wants to go with the government policy. They say there is a risk that a flower vase might get broken during snow removal. Both cemeteries put up stakes so that they know the location of the graves so the risk of striking a vase should be minimal if at all. I do not understand how there is a 180-degree difference between the two cemeteries that are 45 miles apart. The Estevan cemetery always has more flowers than Green Acres and these flowers remain all year round.
According to the Weyburn Review archives, during the period Oct. 1 to April 1 of 2010-11, there were 15 burials at Green Acres. For the 2011/12 period, there were 19 burials. Hundreds of people wanting to leave flowers on their relatives or friends' graves are being inconvenienced every winter because of the risk of only 19 and 15 burials respectively. I don't think that is fair.
I have been asking the government to change their policy but they have refused. I am trying to petition the government to change their policy.
I am asking for your support on this petition. Please phone me at 634-3433 or 421-7227 or write me at the address below and I will tell you how this can be done. Thanking you in advance. Please call me if you have any questions.
Gerald Shauf,
Estevan, Sask.
