The Cemetery Trustees, Ruth Hammen, Fred Shaw and Brenda Boswak met on October 5, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in the Historical Society building.
OLD BUSINESS
The cemetery tree removal project is completed.
Rev. Swain obelisk gravestone bark scrape marks and knocked over-reset by Accurate Tree, LLC. 3 roadside Maple trees not removed on first visit-completed second visit. Limbing of trees hanging over cemetery from abutter’s property-NOT DONE No flaggers were present for the second removal workday.
Joe McDaniels, Road Agent aided the Cemetery Trustees with repairs to the damaged ground. Fulfillment of the contract was achieved only with the intervention of Selectman Jeremy Letendre. He immediately and consistently addressed the Cemetery Trustees’ concerns during the tree removal project and handled conversations with the company in a timely, professional, firm manner to ensure the contract was fulfilled as written.
Robert Mahoney, NH Monuments has completed the restoration of three Kaime Cemetery gravestones. He will begin restoration on gravestones at Edmunds-Stanyan Cemetery. Brenda will contact Robert Mahoney, NH Monuments, for an update on installation of the Batchelder Cemetery gate.
Garry Kalajian, Ararat Forge is nearing completion and installation of the gates at Kaime Cemetery.
NEW BUSINESS
Brenda will contact vendors for stump grinding estimates. Brenda will answer Curtis Hermann’s email asking for the date of Chichester’s Memorial Day 2027 services, to schedule Sons of the American Revolution for participation in that event.
Mark Stevens, Cemetery Historian Canterbury, NH met with us to discuss the aluminum corner markers/caps that are used to mark lots in cemeteries in Canterbury. We agreed this would be a good tool to begin using. The aluminum markers/caps, die for lot numbers/initial of purchaser and metal detector would need to be purchased by the Cemetery Trustees. The cap would be installed on top of rebar set in the ground at the corners of the cemetery lots. We will discuss further if granite cornerstones will still be required by the purchaser. Ruthie, Brenda and Peter will begin locating the rebar already set at Pineground Cemetery to determine the size caps needed.
The Cemetery Trustees reconciled our year-to-date expenditure spreadsheet with the spreadsheet we received from the Town Treasurer.
We discussed a proposed budget for 2027. We worked on updating the Request For Proposal (RFP) for cemetery grounds maintenance for 2027 in preparation for the budget. F
red is working on verifying the documentation and accuracy of all the cemetery trusts and comparing our records with those of the Trustees of the Trust.
Brenda has cleaned gravestones at Brown Cemetery, Pineground Cemetery & Kaime Cemetery and planted perennials near the signs.
The Cemetery Trustees have received inquiries about green burials. Brenda is still working on a draft of procedures for green burials. The Trustees will continue discussion at the next meeting.
Ruthie and Brenda plan to attend the New Hampshire Cemetery Association fall training seminar on October 20, 2026.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Boswak, Cemetery Trustee, Secretary