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Date: 10/8/2020
CHICOPEE – One city resident is concerned about vandalism in Fairview Cemetery and the city has taken some steps to prevent further damage.
Deirdre Godfrey wrote a letter expressing what she has seen when she walks through the cemetery and sent it to many city officials, as well as local media.
She wrote, “I live downtown on Canal Street, teach school in Springfield (these days from home) and frequently take walks that bring me up through Fairview Cemetery. For most of the 15 years I’ve lived in Chicopee, I’ve walked through the cemetery at least weekly during decent weather, so I’m pretty familiar with it and was surprised in mid-July to notice gravestones that were half pulled out of the ground, sideways – something new and definitely caused by a person. I then started seeing more gravestones that were in process of being pulled out of position, one snapped in two, others removed from their pedestals. Over the weeks it grew worse and I began taking photos and spoke once with a groundskeeper, who pointed to the motorcycle tracks where riders had left rubber (some are still visible). He said neighbors had said that on some nights dozens were going through. He suggested I attend the Cemetery Commission, which I did in August. There Mr. Strepka [Benjamin Strepka, superintendent of Parks and Recreation] and the two members present listened, expressed concern, and talked about three possible remedies: cameras at both gates, closure of the back gate at night, and alerting the city police with a request for extra patrols at night.”
She continued, “As far as I can tell, none of those things has happened. Meanwhile, the destruction is continuing. The reason I’m pretty sure the police were not notified is that about an hour ago I spoke to an officer in Fairview, and my report of vandalism was the first he had heard of it. He promised to notify the other officers. If the back gate is being closed at night it is opened every morning, something that was not happening when it was closed in the early spring. I remember my own annoyance at that time.”
Strepka confirmed to Reminder Publishing there have been “burnouts” by drivers of cars and motorcycles. He believes two headstones were clipped by vehicles causing them to tilt. Those headstones have been reset, although Strepka noted the ground is soft at this time of year.
He said he asked the Police Department to schedule more patrols by the graveyard and has asked the maintenance crews to report anything they see.
One gate has been locked at night but second gate used by people working in the cemetery remains unlocked, he explained.
Strepka said there was some “ritualistic stuff” found in the graveyard, but was quickly removed.
He added groundkeepers remove decorations and ornamental objects because of the rules governing the cemetery because they can pose a threat to the people either working or visiting there. He explained objects such as small statues can fall from a grave site, get covered by grass and become shrapnel when a lawnmower hits its.
“It’s very dangerous,” he said.
He noted the city is “very sensitive how people mourn and celebrate.”
Strepka said the goal is to “protect the aesthetic of the cemetery.” He added, “It’s a serene setting for the public.”
Godfrey wrote, “No need for me to tell you what a beautiful asset the Fairview Cemetery is to the city. In addition to being the final resting ground of Edward Bellamy, known worldwide in his day and author of a classic work of imaginative literature, it is the cemetery of many families who built this city. It is a beautiful cemetery, and beautifully maintained. And as an amateur genealogist, I know the importance of the old gravestones for family members who may be far distant but who can learn vital information that is sometimes contained on gravestones, or who simply visit the burial places of their ancestors to appreciate the place they came from.”