Ponoka County council was dying to help out volunteers with the Ferrybank Cemetery Association.
Spokesman Richard Goodwin told council that the grounds at Secondary Highway 795 and Range Road 271 has been cleaned up from a “pile of brush and trees and scrub brush to a working cemetery” with more than 100 plots.
Volunteers have done all of the work maintaining the cemetery for the past 25 years or so but with the loss of bingo revenue, the association can’t pay the bills relying on small donations, fundraising and the sale of plots.
“It’s an operating cemetery,” Goodwin told council. “We need a little support to keep it beautiful and keep it working, and cover some of our expenses.”
Robert Green added it costs the association between $600 and $1,000 a year to have someone mow the grass, depending on the amount of growth and the cost of fuel.
Council decided to provide a one-time grant of $2,000 to the association but was told by Green: “We’ll be back next year.”
CAO Charlie Cutforth told council to expect other cemetery associations to come in with similar requests because they will be facing the same pressures to make ends meet.
There are about 15 cemeteries in Ponoka County.