HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-09-12, Page 15t
4
Pulalishied titr+iry
and Tip.
in Th. .UUsto .i l er, Th. In om Ailvoncis,Times
forest Coni,Kierato by Winger r ►s Limited.
—Ciossroada—Septreaber 1$;
I_r
. Frank' Mao- „
•.1„oachlan out say one snre *Mot
about'ide that a�lotcan't;
'
• .. tt s
Soe t
Pan ;heat the sun-
light
tli ht
sok the:, starr�orisia�dia
�tfees • , and ricochet •off the'
r
' tom bstones..:tr
peaceful.� aelag.
their trap shadows ; e
�F f
t, f'I' w
frank c�ch
haw works in a . e „. NOW,
cam
don't shudder and .announce,L
wouldn't workintb►a job ++mayM
t for.
thing,"
because Fronk ;
b►,�`�d, � has heard
it all ore. .
I don't believe In, spookor
ghost* Working, d
here a doesn't
o+elsn t:
batherme a bit. .
ft
a a
good job," Ile must:Mean
it, because he
started 25 yearsago and'if ►oo're
over t
e : the-Mo'rrrl't
und •
t'etn
ewill still so*
there, Her'h have his hat
squarelyo
hism
head twotect 111
fes'. t _. -canoe
be
the, grass, . a
:.planting some seed or *Mr
number:of'C�- to: Certaini
that the 20 acre* or IO ate:In a.asr.
speeeta edition befitting thel
dead.
1 1,
quired. Now, however
� ., there are
J
ust tie-
. o of them'Neither
would trade . for som:.ems
.... shall we say - a little hvoheir?
Wilkinson
says.haa
it
that
there
more people
buried ><rat, the Vaunt Forest
cemetery than tom. re alive in,
the town Itself, Mr. ,Maac Ca lan.
reinforces" the•point with,
"'Morel more•'.n three thousand
tomb: here," ving 'refer
rr
Norm Wilson .has been '.r
Mactachlan's associate in cari :
for the cemetery for 14 y
now. Ilis sentiments are...
the =same, "This is the. job
Me." Mr. Wilkinson says MS
is about $2 pet hour, which
considers not bad for "an o
fellow Such as myself." No one
constantly looking over his about-
der,' to See he, does his work
,doesn't believeis :ghosts` either)
and, most important, it's quirt
But those aren't the only
vantages to the job.
everyone else, •even come
caretakers can benefit from;
joys of automation.Vp until
years ago the two men had to
graves, shovelful by achinj
shovelful. They don't do it a
more, thanks to the backh
"Used to be we had t� swing pii
and shovels, and it took a while+ f
Now the backhoe cleans it out and yy.
we just cart away any extra dirt,,,
with tractor and wagon',"
When Mr. MacLachlan started:
his job • 25 years ago he had ao
qualms about it. "It was just like
starting into an ordinary Job:"
He and his partner hav
Wt.* gate a bit twht°1hu i
Ofotheir *011: 4We-
reaved relatives come here?'
visit the grave sites, Even if ` we
didn't know the deceased, we still
understand about it .... We'll talk
with the visitors, but only if we
see they feel like it. You have to
have a certain amount of respect
and. understanding in this job."
Mr. MacLachlan feels "young-
er fellas couldn't do it." Not that
they would probably want to, he
admits. "They would most likely
want something more exciting."
But they also might not own the
patience, respect and under-
standing the job requires by its
. very nature, he maintains.
"It's an older person's work.
They understand a little more,
probably., about death and
mourning."
Both caretakers started work
at the cemetery during expansion
periods when a third man was re-
r•
enceto the town
-number of 3,000.
Mowingtaecemetery
takes approximately one week,
with
man fusing a tractor
mower and .'.thee ether a' power
mower.
Mr. 'ttadoachlan says no one
ever, maker what he would call
eccentric requesjs. ''Pee don't
usually try to overt
by asking us *01 after a ser-:
,'taln gravesite With a little :.snore
care than any
know do ;our. . anyway.
"We have ,* tom
a :few people quite well," says
Mr. Mactachlan, "Pea& who
have been coming here for Many
years to visit , the gravedte of ..at
friend or relative. And y tem
t just ap'hard as they did $0 or
even 2 Years ago. Death never
adl that easy to under.
stand that. 'liars whyllals
very
Ina WeiThes
and
!' s. It stills A psisur
, ..
and the rode of owstaingalooss
gien.tly whiloPerod
The two caretakers ,
tome hod
solaas
,easy in their
NO SPOOKS—Mount Forest Cemetery caretaker Frank MacLachlan says, "1 don't be-
lieve in spooks or ghosts. Working'here doesn't bother me a bit. It's a good job."
CUTTING GRASS—Frank MacLachlan and Norm Wilkin-
son, caretakers for Mount Forest Cemetery, go about the
task of cutting and trimming the 21) to 25 acres of cej
lawn. The job takes about one week,
QUIETi — Frank MacLachlan has beett . a caretaker of
Mount Forest Cemetery for 25 years, :1d of them shared with
Norm Wilkinsunn. Liotlh men like their jobs, and both smile ORDINARY JOB—When Frank MacLachlan started his job
when they make the understatement, "It's quiet." of Cemetery caretaker 25 years ago he wasn't phased by it.
"It was just like starting into an ordinary job." His partner.
Norm Wilkinson, says, "This is the job for me."