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Guilford Applies for Neglected Cemetery Grant

It may come as a surprise to some, but there are roughly 15 cemeteries scattered across Guilford. A few big ones instantly come to mind, but there are numerous small family cemeteries around town, some of which that have slowly fallen into disrepair over the centuries and now the town has possibly found a way to help preserve and repair a few.

At the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on July 2, First Selectman Matt Hoey said he had recently received an email from the State Office of Policy and Management about some obscure grant programs for which the town could apply. One such grant was the Neglected Cemetery Account Grant Program for a total of $2,000 to help, as the name suggests, restore neglected cemeteries.

“It dawned on me that there are some people who might be able to help with this, so I reached out to Tracy Tomaselli, Joel Helander, and Carl Balestracci,” he said. “All three of them responded with enthusiasm and in fact they went out and looked at a couple of the older cemeteries. It can’t be an active, working cemetery like Alder Brook or something like that, so they have identified a couple of cemeteries for which this might be appropriate.”

Tomaselli said most of the large cemeteries in town have a board of directors that manages the care and upkeep of the property, but many small cemeteries don’t, which leads to the state of neglect and disrepair. Looking at a couple of smaller cemeteries that need help, Tomaselli said Goldsmith Cemetery was selected for the grant application.

Goldsmith Cemetery, located on Moose Hill Road, is the resting place of the Goldsmith family and a neighboring family. Tomaselli said the Goldsmith family members were refugees from Long Island during the American Revolution and younger members of the family later went on to serve in the Civil War.

Three headstones are broken and the land itself is overgrown and one of the stone walls is damaged.

“In the grant request, there are three stones that are broken currently in the Goldsmith Cemetery and we got a quote for $1,500 for Shelley Brothers to do the repairs on those once the grant is approved and the remaining funds will go toward landscaping,” she said. “There are some fallen tree limbs and also some overgrowth.”

Hoey said this project comes at no cost to the town and this grant can be applied for year after year, so there could be a chance to repair more cemeteries in the future. The BOS unanimously approved the grant application.