NOW OPEN in WEST M E
Most of the plantings at Ynai David Cemetery were dead in September.
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(botweon Homo Appiionce &
member of B'nai David, has been
cemetery chairman for five years. He
said there are a few problems at the
cemetery, and they will be fixed.
The cemetery has not had a perma-
nent caretaker for a number of years.
The caretaker's home at the cemetery
was vandalized "and we had to take it
down," Chudnow said. The -water line
to the cemetery was disconnected at
the time.
There is no sprinkling system for
the 1,200 graves, Chudnow added, so
the cemetery this year planted peren-
nials "that required minimal water-
ing." The cemetery has a part-time
caretaker, he said.
While there have been complaints in
the past, Chudnow said, "I have
received no complaints this season."
When the Millers and Boodins visit-
ed the cemetery in June, they said the
grass was knee-high. In September, the
grass had been mowed but was dor-
mant and brown from lack of water-
ing. The family said a number of
gravestones are leaning, some cement
markers outlining the graves are sink-
ing into the ground and most of the
flowers are dead. • Unplanted perennials
are piled up around the cemetery's
Holocaust memorial.
Chudnow said holes in the ceme-
tery's fence permitted neighborhood
dogs to enter and eat the flowers.
"But," he said, "we're taking care of
it.
When asked if the cemetery or the
congregation has the funds to make
repairs and improve the appearance,
Chudnow responded, "Of course."
But he declined to give details, and
three calls in the last two weeks to the
synagogue office, asking to speak to
B'nai David President Saul Reubin
about the issue, were not returned.
Chudnow said he's looking for
someone else to administer the site,
adding that "we [B'nai David mem-
bers] are getting old here." There are
still several burials a year at the ceme-
tery, he said.
The Department of Consumer and
Industry Services in the Michigan
Attorney General's Office has a ceme-
tery commissioner and an enforce-
ment unit. But, said Commissioner
Suzanne Jolicoeur, municipal and reli-
gious cemeteries do not fall under
state jurisdiction. The unit monitors
perpetual-care trust funds. "We have
very little authority over maintenance
issues," Jolicoeur said.
An investigator for the city of
Detroit's Consumer Affairs Division
said religious cemeteries do not fall
under their jurisdiction either. Last
year, however, the division -investigated
several written complaints about a
Catholic cemetery in the city. After
talking to the administrators, improve-
ments were made.
Contacting the city is a step the
Millers and the Boodins are consider-
ing. "There are several Christian or
non-sectarian cemeteries in the area,
including Woodmere, that are beauti-
fully maintained," said Mel Miller.
"This isn't a problem with the neigh-
borhood." ❑
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10/11
2002
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