Wanted: Caretakers For Newtown’s Burial Grounds

By John Voket

If you or anyone you know claims to have been affiliated with either the Botsford, Dodgingtown, or Sandy Hook (Zoar) Cemetery Associations, First Selectman Pat Llodra needs to get in touch.

Mrs Llodra is currently trying to locate anyone with ties to either or all those groups, which for many, many years, cared for and maintained these oldest of Newtown’s burial grounds.

Her quest began following a request by a local Eagle Scout candidate who expressed interest in renovating and sprucing up the old Zoar Cemetery parcel off Berkshire Road. And a handful of inquiries later, all Mrs Llodra’s calls about where to refer the plucky scout hit dead ends — no pun intended!

The first selectman did learn, however, that lacking anyone to authorize basic maintenance and care for these three cemeteries, town crews have pitched in up to now.

But with the new fiscal year and the related challenges of running the town on an approved operating budget of less than last year, she is anxious to either try and reassign the maintenance duties back to association affiliates, or to perhaps get another active cemetery association to acquire the duties.

“If no association members are traceable, the town may have to initiate a process of finding other entities to pick up the maintenance duties,” the first selectman told The Bee. Her first choice of candidates for that transfer of duties would be another active cemetery group, or possibly the Newtown Historical Society.

Mrs Llodra said while no traceable individuals have been located to date, each association has some funds parked in maintenance accounts with the town, and earmarked for each of the three cemeteries in question, so anyone interested in possibly picking up the duties would not be doing so on their own dime, at least at first.

“We’re either interested in reactivating one, two, or all three of the associations, or tracing anyone legally able to make decisions on how we might proceed,” Mrs Llodra said.

Anyone with information should contact Mrs Llodra at 203-270-4201.