Update from the Friends of Bosque Bello

Damaged tombstone in Bosque Bello Cemetery

Submitted by Adrienne Burke

Chair, Friends of Bosque Bello

September 24, 2018 11:30 a.m.

In early 2018, two public meetings were held at the Fernandina Beach library to solicit interest in forming a volunteer-based Friends of Bosque Bello group. This effort is one of the recommended tasks in the City’s Bosque Bello Management Plan. Friends groups are a common way to provide additional support and resources for cemeteries.

A team of interested volunteers stepped up to assemble a steering committee for the group, and held the first steering committee meeting on April 21st at the Amelia Island Museum of History. Volunteers from the committee are assigned to the Friends’ three priority areas for 2018:

• Maintenance and preservation - Adrienne Burke and Phyllis Davis
• Columbarium - Marilyn Barger, Teen Peterson and Mary Anne Sharer
• Security - Bonnie Dickens and Peg Lehosit

It was determined at the initial Steering Committee meeting in April that each of three priority areas needed some items addressed with the City first, before the Friends could start tackling any hands-on projects in the cemetery. The Steering Committee met with City Manager Dale Martin on May 21st to discuss the three priority areas for the Friends group.We are pleased to report that we have had progress regarding these three priority areas:

• Maintenance and preservation- City ordinances currently do not have a solid, defensible mechanism for either the City or volunteers to undertake maintenance or restoration work in the cemetery. On July 9, Steering Committee member Adrienne met with the City Manager, City Attorney and City Historic Preservation Planner, along with the President of the Restoration Foundation, to address the needed items for maintenance and the columbaria. Needed changes to the City Code were approved at the City Commission on September 4th. A second and final reading for Code changes will be on October 2nd.

• Columbarium– A columbarium is a wall with niches that are able to hold cremains. A columbarium construction project is another priority for the cemetery based on the Bosque Bello master plan, which surveyed residents interested in this option, and is important given the limited amount of space in Bosque Bello for long-term burial options. The City included funds for the design and construction of a columbarium in the FY 2017-2018 budget, and the Friends are working with the City to ensure that the project can still be funded in 2018-2019, as well as offer any assistance in seeing the project get underway.

• Security- Friends of Bosque Bello can't undertake any projects without support and assistance from the Fernandina Beach Police Department. Security Steering Committee volunteers met with Captain Bishop at the Police Department in June. The cemetery has been added back to the routine patrols for the FBPD, and they also discussed several other options for security including signage, cameras, forming a "Cemetery Watch" group, and working with the Police Auxiliary.  The Friends will continue the conversation with Capt. Bishop.

In other news, Nassau County and the City of Fernandina Beach are partnering with the Florida Public Archaeology Network to offer two Cemetery Resource Protection Trainings (CRPT) in October. The Friends group is working with the City on waivers for ANY Friends volunteer who wishes to work in the cemetery. One of the conditions on the waiver will be that a volunteer has completed a training prior to working. 

The first training will be on Friday, October 19th in Callahan at the Railroad Depot, with afternoon field work at Jones Cemetery.

The second training will be on Wednesday, October 31st at the Amelia Island Museum, with afternoon field work at Bosque Bello.

Both sessions are 9am-3pm.

Either of these trainings will meet the Friends training requirement and volunteers will receive a certificate. For those who cannot make either of these trainings, the Friends of Bosque Bellow will work on holding a condensed version on another day/time. The Friends will try to have the official FPAN CRPT training at least once a year.

The training consists of an indoor classroom session in the morning, and field work in the cemetery in the afternoon. Please dress and plan accordingly: close-toed shoes, long pants and sleeves, bug spray, etc. Learn more about CRPT on the FPAN website.

The Bosque Bello session is almost full! Sign up asap. Registration is $15. Please contact emurray@flagler.edu or (904) 392-7874 to sign up.

The bonus of all the behind the scenes work over the summer is that it has been just plain hot! Working in a cemetery in Florida during the summer is not for everyone. If all goes as planned, the Friends will be able to start some hands-on projects later this fall. The Friends of Bosque Bello appreciate your patience as we get everything lined up for us to make the Friends group a success.

If you have any questions, please email us.