Care for our cemeteries

To the editor:
Memorial Day is just around the corner and many of you more than likely will visit your loved ones at the cemetery. With the weather we’ve had, I’m hoping that all the cemeteries will have had the grass cut and the cleanup has been completed.
In my case, my family members are buried in Reitenour Cemetery in Randolph County west of Deerfield on Ind. 28. Our board organizes a clean-up day in the spring so that everything is in tip-top shape.
Sadly, the people that show up to help and work are the same bunch that you can always count on. Thank God for them. To me, clean-up day is up to everyone, so if you see trash, pick it up and dispose of it properly. It’s a job for all of us.
Most of these cemeteries are either not-for-profit or county-owned, and depend on donations or what they receive for selling lots. They have bills to pay just like the rest of us, and some are only operating on a shoestring budget.
In closing, please make a donation to the cemetery where your family members are buried. It would be greatly appreciated and they will never turn any amount down. For Reitenour Cemetery contact: Becky Edwards, 7660 North U.S. 27, Ridgeville, IN, 47380.
Thank you,
Penny Imel
Portland

Invitation
To the editor:
I would like to invite the community to my lemonade stand on Friday, May 24. Many people have heard about Lemonade 4 Soldiers, but for those people who have not I would like to explain how it started.   
In the summer of 2011, my family wanted to send care package to a friend of ours in Afghanistan. When we searched online to find what to put in care packages, I discovered that there are men and women serving in war zones that do not get mail from home. I wanted to do something about this so I started a lemonade stand to raise money to send care packages.   
Because the people of Jay County and surrounding areas have been so willing to help me help the troops I have been able to mail more than 380 care packages and will continue to mail more.
On Friday, May 24 I will be set up between Freedom Park and the Arch Bridge from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Please stop by and enjoy a glass of lemonade and look over the many letters, card, certificates and gifts I have received from members of the United States Armed Forces.   
Several of the gifts are from local residents who are currently or have recently served in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and South Korea.
It is also important that you take time this Memorial weekend to think about the men and women who lost their lives fighting for our great county.   
Thank a veteran and thank God for your freedom.  
Joe Hilty
Portland

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