Meridian residents, Boy Scouts and community volunteers gathered at Magnolia Cemetery Saturday to help the Magnolia Cemetery Beautification and Improvement Project with weed eating, debris removal, cleaning ditches and more.
Launched in 2023, the Magnolia Cemetery Beautification and Improvement Project works to maintain and improve the 125-year-old cemetery where more than 16,000 Meridianites are burried. Among those are aerial refueling pioneers Al and Fred Key, longtime Congressman G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery and singer-songwriter Paul Davis.
Tracey Braddock Jones, chairperson for the project, said she and her husband started the initiative because they wanted to restore the cemetery to the condition they remember it was in their youth. The more than 30-acre cemetery is a huge area to maintain, she said, and it will take a lot of hard work to reach that goal.
“We hope that maybe we can make this an annual event and kind of do like the adopt-a-road program where families and groups can adopt a section,” she said.
Boy Scouts of America Troop 46 from Decatur United Methodist was one group attending Saturday’s cleanup. Jones said the troop had not only made the trip over from Decatur for the event but also adopted Section 91 of the cemetery, which is where Sonny Montgomery is buried.
Scouts from Troop 46G also volunteered to retire the cemetery’s old American Flag, which had become faded, and replaced it along with a POW/MIA flag donated by members of the VFW Post 79.
With groups adopting different sections, Jones said the goal is to have each area of the cemetery cleaned up a few times per year such as around major holidays. Those group cleanings, along with the larger annual community clean up, will go a long way in helping the cemetery’s maintenance crews keep the area in good condition.
In addition to its cleanup efforts, Jones said the project is also focused on raising funds needed to address the cemetery’s badly damaged roads. An estimate the organization received to repair and resurface the roads put the cost at around $465,883.
The first phase of the project, which involves tackling the roads in the worst condition, is expected to cost around $200,000. All of the work will be done through a competitive bid process to make sure all funds raised are used responsibly.
“Our focus in fundraising is to repair and resurface the roads, and many of you have already made contributions,” Jones said. “We are selling memorial bricks, and the bricks will ultimately be placed here around the flagpole once they’re engraved.”
In addition to the bricks, a fund has been set up through the Community Foundation of East Mississippi to accept donations.
For more information about the Magnolia Cemetery Beautification and Improvement Project, visit magnoliameridian.com.