May is Pioneer Cemetery Month

(Front row, left to right): Pioneer Cemetery Commission members Janelle Halverson and Stacey Gossling with County Board Chair John Logsdon. (Back row, left to right): County Auditor Ben Steines, County Supervisors Mark Kuhn, John Beard, Floyd Ashbacher and Dean Thompson, and Pioneer Cemetery Commission members Tony Meyer, Carleton Haugen and Wayne Kirkeby

Winneshiek County Supervisors have signed a proclamation declaring that May is Pioneer Cemetery Month.

The county's Pioneer Cemetery Commission is in charge of the management of pioneer cemeteries. Its mission is to identify, protect, preserve and maintain these cemeteries and the monuments in them.

A "pioneer cemetery" is defined as a cemetery where there have been 12 or fewer burials in the preceding 50 years. The maintenance and repair of all cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the county, including pioneer cemeteries, are paid from the county general fund. The maintenance and improvement program for a pioneer cemetery may also include restoration and management of native prairie grasses and wildflowers.

You may contact the Board Members at cemetery@co.winneshiek.ia.us.