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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 13, 2006 Phoenix cemetery gets a helping hand By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune PHOENIX — Just as volunteers for the Phoenix Pioneer Cemetery were wondering whether a grant application would be approved to help restore two dozen headstones vandalized in recent weeks, another local cemetery with better resources stepped in to help. Memory Gardens superintendent Wes Balken visited the cemetery, which dates to 1874, Thursday morning with a large boom truck to begin repairing and repositioning damaged stones. Balken said reports in recent weeks of vandalism to the cemetery tugged at his heartstrings. Balken, 39, spends his working days tending to "everything visual" in Memory Gardens and takes his job very seriously. "After I read about what happened, I drove through to see how bad it was and I couldn’t sleep that night. I can’t believe somebody would do that," he said. Advertisement "The next day I was going on vacation so I thought maybe I’d do it while I was off. Well, my wife’s car broke down so it didn’t happen on my vacation. When I got back to work, my boss told me, ‘Why don’t you go ahead and do it on company time, go do whatever they need.’ When I called to tell the man we wanted to help, you could hear him smile right through the phone." Cemetery volunteer and Phoenix Historical Society president Dick Crowley, who "smiled through the phone," said the unsolicited assistance "was completely unexpected and overwhelming." "Four of us old-timers went down to help and he came up with the company truck and taught us how to do some of it," Crowley said. "The Furry stone (a family plot belonging to descendants of Phoenix founder Sam Colver) weighs about 900 pounds. It would have been a real struggle if we’d had to figure out how to lift that ourselves." Crowley said the cemetery still had "plenty of damage" and the grant was still needed, "but it’s through the state and there’s a lot of people vying for it. It’s great we got some help getting the stones back up." Balken planned to return Monday to determine additional repairs needed. Aside from 20-plus stones tipped over or broken in recent weeks, another dozen had been damaged in recent months. In addition to assistance from Memory Gardens, Phoenix High track team members volunteered for weekly clean-up duty in the cemetery. Balken said stepping in to protect a piece of the past and a sacred ground was just natural. "I did it because it’s what I know how to do and they needed the help," said Balken. "It’s not really for anybody else but the people that are lying there and don’t have anybody else to stick up for them � I couldn’t not do it." Anyone with information on vandalism to the cemetery is asked to contact Phoenix police at 535-1113. To offer assistance to the volunteer cemetery board, contact board secretary Myrna Bradley at 772-9523. Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Absinthe Supply Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Debt Consolidation California Casinos Generic Viagra Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada King of Spirits Advertisement s Advertisement