While on my way to a meeting in the state of Washington on July 19, my cell phone rang, and I was informed of the vandalism and desecration at the Arvada Cemetery. Every once in a while you hear something that just makes you sick to your stomach, and this was one of those times. Why? Why would someone do such a thing in our city?
We have seen a dramatic rise in vandalism in Arvada. In 2005, more than $100,000 in damage was done to city facilities, including parks and golf courses. Several port-a-lets were burned to the ground, sprinkler heads were destroyed and four-wheel-drive vehicles destroyed a number of golf course greens. Just this past July 4, Jeeps drove through a newly seeded culvert area, requiring significant repairs. And graffiti is on the rise.
While all kinds of vandalism should concern us, there's something more tragic, more devastating, about vandalism in a cemetery. Graffiti, four-wheeling on a golf course, torching a port-a-let ... we can all say, "What stupid people." But causing the damage and destruction of headstones suggests, to me, a deeper and more serious problem. Those headstones mark the last resting place of somebody's father, mother, sister, brother or child. Many of us knew a number of individuals who are now buried at the Arvada Cemetery. And all Arvadans should have felt the blow to our community when learning of the severe damage to the headstones of two of our founding fathers,
Lewis Reno and
Benjamin Wadsworth.
September will bring the third annual tour of the Arvada Cemetery, where actors portray some of the famous people buried in this historic plot. Given the tens of thousands of dollars of damage done, I hope that the Arvada Historical Society will be able to overcome this community tragedy.
The Arvada Cemetery is a privately run, nonprofit organization with its own board of directors. If you are as touched by this event as I am, I hope you will consider making a donation to the Arvada Cemetery to help them recover from this blow. To donate, please call the Arvada Cemetery at 303-422-5424 and ask for
Helen or
Michelle.
And if you have any information whatsoever about what occurred, I urge you to contact the Arvada Police Department at 720-898-6900.
Ken Fellman was first elected mayor of Arvada in 1999.