FAIRBURY – With phase two of their road renovation plans officially completed, the board of the Fairbury Cemetery Association convened late last week to discuss their next steps.  

Most of the board’s membership met, alongside longtime core contributor Bob Hose, on Friday morning at the American National Bank in downtown Fairbury. The group approved a plan to pursue a grant to plant more trees along parts of on-site paths; will clear out and gut a decaying building on site and turn it over to the fire department for training and drills; signed off on a financial report that “looks as good as ever;” and increased year-end bonuses for three key members.  

Looking long-term, cremations are “more popular than ever,” they say, and the columbarium on site is roughly halfway full, or at least halfway sold. So now there are plans in place to procure a second columbarium sometime next year, but there could be some challenges: the tariffs that have been proposed by the incoming presidential administration.  

Should those tariffs go into effect as presently proposed, it would increase prices of goods coming in from foreign countries, specifically Canada, which would ratchet up costs on certain elements of the columbarium and make acquiring a new one that much more expensive.  

So where would the funding for future roads and elements like that come from? As usual, the cemetery is largely funded through donations, but a proposal was floated to add a surcharge to the purchases of burials and graves, which would provide some additional financial foundation for future plans. 

“I know we get a lot of donations, and we’ve depended on donations, but I wonder... Long term, are we going to have Bob around, and all of us that have been involved in trying to get donations?” Kent Preston, the board’s vice president, said. “I guess [we need] some way to make some money to be able to continue with paving years from now – our roads that don’t exist yet. That’s what I’m worried about.” 

With phase two of the road reconstruction complete, the group will begin to remove the easels outlining their early plans that dot different areas of the town. Phase Three is scheduled to begin in about five years – provided, of course, that benefactors remain in good health, and that donations continue to come in.