SAUGUS ― As leaves fall along with temperatures drop, the town’s annual fall cemetery cleanup is underway.
The Saugus Cemetery Department’s fall cleanup will begin at the Riverside Cemetery on Nov. 29.
“The Cemetery Commission kindly asks members of the public to remove any personal and holiday and seasonal items from the grounds before the cleanup begins,” the town’s Cemetery Commission said in a press release.
The commission is made up of five members: Chair Richard Thompson, William Marchand, John Zirpolo Jr., Thomas Nolan, and Ronald Wallace.
The five members work alongside Superintendent of Cemeteries John A. Falasca III
The commission oversees and implements policies regulating the town’s cemeteries, while the Cemetery Department as a whole holds a series of responsibilities from burials to cleanup to maintenance.
Riverside Cemetery, where the town’s fall cleanup will begin, is located on Winter Street. Their department will be back in action in the spring for the town’s annual spring cleanup initiative.
The Cemetery Commission and Department are not responsible for the safekeeping of any personal holiday and/or seasonal items in the cemeteries. If those are not removed from gravesites by Nov. 29, they will be removed by the department.
All veterans’ flags will remain on the gravesites until the cleanup, but will be removed along with everything else. Flags will be put away for the winter months but placed back on gravesites in May before Memorial Day.
If there are any questions regarding the fall cleanup, contact members of the Cemetery Department at 781-231-4170.
