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Family Says Cemetery Is Too Trashy

263 views · Published 30 April 2013 · 2:11 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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By Jerry Askin  One family thinks owners of a Chattanooga cemetery aren't doing enough to keep it clean - and that's a dishonor to their loved ones buried there. Michelle Adair buried her son, Charleston Beard, a month ago.  She's still grieving and she's not happy about the conditions at the Highland Memorial Garden Cemetery.I just think that the dead needs to be respected, as well as the living, and it doesn't hurt to pick up beer bottles, candy papers, and wrappers, says Adair.She says it looks as if he was buried yesterday, with just a pile of dirt covering the grave - no grass.  That's why Tuesday, her family did the work themselves - seeding the area around his headstone.As a concerned mother, I just felt like I didn't want my son to be sitting here with his grave falling down in the ground, so I just decided that we would come up here and fill it up.Tuesday, we could see branches broken over tombstones, roads in disrepair, and a number of bottles and beer cans scattered over the property.     I'm hoping that it'll look better than it does. It's no reason why it shouldn't, says Adair.We saw crews at the property Tuesday, but Michelle Adair thinks they're not getting enough done. We called the property manager, Denise Bradley.  She's waiting to comment until she hears from her boss. Until they get answers, Colleen Wright -- one of Beard's family members -- says they'll continue to do the work themselves. It's not even disrespectful to the deceased, but also to the families and the loved ones who come here and visit them.  We've got to walk through mud trying to put flower on graves, and it's just awful, says Wright.We're still waiting for a response from the cemetery's property manager.  Depend on us to let you know when they get back with us.

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