HANNIBAL, MO. -- The old caretaker's home at Riverside Cemetery in Hannibal is no more.
In the last few years, without a caretaker, the home stood open to vandals.
"The house really became a liability and unsafe and it looked horrible," Kathy Dugger, Riverside's board secretary said. "We had a man in the community, Ronnie Williams, that volunteered to tear the house down for nothing." Williams operates R.L. Williams Excavation.
The old caretaker's home just wasn't the look Dugger wanted for a place she visits often.
"This cemetery is a beautiful place. You can see the deer roam. There's all sorts of deer up here. You can see the river," Dugger said.
Board members have worked hard to get the once overgrown cemetery back to it's original look ... but the money just isn't there.
"We have some awesome volunteers that come up here everyday and night to check things out. We have some volunteers that have family buried up here that just work work work up here," Dugger said.
Neil Anderson took on the hefty task of mowing the land this year.
"He has done a great job. He's taken a real interest in things, setting up stones and trying to repair some as well. We have a big dead tree here that a Christian organization said they'd take it down in the fall. So we're very grateful for all the help we've received so far," Dugger said.
Board members with the Riverside Cemetery are always looking for more volunteers as well as donations for future upkeep.
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