ROXBURY — Selectmen learned Tuesday night that they will have to gather more facts about several headstones in Frye Cemetery that fell off their bases before they can be repaired — specifically, determining which headstones are in Mexico and which are in Roxbury.
The cemetery is located in both towns along Route 120.
Nina Hodgkins, Cemetery Committee member, told Board of Selectmen Chairman John Sutton and Selectman Rodney “Bing” Cross that she met with two men from Laperle-Durland Memorials of Mexico on June 17 and they walked the cemetery grounds. They noticed that some monuments had fallen off their bases and had sunk into the ground over time and discussed how the problem should be remedied.
“Some of the stones need to be dug up, and some would need extensive work to set them back on their base,” Hodgkins said.
She said she contacted Mexico Town Manager John Madigan about the matter, and he told her he would need more facts to present to the Mexico Board of Selectmen, who next meet on July 28.
On Monday, Hodgkins said she spoke with Vincent Lobozzo of TriState Flag Inc. in Lewiston and learned the black markers for veterans’ graves cost $7 for plastic markers and $11 for metal, complete with a medallion and a rod. She didn’t know if any of those markers needed to be replaced.
Hodgkins said she also spoke with Arthur Meader of Meader & Sons Funeral Home in Rumford about the black, oblong plaques marked with the veteran’s information.
“He supplies those and would be willing to replace the two that are broken with no charge,” she said.
Selectmen took that under advisement and agreed to get the information Madigan sought before moving ahead with repairs.
“We have to find out how many (headstones) are in Mexico and what needs to be done to them,” Sutton said.
Most of the stones he’s concerned about are lying flat on the ground, he said.
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