ABOVE: Lakeside Cemetery President Michael Schutz accepts a check for $10,000 towards the new lawnmower, presented by Fox Lake Conservation League Gambling Manager Chris Eisenmenger on Thursday morning at the Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont, with additional support from Vice President Brad Buhmann, Board Member Lynn Johnson and Mark Atkinson of the Blazer Bar and Grill in Fairmont. Photo by Vanessa Schultze

FAIRMONT– Summer is a busy time for mowing at Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont as it takes about 65 hours a week to cover the whole cemetery, which spans 56 acres. When the cemetery recently put out a call asking for donations for a new lawnmower, money started coming in, including $10,000 from Fox Lake Conservation League.

Paula Bulfer, manager of Lakeside Cemetery, does the vast majority of the mowing, along with Mark Detterman and a few other occasional volunteers. They generally mow from May to October.

She said their old lawnmower that needed to be replaced had about 2,000 hours on it.

“We can’t afford to have a mower down when the grass is growing,” Bulfer said.

They put out a call for donations and Bill Farnham of Yeager Implement in Blue Earth offered to sell them one at cost. So instead of paying about $16,500, the cemetery just needed to raise $10,000, which Fox Lake Conservation League covered.

Chris Eisenmenger, gambling manager of the Fox Lake Conservation League, Inc. said, “With 10,000 to 11,000 graves out there, I think everyone on our board knows someone out there and this was a need for them.”

She said this donation is one of their more significant gifts, though they support other events and causes around the county.

Mark Atkinson of the Blazer Bar is one of six charitable gambling sites that the conservation leagues has in Martin County so Eisenmenger acknowledged the role that plays in giving this gift.

“This is where some of the money is going,” she said

Bulfer and the rest of the board expressed thankfulness for the gift, as well as for all of the other donations that came in, which she said will go to cover mowing expenses.

Last summer, she said it cost them $46,000 just to mow when you factor in parts, blades, oil and gas.

“We go through a lot of gas because they’re running hard,” Bulfer said.

Aside from donations, the only money the cemetery has coming in is from funerals, which have been down lately. Bulfer said in 2023 they had 42 funerals, which is about half of what they had been doing in a year.

“It’s scary. I don’t know what we’re going do, that’s why these donors are so important,” Bulfer said.

Speaking to why plot sales and funerals in general are down, Bulfer said she thinks more people are opting to get cremated. She also brought up a recent change in Minnesota law that went into effect on July 1 which now make natural organic reduction, NOR, also known as human composting, legal in the state of Minnesota. Right now this is legal in just 13 states.

“That will hurt us, too,” Bulfer said.”Our costs are just going to keep getting bigger.”

In the summer of 2023, the board had actually asked the Martin County Commissioners if the county could take over control of the cemetery because it was struggling to find financials and personnel. While the county did not take it over, it did release one-time funds in the amount of $50,435.

Even though Bulfer is still nervous, she’s hopeful and she’s grateful for whatever they get.

“We’re coming around with the help of donors. We’re trying not to spend anything we don’t have to until we’re built up a little bit,” she said.

While monetary donations are appreciated, donated labor is as well. Bulfer said that CHS did two volunteer service days where crews came out to trim this year.

“They came out with 10 and got about the entire cemetery trimmed, which takes about 57 hours with just me and Mark doing it,” Bulfer said. “We count on people who care about the cemetery and what’s going to happen to it. Thank goodness for them.”