This column is written for a friend of mine who continues to be amazed at the flowers on the grave markers at Bulloch Memorial Gardens on Highway 80 East. He pointed out to me that it appears as if every grave marker has flowers on it, and that they all look really good.
So, I did some investigating and this is what I found out. As many of you already know, Bulloch Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum was purchased in 2004 by Joiner Anderson Funeral Home. Since acquiring it, Mark Anderson and Tracy Joiner have made many improvements to the grounds.
"We have done a lot of work on Bulloch Memorial," Joiner said. "We built a new gate leading into the cemetery as well as a lot of landscaping including trees and shrubs. We are very proud of how it looks today."
The 27-acre cemetery has 11 garden sections including a veterans section, an upright monument section and mausoleum. But the question remains about the flowers, which are almost exclusively artificial..
"Well, some people bring their own arrangements, and some will have florists come out to the grave site and put flowers on the plot for them" Joiner said. "And, some folks use the floral program that is offered at Bulloch Memorial. For a fee, new floral arrangements are placed on the grave site four times a year - Fall, Christmas, Early Spring, and Summer. That way the family knows that there is always a nice looking group of flowers on their loved one's grave. It really is pretty at Christmas time. It is like looking over a sea of red."
Anderson said the majority of comments that he receives about the cemetery concern the flags that are flown across the front.
"When there is a national holiday or the funeral of a veteran, we will put American flags across the front of the cemetery," Anderson said. "It really is a very pretty sight, because for whatever reason, there is always a breeze there. When all of the flags are blowing in the breeze, it really is something."
Anderson said that someone made a very interesting comment to him about those flags.
"This gentleman told me that the flags at Bulloch Memorial Gardens made the cemetery come alive," he said. "An interesting choice of words, but I knew what he meant by them."
Anderson said they are very careful to remove any arrangements that are dry rotting to ensure that they don't "break apart" and blow around the cemetery. "It is a lot more work than most people probably realize to keep the grounds, but it is a perpetual care cemetery, and that is what we do."
So, I did some investigating and this is what I found out. As many of you already know, Bulloch Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum was purchased in 2004 by Joiner Anderson Funeral Home. Since acquiring it, Mark Anderson and Tracy Joiner have made many improvements to the grounds.
"We have done a lot of work on Bulloch Memorial," Joiner said. "We built a new gate leading into the cemetery as well as a lot of landscaping including trees and shrubs. We are very proud of how it looks today."
The 27-acre cemetery has 11 garden sections including a veterans section, an upright monument section and mausoleum. But the question remains about the flowers, which are almost exclusively artificial..
"Well, some people bring their own arrangements, and some will have florists come out to the grave site and put flowers on the plot for them" Joiner said. "And, some folks use the floral program that is offered at Bulloch Memorial. For a fee, new floral arrangements are placed on the grave site four times a year - Fall, Christmas, Early Spring, and Summer. That way the family knows that there is always a nice looking group of flowers on their loved one's grave. It really is pretty at Christmas time. It is like looking over a sea of red."
Anderson said the majority of comments that he receives about the cemetery concern the flags that are flown across the front.
"When there is a national holiday or the funeral of a veteran, we will put American flags across the front of the cemetery," Anderson said. "It really is a very pretty sight, because for whatever reason, there is always a breeze there. When all of the flags are blowing in the breeze, it really is something."
Anderson said that someone made a very interesting comment to him about those flags.
"This gentleman told me that the flags at Bulloch Memorial Gardens made the cemetery come alive," he said. "An interesting choice of words, but I knew what he meant by them."
Anderson said they are very careful to remove any arrangements that are dry rotting to ensure that they don't "break apart" and blow around the cemetery. "It is a lot more work than most people probably realize to keep the grounds, but it is a perpetual care cemetery, and that is what we do."