January 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends of Lexington Odd Fellows Cemetery:

Since its incorporation in June 2018, the mission of LOFC has been to preserve and maintain the historic Odd Fellows Cemetery. With your help we are well on our way to meeting this goal. Thus far we have received $214,110.53 in donations from 292 donors, ranging in amount from $25 to $11,000, with the average donation being $733.26. Our anonymous donor has generously matched $200,000 of these donations. Although a portion of these funds must be used to cover the annual maintenance costs, the remainder of the funds will be assigned to the endowment fund.

Presently your Board and the Investment Committee are reviewing prudent investment options designed to produce revenue. Our goal is to create an endowment fund sufficient to cover annual costs for maintenance in perpetuity. Simply put, based on our annual maintenance costs, we need an endowment of at least a million dollars. As we have not yet reached the halfway point toward this ambitious goal, we must continue to ask for your financial support in this endeavor. If you would like to honor a former teacher, coach, friend or family member, consider donating in their honor, and a notice of your donation will be sent to their family. Therefore, if you have not given, send a check made payable to LOFC, Post Office Box 1213, Lexington, MS 39095 or visit our website and make an on-line donation using a credit card.

In addition to maintenance and fundraising, we continue to have issues related to the security of LOFC. Evidence suggests that persons are entering the cemetery after closing hours at sundown, for nefarious purposes. Sadly, there has been vandalism. Therefore, the Board has closed and locked four of the five cemetery gates, and are exploring the best means to lock the fifth gate at the north end at closing time. In the event there is a funeral, more than one gate will be open for access and egress.

Further, there continue to be complaints regarding objects on graves that have been deemed to be inappropriate pursuant to Rule 1 under “Flowers and Decorations” as posted on the website. Specifically, there are several graves that have blinking lights which not only the Board, but also many others, find offensive and inappropriate for a historic cemetery such as LOFC. Ideally, we prefer that family members remove the blinking lights, otherwise they will be removed by maintenance pursuant to the LOFC Rules and Regulations.

As we enter a new decade, the Board thanks you for your generous support of LOFC. If you have any ideas on how we can improve the grounds, the website, or any other facet of LOFC, please feel free to share them with the Board or various committee members. We welcome your input. Moreover, if you have any interest in becoming involved in LOFC in some capacity, we would very much like to hear from you.

Amanda Povall Tailyour, Editor