A proposal to hold a Day of the Dead-themed fundraiser for the West Tisbury Cemetery caused grave concern for the select board last week. 

Margaret Carman with the Friends of West Tisbury came to the board on Wednesday with an application for the event to raise awareness and kick off a capital campaign to help replace the rotting fence around the cemetery. 

Ms. Carman proposed, in the style of the traditional November Mexican holiday, having families decorate their plots with photos, flowers, battery operated candles and mementos of their loved ones. At the July 19 event, she planned to have historical tours of the cemetery, and wanted to have food trucks to offer attendees something to eat. 

But some members of the board and the public worried about having such a festive atmosphere at the graveyard, especially for families who may not want their loved ones’ graves involved. 

Organizers want to raise money for the rotting cemetery fence.

Ray Ewing

Organizers want to raise money for the rotting cemetery fence.

Ray Ewing

Select board member Jessica Miller asked how families could contact the organizers, and if the burden was on the families to opt out.

“I’m nervous about the idea that people have to say, ‘Oh you know what? No I don’t want to,’” Ms. Miller said. 

Ms. Carman said that organizers could ask attendees to not place things on other people’s plots, and was open to other suggestions.

“I wouldn’t have thought that it would be a problem that somebody might go to a specific grave and put a flower down,” she said.

But she was confused by some of the resistance, as tours regularly take place at the cemetery and anyone can go there. 

“It’s not that we’re going to have people walking on those graves or anything different than on an average Saturday where people are going to see their loved ones, and they might walk across a plot,” Ms. Carman said.

Others questioned the need for the event in the first place, as funding for the fence had been rejected by town meeting, meaning there was no official project to raise money for. 

“The town has not decided to do anything,” said resident Prudy Burt. “There is no plan, there is no cost estimate.” 

Select board member Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter raised concerns about having food trucks at the cemetery, a point that was echoed by Ms. Miller. 

“I would be hesitant with food trucks, as well,” she said. “The other thing [is] that once you have food, you have to have bathrooms, which would be porta-potties at the cemetery, which doesn’t feel great to me.” 

Ms. Carman was amenable to changes to the event, saying she would even be up to dropping the fundraising aspect, making it more of a social awareness campaign and cultural event. 

Select board members Cynthia Mitchell recommended the organizers think about the concerns voiced at the meeting and come back with the plans at a future meeting.