Located northwest of Hallam along Pleasant Valley Road, Kreutz Creek Cemetery is home to gravesites dating back to the 18th century, including the graves of hundreds of military veterans. It's managed by a nonprofit association in Hellam Township, and the association is seeking new volunteer members for its board of directors to serve as managers and caretakers of the property. At one time, the board included nine active volunteers, but now only four members remain on the board, and all are age 70 or older.

"In a lot of parts of the state, these small cemeteries are facing the issues we are," said Mike Kondor, cemetery superintendent. "The people managing them having gotten older, and in some cases, the last person has died, and no one is left to care for the cemetery." When that happens, the cemetery either becomes the township's responsibility or in some cases, it's closed and covered up as though it never existed, he said, adding, "We don't want this cemetery to fall into the same category as the other ones that have gone away."

For Kondor, the cemetery has a personal connection. His son was killed in action in 2004 in Iraq while serving in the Army and is buried on the grounds. "I decided I would volunteer with the cemetery," he said of his involvement, which began in 2005. "It's important to me that veterans' resting places are taken care of."

Cemetery board president Ned Haines has been volunteering with the cemetery for almost 25 years, taking over for his father, who was also a volunteer. "My dad, my mom, and just recently my older sister are buried there," he said. "My grandmother and grandfather are buried there, and my wife and I own a plot there. Family is the strongest draw for me to continue to volunteer."

Kondor and Haines emphasized that volunteers can help out as much or as little as their schedules allow. "The need to get things done varies during the year," Haines said. "We may go as long as six months without a burial, and there's nothing to do. We have projects for everybody." Volunteer opportunities include maintaining cemetery records, accounting tasks, lawn mowing, weed trimming and monitoring settling of new gravesites.

One of the most important jobs at the cemetery is knowing how to locate burial plots on a cemetery map and make sure bodies are buried in the correct places, Kondor said. "Ned does most of the plotting, and I've been training in case I need to do that on my own, but eventually, somebody else is going to need to learn how to do that," he stated.

Today, the cemetery contains more than 2,000 gravesites, and many are unoccupied, waiting for those who have reserved them. Sites are still available for purchase in the developed sections of the cemetery, and there is an undeveloped area that offers potential for limited future expansion.

To learn more about volunteering, contact Haines at 717-755-2060.