New decoration restrictions coming to Metro historic cemeteries
PORTLAND, Ore. – Some of the oldest places around Portland are getting new rules.
New restrictions coming to all 14 historic cemeteries in the Portland Metro area will force some people to change the way they honor their friends and loved ones at their grave sites.
Starting Nov. 1, Metro will allow cemetery decorations like flowers and easels for two weeks after a burial. It will also allow flowers around Memorial Day, artificial flowers during the winter and plantings with written permission.
Toys, vases and other mementos will not be allowed after Nov. 1. Neither will trees, shrubs, plants and temporary grave enclosures like bricks, fencing or stones.
“People that are buried on either side, their families get upset too because they’re not allowed to do the same thing. It’s encroaching on their space,” said Metro Park Ranger Howard Rasmussen.
Metro posted notices in multiple languages around the cemeteries.
“We have to remember that the cemetery is for everyone,” said Metro spokesman Paul Slyman. “It’s for the people that are buried here. It’s also for the people that visit the cemetery. So on our minds there’s safety, respect and responsible care of the cemetery.”
Slyman said the new rules will be gradually enforced across Metro’s 14 cemeteries.
These rules have been in place for over a decad. This is just now being enforced because, since I reported Metro for digging up OCCUPIED graves.These people have been tossing the HUMAN REMAINS and CASKET PARTS they unearth all over the cemeteries. Visit my facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/#!/ron.overlie )  to see the evidence I photographed in ONE EVENING at Multnomah Park Cemetery! ( I pointed all of these items out to FOUR Portland Police Officers... They BURIED the HUMAN REMAINS / EVIDENCE under a tree!) KATU you are not that GULLIBLE! Just ask Anita Kiss'ee! OH thats right she is no longer with KATU! Is that because she knew the truth and put Michael Jordan ( Oregon State C.O.O.) in this story http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Police-Former-Ore-cemetery-manager-admits-to-disturbing-graves-136682368.html?smobile=y  after confessing to 640 counts of GRAVES FRAUD in this 2010 http://www.katu.com/news/local/106323963.html  story? PLEASE KATU tell the truth and STOP AIDING Metro in the COVER UP! Please do the right thing... Report on the POISON dumped INTO Blue Lake AND Fairview Lake!! I'm NOT asking you to... I am TELLING you to! My contact info. is on my facebook if you would like to talk! E-mail me at ronoverlie@aol.com
I think this might be the first good idea Metro has ever had.
Sounds similar to the rules at Willamette National.. They ban anything other than flowers, but the do allow them year round. Wilting flowers will be removed and all will be removed after 2 weeks, or when they need to mow the grass.
My pet peeve are those people who put stones on graves. It's really filthy looking and irritating.
 @JLO Memorials to the dead at a grave site take many forms--wreaths, bouquets of flowers, small items the deceased person enjoyed while they were alive, or notes and photos encased in plastic sleeves. Mourning and remembering the dead are rituals that were performed even among prehistoric man. Jewish tradition calls for placing a stone or pebble atop a headstone or grave during a visit. Whatever the initial reason might have been, the gesture is now a symbolic one to honor the memory of a dead loved one, friend or relative. Read more: What Is the Meaning of Stones on Jewish Graves? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5070506_meaning-stones-jewish-graves.html#ixzz29ZFa5Kvg
We have to remember that the cemetery is for everyone,â said Metro spokesman Paul Slyman. âItâs for the people that are buried here. Itâs also for the people that visit the cemetery. So on our minds thereâs safety, respect and responsible care of the cemetery.â
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Sounds like a good idea actually. Putting up extra enclosures or fences or planting etc seems to go a bit far.
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 @Just Lookin Agreed. There is a time to stop spending endless time in the cemetery, making tributes to buried bones or ashes... but instead to remember the deceased in a spiritual or humanitarian manner instead. The cemetery is a place for the bones, not the deceased person one loved. Look up, not down.