Groundskeepers ready cemeteries for holiday

BANGOR – Neither high fuel costs nor an infestation of grub worms has deterred the people whose job it is to prepare area cemeteries for today’s tribute to the nation’s veterans, as well as troops who are serving now.

In Bangor, preparations for Memorial Day observances have been going on for weeks and will continue today, Jerry Hughes, assistant director of the city of Bangor’s public works department, said Friday.

The problem with grub worms actually began last summer, Hughes noted, adding that the infestation that has struck Greater Bangor and coastal parts of Maine has left behind patches of brown dead and dying grass on lawns throughout the area. He said the city’s cemeteries have not escaped the grub worm plague.

The city’s forester has collected samples of the grub worms and will meet soon with insect experts to determine what kind they are and how to prevent them from returning.

Grub worms are the larvae of three types of invasive beetles: the often seen Japanese beetle and the lesser-known but fairly widespread European and northern masked chafer beetles, both of which resemble common June beetles.

All three types lay their eggs in the soil during the summer. The eggs soon hatch into small grubs that spend the next several months eating grass roots. The larvae then spend the winter deeper in the soil and resume feeding in the spring before emerging as adult beetles in early summer.

Hughes said public works employees have spent the last few weeks raking off the dead grass and reseeding the bare patches left behind. The city also brought in a licensed insecticide sprayer. With that work done, veterans groups and other volunteers then could visit the cemeteries to decorate the graves of the city’s war dead.

Hughes said he doesn’t expect record-high gasoline and diesel prices to have much of an impact on the usual program of mowing and maintenance in cemeteries.

The three cemeteries the city is responsible for maintaining – Pinegrove, Oakgrove and Maplegrove – are mowed with several push mowers, which don’t consume much fuel, and a relatively new riding mower that costs about $40 a week in diesel to run.There also is a city section in Mount Hope Cemetery, but that is maintained by the cemetery corporation on a contractual basis.

Though Memorial Day puts cemeteries in the spotlight each year, those involved in the maintenance effort say that keeping cemeteries and grave sites looking good can be a full-time responsibility.

“It’s a seven-day-a-week operation. Death waits for nobody and death is untimely,” Hughes said, adding that he is in contact with area funeral directors daily from early spring through late fall.

“Our crews will be out on Memorial Day,” Hughes said, adding that the workers will “keep a low profile” so as not to disturb mourners or ceremonies planned for today.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

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