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Representatives from Vestal Hills
Memorial Park informally polled several
residents of the greater Broome County community regarding what they want
and expect from their local cemetery – and Vestal Hills is listening and acting
on their suggestions.
In 1996, when Vestal Hills was distressed and in
need of tender loving care, CMS Mid-Atlantic's Chairman, Bernard Stoecklein, was
by asked by the lot owners to become president of Vestal Hills. Mr. Stoecklein immediately embarked on a
program dedicated to restoring the financial integrity of Vestal Hills and
restoring the beauty and dignity that was the hallmark of this cemetery for
decades.
This restoration program needed to be funded and
the only means available to a small, non-profit association like Vestal Hills
was to raise revenue through the sale of cemetery property. Vestal Hills is regulated by the New
York State Cemetery Board and the Attorney General’s Bureau of Charities. It is not a business corporation that can
go to a bank – it is a small cemetery owned by its lot owners. Vestal Hills cannot borrow
money.
To fuel this restoration program, sales needed
to increase and the only way to increase sales was to contact local residents by
telephone to ask them to consider the benefits of pre-planning. Vestal Hills realized that using the
telephone to contact residents was bound to cause irritation. Nevertheless, as Mr. Stoecklein
explained, “The value of the survival of this cemetery to the community mandated
extraordinary efforts that ultimately work to the benefit of the
community”.
In the past several months, several residents
have expressed dissatisfaction with the methods Vestal Hills used to reach out
to families in the community.
Vestal Hills has taken these concerns to heart. “We respect the residents of the
Broome
County community and have
discontinued these efforts,” Stoecklein explained. “We will no longer conduct a formal
program of systematic telemarketing in Broome County. The community has spoken and we have
listened.”
Vestal Hills has reached a position of financial
stability. Today, nearly one out of
every two Vestal families that choose ground burial or above ground entombment
select Vestal Hills Memorial Park as their final resting place. While community support is still
essential to the survival of Vestal Hills, Vestal will use other means to reach
out to members of the community.
“A cemetery is for the living,”
explained Stoecklein. “We want to
preserve the natural beauty of Vestal Hills
Memorial Park so that it
continues to be a place where people can find solace and inspiration.”
Stoecklein invites the community to
visit Vestal Hills Memorial Park to experience the beauty and solitude that can
be found throughout the property -- in the gardens, at the gazebo and at Mirror
Lake or to enjoy the breathtaking view from Liberty Terrace or the Tower of
Memories Mausoleum which serves as a local landmark.
Vestal Hills
Memorial Park operates as a
non-profit organization under the oversight of the New York State Attorney
General’s Bureau of Charities and also under the auspices of the New York State
Cemetery Board. It also has a
seven-member board of directors, the majority of whom are Broome County residents.
For more information about Vestal Hills Memorial
Park, visit the Vestal website at www.vestalhillsmemorialpark.org. The cemetery
is located at 3997 Vestal
Road.
The office is open daily during the week from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and
until noon on Saturdays. Family
Service personnel are available Saturday and Sunday.
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