The Nov. 1 half-page display advertisement in the Independent paid for by Middletown Neighborhoods Preservation Association, contained distortion of truth and out-and-out falsehoods.
The first item is wildlife. What wildlife exists, especially the deer, is because of the close proximity of the Navy Road. Any wildlife displaced has relocated to the adjacent 20-plus acres owned by the cemetery and also to the cemetery proper.
The 22 acres leased to the township was originally farmland that became overgrown with junk trees. Had I sent a mower over when I was first hired in 1973, there would not be a tree there.
The ad states that the cemetery is owned by "… their supporters." This is an outright lie; the cemetery was incorporated as a rural cemetery on March 26, 1855, as a nonprofit association of lot owners. Toda, there are more than 12,290 lot owners, living and deceased. The cemetery is governed by a board of trustees consisting of nine lot owners, elected for three-year terms.
The timing of the ad was such as to preclude any retraction prior to the Nov. 7 election. If anyone would like to verify the facts, they can come to my office and see documents leasing a portion of this tract dated 1967, when I was still in the U.S. Army.
Further verification would show the leasing of the remainder of the tract on Sept. 5, 1978, to be used for athletic fields. It was during this time that I personally caused the clearing of most of the area, up to 50 feet of the property line. The two existing fields were laid out in 1980.
The proper name for the fields is Fair View Fields. The word "cemetery" is reserved for use by Fair View Cemetery. As general manager of the cemetery, I feel I have to protect the time-honored reputation the cemetery has had for 140 years.
Leo T. Foster
Manager
Fair View Cemetery
Middletown