RYDER, N.D. (AP) - Officials have created a fund to ensure the preservation of a 110-year-old cemetery in a small community in central North Dakota.
The Ryder Cemetery Historical Preservation Fund was recently established to maintain the Rose Hill Cemetery in Ryder, the Minot Daily News reported.
The permanent fund is being administered by the Minot Area Community Foundation in Minot. It’s the foundation’s first cemetery preservation funding project.
The fund’s board of directors was created with representatives of the city’s past and present churches. All of the fund’s earnings will go toward the cemetery’s preservation.
A letter about the fund said the goal is to raise $200,000, and donations will be accepted in any amount.
The letter said that the limited care for the community’s cemetery can be attributed to Ryder’s population decline. Ryder currently has 82 residents.
“The number of people who take care of the cemetery has dwindled as well,” the letter said. “Many people no longer live in the area and cannot visit the cemetery but have family members and friends buried there.”
The cemetery was established in 1907, which is one year after the city of Ryder was founded.
“The preservation fund will continue for future generations to maintain and preserve Ryder’s cemetery,” the letter said
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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
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