Riverside VFW Cemetery in Siletz Rededicated After Clean-Up

Visitors enjoy the new memorial walk along the Siletz River at Riverside VFW Cemetery, despite rainy weather.

Despite steady rain and a cold wind, more than 60 people turned out November 9 for an emotional and moving re-dedication of the VFW Riverside Cemetery on Logsden Road near Siletz. Cemetery volunteers had struggled to keep up the facility for many years with no help and no budget, until assistance arrived the summer from an unlikely place: the Lincoln County Jail Inmate Work Crew. Community volunteer Janet Cummiskey has family interred at Riverside. She became frustrated over Memorial Day at how overgrown the site was and how it lacked any amenities. She had a conversation with Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Frey, which led to assigning the Work Crew to the project. The November 9 ribbon-cutting showcased a graveled memorial walk, a safety fence along the cliff bordering the Siletz River, and beautiful sight-lines after extensive brush removal. Donation of land from Walker Farms across the road added a safe turnout and parking circle.

Deputy Steve Frey and Janet Cummiskey cut the ribbon while Cemetery caretaker John Miller looks on.

Sheriff Dennis Dotson said the Inmate Work Crew took its job seriously at Riverside. The Work Crew program is operating on a two-year grant made with federal stimulus funds, which allowed hiring additional deputies. “This program gives selected inmates an opportunity to learn how they can contribute to society,” Dotson said, and can give them a fresh perspective on how they can live their lives after being released from jail.

Lincoln County Deputy Steve Frey and Denise Fanucchi enjoy the view from the Memorial Walk at Riverside VFW Cemetery.

The event brought out a half-dozen representatives of the Sheriff’s Department, members of the Lincoln County board, Siletz city and Tribal representatives, members of the 6th Grade Class at Siletz Charter School and the public. The class delivered copies of a booklet of biographical poems written from the perspective of community volunteers and veterans. The re-dedication was in part in memory of Holli Miller, who died shortly before the project got underway. Her father, John, has been caretaker at Riverside for many years. He said the cemetery was laid in 1903 and has some tribal graves from that period. The oldest veteran laid to rest there is from the Spanish-American war, he said.

Read more about this project here.

Janet Cummiskey read this poem, which she wrote after a request from Siletz Charter School 6th grade teacher Pat Whetsone:

I am a community volunteer and the wife, daughter and granddaughter of  Veterans.

I wonder,  ”Who were the Heroes laid to rest in this cemetery I’m working in?”

I hear only calm water

I see only green; a symbol of peace

I want to enjoy this moment of peace for eternity

I am a community volunteer and the wife, daughter and granddaughter of  Veterans

I pretend there are no wars

I feel the gratitude of  veterans and their families for my work and dedication

I touch the earth where I will be laid to rest with these Heroes

I worry about people forgetting to honor these heroes

I cry about my own fallen heroes

I am a community volunteer and the wife, daughter and granddaughter of  Veterans

I understand that these Heroes fought and died for my freedom

I say, “Thank you, Veterans, for your service”

I dream of visiting these grounds in the years to come and feeling as proud as I am now

I try to show that I am grateful for each veteran’s service

I hope each person that visits this sacred place feels the same sense of pride I feel

I am a community volunteer and the wife, daughter and granddaughter of  Veterans

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