Townships map new direction for cemeterie
Mapping surveys have begun at Helena Twp Cemetery. Photo by Mark McAlpine
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New Maple Grove water main installation. Photo by Mark McAlpine
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By Mark McAlpine, Contributing Writer
Most rural townships in Michigan struggle to find enough tax dollars to pay for repairs and maintenance for roads, sewers, fire departments, parks, cemeteries, and payroll for staff members. Each budget year, tough choices are made to maintain high priority projects first. If they are lucky, adequate tax millage has been approved by voters for some key budget items. Those projects not funded are put on the shelf for consideration in the following year.
That was the situation faced by Elk Rapids Township Maple Grove Cemetery for many years. There were enough tax dollars to keep the grass mowed but not much more. An effort to pass an operating millage for the cemetery failed. By 2025, broken water lines and faucets littered the cemetery’s 19 acres. Downed tree limbs, tree stumps, and heavy brush completely blocked the rear of the cemetery grounds. A mapping of cemetery plots and update to the records was badly needed to ensure accuracy and develop a database.
Maple Grove Cemetery was given new life after the sale of the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall in August 2025. The township received $625,000 from the sale and committed a portion of those funds for needed repairs at Maple Grove. They kept that promise in 2026, budgeting $175,000 for Maple Grove improvements. They have spent $125,000 of that budget. Local contractors stepped up with donations that have been important to the township efforts, including a time-and-equipment $7,220 donation from Stuer Excavating for cemetery cleanup and a $9,000 water pipe material donation from Michigan Pipe and Valve.
New pumps, a new 4-inch water main, and heavy-duty faucets have been installed. Dead trees, stumps, broken limbs, and brush were removed throughout the cemetery, dramatically changing the look and feel. Over 400 plot markers were located and uncovered. Video documentation of 130 plots was completed for database verification. A reclamation project was completed in the rear lower level of the cemetery with surprising results. A historic Potter’s Field was exposed and documented in that area.
The seven-acre Helena Township Cemetery, located east of Alden, has suffered a similar fate due to budget funding constraints. While the basic needs of the cemetery were taken care of, there was a strong need to reorganize the cemetery records after years of neglect. Helena Township committed funding for cemetery improvements in 2025 and 2026. In the fall of 2025, veteran memorial signs were installed. In 2026, a digital mapping program was initiated.
Over the winter, Helena Township Clerk Oryana Leffew met with Trimedia Environmental & Engineering from Marquette to explore ways to properly map the cemetery and capture ownership data. In January, the township contracted with Trimedia to complete ground penetrating radar studies and drone lidar mapping services. That data will be combined with updated plot records on the township website. “Eventually, we will have a page on our cemetery site with aerial views of the cemetery with mapping lines and plot numbers,” Leffew explained. “Visitors to the website will be able to locate the gravesites and populate the screen with the names of those buried at each site along with headstone pictures. It will be a great benefit to our residents and their relatives.”
Elk Rapids Township is planning their own mapping improvements for Maple Grove. Deed reviews, plot availability audits, and database updates have begun. These improvements will be followed by new section maps, more video documentation, plot cards, sign restoration, building maintenance and headstone cleaning. The township announced that the Rotary Club of Elk Rapids volunteers will hold their EPIC Day at the cemetery on Saturday, May 16 to begin the head stone cleaning. Elk Rapids AMVETS Post 114 will hold their annual Veteran Flag Day in Maple Grove on Sunday, May 17 and install 500 flags on veteran gravesites in preparation for Memorial Day.
As Memorial Day approaches, take a few minutes to visit the Helena Township Cemetery and Maple Grove in Elk Rapids. The veteran signs and gravesite flags will be standing as a testament to the importance of the cemeteries to their respective community and to the many who have served their country and are resting at peace.
Most rural townships in Michigan struggle to find enough tax dollars to pay for repairs and maintenance for roads, sewers, fire departments, parks, cemeteries, and payroll for staff members. Each budget year, tough choices are made to maintain high priority projects first. If they are lucky, adequate tax millage has been approved by voters for some key budget items. Those projects not funded are put on the shelf for consideration in the following year.
That was the situation faced by Elk Rapids Township Maple Grove Cemetery for many years. There were enough tax dollars to keep the grass mowed but not much more. An effort to pass an operating millage for the cemetery failed. By 2025, broken water lines and faucets littered the cemetery’s 19 acres. Downed tree limbs, tree stumps, and heavy brush completely blocked the rear of the cemetery grounds. A mapping of cemetery plots and update to the records was badly needed to ensure accuracy and develop a database.
Maple Grove Cemetery was given new life after the sale of the Historic Elk Rapids Town Hall in August 2025. The township received $625,000 from the sale and committed a portion of those funds for needed repairs at Maple Grove. They kept that promise in 2026, budgeting $175,000 for Maple Grove improvements. They have spent $125,000 of that budget. Local contractors stepped up with donations that have been important to the township efforts, including a time-and-equipment $7,220 donation from Stuer Excavating for cemetery cleanup and a $9,000 water pipe material donation from Michigan Pipe and Valve.
New pumps, a new 4-inch water main, and heavy-duty faucets have been installed. Dead trees, stumps, broken limbs, and brush were removed throughout the cemetery, dramatically changing the look and feel. Over 400 plot markers were located and uncovered. Video documentation of 130 plots was completed for database verification. A reclamation project was completed in the rear lower level of the cemetery with surprising results. A historic Potter’s Field was exposed and documented in that area.
The seven-acre Helena Township Cemetery, located east of Alden, has suffered a similar fate due to budget funding constraints. While the basic needs of the cemetery were taken care of, there was a strong need to reorganize the cemetery records after years of neglect. Helena Township committed funding for cemetery improvements in 2025 and 2026. In the fall of 2025, veteran memorial signs were installed. In 2026, a digital mapping program was initiated.
Over the winter, Helena Township Clerk Oryana Leffew met with Trimedia Environmental & Engineering from Marquette to explore ways to properly map the cemetery and capture ownership data. In January, the township contracted with Trimedia to complete ground penetrating radar studies and drone lidar mapping services. That data will be combined with updated plot records on the township website. “Eventually, we will have a page on our cemetery site with aerial views of the cemetery with mapping lines and plot numbers,” Leffew explained. “Visitors to the website will be able to locate the gravesites and populate the screen with the names of those buried at each site along with headstone pictures. It will be a great benefit to our residents and their relatives.”
Elk Rapids Township is planning their own mapping improvements for Maple Grove. Deed reviews, plot availability audits, and database updates have begun. These improvements will be followed by new section maps, more video documentation, plot cards, sign restoration, building maintenance and headstone cleaning. The township announced that the Rotary Club of Elk Rapids volunteers will hold their EPIC Day at the cemetery on Saturday, May 16 to begin the head stone cleaning. Elk Rapids AMVETS Post 114 will hold their annual Veteran Flag Day in Maple Grove on Sunday, May 17 and install 500 flags on veteran gravesites in preparation for Memorial Day.
As Memorial Day approaches, take a few minutes to visit the Helena Township Cemetery and Maple Grove in Elk Rapids. The veteran signs and gravesite flags will be standing as a testament to the importance of the cemeteries to their respective community and to the many who have served their country and are resting at peace.
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