Royal Slope volunteers complete cemetery work

ROYAL CITY — No one does it better than Royal City and the Royal Slope when it comes to community needs. Recently, a Royal volunteer group, including a budding Eagle Scout, completed another needed project.

It was an expansion of and upgrades to the cemetery – Royal Memorial Gardens – on the edge of town. Cemetery District No. 5 commissioner John Murphy, related the story behind these new developments.

Over the past two years, folks passing by or visiting the cemetery may have noticed some significant changes to the entrance. Beginning about two years ago, there was a flurry of activity involving excavations and basic construction. A pair of large brick columns and smaller posts appeared, followed by an adjoining concrete apron.

An iron gate appeared late in 2015. It featured the cemetery name across its banner. Nothing further happened for a year. Then two iron fence sections appeared, widening the entrance structure.

Shortly thereafter, an area of sagebrush to the left of the gate was cleared to bare ground. That was followed by another flurry of activity that led to the emergence of new lawn by early November.

“The idea for the addition of a gateway entrance stemmed from the retirement of former commissioner Carol Miller in 2011,” Murphy said.

Commissioners Maureen Saucedo, Daryl Chesterman, and Murphy wanted to honor her years of service with the presentation of a commemorative plaque. The process of searching for a graphic for the plaque, caused the commissioners to think about the possibility of creating a gate.

In a casual conversation with Kyle Gilbert, Murphy mentioned the gate proposal. Gilbert said his son, Carson, was seeking a project for his Eagle Scout qualification and would likely be interested in participating.

Seventeen-year-old Carson found himself having to make cold calls to vendors seeking materials and negotiating for price discounts. That was a requirement of his Eagle Scout program.

Carson learned to be effective and grew in confidence. But he and his family wondered what they had gotten themselves into at times. The project seemed to be dragging on interminably.

The excavation and infrastructure phase of the project was begun in the spring of 2015. That included construction of the brick support columns by local bricklayer Lynn Christensen, who worked for significantly less compensation than usual.

“His considerable skill resulted in perfectly constructed columns,” Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Murphy’s search for a supplier of a gate unit had been disappointing. It seemed that the ironworks industry had enough business. No one returned his calls.

Murphy was considering undertaking the construction of a gate from parts and components himself. Then he was told of a fence and gate vendor in Yakima.

Contact with that family business – Classic Welding, owned and operated by Sal and Andrea Gonzalez – worked. A visit to their small facility resulted in the single appropriately-sized gate they had in stock to be quite similar to Murphy’s proposed design.

“Sal offered to make any necessary modifications, without additional charge, after having already reduced his asking price,” Murphy said.

Murphy installed the electrical infrastructure and constructed the required concrete support base for the gate, work that Classic would ordinarily have done. Sal reduced the price of the gate by a significant additional amount.

During July of 2015, Carson, his mother Tyre, and his younger brother Logan put in many days of hard work in 100-degree temperatures, helping Murphy with the infrastructure portion of the project. Several other Gilbert family members, young and not so young, participated at times.

About ten members of the LDS First Ward also worked for a couple of hours one evening.

The pouring of the concrete apron was a major milestone. Ferguson Concrete donated the work required to pour and finish the surface.

Unfortunately, time was running out for the requirement that an Eagle project be completed prior to the candidate’s 18th birthday. Carson had to re-design his project to encompass only the construction of the gate support columns and related infrastructure.

Carson was awarded his Eagle Scout rating in the fall of 2015. Two of the commissioners attended the award ceremony.

“It was an honor to see Carson receive this well-deserved recognition,” Murphy said.

Carson and his family were pleased with the outcome of the project. They said Carson had gained much in the process, including several new practical skills.

Classic Welding delivered and installed the gate this spring. The commissioners were pleased. Sal and his crew commented that they were not aware of any cemetery that had such an impressive gate.

Admiring his work, Sal offered that it really needed matching side fence sections to complete the entrance statement. Murphy readily agreed.

Commission president Daryl Chesterman asserted that the commission could proceed only if Classic would reduce the cost to a particular amount. Classic, somewhat reluctantly, agreed, and the order was placed. Several months later, the additional sections were delivered and installed.

Then public comments that the gate should have been placed in the center of the cemetery frontage rather than to one side surfaced. This prompted the directors to consider expanding the frontage along Road F to the southern boundary of the District’s property, thereby revealing that the gate is located in the center of the property frontage after all.

However, once again, a major undertaking would be involved. The commissioners requested inclusion in this year’s LDS September volunteer program. On Sept. 28, several members of the Elders Quorum of the Royal First Ward removed the sagebrush from the frontage area south of the gate and did some basic land leveling.

Over the following two weeks, Murphy set up temporary sprinklers to water the powder dry soil, performed additional leveling, and installed an automated underground sprinkler system.

On Oct. 5, the LDS group returned, accomplished a final soil preparation by hand-raking and spread grass seed over the area. By early November the new lawn was growing nicely.

The district commissioners are hopeful the community will enjoy the new gate and frontage development. They greatly appreciate the assistance received from the LDS church members.

“By the way,” Murphy said, “the gate is automated, and if you just drive your vehicle up to the edge of the concrete apron, it will open for you.”

Another big community project completed by Royal slope volunteers.