DALLAS — Mayor Timothy Carroll and several council members are giving up their annual stipend to fund the Mayor’s Club which finances the maintenance of Rice Cemetery.
The nearly two-acre burial ground off Huntsville Road in Dallas was neglected for several years until Carroll started a fund called the Mayor’s Club to finance grass cutting and property clean up.
“The Mayor’s Club also funds other things that we can’t use taxpayer money for,” Carroll said, noting in 2017 the account paid for a gift basket for a borough police officer who was hospitalized.
The club is fueled by donations primarily from Carroll and council members Robert Edgerton and John Oliver who voluntarily donated their annual $600 wage for serving on the municipality’s board.
“This year, council members Charles Youngman and Lee Eckert are expected to turn over their stipend,” Carroll said.
The news of more donors is good news for Carroll.
Carroll first formed the Mayor’s Club over 10 years ago to finance the regular yard work in Rice Cemetery, which was overgrown with tall grasses.
“The cemetery is very old,” Carroll said. “We don’t really know when it was established or who owns it.”
Borough manager Tracey Carr found a map, which states the oldest grave in the cemetery is dated 1818.
Even with the $1,800 annual donation, maintenance expenses eat up the majority of the funds.
“I am short nearly $700 to pay for last year’s grass cuttings,” Carroll said, noting Eastern Land Care charged $2,400 for yard maintenance.
The landscaper agreed to charge $1,600 for yard work for 2018, Carroll said.
Funds also allow Carroll to place flags at the graves known to be of veterans.
Many of the tombstones are so old the engravings are worn and illegible, Carroll said.
Residents are invited to donate to the Mayor’s Club.
In fact, Terry Eckert who won first place in the front door competition of the Dallas Days Christmas Home Decoration Contest gave her monetary prize to the Mayor’s Club, Carroll said.
The Daddow-Isaac American Legion Post 672 in Dallas also makes an annual contribution of $500, Carroll said.
Residents wishing tp donate to the Mayor’s Club may call the borough office at 570-675-1389 or drop off a check, made payable to The Mayor’s Club at the municipal office at 25 Main St.
“This is a Herculean job the major was doing himself,” Council Vice President Youngman said.
Council President Edgerton has been donating his annual stipend for the past eight years.
“It is a really good thing to donate to,” he said.
