Cemetery Rehabilitation

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  2020 was a year of changes and challenges for Mount Sinai Cemetery.

Here is just a small list of what we are doing to improve the grounds over the upcoming next 2 years:

FLOWERS:

From about 2015 on, we began to receive a large number of complaints regarding the condition and presentation of the flowers. The Board had also noticed that the quality of the planting had deteriorated and began discussions with the supplier, who indicated that 2020 would be his last year in business. At this point, we realized that we would need to source a new supplier and in 2020, we began the transition to our new supplier who also services at other Jewish cemeteries in the GTA.

The challenges: 

• Removal of the existing beds and positioning of the receptacles
• Weather – early onset of snow in late 2019
• COVID – no one could have planned for that, making it difficult to attract and maintain qualified gardening staff over the spring and summer
• A long, exceptionally hot stretch of weather impeded work and safe working conditions. It also significantly delayed our ability to seed both interments and the “bib” of earth that was left in front of the receptacles where the old bed had been. Seeding requires cooler conditions and some early morning dew to germinate properly. And we had none of that this past year, until mid October.

Benefits of the new system:

• Flowers are more robust “out of the gate” following placement just before Father’s Day. They have been cultivated in the greenhouses, in the trays, which allows for a fuller appearance immediately upon placement.
• Allows us to move the flowers out of the way when there are nearby interments. This protects the flowers from damage. In the past, flowers damaged during nearby digging had to be replaced by replanting.
• Trays can be replaced when damaged by animal activity – yes, we have hawks and rabbits here and sometimes, there’s frantic scurrying through the flowers to elude the hawks.

FLOWERS IN 2021:

In 2020 we decided to order flowers on a solid colour basis (red or deep pink or white), which is the same flowers that you would see at Pardes Shalom and Pardes Chaim. We received the following feedback: 

• Preferring the “old” way (2019 and earlier) of always providing a mix of red, pink and white.
• Solid red, despite being very showy around the grounds, was offensive to some, who then opted for pink and/or white
• Predominance of one colour made everything look “the same”

So, for 2021, as an experiment, we are ordering “mixed” flowers, rather than solid colours. Then for 2022, based on the aggregate of feedback, we will decide if we will continue with mixed, or go back to solid colours. We will of course, always provide white flowers for the graves of infants and children.

INTERMENTS AND GROUNDS:

The Province has approved the use of weed killer in cemeteries beginning the spring of 2021. We will begin a weed control program this spring and ask for your patience as we work over the next 2 years to get the weeds under control around the grounds. All interments that were sufficiently settled as of the week of October 12th have been seeded with an application of topsoil. We will continue in 2021 to build up around the flower receptacles including seeded topsoil, to encourage grass growth to camouflage the receptacles. Again, this will take time, but we expect great improvement by the fall of 2021. We will begin leveling uneven grounds in the sections, on a planned basis, over the next 2 years as well. The most uneven sections will receive attention first.

We want to close in thanking you in advance for your understanding as we continue to rehabilitate and beautify Mount Sinai Cemetery.