As president of the Worthy Women Watkins Street Cemetery Association, I would like to respond to articles published in The Natchez Democrat on Sunday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 19.

Although Mrs. Thelma T. White formed Worthy Women Watkins Cemetery Association in 2005, she voluntarily resigned in December 2009. Mrs. Birdia Wade served as president in 2010, and I was elected in 2011.

We would like to inform everyone that we are continuing to maintain this historic cemetery using limited funds from the public, individuals and churches. We pay three individuals minimum wages, purchase supplies and repair equipment from these funds, and we are also assisted by local and out-of-town volunteers

The Watkins Street Cemetery serves as a community service site for the youth and adolescent program.

In early spring a picture in The Natchez Democrat displayed some of their recently completed work of placing soil in sunken graves in section I of the cemetery.

We are very appreciative of their much-needed assistance with several of our ongoing projects.

We thank the Diamond Princess Group for donating a beautiful front gate entrance sign and Mr. Ray Brown for donating a sign in the Rhythm Night Club section.

We are conducting landscaping, removing fallen trees and limbs, depositing soil around sunken graves, raising headstones and depositing soil in areas to prevent erosion.

As this is grass-growing season, our main efforts for the past several months have been dedicated to grass maintenance.

Since March, each section of the cemetery has been cut four times, with some sections receiving additional cutting due to the fact that we cannot stop God’s work (rain).

On March 31, Dr. Ian Brown and students from the University of Alabama came to map the cemetery.

Mr. and Mrs. Jim Barnett of Natchez are completing this project. We are requesting anyone that has a loved one buried in the cemetery that does not have a headstone to please contact us with their information in order for their location to be included in the mapping.

We conduct meetings, maintain records and are following the bylaws under which this organization was formed and are open to additional suggestions for cemetery improvements through public input at our meetings, which are advertised in the Tracings in The Natchez Democrat.

You may contact me at 601-442-5968 or Dorothy Sanders at 601-445-9431 for additional information.

Please mail donations to: Worthy Women Watkins Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 17893, Natchez, MS, 39122.

 

Nellie J. Dottery

president, Worthy Women Watkins Cemetery