Residents urge preservation of Friend Cemetery after county pulls sale listing

Kevin Kaufman, a Friend-area resident, told the Wasco County Board of Commissioners that Friends Cemetery should not be treated as surplus property and asked the county to reclassify it as a historic resource.

The request came during the board’s public-comment period on May 21, 2025. “After living in the community for 2 and a half years and sharing a property boundary with the cemetery, I can attest to the fact that this is a public resource and, I would say more akin to a historic resource for the community than surplus property,” Kaufman said.

Why it matters: Commissioners and county staff said the property was removed from an upcoming land-auction listing after community concerns surfaced. Preserving small rural cemeteries can affect local historic records, maintenance responsibilities and eligibility for historic-cemetery programs, and residents said they want to help shape the county’s next steps.

Board response and next steps

The board’s chair told speakers the listing had been pulled from the county’s foreclosure/sale page and that county counsel and staff had discussed the matter. “The property has been pulled,” the chair said during the meeting. He said the county will convene interested community members and legal resources to work out a plan for the cemetery’s future.

Bob Schechter, president of the Friend Community Club, said his group helps maintain the nearby Friend School and supports preserving the cemetery as part of local heritage. “We can work with the county hopefully to preserve the Friends Cemetery as a very small, but hopefully important part of Wasco County history,” Schechter said.

Administrative lead: The chair said he passed the matter to Tyler, the county administrative officer, who will coordinate next steps and outreach to people who offered legal or technical help. The chair invited residents to participate in a future meeting of interested parties.

What was not decided: There was no formal policy change or vote at the meeting. The “pulled” status of the listing is an administrative action the chair described as already completed; formal reclassification (for example, declaring the cemetery a county historic property or granting tax-exempt status to a stewarding organization) was not taken at the meeting.

Community offers of help

Speakers said community members and local volunteers, including people willing to help with legal and administrative work, have offered to help investigate options, including pursuing historic-cemetery status or finding nonprofit stewardship. The Friend Community Club described ongoing volunteer maintenance of the Friend School and community events that connect local history to broader preservation goals.

Ending

County staff said they will assemble interested parties and return to the board with a recommended path forward; details and a timeline were not specified at the meeting. Residents should expect outreach from the county administrative officer for a stakeholder meeting.