Winter Haven assistant superintendent outlines quarterly cemetery cleanups and new rules

Assistant Superintendent Michael Schemmel said Winter Haven City is enforcing clearer rules for municipal cemeteries and has started a quarterly cleanup schedule to keep burial grounds tidy and respectful.

Schemmel, who oversees activity fields and cemeteries for Winter Haven City, said the changes followed a review of other municipalities’ practices. "We were pretty much the only ones not enforcing rules," he said, and "every 4 months we do a cleanup." He said the policy is intended to preserve cemeteries as "a place of rest."

The new enforcement limits what may be left at grave markers. "Basically the only thing you can have on your marker, it has to be an affixed vase on the monument," Schemmel said. Items that were "jabbed into the ground" or small trinkets are removed during cleanups. Staff keep items they consider valuable behind the public works building; Schemmel said those items are held for up to 60 days so family members can claim them.

Schemmel described cemetery upkeep as detailed, careful work that requires staff to mow slowly around markers and to manage grave-digging logistics. He urged residents to recognize the labor involved and to thank cemetery workers: "If you see one of these guys out here, just, you know, say, 'Hey, you're doing a great job.'"

No formal vote or ordinance was recorded in the transcript; Schemmel presented the operational practice and said the department has implemented the quarterly cleanups and item-holding procedure. The city did not specify whether the changes were adopted by formal policy or ordinance, or whether signage or additional public notice will follow the cleanups.