The Oakdale Cemetery Association is holding a fundraiser to purchase a new Ossuarium for the Oakdale Cemetery. The Ossuarium would be a resting place for cremated remains in soft urns.
President of the Oakdale Cemetery Association, Lester Wilkens, is hopeful the public will donate due to the lack of space in their old columbarium. “I want to inform the people of Crookston we have decided to move forward with this project due to the lack of space in our columbarium,” said Wilkens. “We want to be able to get the new one in so that people wouldn’t have to come back at a later date with the cremains of their loved ones.”
Wilkens says he would rather be “proactive” than “reactive” and that they are working as far ahead on the project as they can at this time. “We have a contract that will be back in August to do the stamp concretes, so will have walkways, and you’ll be able to see more of a finished project at that time,” said Wilkens.
However, there is only so much the Association can do as they will need the funds to keep the project moving. They have enough to start the project but will need to keep receiving donations to proceed forward. “Our goal is $100,000, which will take care of the Ossuarium as well as some benches and other small things to go with it,” said Wilkens. “We’ve already sold a niche to a local family for when the time comes, and we need to have the money in place to make that happen immediately.”
Wilkens said he and the people who started and ran the Oakdale Cemetery never thought they would need to expand. “Oakdale Cemetery has operated as a non-profit since it opened in 1884 when it opened,” said Wilkens. “The gentlemen who started it never dreamed they would need this big of an expansion because they purchased all the available land back then.”
The Association hopes to receive the money by this fall, the Ossuarium can be ordered and in place six months after the final funds are received, meaning it could be complete sometime in the spring. If the money is not received, the project will continue to get pushed back until the funds come in.
Wilkens isn’t too concerned because he knows how generous the great people of Crookston are and can be. “I’m counting on the goodness and generosity of the great people of Crookston for help in this project.”
