MIDLAND, Texas — For the past few years, the Fairview Cemetery has been receiving updates to help modernize and beautify it.
It got a large boost on Monday, when $20,000 was donated to the cemetery by Mrs. Frank Cowden Jr. at the Midland County Commissioners Court meeting.
County Judge Terry Johnson said this money will come on top of everything that has been invested into the cemetery.
“We invested $600,000 to do that," Johnson said. "We also spent - I think if I’m right - about $60,000 on trees at that time.”
All of this is part of the project that has been updating the cemetery. So far, a new irrigation system has been added along with new sprinklers.
And yes, those updates also include new trees.
“We made a conscious effort to increase money to water, increase herbicide and stuff going down with the weeds," Johnson said. "Also just investing more in the lawn mowing and to take care of what’s out there.”
Mrs. Cowden made the announcement to help honor the legacy of the cemetery and all those that have been buried there.
“Mrs. Cowden wanted to see a few more [trees] planted in there along with the ones we planted. She was really impressed and touched by what had been done," Johnson said. "A lot of her family is there and buried there. So she donated twenty thousand more to kind of fill in some spots that she thought needed a few more trees.”
These trees are going to be planted at the cemetery sometime near the month of November.
After that, county commissioners will take a step back and look at everything they’ve done to beautify and maintain Fairview Cemetery and see if there’s any new additions that need to be made in the future.