What many area residents don’t realize, he added, is that the grounds include some of the most beautiful hiking trails winding through a massive ravine on the property. “It’s virgin timber,” Vogan said. “We keep the trails maintained — the ravine is amazing.”

Visitors are encouraged to stop in at the office at the main gate. Cemetery hours are dawn to dusk; the office opens at 7 a.m.

“We’ll give you maps — tell you how to get on the trail and where it will take you,” Vogan said.

He also has an offer that may be too good to refuse — the superintendent himself gives personal tours to any groups or individuals who want to walk through the cemetery. Greendale is the final resting place for many of the area’s movers and shakers. “You can walk through on your own, but you don’t know what you’re looking at,” Vogan said. As for how long a walking tour takes, “You can get a lot of history in an hour,” he said with a chuckle. The tours, by the way, are free.

The history he loves to share is something Vogan has spent a lifetime learning. Back in the ninth grade, he took his first job there. Since becoming superintendent, he and his wife, Mary, have lived on the grounds for 27 years.

A boulder near the gate spells out a vision Vogan shares of what being a cemetery is all about. “It’s a place of respect for people who are buried here,” he said. “It’s a Meadville treasure.”

YOU CAN HELP

Greendale advisory

Greendale Cemetery encourages lot owners to donate rhododendrons, which the cemetery plants free of charge and then takes care of. “We don’t want people coming up here and planting rhododendrons,” cautions Superintendent James Vogan, who works with donors to get their bush planted in the best possible place. If rhododendrons aren’t the memorial of choice, flowering trees are also an option.

For information on Greendale Cemetery and its 2008 photo contest, visit www.greendalecemetery.org.

Yuhasz’ dream

Lorraine Yuhasz, owner of Blooming Valley Nurseries, is dedicated to the proposition that Meadville should be known as Rhododendron City. For information about purchasing a plant to be donated to the city and planted on city-owned land, call her at 724-2146.