Maben Memorial Garden is an old cemetery. It is not a church cemetery, but a public cemetery governed by a local board with policies concerning plants and any work done there.
A few years ago, the Cemetery Board decided to hold a memorial there on the first Sunday in June. Maben United Methodist Church voted to not have services every year on the first Sunday in June, with all the collection taken up going to the maintenance of the cemetery.
The land in the old part of the cemetery was given years ago by the Holland family, which had lived in Maben for many years.
This cemetery is the burial place for many of the first citizens of Maben, for many of the leaders of the churches in Maben and many veterans of all wars.
If people drove by this cemetery a few weeks ago, they might have thought someone was preparing for a funeral. Instead, Cemetery Board President Joe Pierce was removing a cedar tree that was near a plot in the cemetery.
Many days, he and Lee Shuffield will be seen doing work in the cemetery, and that means there was no need to hire the work done. The only work that is paid to be done is the mowing and weedeating, which Tommy Phelps does and which always looks good.
Many of people in the area, like Joann Williams, wife of Louis “Red” Williams, and other people might be seen at the cemetery picking up floral arrangements that have been blown off monuments, putting them back together and placing them on the monuments. The people on the Cemetery Board appreciate that.
Many people help keep up Maben Memorial Garden by sending donations at the time for the annual memorial and sending memorial donations to the Maben Memorial Garden Cemetery Board at P.O. Box 402 Maben, MS 39750-0402.
The cemetery is a 501(c) nonprofit organization, which means any donations may be claimed on a person’s income tax.
