At 2:00 pm on February 28, 2009 the Blanco Cemetery Association heldd its long-awaited public meeting. Thirty-four people were in attendance. The meeting was brought to order by Bud Lawson at the request of Clifton and Joyce Knoll who had resigned from the board on the previous evening and were unable to attend. Bud Lawson recognized Rebecca Howerton who made a motion to elect new board members. The motion was seconded by Retta Martin, voted on, and passed. An election then ensued. There were six slots for the board of directors and there were six candidates. Each candidate was voted upon by raised hands to indicate a yes vote. Tina Gourley counted the votes and the results were as follows:

David Seymour 25, Dennis Moore 23, Christina Gourley 27, Gail Moore McClelland 20, Rebecca Howerton 25, Jake White 24

After the board member election, questions were fielded from the floor. Concern about pricing differentials between Blanco funeral plots and neighboring cities was expressed. Specifically, the thought was that non-Blanconians with no community commitment would purchase plots for financial motivations only. Bernice West noted that some of the “out of towners” were actually former Blanco residents who had moved to larger cities to be near their adult children. The children then purchased plots so that their mothers and fathers could come back home to Blanco. Christina Gourley made notes of the questions and promised to bring up these and other issues at the next board meeting.

Christina Gourley stated that the Texas Bank Association provided by-laws which were available to be implemented by the board. These new by-laws would offer more transparency to the owners of plots. Also, new rules will conform to the Open Meetings Act. Mrs. Gourley suggested that the new board establish a separation of duties so that no one person is collecting funds, making deposits, writing checks, and auditing books. Rebecca Howerton said that all board of directors meetings should be open meetings so that any members’ concerns can be addressed quickly.

Retta Martin concluded the discussions of the day by saying “This is a new day for the cemetery.” Retta thanked everyone who had contributed to the operation and preservation of our beautiful cemetery. The new day theme seemed to express the sentiments of all in attendance. Bud Lawson then closed the meeting.