(upbeat music) - Friends of Salt Lake City Cemetery works to preserve local history.

Dave Alderman is here to share how the group protects green space and keeps the cemetery thriving for future generations.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thanks for inviting me back.

Yes.

- So, tell me about this group.

How was it formed and why is it needed?

- So, let me just first mention about the cemetery.

The cemetery, a lot of people don't know.

The Salt Lake City Cemetery's really got a long history going back to pioneer days.

And in fact, it predates Salt Lake City itself.

120,000 people are buried there.

It's the largest municipal cemetery in the country.

And it's also 120 acres of open green space.

- [Liz] I hear a lot of people refer to it as a historic treasure.

- It is a historic treasure.

And the city developed a master plan in 2020 was approved.

And one of the outgrowths of that was a former group like the Friends of the Cemetery.

So we, a group of residents, we're all volunteer 501(c) organization, nonprofit.

And we work with the city and other stakeholders to try to protect and enhance this treasure that we've got there.

- And before the interview, I was asking you, I was like, "Is this people who are just into cemeteries?

Is it people who are into history?"

What is the draw to the people?

- We have a little of both actually.

We do have a person that's on the board that's works with the state historic preservation office on cemeteries.

Most of us though are just either residents of the area, or people that are interested in history, or a few people that have relatives and family that are there.

So, it's kind of a mix of how people get involved with it.

- Yeah.

I bet you've learned a lot since you've been involved with it.

- It has been.

I knew about it as a park, but about the history that's there's lots of politicians, governors, church leaders.

There's areas that look blank, but they're unmarked graves for paupers and prisoners from back in the day that are there.

- So many stories that people can hear.

- There are a lot of stories, a lot of stories.

And the cemetery is actually administered through the parks department, which is an unusual thing.

The former sexton's famous for saying, "The cemeteries are for the living, so come and enjoy it."

And I'd like people to get out and look at it and maybe think about the Friends of the Cemetery and visit our website when they do.

- All right.

Well, thank you so much for sharing this information.

If you would like to learn more about the Friends of the Cemetery, you can head to the website that is on your screen right now.

That's Friends of the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

I'm Liz Adiola, and thank you for watching "Contact".

(upbeat music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

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Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

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