New Live Oak Cemetery is a place of rest for hundreds who are buried there — but for the hundreds in the city that want to exercise and enjoy spring — New Live Oak is also place that is alive and thriving.

It is growing and budding after just weeks ago the azaleas blooming into growth and are adorning the cemetery with their lively color.

We know Selma families find peace in the fact that their departed loved ones are now resting here, but we also delight in the fact that this is a place where residents can get healthy and stay healthy.

It seemed like dozens were walking the pathways this week around the area — some starting in Bloch Park and walking behind the tennis courts to the cemetery.

In the summer it is a shady haven for runners and walkers and lots of happy pooches. With recent health rankings that show Dallas County ranked much lower than other areas around the state, we want to encourage residents to take to the park and cemetery to walk in the shade and get some fresh air. Even just ten minutes of exercise in a beautiful park area like this, will get your blood pumping and heart just a little healthier.

In other cities cemeteries may be a somber place for sadness and mourning, but in Selma our cemeteries are places of unique history and great joy because of their azaleas, Spanish moss and granite statues. We are proud we have beautiful places like these to call home.