A Roseville cemetery board has canceled a car show planned for this weekend after some residents voiced distress about the event's location.

The Roselawn Cemetery board voted unanimously Wednesday to cancel Saturday's community event. The board also took to Facebook and apologized "to anyone whom we inadvertently offended" and discussed its reasons for having agreed to host the "Rods and Stones" car show. The actual event would have been located on the cemetery campus about 100 yards from the closest grave.

"Please know that it was never our intention to do anything that would be disrespectful or disruptive to any visitor or to the memory of any loved one," the Facebook post said.

In the post, the board said the event's benefits were threefold: It was intended to raise funds for the Minnesota Street Rod Association's college fund, to help make cemeteries "less intimidating and forbidding," and to connect with local residents.

"Any positives we might gain would be more than offset by the knowledge that we had caused someone distress," according to the post.

The board's post, signed by Scott J. Spaeth, president board of trustees, and Larry P. Hudella, superintendent, says similar community events have been held at other cemeteries around the country and it seemed like "a good way to invite people out to enjoy a beautiful Saturday in a charming, out-of-the-way part of our campus."

The board plans to make a contribution to the college fund and welcomes any ideas on "new and creative ways to connect with the community."

"We want people to see Roselawn as we do, as a place of joyful remembrance and celebration, where families and friends can be closer to loved ones and, in turn, closer to one another," according to the post.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647 Twitter: @KarenAnelZamora