TOP PHOTO BY KELLY SCHOTT/BOTTOM PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY At top, the four new white geese at Riverside Cemetery - “The Golden Geese” Rose, Blanche and Dorothy and a male named Ruffle Feathers - go out for a swim in Lake Woodmere at their new home on Saturday afternoon. They were donated by Dave Buerckley and Treasa Vander Hart of St. Anthony. At bottom left, two of the three Golden Geese wander the grounds, and at right, Frankie inspects a gravestone.

It’s been a difficult last six months for Riverside Cemetery’s resident Emden Goose Frankie, who lost Blossom, his companion of 2 ½ years, in a tragic accident last October and then his new partner Scout just a few months later due to a case of bird flu.

On Saturday, Frankie’s temporary loneliness came to an end as Dave Buerckley and Treasa Vander Hart of St. Anthony donated four new white geese — three females and one male. The three females were planned for, but the male, who will keep his previous name of Ruffle Feathers, was a surprise to Riverside General Manager Kelly Schott.

Thanks to public voting — and as exclusively reported on the Times-Republican Facebook page Saturday afternoon — the three females will be known as “The Golden Geese,” an homage to the popular TV show “The Golden Girls,” and go by the names Rose, Dorothy and Blanche.

Buerckley, who runs T’s Cackle Berries along with Vander Hart, said he had considered donating the geese after Blossom’s passing but held off because they were sitting on eggs, and he didn’t want to ruin their nests.

Buerckley is confident that the geese will mate and help to increase the population at Riverside, and after fending off attacks from some territorial swans in Lake Woodmere, the geese took plenty of time to soak in their new surroundings while Frankie wandered around with his avian entourage.

As evidenced by the social media reaction thus far, the Riverside geese remain immensely popular and beloved, and the public is invited to stop by and say hello during regular operating hours.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.