Cemetery preservation

@Zella, then I'm creeping with you! I love looking at old cemeteries!

John, you aren't hogging the airwaves. Just load the brochure! We all want to see it.
Yeah it's a family pastime. I didn't realize it was considered weird until I was on trips with people I was not related to and my enthusiasm/ cemetery wish list was treated as creepy. :cry:
 
The actions of honoring our ancestors and the past is an anathema to many in today’s society. Your example of restoring the wall around the grave should receive approbation not criticism. Hope y’all have other upcoming projects
Regards
David
 
The actions of honoring our ancestors and the past is an anathema to many in today’s society. Your example of restoring the wall around the grave should receive approbation not criticism. Hope y’all have other upcoming projects
Regards
David

Thanks. Actually, nobody's criticized us; just had to make a statement when I put it on the internet (in anticipation of possible criticism).

We've got more projects than we will ever finish. This is the biggest we've done so far, though. The next big one will probably all be done by contract as it requires reconstructing some iron work and will take some machinery. Since it's not in the city section the city boys won't help us with their machinery so it'll have to be hired out. We might, though, do some of the take down labor - we'll see. That won't be this year, though. For now, it's back to resetting and restoring individual stones. I've got several that have gaps that need to be filled in where there are missing chunks which will be how I mostly finish the summer.
 
Wonderful job. Something akin to “making the bed” and you’ve done so in spectacular fashion. Thank you, and your mentor for the respect you’ve shown her final resting place.
 
Wonderful job. Something akin to “making the bed” and you’ve done so in spectacular fashion. Thank you, and your mentor for the respect you’ve shown her final resting place.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I'll be seeing my partner tomorrow morning and will let him know folks think we done good.
 
John. Thank You for taking the time to volunteer and assist with the historic preservation needs in your community. You should be proud of your latest preservation project. Many years ago in 2005, I helped, physically, intellectually and more importantly financially, with a cemetery preservation project in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. I am very proud of the work we all contributed to this very important preservation project which I shared the details of which with our very own Pat Young. David.
 
Captain John, I think your work turned out great! It would have never gotten done if you hadn't rolled up your sleeves and just made it happen. Obviously a great amount of planning, design, not to mention physical labor were required. I salute you sir for your efforts!

There is an overgrown cemetery on the grounds of St. Paul's Episcopal. I've started to clean up the undergrowth and interestingly I have discovered numerous items left on the grave sites. Usually, I find little cloth flowers, trinkets, toys, etc. in old glass Mason jars. These I am careful not to damage and return them to where I found them.

My work is limited to the cooler days of Fall after the leaves have dropped off the trees and vines. That way I can see what I'm doing. Also during that time of year I'm less likely to have unpleasant encounters with stinging insects and reptiles with fangs.

I know this sounds silly, but when I'm working alone in the cemetery, I'm talking the whole time. Making sure the residents understand that I'm only trying to help keep the place nice, so their descendants and friends can come visit.... So far they haven't objected : )
 
Captain John, I think your work turned out great! It would have never gotten done if you hadn't rolled up your sleeves and just made it happen. Obviously a great amount of planning, design, not to mention physical labor were required. I salute you sir for your efforts!

There is an overgrown cemetery on the grounds of St. Paul's Episcopal. I've started to clean up the undergrowth and interestingly I have discovered numerous items left on the grave sites. Usually, I find little cloth flowers, trinkets, toys, etc. in old glass Mason jars. These I am careful not to damage and return them to where I found them.

My work is limited to the cooler days of Fall after the leaves have dropped off the trees and vines. That way I can see what I'm doing. Also during that time of year I'm less likely to have unpleasant encounters with stinging insects and reptiles with fangs.

I know this sounds silly, but when I'm working alone in the cemetery, I'm talking the whole time. Making sure the residents understand that I'm only trying to help keep the place nice, so their descendants and friends can come visit.... So far they haven't objected : )

Thank you sir.

Good on you for helping look after that cemetery. There are many of those little family ones that don't get any help. If you ever have need to ask any questions about fixing things I'm always available.

I can understand working in the fall if you're dealing with heavy vegetation in the east. Luckily, we don't have that problem. Also, a lot of what we do needs to be done in the spring or summer as warmer temperatures are best for gluing and mortaring and one doesn't want to clean stones when there's a possibility of freezing temperatures. It can get over 100 degrees here so we start in the morning and are generally done by noon (but usually put in a couple of days a week).

As to talking, I often do that too ! We research most of the people whose monuments we repair so I know a bit about them and their life stories and do feel as if there's some sort of connection (although I don't actually believe in ghosts or any sort of afterlife). I often say something like 'well, there ya go Bob - all back together again and good for another hundred years.'
 
Captain John, I was unfamiliar with the "State of Jefferson" and thus had to educate myself.
I find the proposed new state "most interesting" and probably will not the last movement of it's kind.
Especially given the current divisive nature of today's "identity politics".

I am not the only member from our imagined state; there's also @diane

In Oregon it goes back to just before Pearl Harbor but is a modern thing in California. Many here aren't really into the current movement (which would combine southern Oregon and northern California) and just use the name as a sort of "hey, we're different" logo (e.g. our public radio station calls itself "Jefferson Public Radio" and they are the local liberal minority). The modern movement is the result of Oregon and California being controlled by those who occupy relatively small geographic portions of the states but who are the majority of the population, they thus being able to outvote the more rural areas and allocate more of the tax dollars to their areas leaving those in the rural areas essentially unrepresented.

Alas, I've probably already stepped over the "no modern politics" rule (sorry mods) but that's the gist of it. Interestingly, it was the same in the Civil War era with most of Oregon being Democrats who were not supporters of Lincoln and who didn't vote for him in either election but were outvoted (just barely back then) by the more heavily populated Republican Salem-Portland counties. So, there's the CW connection mods.
 
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… I do, too! At the risk of sounding mildly creepy, one of my favorite things to do when visiting a place is check out the old cemeteries.
... I didn't realize it was considered weird until I was on trips with people I was not related to and my enthusiasm/ cemetery wish list was treated as creepy. :cry:
One of the to many people odd things I ever did while traveling was in Paris - I'd set aside an entire day in March to visit the Louvre Museum; when I arrived I discovered that week coincided with Spring Break in Italy, and the place was swarming with Italian teenagers! The galleries hadn't opened quite yet and I was packed in the entryway with all of them, when I decided Enough of this! and headed for another place at a little distance: Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This is an enormous place, and no need to tell a great bit quitter than the Louvre, full of the Great from France's near past - several of Napoleon's Marshals, artists, statesmen, etc., etc. and even a few expatriates like Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein. It was a historical site, too: on one long stone wall was a sign denoting that had been where the surviving members of the Paris Commune had been lined up and shot in 1871. It was a beautiful Spring day, and I'm pretty sure I had a better time there than I would have in the museum!
 
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One of the to many people odd things I ever did while traveling was in Paris - I'd set aside an entire day in March to visit the Louvre Museum; when I arrived I discovered that week coincided with Spring Break in Italy, and the place was swarming with Italian teenagers! The galleries hadn't opened quite yet and I was packed in the entryway with all of them, when I decided Enough of this! and headed for another place at a little distance: Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This is an enormous place, and no need to tell a great bit quitter than the Louvre, full of the Great from France's near past - several of Napoleon's Marshals, artists, statesmen, etc., etc. and even a few expatriates like Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein.
Ah I wanted to go to that one when I was in Paris, but it was a group trip and they couldn't find it in their hearts to let me stop! Jim Morrison is another expat there.

When I was in Paris, we stayed at a hotel on the outskirts near the airport, which was very inconvenient for exploring the city, though the neighborhood itself was very nice. The hotel was backed up against a cemetery, and I did explore that one. Lots of "Victime de la Guerre" (not 100% sure on the French phrasing but definitely "victim of war") on the tombstones from WWI and WWII. :frown:
 
At the risk of sounding even creepier than usual, I found my notes.

Still not 100% sure on the cemetery, but the tombstones often said either “Victime de Guerre” or “Mort Pour La France.”
 
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Ah I wanted to go to that one when I was in Paris, but it was a group trip and they couldn't find it in their hearts to let me stop! Jim Morrison is another expat there.

When I was in Paris, we stayed at a hotel on the outskirts near the airport, which was very inconvenient for exploring the city, though the neighborhood itself was very nice. The hotel was backed up against a cemetery, and I did explore that one. Lots of "Victime de la Guerre" (not 100% sure on the French phrasing but definitely "victim of war") on the tombstones from WWI and WWII.:frown:
There's a good bit of that all over the city. I took the Metro east as far as it would go to Vincennes to see the chateau (castle, actually) where English King Henry V died of dysentery. The Chateau is still an active French military instillation and a sign in the moat of the medieval castle indicated where the Nazis had executed members of the French Resistance.
 
There's a good bit of that all over the city. I took the Metro east as far as it would go to Vincennes to see the chateau (castle, actually) where English King Henry V died of dysentery. The Chateau is still an active French military instillation and a sign in the moat of the medieval castle indicated where the Nazis had executed members of the French Resistance.
Makes sense!

I figured out the cemetery I was in: Cimetière de Roissy, in the Paris suburb of Roissy-en-France.

I would love to go back to Paris. And be able to dictate my own itinerary rather than being at the mercy of a canned school tour. :frown:
 
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