Decades of mildew and dirt were scrubbed from dozens of gravestones
at Hillside Cemetery by about 60 MCLA students and other local
volunteers as part of the Fall Day of Service on Saturday.
Other students and volunteers — more than 70 in total — painted curbs, spruced up the Good Will store property on Curran Highway, and cleaned up several small pocket parks around the city.
The work at Hillside Cemetery also included straightening some headstones and raking leaves. Roger Eurbin, a volunteer and member of the city Cemetery Commission, coordinated the effort, all part of a multiyear project to restore the historic cemetery.
Advertisement
Eurbin said the work being done by dozens of college students was an important step forward in the restoration.
"It is critical — you can see what erosion does," he said waving at the hundreds of gravestones behind him, some of which are broken or tilted after years, even centuries, of wind, rain, snow and ice. "It's going to take a lot of work to get this cemetery in presentable order."
The students and other volunteers fanned out around the north side of the cemetery on West Main Street with buckets, brushes, rakes and shovels.
Most of them were busy scrubbing gravestones. The markers were noticeable brighter once cleaned.
This is the fifth Fall Day of Service. It was established as a follow up to the Spring Day of Service, which has been a successful community service event for years.
"A bunch of us come down and just try to give back," said Gary Lavariere, a junior at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "I've done this for three years, and this is a fun one. Scrubbing these graves down is good — they really need it. They end up looking a lot better."
MCLA sophomore Lily Breen said the volunteer effort is well worth it.
"It's not that hard to help the community out — you should at least do that," she said.
An MCLA student-volunteer scrubs a gravestone Saturday at Hillside Cemetery in North Adams as part of this year’s Fall Day of Service.
An MCLA student-volunteer scrubs a gravestone Saturday at Hillside Cemetery in North Adams as part of this year's Fall Day of Service. (Scott Stafford — The Berkshire Eagle)
Hillside Cemetery started out as a family cemetery when the daughter of Richard Knight was buried on the hilltop around 1789, Eurbin said.
More than 200 are the graves of Civil War veterans, he noted. About 350 are veterans of wars ranging from the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War to World War II.
Every Wednesday and every other Saturday, Eurbin and two other volunteers, Ed Marino and Larry Burdick, work at the cemetery straightening or mending gravestones and cleaning up the property.
The restoration effort has been ongoing for about five years, Eurbin said. It will take another five years or more to complete, he added.
Today there are about 2,900 graves, 25 of which were uncovered about three weeks ago when volunteers — including Eurbin and his 17-year-old grandson, Justin Bryant — cleared some underbrush from the northeast corner of the cemetery for the first time in decades.
Eurbin said those graves would eventually end up being restored along with the rest.
"These are folks who deserve as much recognition and honor as early residents of the city — so we'll treat them like any other," Eurbin said. "We don't have any favorites out here."
Other students and volunteers — more than 70 in total — painted curbs, spruced up the Good Will store property on Curran Highway, and cleaned up several small pocket parks around the city.
The work at Hillside Cemetery also included straightening some headstones and raking leaves. Roger Eurbin, a volunteer and member of the city Cemetery Commission, coordinated the effort, all part of a multiyear project to restore the historic cemetery.
Advertisement
Eurbin said the work being done by dozens of college students was an important step forward in the restoration.
"It is critical — you can see what erosion does," he said waving at the hundreds of gravestones behind him, some of which are broken or tilted after years, even centuries, of wind, rain, snow and ice. "It's going to take a lot of work to get this cemetery in presentable order."
The students and other volunteers fanned out around the north side of the cemetery on West Main Street with buckets, brushes, rakes and shovels.
Most of them were busy scrubbing gravestones. The markers were noticeable brighter once cleaned.
This is the fifth Fall Day of Service. It was established as a follow up to the Spring Day of Service, which has been a successful community service event for years.
"A bunch of us come down and just try to give back," said Gary Lavariere, a junior at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "I've done this for three years, and this is a fun one. Scrubbing these graves down is good — they really need it. They end up looking a lot better."
MCLA sophomore Lily Breen said the volunteer effort is well worth it.
"It's not that hard to help the community out — you should at least do that," she said.
An MCLA student-volunteer scrubs a gravestone Saturday at Hillside Cemetery in North Adams as part of this year’s Fall Day of Service.
An MCLA student-volunteer scrubs a gravestone Saturday at Hillside Cemetery in North Adams as part of this year's Fall Day of Service. (Scott Stafford — The Berkshire Eagle)
Hillside Cemetery started out as a family cemetery when the daughter of Richard Knight was buried on the hilltop around 1789, Eurbin said.
More than 200 are the graves of Civil War veterans, he noted. About 350 are veterans of wars ranging from the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War to World War II.
Every Wednesday and every other Saturday, Eurbin and two other volunteers, Ed Marino and Larry Burdick, work at the cemetery straightening or mending gravestones and cleaning up the property.
The restoration effort has been ongoing for about five years, Eurbin said. It will take another five years or more to complete, he added.
Today there are about 2,900 graves, 25 of which were uncovered about three weeks ago when volunteers — including Eurbin and his 17-year-old grandson, Justin Bryant — cleared some underbrush from the northeast corner of the cemetery for the first time in decades.
Eurbin said those graves would eventually end up being restored along with the rest.
"These are folks who deserve as much recognition and honor as early residents of the city — so we'll treat them like any other," Eurbin said. "We don't have any favorites out here."
No comments:
Post a Comment