We went wild at the cemetery this weekend! In the space of only 3 hours, a team of about 15 people restored a cast iron gate, cleaned innumerable markers, and stripped out all of the ugly, stone-destroying weeds that were threatening the health and well-being of the vaults and markers.
Below are some great photos taken by Nick McAuliffe:
Here we see the Hernandez enclosure, missing the gate - which Matt Armstrong removed to make it easier to clean.
Nick discovered that the enclosure had a brick sill.
Matt shows the group how to work on the gate, which was very rusted and had actually been face down in the grass for many years.
We brushed it with wire brushes and cleaned off all the flakes, as you see Matt, his parents and Patti Kelbert doing here.
Matt then sprayed it with Rust Reformer, which reverts the rust process and gives it a smooth surface again.
Next was the primer coat. All the paints are oil-based. It’s time consuming because there are so many nooks and crannies. But many hands make light work, including my hand on the bottom, wearing the keychain.
Then we applied the black top coats, as we see Moses Stzylerman, in his suitable skeleton outfit, doing in this photo.
Finally, we put it away to dry. Rain was coming in, so we had to hurry. But we’ll hang it next week.
Meanwhile, the other volunteers powered up and swept through the cemetery. Here Priscilla cleans an enclosure, aided by Mary Jane, Janet and Moses. Way in the background are two new volunteers, Sharla Fenchel and her daughter, going off to work on the mysterious tomb of “T.H.” at the very southeast corner of the cemetery. It’s never too late to be a new volunteer! You learn on the job.
Louise and Bob Kennedy removed lichens and aggressive plant-life throughout the cemetery.
We close with a photo of Bob, managing to win the war (at least temporarily) on all of that ugly stuff that grows on top of the Sanchez vault. Congratulations to everybody! Way to go!
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