Cleaning and refurbishing the headstones at the Beaver Meadow Cemetery - A photo Essay

Thanks to many for a job well done!

Good afternoon Norwich,

I was invited to stop by the Beaver Meadow Cemetery yesterday to take some photos of the restoration and cleaning of the headstones and the cemetery in general. Wait till you see the photo essay and see the progress they made.

The Norwich Cemetery Commission last year coordinated with the Vermont Old Cemetery Association to conduct a workshop/work day at the Beaver Meadow cemetery which is located next to the Beaver Meadow Chapel. I took many photos to show you the progress this group of dedicated volunteers made to reach their goal.

There is an email letter from the Cemetery Commission which I have placed after the photos so you can see for yourself the efforts made by this group of volunteers and special thanks conveyed to organizations that assisted in this project. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and set a spell so that you can appreciate the photos you are about to see.

There will also be a link for many more photos for you to view just after the Thank You letter. Please see below:

Wait till you see the progress made at the top of the cemetery

A poster at the job site introducing the VOCA project

A long line of volunteer vehicles along the roadway shows that this work party is serious about helping to get the job done.

Looking good from here but now I have to make it to the top and meet up with the work parties.

Passed by this gentleman from the VOCA organization who was getting ready to bring up some supplies needed to secure the headstones.

And this is the solution that will be used to clean the headstones being displayed by Jayne Keller and Donna Wheeler

Being that it is the memorial day weekend, American Legion member Tom Slater also brought along some flags to mount on the veteran gravestone markers.

Here is a gravestone that was refurbished and cleaned.

Looks like they are making there way up the hill one gravesite stone at a time

And even working down the hill as well

Looks like Tom Slater is also part of the work crew from what I see in this photo

A little team work and even some digging too!

A moment to reflect

Teamwork pays off here based on the looks of this stone

Same here and some high fives as well!

This volunteer was all the buzz with his chainsaw which got the job done.

Mixing the cement

Bringing it to the job site

They seem to know what they are doing as they set it in place

Emily Myers applied the D-2 solution and here is seen scrubbing the stone with a brush

A shining light from above!

Replenishing the supplies and putting on finishing touches

Hello down there! They seem to be doing fine with their assignment.

This group of volunteers were asked by me to stop the clock long enough to take a group photo and they happily obliged my request.

Here is another stone about to be repaired .. notice how well it is cleaned out first

So that the stone can be reset properly

Another finished stone here!

And yet another!

They make sure no stone is left unturned!

Success here as well!

Heading back home I grabbed a photo or two of the chapel

Still looking good I would say

Hi Demo, 

Thanks so much for coming out today.  Some thoughts about today that you can add to your piece.

Community members Donna Wheeler and Jayne Keller were the driving force on making sure Beaver Meadow Chapel Cemetery is kept up and restored. Last year, with their request, the Norwich Cemetery Commission coordinated with the Vermont Old Cemetery Association to conduct a workshop/work day at Beaver Meadow Chapel to instruct community members how to properly clean and restore headstone. And wow, the Beaver Meadow Community and other folks from town came out in force today!   Dozens of invested volunteers spent a few hours learning, cleaning and repairing.  In all, almost all 231 headstones were cleaned and over 50 were repaired or stood back up.  Not only was a cemetery preserved, new relationships were made, what a wonderful community event!

The Norwich Cemetery Commission wants to thank the Norwich Lions club for their $1000 donation to remove all of the encroaching branches, trees and shrubs around the cemetery's perimeter. That was accomplished and it looks fantastic and allowed us to work unhindered today.  We also want to thank the Norwich Women's Club for the $690 grant that allowed us to purchase headstone cleaning equipment/solutions that were instrumental today and will be used in the future for other cemeteries. Lastly, we'd like to thank the volunteers from the Vermont Old Cemetery Association for spending their morning, instructing and working along side! 

Thanks, 

Emily

Here are some very nice additional photos of todays event that were sent in as well from Emily.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zKp92PBUzpwUDtEv5

And this thank you e-mail from the Cemetery Commission appeared in todays’ listserv

17. Thanks to our community - Beaver Meadow Chapel Cemetery is looking great!
From: Emily Myers <emilypiercemyers@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 May 2024 18:25:43 -0400

A huge thanks to our community!

Last year, the Norwich Cemetery Commission coordinated with the Vermont Old
Cemetery Association to conduct a workshop/work day at Beaver Meadow Chapel
to instruct community members how to properly clean and restore headstone.
Today was the day and wow, the Beaver Meadow Community and other folks from
town came out in force!   Dozens of invested volunteers spent a few hours
learning, cleaning and repairing.  In all, almost all 231 headstones were
cleaned and over 50 were repaired or stood back up.  Not only was a
cemetery preserved, new relationships were made, what a wonderful community
event!  If you missed it today don't worry, we will be reaching out about
future opportunities to learn how to do this at other Norwich cemeteries.

The Norwich Cemetery Commission wants to thank the Norwich Lions club for
their $1000 donation to remove all of the encroaching branches, trees and
shrubs around the cemetery's perimeter. That was accomplished, it looks
fantastic and allowed us to work unhindered today.  We also want to thank
the Norwich Women's Club for the $690 grant that allowed us to purchase
headstone cleaning equipment/solutions that were instrumental today and
will be used in the future for other cemeteries. Lastly, we'd like to thank
the volunteers from the Vermont Old Cemetery Association for spending their
morning, instructing and working alongside us!

Sincerely,
The Norwich Cemetery Commission
     Emily Myers
     Bonnie Munday
     Dan Goulet
     Scooter Hardy