Saturday and Sunday June 4th and 5th
In the late 1700s, the Upper Place was called “Ames Hollow” after one of the earliest settlers to that area. The old cemetery next to the family plot is one of the few reminders that families once lived there. The Upper Place was a special place to folks long before we arrived. Over the years, the family has been keeping the old cemetery cleaned up and being respectful of the sacred space. There have been discussions over the past few years to look into restoring the old cemetery and this year we plan to restore as much as we can with the help and direction of experienced cemetery restorationists.
In December of last year, Sue Moore and Sarah Stoodley met with Paul Laramie to check out the old Ames cemetery and consider what kind of restoration work could be done. Based on the recommendations from Paul, a number of trees needed removing to ensure the proper restoration. A tree service company was hired to safely remove the trees without causing further harm to the old stones (some trees were limbed and lowered piece-by-piece to be sure they did not fall on the headstones during removal).
Most of the trees have been cleaned up but there still are some felled trees and limbs that need to be cleaned up before the restoration weekend (June 4,5).
If you would like to help out with cleaning up the trees, please talk to Sue Moore, she is coordinating the final removal and clean up.
The restoration work will be done the weekend of June 4th and 5th. The bulk of the activity will be Saturday the 4th. Everyone is welcome to come up to help out. There will be several volunteers from the Vermont Old Cemetery Association in addition to Sarah Stoodley who all have experience with cemetery restorations. Sarah will be the lead person for the day. Any questions or directions you need, please check in with Sarah.
If you are interested in helping out with the head stones restoration work on June 4th and 5th, please reach out to Sarah Stoodley so that she can add you to the list of people to contact as things develop.
Lunch will be provided and plan to hang out later in the afternoon to just catch up.
Here are a few things to consider to make your day go well.
• Dress to get dirty. We are clearing away dirt and material from the head stones and looking for lost pieces that may have been buried over the years. You will get very dirty and maybe even muddy! Remember, we have the big outhouse there so maybe even bring a change of clothes if you think you will be really crawling around in the dirt!
• Bring gloves.
• We could use a few 5 gallon pails to help with the stone washing
• If you have a hand trawl or a stiff bristle brush, we could use a few.
Other items we could use, but check with Sarah first are:
• A couple chemical-free garden sprayers for spraying cleaner on the stones
• Some 1×1 wood stakes (for splints on broken stones)
• Large clamps to hold 1×1 wood stakes in place while cement cures
• A come-along or winch
• Rakes/shovels/wheelbarrow
• A few metal probes for looking for buried pieces of headstones
Hope to see you all there!
THREE GENERATIONS 