19 June 2009

Dear Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery,

Under sunny skies, 10 sturdy volunteers gathered to tackle the day's tasks. We were able to reset several of the headstone bases - a major milestone - made great progress in ripping out the ivy infestation on the southern side of the cemetery, weed whacked the paths (thanks, Brad!), attacked the acacia sprouts, and were able to have a good visit with the Hoopers (Spring Hill's neighbors to the east). As always, I am much appreciative of all the support for this project coming from the community, neighbors, descendants, and Regional Parks.

The Hoopers shared an interesting tale from the cemetery's past. It seems sometime in the 1990s there was a problem with monofilament fishing line (from kite flying) endangering owls. Quite a bit of the line was caught in several of Spring Hill's trees - and it was damaging birds. A group of volunteers formed to remove the line. One method used to rid the trees of the line was to climb up the trees, but another interesting method somehow involved an archer who shot up into the trees capturing line to be pulled down. Jim said that the volunteer efforts had been written up in the newspaper, and he kindly is trying to track down the story for us. It is just these sorts of stories that give vitality to the cemetery -- thanks for sharing it, Jim.

I am delighted to tell you that we have begun the process of leveling and resetting our monuments. Gary Galeazzi, owner of North Bay Monument Company, has already used his craftsmanship in generously repairing many of Spring Hill's broken stones. Now he is advising us in how to reset the bases, and has offered to reset the stones back into their bases once the bases have been leveled and set. With Gary's instructions; and utilizing engineering, excavating, building, and brute strength skills of Jeremy, Larry, Dick, and new volunteers Bradley DeVal and Bob Marcussen; we made great progress. Thank you, Gary, for all the direction - and many thanks as well to Brad and Bob for joining in the hard labor. The leveling and resetting of bases was completed for stones belonging Mary Titus, DPV Ogan, Lewis Ogan, Ada Ogan and Jacob McReynolds. Several smaller headstone/footstones in the area that were designed to be set directly into earth (no base) have also been leveled and reset into earth (the LAW and LHW headstones, and footstones for Jacob and Anna McReynolds). None of this would be possible without the much appreciated water from our neighbors the McDowells. We will be continuing this process over the next several workdays. As it is labor intensive, PLEASE COME HELP!

Our next workday is scheduled for Friday, July 17th.