60+ Volunteers Restore Historic Cemeteries In September

by Elizabeth McNamara | Oct 9, 2014

The East Greenwich Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission first cleanup of the fall was extremely successful, the commission announced. Thanks to help from more than 60 volunteers, four area cemeteries are well on their way to being brought back to acceptable conditions.

The cemeteries rehabilitated included Cemeteries 18, 34, 22, & 72. Cemeteries 22 (between Cindy Ann Drive and Division Road) and 18 (on Briarbrook Farm) were not even accessible before cleanup work began. While work remains to be done, both these cemeteries are now accessible with many of the stones visible for the first time in years. Cemeteries 34 & 72 also received some much needed attention as well.

The East Greenwich Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission first cleanup of the fall was extremely successful, the commission announced. Thanks to help from more than 60 volunteers, four area cemeteries are well on their way to being brought back to acceptable conditions.

The cemeteries rehabilitated included Cemeteries 18, 34, 22, & 72. Cemeteries 22 (between Cindy Ann Drive and Division Road) and 18 (on Briarbrook Farm) were not even accessible before cleanup work began. While work remains to be done, both these cemeteries are now accessible with many of the stones visible for the first time in years. Cemeteries 34 & 72 also received some much needed attention as well.

Our next scheduled cleanup is October 18. No specialized skills are required as the commission will provide the necessary training. In addition, the commission will provide documentation of community service hours performed upon request. If you would like to sign up to help or learn more about these historical cemetery cleanups please contact [email protected].

The commission offered special thanks to Absolute Fitness use of their parking lot and facilities, as well as Bruce MacGunnigle for his history lesson at Cemetery 18, as well as the many volunteers:

Cemetery 72: Ramon Alferos, Bruno Balkcom, Joanne Balzano, Michelle Place

Cemetery 22: Jill Blanchard, Janet Koladay, Deb McMullen, Xenia Murphy, Sophie Murphy, Jan Vlasov, Bruce Warren, Erin Warren, Robin Wittwer

Cemetery 34: Julie Carroccia, Billy Ficazzola, Jackie Ficazzola, Anne Holmstedt, Caitlyn Holmstedt, Susan Parker, Deb Santti, David Vanderpyl, Dottie Vanderpyl

Cemetery 18: Abby Anderson, Sarah Anderson, Hanah Battista, Nina Darcy, Riley Espat, Justin Ferra, Izzie Iannotti, Selin Marino, Laura Murphy, Meghan O’Brien, Lily O’Hara, Margaret Rodrigue, Elise Warren, Anamaria Artega, Rachel Borba, Matt Brady, Amy Cady, Coleen Cloonan, Lauren Cronshaw, Madison Dabakian, Noah Denzer, Jack Farrell, Lesya Fillatti, Greg Finnnell, Matthew Kelly, Anna Mae Mayer, Kristin McDermott, Julia Morisi, Serena O’Hara, Munique Ane Pais de Oliveira,Robert Russell, Sabrina Stensland

Here are a few more pictures from the Sept. 27 cleanup (courtesy of EG Historic Cemetery Commission):

Cemetery 22 volunteers.

Cemetery 22 before.

Cemetery 22 after.

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