We clean tombstones

To the Editor:

You do what? This is the comment my husband and I get when we tell people we clean tombstones. We are looking to train more people who are interested in helping clean stones in the area. It involves some elbow grease but the satisfaction from it is amazing. You are helping to preserve history. We find flat stones over 50% covered with grass and dirt. I uncovered one and found it to be twice the size. Some stones are so dirty. We found a flat veteran stone that was black. I have never seen one like that. I cleaned off all the dirt and overgrowth and scrubbed it down. I found out that it was actually a light gray stone. We don’t only do veterans stones but other stones in the cemetery. Some are so covered with moss, lichen and dirt, you can’t even read them. By the time you are done, they look like a new tombstone. My husband is 80 and I am 60. We are hoping anyone who is interested in learning how to clean tombstones the correct and safe way, We want to have a gathering of people who are interested in doing this in the spring. You would be responsible to buy the cleaning supplies. The cleaning solutions are non-toxic. We follow cleaning procedures from the park department and national cemetery administration. Many people have cleaned stones and damaged them because they use the wrong cleaning solutions and brushes. Please contact us at [email protected], so we can start a list of people interested in the cleaning process. This would be a good service project for students, scout troops or anyone else interested in preserving history. Please consider joining the Stone Warriors. That is the name the two of us go by.

Leo and Heidemarie Berna

Stone Warriors

Hazelhurst