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Teaching
Jonathan Appell, light shirt, shows how to right a gravestone at Munyan Cemetery. Courtesy photo.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- It's more than honoring those veterans who have sacrificed --- it's about honoring all ancestors.
Several residents recently received training on restoring gravestones. They are now working in East Putnam cemeteries. From there they plan to offer their services to Putnam cemeteries and beyond.
John Smith Jr. of East Putnam said he often visits the Putnam Heights cemetery where he has family buried. He said he noticed that many gravestones had fallen over with time.
Having tombstones fixed, he discovered is very expensive. It might cost $600 to $700 per gravestone for restoration.
So he said he did some research and discovered a gentleman from Connecticut, Jonathan Appell , who is a nationally known expert gravestone preservationist. Smith held a fund-raiser chicken barbecue, "pitched in" some of his own money, and hired Appell to teach interested folks how to restore gravestones.
Appell recently visited the Munyan Cemetery, in East Putnam, and spent nearly the whole day teaching those attending how to preserve gravestones.
At Munyan, Smith said, the group in training restored "probably four stones" and leveled and straightened more than eight.
"We'll get quicker as we go along," Smith said. One stone they worked on at Munyan drew this remark from Appell "You did that right, but you took the long way to do it. Try this way."
Smith said they learned how to level, straighten, rebuild, clean and protect gravestones. In addition to Smith, the following learned the tricks of the preservation trade: Doug Cutler Jr., Doug Cutler Sr., Barney Seney, Don Steinbrick, Tim Maroney, Kathy Wade, Norma O'Leary and more.
Cemeteries began using granite around 1900, Smith said. Before that, most gravestones were made of marble. It's a softer stone and the elements make it "sugar," that tis, break down. Epoxies are used, as are special cleaning solutions.
Smith said the group, still buzzing about their newfound preservation knowledge, would like to continue at Munyan Cemetery and then possibly move on to Putnam Heights and other Putnam cemeteries. From there, he said, the group is very willing to go beyond Putnam's borders.
"We learned a lot and had fun and we're ready to get out there and restore cemeteries," Smith added.