ROCKPORT, Maine — The Maine Old Cemetery Association will lead an all-day cleaning and leaning workshop at the Glen Cove Cemetery on Warrenton Street on Saturday, Aug. 29.
The workshop is open to the public with a limit of 20 participants. Registration is required; the fee is $20. Registration forms are available in the town office during regular business hours. They also will be available soon to download from the MOCA website and the town website.
The workshop will show how to properly and safely clean gravestones and how to reset tablet markers without a base that are leaning. A lean of more than 15 degrees potentially is a danger to the gravestone, nearby stones and to visitors. However, a gravestone that is cracked or had a previous repair is not a candidate for resetting in this type of workshop.
No one without proper training should attempt to fix a leaning gravestone.
The following is a list of gravestones that have been chosen for resetting: Mary Burns (lot 65), David Balcom (Civil War veteran, lot 41) Harriette, daughter of CC & R Jones (lot 16), three infant children of CC & R Jones (lot 16), buried stone (face down) on the CC & R Jones lot (lot 16), Catherine Eliza, daughter of Charly & Mary Jameson (lot 89), George Gilman, son of Charly & Mary Jameson; also the foot stone for this stone (lot 89).
By law, an attempt must be made to gain permission from descendants to reset the gravestones. Documented direct descendants of any of the above persons who do not want their ancestor’s stone reset should contact the office of the Rockport town clerk before the workshop. The town, as owner of the cemetery, already has authorized the work.
Several gravestones will be cleaned of dirt and lichen. These will be older, 19th century, marble stones and modern, 20th century, granite stones. Anyone who does not want his or her ancestor or family member’s stone cleaned should contact the office of the Rockport town clerk before the workshop.