Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery

Twilight Tombstones

Dear Liza,

The Friends of Lone Fir is a non-profit, volunteer group who help maintain and educate folks about our wonderful local pioneer cemetery. They put on tours of the Women in Lone Fir, symbolism and architecture of tombstones, and headstone cleaning workshops.

And this year, the Friends hosted a five Saturday series of tours called Twilight Tombstones. On each Saturday in October and one in November, guides lead four groups of twenty through the cemetery, telling stories of the folks buried there.

It was sold out in minutes!

This year, Auntie Bridgett volunteered with me. She greeted folks at the gate and steered them in the right direction.

My job was “tour support”, which means I made sure our group, lead by Peregrine and Paul, stayed together. I also answered extra questions from the folks in the group. It was a delightful, educational, exhausting evening.

The fun began even before the tours started! A friendly group of Zombie Carolers came by after serenading the Dead, and shared their songbook with us. Their songs are not for the squeamish, featuring such delightfully gruesome tunes as “Rudolph the Undead Reindeer” and “Good King Wenceslas Tastes Great.”

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tidying Up the Dead People

Dear Liza,

On my visits to Lone Fir Cemetery, I admire the lovely headstones. Some are more than 150 years old, others are from just a few years ago, but they all have their own style and beauty.

And many of them, sadly, are victims of time and neglect. Their surfaces have become pitted and worn, and their lettering is obscured by moss and dirt.

On my first trip to help, I took along the Friends of the Lone Fir recommended kit: Lots of water and a variety of plastic scrubbers and scrapers. I even wore gloves!

I poured on a lot of water to soften the crud, then used the plastic scraper to dislodge the heaviest moss encrustations.

More water and gentle scrubbing with a plastic brush revealed most of the lettering.

I used a wooden chopstick to get into the letters and numbers, but was frustrated by the numbers pressed into the concrete surround.

I wish they were clearer, because I’m sure they mean something. Maybe L23 and B21?
When I ran out of oomph after an hour, I was pleased with how Byrd Hanley Andrew looked, and happy that I had done something to preserve this wonderful, fragile old place.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sketching with the Dead People

Dear Liza,

You know how much I love visiting the dead folks at Lone Fir Cemetery!

Well, yesterday Auntie Bridgett and I joined a sketching group there. It was led by a lady named Jen whose full time job is elementary school teacher (just what I used to do!)

Jen is also a fan of Lone Fir, and wanted to find a way to earn some money to help maintain this fragile old space. She put a notice on The Friends of Lone Fir website, and people pay $10 a head to join the group. The money goes to Friends of Lone Fir, the same non-profit organization that runs the Twilight Tombstone tours I will be helping with later this month.

Being a ‘real’ teacher, Jen has a ‘real’ curriculum, this book by John Laws. It lays out a lot of steps and philosophy about nature jour along, and I’m sure it is a fine book.

But I was interested in a quick guide to start with. Once our group of thirty (!) people were gathered, Jen gave us just that.

She suggested quick info about day and weather and then prompts of “I notice” “I wonder” and “It reminds me of”, and really close looking at whatever you choose to draw. It could be a tree or a leaf, a patch of ground, or anything in the area.

“If you think it’s boring,” she said, “keep looking and you’ll be amazed how much you see.” We all went off to our own areas and had one hour to draw.

I chose this wonderful old chestnut tree by the rose garden. If I got far enough away to see the whole tree I’d miss the detail, so I could only draw part way up the trunk. I was fascinated by the dappled light and how the patches kept shifting as the sun went down behind me.

When our hour was up, we assembled back at the Soldier’s Memorial and did a “gallery walk” of everyone’s journals. I was impressed by the variety of drawings and the close observations.

We shared our experiences and said what we liked about other folks’ sketches. I liked that we were complimenting the sketch, not the artist… it was less personal, less embarrassing, and more meaningful.

We all enjoyed our time at the cemetery, and being able to share it with other folks made it even better. And next month, Auntie Bridgett and I get to join Jen and the sketchers again!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tombstone Twilight Walkthrough

Dear Liza,

I get to volunteer at the Lone Fir Cemetery again! This year the event is called Tombstone Twilight, and will be held every Saturday in October from 4 to 7 in the evenings. (Buy tickets online at FriendsofLoneFirCemetery.com)

This should be an easier to manage, mostly-daylight activity, in contrast to last year’s event. The Tour of Untimely Departures was one, very long, very dark, evening.

I am looking forward to being part of the show, and this year, Auntie Bridgett is getting involved!

We met up with J Swofford and other volunteers at Lone Fir the other day, for a walk-through of the tour. We got to ‘meet’ such interesting folks as Julius Caesar, a formerly enslaved man who made a name for himself as a political orator for progressive causes. He was also a local baseball fan, and on his tombstone, along with his name and dates, are the words “Play Ball”.

Walking in Lone Fir always gives me peace and perspective, and learning about the lives and accomplishments of the folks there shows me the possibilities of the human spirit. (There are also a lot of cute squirrels.)

I will be making the walkabout a few more times before the tour, so I will not get lost escorting folks around, and I’ll tell you about it as it happens.

Love,

Grandma Judy