Workshop on Maintenance & Preservation of Cemeteries

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South Shore Genealogical Society

Maintenance & Preservation of Cemeteries Workshop

On November 5, 1999, about 50 interested people, ranging from family historians to monument dealers, attended a day-long workshop held by the SSGS in Lunenburg. This workshop was sponsored by NS Department of Tourism and Culture and the Town of Lunenburg.
Deborah Trask, Curator of Buildings, Museum Services, and Heather Lawson, Certified Restoration Stone Mason were the commentators and on-site demonstrators. In the morning session, Deborah talked about what to do and what not to do with cemeteries and stones, her talk being accompanied by slides. The afternoon session featured both Deborah and Heather in Hillcrest Cemetery. Deborah talked about and demonstrated such things as how to read inscriptions with the aid of a large mirror (it really works!) and how to remove lichen from stones (use your fingers, a popsicle stick or a small wedge-shaped piece of wood). Heather spent over three hours actually straightening a tablet stone on site - see her hard work below!

Click on the thumbnail photograph to see larger pictures.


Heather Lawson by the stone "before"	Talking about the stone before starting the restoration	After the initial digging with a shovel, it's on to a trowel	Still digging - notice that all the soil is being carefully placed on a tarpaulin	Answering the innumerable questions!

Notice the props at left of the stone	The loosening process begins	This is hard work	It's loose!	Straightening


Packing down the mix of gravel and masonry sand by hammering on wood with a mallet	The late Greg Demone, Lunenburg monument dealer, learning	A job well done	Now for the cleanup! Deborah Trask at left.

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