WHATELY — Those in Whately who know a life worth living is worth remembering will be updated today on the master plan for local gravestone restoration.
The Whately Historical Society plans to sponsor a talk by Cemetery Commissioners Darcy Tozier and Paul Fleuriel, who will describe the progress made in restoring gravestones in the town’s three historic cemeteries, and the plans for the next stage of work. The commissioners are also expected to discuss the best ways to care for family gravestones.
The update, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Whately Town Hall, is free and open to the public.
Tozier said she and Fleuriel will explain the restoration work already conducted by Gravestone Services of New England and “before-and-after” photographs of the West, Center and East cemeteries will be shown. Tozier said Whately received a Community Preservation Act grant three or four years ago to develop a master plan to determine which gravestones in town needed repair. It turned out 400 stones were in need of restoration, and Gravestone Services of New England has worked on 97 to date. The town also got $4,000 from the Massachusetts Sesquicentennial Commission of the American Civil War.
Tozier said the town applied for an additional $30,000 in CPA match funding, which must first be approved by voters at town meeting in April. Whately’s three public cemeteries date from the 1770s, but many of the gravestones have been damaged by storms, acid rain and natural decay.
Judy Markland, a member of the Whately Historical Society, said cemeteries are fascinating because close examination of gravestones can detail when wars and disease epidemics broke out. She said many people in town still bear the same surnames that appear on their ancestors’ gravestones.
“This (talk) is to give people a chance to see the work that has been done and to give the cemetery commision credit for pulling all this together,” Markland said. “I believe very strongly that history is what makes a town like Whately. This is the story of where we came from and who we are. … People here care about that sort of thing.”
Markland said a meeting regarding CPA funding is scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 9. The meeting, she said, is meant to educate people about the restoration projects being recommended for the additional $30,000 in match funding.
Tozier said maintaining gravestones helps preserve town and family heritage. The gravestones record the births, deaths and marriages of Whately’s citizens over the centuries. Tozier also said it is important to ensure the larger, heavier gravestones and monuments are safe for visitors, and restored gravestones make life easier for groundskeepers.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 257. On Twitter, follows @DomenicPoli