HAWLEY — When a few Hawley residents noticed one of their town cemeteries was falling into disrepair, they decided to do something about it, launching the “Cemetery Saturdays” cleanup events.
The event, which originally only took place at Doane Cemetery on Forget Road, expanded for the first time this year to include cleanups at two other town-owned cemeteries: Bozrah Cemetery on Bozrah Road and East Hawley Cemetery on Plainfield Road.
Volunteers, most of whom are members of the Sons and Daughters of Hawley, met at East Hawley Cemetery on Saturday for the first of three scheduled “work party” cleanup days. They raked leaves, collected branches and other debris, and pruned trees and shrubs.
“I just think it’s a good community effort,” noted Hawley resident Melanie Poudrier.
The next Cemetery Saturday “work party” is scheduled for May 2, from 9 a.m. to noon at Bozrah Cemetery. The final “work party” is scheduled for May 9, from 9 a.m. to noon at Doane Cemetery.
The tradition of Cemetery Saturdays began about five years ago, when the poor condition of Doane Cemetery caught Poudrier’s attention.
Through her involvement with the Sons and Daughters of Hawley, a historical society, she organized cleanup days for the cemetery on Forget Road and called it “Cemetery Saturdays.”
The success of past years’ cleanups led the society to consider including other town-owned cemeteries that required a little attention.
“I don’t have anybody in the cemeteries in this town, but I just figured, ‘Why not?’” Poudrier said at the “work party” cleanup at East Hawley Cemetery on Saturday. “I feel we owe it to the folks in here.”
The cleanup project fits the Sons and Daughters of Hawley’s mission to preserve the historic fabric of the town, according to John Sears, president of the society.
“We did a lot of work (at Doane Cemetery),” Sears said. “Then we got a grant from SHRAB, the State Historical Records Advisory Board, to clean and straighten some of the stones of the veterans.”
Doane Cemetery, he explained, has many plots for Revolutionary War and War of 1812 militiamen. Before cleanup work began, the cemetery was in worse condition than most other cemeteries in town, he said.
“(With the grant), we got this group of gravestone restoration specialists to come out and offered a session to us,” Sears said. “We’d been working on that, and this year we decided to expand to some of the other town cemeteries.”
Sears said Saturday that event organizers had already seen a good turnout.
“Fortunately, (the cleanup) is still something we can do during this COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
After all, he added, people are confined more than usual these days.
For Juanita Clark, a member of Sons and Daughters of Hawley who attended the cleanup on Saturday, the opportunity fits her interests.
“I like to rake, and I like to be outdoors,” she said. “And I think it’s important to keep the cemeteries clean.”
She’s taken it upon herself in the past to clean up Bozrah Cemetery, where her husband is buried.
Clark said her friend’s husband is buried at East Hawley Cemetery.
“She’s going to be happy we’re cleaning it up,” she said.
Hawley resident Georgette deFriesse has also been involved with Cemetery Saturdays for several years.
“It’s about a town being a community, instead of just a bunch of people living in the same ZIP code,” she said.
Poudrier said she hopes Cemetery Saturdays, which now include more than just Doane Cemetery, become an annual undertaking.
“We hope that when we go, someone will do the same for us,” Poudrier said with a grin.
Volunteers who wish to get involved are asked to wear masks and observe social distance practices, and to bring work gloves, lopping shears, rakes and a pruning saw.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.