Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery

June 21-22: Riverside Gravestone Assessment & Cleaning Workshop

The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery and the Fairmount Heritage Foundation are hosting a gravestone assessment and cleaning workshop on Saturday, June 21st and Sunday June 22nd. The workshop will be taught by Jayne Uhlir, and we are limited to 12 participants total, so please send contact us quickly if you would like to take part in this training. The cost is $25 per participant. If you are interested in participating please send an email to friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org.
Details are as follows:

Date and Time:
June 21 Saturday 8:30 – Noon
June 22 Sunday 9:00 – 3:00 PM

Saturday, June 21: This is a half-day event, classroom style where attendees learn the concepts. We have a brief hands-on practice session at the end to further solidify the information.

By the end of this half-day workshop, participants will be familiar with:
Field Safety
Stone Identification
How to Complete Condition Surveys
Responsible Cleaning of Grave Markers

Preliminary Agenda:
8:30 A.M. Welcome & Overview
8:40 A.M. Introductions
8:50 A.M. Training Goals
9:00 A.M. Value of Cemeteries
9:15 A.M. The Big Picture
9:30 A.M. How to Assess Gravestone Conditions
9:45 A.M. Break (10 minutes)
11:00 A.M. Cleaning Gravestones
11:30 A.M. Assessment Exercise
12:00 P.M. Wrap-Up

Sunday, June 22: This is a 3/4-day work day out in the cemetery.

By the end of this event, participants will be:
Sunburned
Exhausted
Filthy Dirty
Happy
Bonded with their work groups
More confident making condition assessments and cleaning stones

Remember to pack your lunch for Sunday and sunscreen, sunglasses and shade hats if you’re susceptible to burn and heat. Layered clothing and close-toes shoes are also strongly encouraged.

Note: Fairmount Heritage Foundation Volunteers who have already been trained are welcome to attend the field day on Sunday; however, please let us know if you are planning to attend so we can assign you a team. Email friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

Please plan to arrive by 8:15 a.m. on Saturday at the Riverside Chapel for Training Day. (If you are already a FHF volunteer who’s been through a training before, you don’t need to attend on Saturday but we still need to know you want to participate on Sunday so we can assign you to a team.) Teams will be picked on Saturday.

Assessment and cleaning supplies will be made available to you. However, here are some optional (but helpful) items you may wish to bring:
– Garden gloves
– rose clippers (in case headstone has dead stalks/branches/ foliage to clear out before cleaning)
– Kneeling pads
– Hand held mirrors (for reading faded inscriptions)
– Fanny Packs for toting odds & ends

When we select teams on Saturday, we’ll identify who will bring the camera for their team. If you are bringing the camera, be sure your battery is well charged! Also check to ensure your picture sizes are set for somewhere around 640 x 480. (This will help us keep our file sizes under control when we upload all photo documentation to the computer.)