In honor of the veterans interred at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Preservation Erie in partnership with workshop instructor Mary Jane Koenig is hosting a gravestone cleaning event that is open to the public. Ms. Koenig was trained in gravestone cleaning techniques by the Gravestone Guardians of Ohio and has coordinated volunteer efforts to clean several hundred graves at the Home’s cemetery over the last three years. Participants will be trained to properly clean older gravestones – the gravestones at the Home’s cemetery date to the Civil War era to today – and then work on cleaning gravestones individually.
The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required for planning purposes. Registration is limited to (20) participants and participants must be age 12 and above. Any registrant under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Register by email at [email protected] by Friday, May 16th.
All cleaning supplies will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to wear old clothes and shoes and bring gloves, bottled water, and sunscreen.
The location of the workshop is the PA Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home Veterans Memorial Cemetery located at 560 East Third Street, Erie, PA. To access the cemetery, attendees must first check in at the guardhouse, and then proceed north along the driveway of the Home. Turn onto the bridge over the railroad track and make an immediate right at the end of the bridge to access the cemetery. Park along the side of the driveway. Restrooms are not available.
All registrants will be asked to sign a “Hold Harmless” form from the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home.