Work taking place at Evergreen Cemetery; volunteers needed

This is so much excitement at Owego’s Evergreen Cemetery. Last Saturday some volunteers from the Village appointed Evergreen Cemetery Committee, as well as the Friends of Evergreen, held their first work crew day where they concentrated on the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) section to get it prepared for Memorial Day. 

On May 21 they have their next scheduled crew date set to conclude what was started in that section. Volunteers are needed, whether it be for one hour or three hours. 

The crew usually starts at 9 a.m. and works until noon, but on May 21 they have some out-of-town guests joining them whose expertise includes the professional cleaning of and restoration of grave markers. They will be gathering at noon at the caretaker’s cottage and working until 3:30 p.m. 

Another exciting event that has begun is the stain glass window restoration phase in the Evergreen Cemetery Chapel / Mortuary on East Avenue. This stage of the total chapel restoration project has been in the works for the past two years, and as you can see in the photos, the first window has been completely restored to its original beautiful glory. 

This is a project that promises to take most, if not all the summer months to complete. When all the windows are completely restored, they will be protected by a thicker Lexan, which will completely replace the old, yellowed Plexiglas that is in use now.

Perhaps the most exciting news for Evergreen Cemetery is the total replacement of the old railing / guardrail that runs up the left-hand side of the entrance road to the cemetery. The Village of Owego DPW crew began removing the old on April 26, and the plan calls for the new guardrail to be installed starting in about a week. The new guardrail will extend further up the entrance road than the old one did. 

Once that part of the project is completed, about 300 feet of guard rail will be installed starting just west of the Sa Sa Loft / Indian Girl monument, and extending down the left side of that section of road in the cemetery. Until the completion of this project there will be very limited access to the cemetery, as it will be closed to all non-essential traffic including the many walkers who visit daily. The public will be notified when the cemetery is reopened.

There will also be an ongoing effort to remove the dead and dangerous trees that remain within the cemetery. The total completion of this project all depends on available funding. The removal of those trees is essential, as they can and have done great devastating damage to the grounds as well as some monuments over the years. 

Lastly, there are plans in the works for the much-needed repairing of the roads within the cemetery. This is a very expensive project, according to the committee, and will need to be done in phases. The worst of the paved areas will be repaired first. At this point there is no start date for the roads project, but it is at the top of the priority list. 

So this year has started out as a very exciting and promising year for Evergreen Cemetery. If anyone has any questions, feel free to leave a message on the Evergreen Cemetery Committee Facebook page or on the Friends of Evergreen Facebook page. You can also contact John Ricklefs, Head Chairperson of the Evergreen Cemetery Committee, directly through his own personal Facebook page.