Before-and-after cleaning: you can make a difference!

On Saturday, June 10, we will hold the annual headstone-cleaning session in the Old Colony Buying Ground. Cleaning the historic headstones helps preserve Granville history, and it makes the Old Colony into a historic park we can all be proud of. Thank you (in advance!) for any help you can give.

Volunteers will meet promptly at 9 a.m., near the flagpole in the center path of the graveyard. Instructions for how to clean a headstone in a safe way -- safe for you, and safe for the stone -- will be given at that time! Plan to stay as much of the morning as you wish. Every how helps and this event usually winds down about noon.

THE MISSION, AND WHAT TO BRING: No prior experience is needed ... cleaning agents, brushes, and buckets, along with a limited number of low stools will be provided. If you have your own portable stool, please do bring it (many people find the stools helpful for work on low stones). You may also want to bring your own work gloves (although there will be a supply of "gently-used" gloves), and you should also consider bringing sunscreen and a hat. You are welcome to bring coffee and snacks ... a cooler of bottled water and sports drinks will be provided. It's crucial that everyone stay hydrated!

PARKING: Nearby side streets offer curbside parking, and there is parking in the bike path parking lot near the back of Ross's Granville Market. Please do not park in the Granville Mill/Carwash parking lot. The limited number of spaces are needed for their own business on a busy Saturday morning.

WEATHER: Cloudy and uncertain? We'll forge bravely ahead. Pouring rain with a miserable forecast? The event will probably be postponed until the following Saturday, June 17. If this event is postponed, organizer, Lyn Boone will send out an email the morning of the 10th to those who have committed to this volunteer event.

WHO CAN COME? There is no formal registration for this volunteer experience, however contacting Boone at boonel@denison.edu is helpful for communicating a postponed event, as well as giving Boone an adequate head count for supplies being provided. For anyone who has already informed Boone of their commitment for this volunteer experience, please reconfirm via email.

Clean a historic headstone or two, and you'll have contributed significantly to the preservation of our town's historical heritage!