Re: Cleaning up Port’s oldest cemetery
More Than a Cleanup!
Referring to the gathering at Monfort Cemetery as “cleaning up Port’s oldest cemetery” in last week’s edition is only partially true. It was much more than that.
Town Historian Howard Kroplick organized a workshop to teach cleaning techniques for gravestones and to demonstrate more difficult restoration processes that with additional training or under the supervision of a professional would enable any of us to go to the next level.
So not only did we begin cleaning up Monfort Cemetery, but the 30 or so people in attendance can apply what was learned in communities all over Long Island.
For all of us, it was eye-opening to see clear text emerge from the gravestones as we cleaned. I had come expecting to learn a thing or two, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect that cleaning a gravestone would be fun.
A special thanks are due to Howard Kroplick and Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth for making this day possible.
Ross Lumpkin, trustee
Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society
