Cemetery restoration and preservation is not an easy task. I spend most of my time finding the families who own the plots to get permission to restore their loved-one's plot. Sometimes it may take many years to find the families, as in the case of Kristina Holak. Besides the usual upkeep of cemeteries (picking up trash, putting headstones back in place, and other little things) we also restore the headstones if they are destroyed enough and we can get the funds to do so. A project that we are working on at the moment is placing a gravestone on a baby's grave from 1904. It took many years to find the family of this particular grave (Kristina Holak), and we knew that her baby resting next to her does not have a marker of any sort. We are working on getting one that looks like her mom's. This is a very long and tedious project, to obtain a metal cross no longer made is not an easy task. We have had to find a specialized metal-worker who can do this for us. Hopefully this project can be finished by mid-2000.

Below are two pictures from Lakeside Cemetery in Canon City, Colorado. Kristina's metal cross was slowly coroding after 95 years of harsh Colorado winters. What did we do about it? It was covered with a rust-proof spray, and repainted. It looks much better, and is good for another 100 years. But most times, restoration is not this easy, or this inexpensive.



The pictures below are not of the same graves. The first one has not yet been restored due to lack of funds. The second picture was restored a few years ago. This type of restoration is rather expensive. The time involved in contacting the family is sometimes great, othertimes I simply give up and go ahead with the restoration without the family's permission (nothing wrong with that). Fill dirt must first be added, and a new stone is carved. The old stone is set in concrete on top of the grave itself. Further preservation can entail layers of shellac for older wooden markers, and our newest ideas involve covering the old stone with a plastic shell. This is all very time consuming and a labor of love to say the least.



Unfortunately, there are many stones and markers that are beyond repair. The old wooden markers and sandstone markers fade away and crumble within years sometimes, and the only thing we can do is replace them. The stones are expensive, to say the least. But restoring and preserving old cemeteries is not all we do with our time. We also like to find cemeteries that we have not explored before, and spend hours in them looking about and seeing what we could do to keep it in good condition. This is all very important to us. We take photographs, we take time to reflect on the people who are buried there, we laugh, we cry... we do so much... but we wish to do even more. Some people restore and preserve art, others take care of parks, and yet others keep libraries of fabulous books... we simply keep the cemeteries.

If you are in or around the Colorado area, and wish to join us in the cemeteries for days of cleaning and restoring, please join the mailing list. It shall keep you informed of all upcoming activities and such when the Spring comes to Colorado. If you have never seen the sun go down in the Colorado Rockies... you are missing a thing of beauty... a joy forever. We do have quite a bit of fun while in the mountains looking for cemeteries... we stop along the river, the antique stores, and anywhere else that we can explore the beauty of the world.... Even if you are unable to help us finance this restoration, your time to us is very valuable, and we would appreciate all the time you can spare to help us, explore with us... enjoy with us... the beauty of the world around us.

I have explored places in the Rockies Mountains that are off limits to most people, but when I explain to the owners who I am, and what I am doing, I usually receive permission to be on the land. We also like to search for treasure using metal detectors, as well as panning for gold. There are so many unknown places to explore... if you like that kind of thing, join with us. We do weekend camping trips, weekend get-a-ways, and so much more. Simply email the Temple or join the Temple mailing list to keep abreast of all the calendar events.