POTTSTOWN — The spring community cleanup at Edgewood Cemetery will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The rain date is Saturday, April 20.
Tools and gloves will be provided. Volunteers who can bring and operate weed-whackers and small mowers and saws will be greatly appreciated.
Refreshments will be provided for volunteers thanks to Little Italy/The Pourhouse and Sodexo, the dining services company that serves The Hill School.
Adopt-a-gravestone effort ongoing
The nonprofit organization tending to the cemetery has also begun an “Adopt-a-Gravestone” program created to address the headstone toppling and sinking of many plots due to the natural passage of time, early and less stable burial methods, and the cemetery’s serious groundhog-related destruction problem.
To date, these efforts funded by generous donors have allowed the cemetery to restore nine tombstones.
Individuals who would like to help with Adopt-a-Gravestone may call or text Kelly Fenstermacher at 610-506-7033 or go to https://givebutter.com/adoptagravestone to donate directly.
Volunteers will be selling unusual, locally produced Edgewood Cemetery merchandise to benefit the mowing fund as well as Adopt-a-Gravestone. Items to be sold at both the cleanup and the Women of Edgewood tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 18, will include three-quarter length sleeved shirts ($20 each) featuring the Edgewood logo on the front as well as a bold image on the back of “Eddie Edgewood,” the hawk who makes his home in the cemetery’s trees, drawn by volunteer and artist Jess Grater.
Other “Eddie Edgewood” items include wooden coasters, garden flags, Christmas tree ornaments, and prints. Individuals who would like to purchase merchandise also may contact Cathy Skitko of Hobart’s Run at contact@hobartsrunpottstown.org or 610-705-1017.
All Edgewood grounds mowing and maintenance depends upon the generosity of donors and events like this planned by a small band of volunteers including staff from Hobart’s Run, a neighborhood engagement organization founded by The Hill School.
Gifts for the above-mentioned and other restoration projects will be accepted with gratitude at Edgewood Historic Cemetery, c/o 740 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464, or through the organization’s general “Give Butter” donation acceptance site at https://givebutter.com/edgewod-historic-cemetery.
Caring for the 12-acre Cemetery runs close to $20,000 a year. Unfortunately, Edgewood’s caretaker abandoned the cemetery in 2012, and borough funds are not provided for its maintenance. The grounds soon became overgrown — until volunteers joined forces with Hobart’s Run to find ways to collaborate, fund, and restore this resting place.
