The first thing I have to say this week is “thank you” to everyone who participated this week in the gravestone cleaning workshop and demonstration of headstone resetting. The weather held and so much was accomplished. The people were great and our instructors were fantastic!

Kurt Riegel, a historic preservation specialist, demonstrated how to take an old headstone, which had fallen years and years ago lying flat on the ground, turn it upright again, and properly excavating to allow for it to be inserted to the correct depth to ensure its resurrection for many years to come. Proper refilling and compaction of the soil was stressed to ensure the stone would remain level. All plastic tools were used to prevent any damage to the stone.

Kurt’s a wealth of information of the how’s, why’s, and don’ts of performing this task. And, he didn’t get frustrated with the abundance of questions we bombarded him with. The attributes of a true professional! The Fostertown Cemetery Association may tackle a few more in the future, or provide guidance to any Boy Scout who wishes to do an Eagle Project here.

For the general public, anyone wishing to contact Kurt, his contact information is: Kurt Riegel, phone: 607-316-0117, and reigelkurt@gmail.com.
He’s located upstate, but does travel to wherever the location is. Thanks, Kurt!

Marianne Greenfield, proprietor of Gravestone Cleaning Service, instructed participants in the recommended method of cleaning gravestones. I had previously attended a workshop a year and a half ago and was extremely impressed with Marianne’s knowledge and common sense approach. When discussing what I had learned with Johanna Porr Yuan, our Orange County Historian, she was gracious enough to include the Fostertown Cemetery in this year’s program!

Marianne takes the time to thoroughly explain the process, stressing potential safety issues first. She follows up with individual instruction during the cleaning process on the selected gravestones with those performing the task. She was with everyone and watched over us all. Everyone was both happy and grateful for being there today. A great group if ever there was one.

Again, for the general public, anyone wishing to contact Marianne, her contact information is: Marianne Greenfield, graveart@stny.rr.com.

Both Marianne and Kurt repeatedly stressed the importance of using only the recommended and correct cleaner and only the recommended and correct tools. The use of metal tools, such as a wire brush, will damage the stones, so only plastic or wood can be used. Harsh chemicals such as bleach are an absolute NO! Even, what we routinely consider mild, things like dish detergent have to be avoided.

The porous nature of stone is such that chemicals are absorbed into the stone and will remain long after the initial cleaning. The pH neutral cleaning agent and solution, with proper rinsing, provides excellent results without any damage. And, with proper cleaning, once the sun shines on the stone for a week or so, the stones continue to brighten.

Here a few photos to illustrate our accomplishments today! The websites for the newspaper and the Town of Newburgh Historian will have many more than the printed article. And so much thanks to both Johanna and Nicole in putting this together. You are appreciated! Kudos!