Hello everybody! It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything, and I wanted to give an update on some of the things I’ve been working on lately.
I broke my phone a few weeks ago. On that particular day, Gavin and I were at a community event cleaning graves of soldiers from the Revolutionary War to help commemorate its 250th anniversary. I had spent the better part of a month locating and staking gravesites of our country’s earliest patriots in preparation for the event. These were names of people who made the march to Lexington and Concord. Unfortunately, I lost the photos, but in the next few weeks, I’ll post some newer ones to show how they’re looking after treatment with D2.
About a week later, I completed a project I had been working on since last year. A man had called me trying to locate his great-great-great-grandfather’s unmarked plot. Levi Lane served in both the Navy and Army during the Civil War. I not only located his gravesite but was able to procure and install his headstone earlier this month. Interestingly, this grave is directly across from another stone I personally installed last year.
As an added bonus, while researching Lane, I discovered his son of the same name enlisted and served with his father. Inadvertently, I found the younger Lane’s gravesite during the cleaning event – can’t make this stuff up!
Also, just prior to Memorial Day, our town installed thirteen memorial banners to honor the individuals of our town who made the ultimate sacrifice from WWI through the War on Terror. These were funded by our local Legion, which I belong to, and I was asked to design the banners. I’m proud of how they came out.
Another thing I just had to share: this awesome hand-carved, wooden bust of President Kennedy that I scored at the Brimfield Antique Fair. A number of people commented on it as I lugged it back to my car, including an artist whose work is featured at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Total score!
Truth be told, the break from social media has been refreshing. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time updating the site and have added nearly two hundred new names of individuals whose graves I have recently visited!
