Answering the call from Pine Grove Cemetery President Bill Henley, volunteers turned out on a chilly Saturday morning to sweep up leaves and pine needles, rake up grave mounds, and generally get the place in order in time for Remembrance Day.
Henley says there were more helpers on hand than they usually see on a cleanup day. He was appreciative of the time these folks took out of their weekend to clean up not only their own families’ graves, but much of the older section that needed to be freshened up.
Just after 9:00am, Henley and those who answered the call were on the job, which also meant walking the width and depth of the cemetery looking for graves of those who served in the Canadian military. The nation’s flag was planted alongside the headstones as a show of respect in time for Remembrance Day visits. More than sixty flags were placed, some with the help of veteran Jeremy Dobson, who identified a number of graves that weren’t marked by military monuments, given that those veterans did not die while in service. There are undoubtedly more who should be recognized, but without a record of the service people buried here, it’s up to their families to give that recognition.
Caretaker Bruce Benjamin says Remembrance Day is one of the busier times of year for cemetery visits. It’s also perhaps the last visit for the season, as Pine Grove’s gates are closed on December 1st.
Henley said another call for a general cleanup is likely to be made in the Spring, before Mother’s Day.
While researching the Pine Grove Cemetery for this article, Hello Oxford welcomed the assistance of Dr. Dick Henley, who found the following excerpt in the Oxford Journal archives, from May 9th, 1909:
Pine Grove Cemetery.
Of all spots on earth most dear to the human heart ’tis the sacred clay wherein is interred the unnumbered dead.
Our town can boast of having one of the most beautifully located cemeteries to be found in the county.
The land was purchased and plans designed by our aged townsman, Mr. Harry Treen. Its situation is near Black river, fronting on a pleasant sheet of water known as Salt Lake.
The first burial therein was a little son of Col. William Oxley. At a citizen’s meeting convened at the old schoolhouse, by a unanimous vote, it was decided to ask for an act of incorporation for the cemetery and on April 15, 1890, said act was passed, giving it the name of the Pine Grove Cemetery, with the following board of trustees duly elected, as follows: J.R. Mackintosh (deceased), Rufus Wood (deceased), William Dunamore, A.S. Mackintosh, J.S. Hickman.
The present plot has been nearly all taken up and recently an addition containing three acres has been added thereto, which will be opened and laid out this present year.
Mr. William Dunamore has held the office of secretary-treasurer ever since 1890, which trust he has faithfully discharged. Since the above date he has granted 150 deeds for burial lots.
A handsome summer house adorns the grounds and a well of good water affords ample moisture for the shrubs and trees that ornament the land, which, for the most part are beautifully kept. It is certainly a thing of beauty and credit to the town and its inhabitants.
— The Oxford Journal, May 9, 1908.
Nice