A dedicated group of local citizens have undertaken quite the large task, that of cleaning up and refurbishing the Belmont Cemetery.
The project began in August after Ruth Touchton Jeffery got the ball rolling.
“My parents are buried there,” she said. “My son is also buried there, and we were lucky to be able to have him interred at the location.”
She noticed the state of many tombstones in the cemetery and that restoration and maintenance was needed to bring the final resting place of numerous Sabine Parish residents, including World War II and Confederate veterans, to its proper state.
The assembled group meets once a month and uses a Saturday to perform their duties.
“I just wanted to do something meaningful, but the more we work the more amazing everything becomes,” Jeffery said.
Not only is ground maintenance performed, but the group is leveling and resetting stones, cutting and clearing trees, and much more.
Their work around the tombstones can be a painstaking process, which Jeffery likened to what archaeologists do. In one instance, she thought she was working with a small monument on a base, which turnout out to be on a huge slab buried four inches deep. Her and the volunteers make sure no damage is done to such important memorials of the past.
Several names have been paramount to the efforts. Among them are Doug Carter, Bill Howard, and Glynn Howard.
“Without them we wouldn’t have near as much done,” she admits.
The group effort is starting to receive notice. The last time they were working in the cemetery, three vehicles shown up and looked around. Ruth notes that was the first time she’s seen it.
Although there is a lot of work to do, Jeffery isn’t asking for help, but if someone feels so inclined they’d love to have the extra participants. She points that one big area of help is to have an acre of land owned by the cemetery cleared.
“That would be an amazing blessing,” she notes.
There is some clear land at the cemetery now, but there are most likely some unmarked graves there, which would require technology to find that the group or cemetery committee do not possess.
For now, they stay the course and work hard to make the cemetery the best it can be.