Van Buren students spend Saturday in a cemetery

story and photos by Marla Cantrell
[email protected]

Forty-five Kiwanis Kids from six Van Buren elementary schools arrived at Fairview Cemetery on Saturday (Oct. 2) to learn a little about the city’s history and clean the Sadler family plot.

The project was overseen by Randy Smith, who is leading the restoration project at the historic cemetery. The first reason he selected the eight-grave plot was a practical one:  the stones were stable. The second had to do with the cemetery’s upcoming Tales of the Crypt program that will be held on Oct. 24.

“The Sadlers here were descendants of the Knox family, which were the very earliest settlers in the county,” Smith said. “And Anna Sadler-Wilson is very interesting. She’s going to be in Tales of the Crypt this year. She was a very talented child actor; her parents sent her off to various acting schools. … Anna did a recital at the original King Opera House raising money for the Hebe statue at the courthouse. She married an attorney real late in life.”

The kids scraped moss and lichen from the stones, sprayed them with D-2 Architectural Cleaner, an environmentally friendly product, and then scrubbed away. When the pressure sprayers came out the volunteers lit up, spraying the stones, and the tennis shoes around them.

Zoey Lewis, 7; Bailey Sheperd, 8; and Harrison Lehnen, 7, were in the middle of it all.

“There’s one from the 1800s,” Zoey said.

“One was born April 20, 1845, died March 11, 1881,” Harrison said. “I feel a little sad for these people,” Harrison said.

Shane Beaver, 9, called his mission “sacred.”

“I clean headstones because I think every headstone in the whole, entire world is a sacred monument and a sacred mark for our environment and for our world, our history and our past,” Shane said, while using a putty knife to scrape off the moss. “I know I’ll come back next year.”

Jason Gilmore, president of the Van Buren Kiwanis Club ran interference, keeping the process moving, entertaining the kids while the cleaner set for 15 minutes at a time.  There are 180 K-Kids, ages 6-12, from King, Tate, Central, J.J. Izard, Rena Road and Parkview schools.

“Our number one goal is serving the kids and teaching them how to give back to the community.” Gilmore said. “Today, Randy (Smith) took time to explain why this is important, because when your kids can come and learn about some of the founders of Van Buren that are buried here.”

Smith took the focus off death, and told the kids it’s what you do with your life that matters. The dozens of kids milling around, hovering over monuments, and scrubbing until the cleaner turned to a soapy lather, seemed to understand.

Joaquin Rodriguez, 8, said what he knew what he was doing mattered.

“I think it’s really important,” Joaquin said, while spraying a headstone for a second round of cleaning.

Smith agreed.

“I’ll say this,” Smith said. “Today will do a lot for these kids. You’ll never see a kid who’s come out here and worked to preserve these stones come back and vandalize them. … They’re learning lessons about history, about preservation, about life.”