(Left Photo) John Venn cleans lichens and mosses from the headstone of Sadie Schaeffer, a local waitress who drowned in the Merced River in 1901.
(Right Photo) Jeff Swanstrum scrubs the marker stone of Forest Townsley, Chief Ranger in Yosemite from 1916 until his death in 1943.
“Over the years the markers and monuments in the Yosemite Cemetery, have faded with neglect. And with them the brilliance of the echoes and stories that keep the memory of Yosemite’s forbearers alive. Gravestones were damaged and split. Metal fences were broken. Weathering and vegetation stains obscured the names and details of our past. Something had to be done.
With a grant through Yosemite Conservancy, stabilization and repairs are underway...”
http://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/Stewards-of-Stone-Stabilizing-Yosemite-Cemetery.htm
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