TORONTO — The Island Creek Cemetery is the next graveyard site scheduled for restoration and cleanup, with a meeting planned by officials set for 3 p.m. Sunday.
The meeting will be held at the community building, formerly the old Presbyterian church, located on the grounds of the Island Creek Pioneer Cemetery, according to Flora VerStraten, Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.
The church is located at the intersection of state Route 213 and county Road 45 in Island Creek Township.
A walking tour of the cemetery will be included, weather permitting, at the close of the meeting, and refreshments are on the agenda following the discussion.
Volunteers are needed for various aspects of the cemetery preservation/cleanup, according to VerStraten.
“Volunteers are needed to read and record tombstone inscriptions; take digital photos of tombstones; cut trees, brush and grass; level and reset tombstones; and make repairs to the stones by using archival materials provided by the chapter,” she noted.
“Heavy equipment, as well as monetary donations are needed to purchase cement, archival glues and epoxies,” she added.
Donations can be sent to Jefferson County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2367, Wintersville, OH 43953, to the attention of the Island Creek Cemetery Fund.
“We would like to extend an invitation to citizens of Toronto who are interested in organizing a historical society. This is for those who are historically minded and are the type interested in preserving area history, buildings and cemeteries throughout the county, and to anyone who has an ancestor buried in the Island Creek Cemetery, old or new section,” VerStraten said.
For information or to get directions, contact Gail Komar at gkomar@gotmc.net or VerStraten, chapter president, at fverstraten@dishmail.net, or call (740) 765-4049.
The county genealogical society Web site is www.jeffcochapter.com.
(McCoy can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)
