Volunteers from The New Hartford Garden Club assist in the upkeep and restoration of the Old Nepaug Cemetery

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By: Mary Femniak

Digging a trench for the bulbs

November brought a hearty Garden Club work crew to the Old Nepaug Cemetery for the planting of 200 daffodil bulbs in a third year of effort to brighten the little cemetery on Route 202. Customarily outside the non-profit Garden Club’s town projects, members rallied around fellow member Linda Dryansky when she became involved with maintaining the Old Nepaug Cemetery and quickly realized it was a far more extensive project than initially anticipated. The list of necessities grew overwhelming as mowing, weed control, bulb planting, repairs and preservation of the stones, etc. were initiated by the intrepid but diminutive crew.

The town’s past is carved in each stone and history deeply marks the hallowed ground. The Old Nepaug Cemetery holds 161 interments… and while most of the graves are from the 1800’s, the oldest stone is the grave of Shubael Crow (a Veteran Revolutionary War Pensioner) marking his death in 1798. Obelisks, carved stone, grave stones, markers and sculptures requiring repair, cleaning and straightening await the spring when volunteers will have at it once more.

A restored headstone at the Old Nepaug Cemetery

Plans are to organize a separate and dedicated non-profit to manage the care and restoration of the cemetery as well as chronicle the compelling history represented by each headstone. If you have been seeking a rewarding way to contribute to a community project and would like to help, please contact Linda at lindadryansky@sbcglobal.net. Our winter wish list is: A non-profit guru who can shepherd volunteers through the process of setting up the organization, a marketer who can create and discharge press releases as needed, an IT nerd to create a web site, a biography buff/historian to search out and record the family histories from the stones, and volunteers to bring energy and ideas. Donations are welcome and will be used for cemetery repair and upkeep.

Garden enthusiasts are encouraged to consider joining The New Hartford Garden Club; the membership fee for this rewarding nonprofit community-minded group is $15.00 a year. To learn more about the 50-year-old New Hartford Garden Club find us on Facebook or email us at NewHartfordGardenClub@gmail.com.

Members of the New Hartford Garden Club at the bulb planting in the Old Nepaug Cemetery. Photo: Mary Femniak

A statue in the Old Nepaug Cemetery. Photo: Mary Femniak