Gravestone Preservation and Restoration Workshop

The Bowen Cemetery Association is hosting a Gravestone Preservation and Restoration Workshop on Saturday, April 25th from 9 am to 3 pm at Bowen Cemetery in Redbird (southwest Gasconade County between St. James and Bland).  Members of the Bowen Cemetery Preservation committee will teach participants the latest certified ‘Do-No-Harm’ techniques and tools to safely and effectively clean and re-set headstones. Participants will get hands-on experience by helping to restore headstones in the historic 185-year-old cemetery.  The workshop will cover the most important aspects of cleaning and preserving ancestors’ gravestones, from obtaining permission from your local cemetery to finding and using the best and safest products recommended by the National Park Service for use in our National Cemeteries. Participants are welcome to bring photos of family gravestones for advice on how to care for them.

Participation in the workshop is free, but donations to the Bowen Cemetery Association will be gladly accepted.  To RSVP and get directions to the cemetery, email bowencemetery@gmail.com or visit the Bowen Cemetery Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bowencemetery/  and respond to the ‘Bowen Cemetery Gravestone Preservation Day’ event.  The rain/mud date is May 2nd.

The Bowen Cemetery Association will provide:

Cleaning products and water
Snacks and drinks
Informational materials
Friendly folks

Participants should bring:

Work gloves - preferably waterproof
Lunch
Soft nylon brush(es) - small or medium sized, and old toothbrushes are handy.
Sturdy shoes

 
Optional:

a folding chair if you'd like one
a shovel (labeled with your name) if you would like to learn how to re-level or re-set a stone. Participants will have the opportunity to learn the steps to do that safely if interested.

Those who want to continue practicing their skills can come to Bowen Cemetery on Sunday, April 26 from 10 am to 3 pm for the second spring workday. Volunteers will be cleaning and doing more advanced repair and leveling of gravestones.

The Bowen Cemetery Association maintains and preserves the cemetery on the land originally homesteaded by Isaiah and Nancy Bowen in 1829. Anyone who has an ancestor or child buried in Bowen Cemetery is a voting member of Bowen Cemetery Association. The annual BCA meeting is the second Sunday of August. For more information and to join the email list, please send us a note at bowencemetery@gmail.com