Lookin good

[John D.]

Originally Posted by edgarspencer

Clearly, My wife isn't paying you enough................

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OK - now that's funny!!!!!



John D.

[John D.]

And Edgar?

Now that I stopped laughing a bit, as your wife and I will certainly renegotiate her fee to me for the next year..... I just want to add a huge and heartfelt Thank You to you, Edgar - and to Keith and Allan as well - for doing this on behalf of all Parker Collectors, enthusiasts and those yet to be......

Tell your wife - the next year is on me my friend....

Sincerely - thank you...

John D.

[Joe Graziano]

Thanks for all the information about the graves and the work you are putting into maintaining the Parker family grave site.

[Jean Swanson]

Well here goes !!

To bring all up to date :

It all started last fall on my way home to Vermont from Greenwich,CT after a gun deal went south. I decided to stop at the Parker cemetery in Meriden. The condition was beyond explanation----head stones tipped over & broken ,trees growing between head stones, ground vegetation completely covering head stones. Something needed to be done.

I called to set up a meeting with the BOD---that was arranged & approved with limited funds to get a couple of PGCA members .

My next step was to call Edgar Spence for help---there was something brewing the wind that was not expected on my part, a full offer PLUS on our home in Vermont ---we had to be OUT by 4 December---a huge task !!!

While talking with Edgar, he suggested that he contact Keith Bedard , a PGCA member--that was done. I was out of the picture because of moving .

Edgar & Keith , with me in the back ground to keep current, worked up a plan to go to Meriden to work on the Parker site---the work that has been done was MUCH needed..Winter hit... Edgar, Keith & I have kept in touch planning our next step.

So to all---BE PATIENT-----There will be a multitude of pictures, a well written article and more .
was done

[Andy]

That's pretty amazing, thanks for sharing that.

[edgarspencer]

These two images, of some 80 taken, give you an idea of the scope of the work we've been doing.
The Headstone for Cornelia, Charles' daughter, had been broken once, and badly repaired. It was laying on the ground and after some digging, we found the missing piece from a more recent break. The other image fascinated me. Edmund's wife, Jeanette, died in 1892, and her stone had been knocked off it's plinth, which was also knocked off it's base. It's difficult to understand how it lay on it's face, but knocked over backwards. The impression it left in the soil was more legible than the actual headstone.

[Jim Kremmel]

All,
While I live in PA and likely can’t help, I suggest looking into some of the spray made for cleaning mildew and crud from headstones. I saw this on a random YouTube video of a guy cleaning US veteran headstones. It look like it worked really great, and I thought about doing some in a couple cemeteries in my area. I will see if I can find what it’s called. FWIW...

[Dean Romig]

Edgar, it seems every decade or so tha Parker Family Plot requires repair and maintenance and quite likely bi-weekly inspection and mowing.

Your pictures remind me of Dave Suponski’s efforts and the PGCA’s layout of a few thousand dollars to rebuild and repair the headstones and their bases.
I wonder if the PGCA should contract a local landscape operation for this responsibility and to report back to the PGCA whenever they find something amiss.






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[edgarspencer]

Unless I am mistaken, The work that Dave organized, and contracted for, was in 2012, and there's no record, or mention of any work prior to that, or, until now, since then. Two points may form a straight line but they don't indicate a trend. Dexter Parker was the last member interred in the family plot, in 1925. His headstone is much more recent, but is the only indication that anything was done, or added until Dave jumped in. Given these facts, a good restoration of the plot, with only regular lawn maintenance, may be all that's necessary.
Neither Keith Bedard, nor I have degrees in Rocket science, but the thought of hiring a regular service has more than crossed our minds.

[Garth Gustafson]

I really commend all you guys for the work you’ve done on this restoration and for your commitment to what lies ahead. This is no small job and that work is arduous. Just don’t hurt yourselves.

Would feel better knowing you’re sitting down in director’s chairs with highball glasses in your hands directing operations and ensuring the work is up to Parker Bros standards.