Lookin good

[Dean Romig]

Haha... envisioning Edgar sitting in a director’s chair with a highball makes me want to gouge out my mind’s eye.





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[Dean Romig]

Seriously though, I know two restoration events don’t necessarily indicate a trend but with vandalism seeming to be a trend at cemeterys these days I think restoration events certainly will become a regular thing, even if not a trend.





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[Jean Swanson]

To All

Rest assure we are looking into every possible solution to clean the headstones causing as little damage to the stone & the restoration entire Parker site .

Give us a little breathing room, you will be pleased with the final product. Remember---Edgar owned and ran a foundry business, Keith runs his own maintenance business, & I owned and ran a civil engineering/land surveying co.
WE ARE ALL PROBLEM SOLVERS.

We are working on all resources & avenues.

Best to all
Allan

[Dean Romig]

We know you are Allan - you’re definitely the right guys for the job. Not trying to step on toes or second-guess you guys, just having a little chat.





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[TARNATION !!!]

When I saw the “Lookin Good” title of this post I was expecting to see a fine example of yet another amazing Parker gun restoration. I admit I was quite surprised upon reading through it all. I do recall reading of efforts years ago by Dave Suponski. From afar, I am compelled to applaud the direction taken by this group of members. Each one of us here has our story of why we are here. Mine starts with my Dad’s VH145522. I was,as a child, intrigued by the Dogs Head Butt Plate that resembled our black lab “Snippy”. Upon learning to sound out words I was proud to finally recite all the words found on the rib of “Snippy’s” gun. As I grew I came to understand that Meriden Conn was an actual place. These revelations were occurring in the 1950’s. Fast forward to this millennium I came to inherit 145522. It was in sad shape and I did what I could to bring it back and used it for it’s intended purpose, bringing home a variety of game birds. Part of my research into making repairs lead me to the PGCA. In 2019 Cheryl and I embarked on a mission to dip toes into both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Destinations in between were best described as serendipitous. In late September we found ourselves on Prince Edward Island. I had an annual appointment in the pheasant swales of Saskatchewan for October 1. The mileage being considerable, it was time to head west and keep rolling. But I had mentioned to Cheryl that a good lobster dinner could be had in Bar Harbor so we headed south to enjoy that. It was there that I decided I would be foolish to not head further south to find that childhood mystical place Meriden Conn. I knew that would take extra time that could interfere with October 1 but a pilgrimage to Meriden was on. We arrived to find a much more robust community than my child’s vision had conjured up but it seemed few citizens were aware of Charles Parker or the Gun Works or where the graveyard could be found. We did of course find the cemetery and the last standing building associated with the Gun Works. Upon finding the cemetery it was another job to find the Parker plot. In September 2019 I found the plot to be in a sad state. Headstones down and broken or overgrown by volunteer shrubbery that blocked the view of inscriptions. Some pictures were taken to record the memories as I find recollections fade at an accelerated rate as time passes. If they are of use to the authors of this thread I will add a link which will be done as an edit to this post as I fear the loss of all these finger taps should I do so now. Best regards Jack http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=999

[TARNATION !!!]

Late September 2019. BTW I did not miss October 1 but admit I was just a bit fatigued after driving that long road home

[Dean Romig]

I just don't understand the disrespect these vandal hoodlums exhibit.






.

[edgarspencer]

Jack, Many, Many thanks for that reply. Your 'pilgrimage' was apparently destined, and like myself, you probably felt some degree of sadness that this very important family, had all but been forgotten. It gives one a new understanding of "Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust. I'm no crusader, but when I went to the cemetery, for the first time since 2012, I felt like I needed to do something. Maybe Allan Swanson knew how I would react, and I'm very grateful he thought enough of me to reach out.
We've made a substantial inroad toward reaching a proper conclusion, but all this effort will would be wasted if the plan did not include provisions for an ongoing maintenance program.
Your photo of the broken stone, in three pieces, is Cornelia's (Charles and Abi's eldest daughter) headstone. It is now standing, albeit a little crooked.
Of the (second) Three Brothers, Dexter's headstone is a contemporary replacement, Charles Eddy's, laying on the ground, and and these photos show how I found Wilbur's headstone.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I just don't understand the disrespect these vandal hoodlums exhibit.

Dean, There isn't anything that conclusively points to vandalism.

Jeanette's stone was knocked over because of the red maple growing out of the ground, directly between the base of her headstone, and family monument.

The grounds slopes away, to the west, behind the Charles Parker family row of stones, and there has been some erosion beneath the bases of several stones, on the west side. The base beneath Charles E's stone was badly eroded, and listing. His stone, about 5 feet tall could have easily been leaning and it wouldn't have taken a lot of wind to do it. Same for Cornelia's.

I spent several hours reassembling the stone for Edmund's daughter, Lizzie. That was made up of 5 separate pieces. The top of it probably had a small pineapple on it, and that was missing. The epoxy we are using is over $20 per tube and is specifically for masonry work. The fumes given off were horrendous, and it may account for my diminished mental capacity.

[TARNATION !!!]

Happy to pass along my experience. I thought at the time things appeared a bit like neglected cemeteries anywhere. Mother Nature has a way of reclaiming her territory as the remnants of ancient civilizations attest. Post industrial humans have this thought that what we create should be permanent but without routine maintenance, disintegration is inevitable. I do look forward to seeing the end results of what I know will have been considerable time and effort to achieve. I also believe that an article in Parker Pages, that would need to include likely far more than three pictures to properly tell the story, is more than appropriate. Regards Jack