Goshen. BSA Troop 63 Eagle Scout candidate and volunteers raise, clean and reset gravestones at Slate Hill Cemetery

Sam Lieneck, an Eagle Scout candidate from BSA Troop 63, completed his Eagle project at the historic Slate Hill Cemetery in Goshen on Saturday, Oct. 2.

With the help of about 25 volunteers, most of them from Goshen Troop 63, Sam was able to raise 12 gravestones from the 1800’s that had fallen down and were disappearing under the grass.

Volunteers also cleared debris and cleaned quite a few stones, some of which were so covered in lichen that the information on them could not be seen.

Ray Quattrini, from the cemetery Board of Directors, and Goshen Historian Ed Connor helped teach Sam the correct way to raise and clean the stones, which he then shared with all the volunteers.

All of the work was done by hand, without any power tools or machinery, making it a very strenuous task and the accomplishment even more impressive.

This project was only made possible by all the hard work of the volunteers and the generous donations by local businesses, which included Pro Tool in Goshen, Roe’s Lumber in Florida and Lowe’s in Chester, as well as a company from Connecticut, Atlas Preservation, which donated D/2, a specialty biological cleaner made to safely clean gravestones and other historic stones.