A free cemetery restoration clinic will be held at Fincastle Presbyterian Church in Fincastle on July 30. This is part of a 50-state tour by Jonathan Appell from Connecticut. Appell is a professional gravestone, monument and masonry preservation specialist who has been working in related fields for well over 20 years.
After attending college and studying violin and cabinet making, he then began working in the cemetery-related field as a modern monument installer and cemetery contractor. In 1986 he founded the New England Cemetery Service, performing excavation, foundations, monument installation and monument restoration.
His interest in the historical aspects of masonry and gravestone preservation increased during the 1990s. He attended numerous workshops, conferences and training sessions in many related fields. He is now president of Atlas Preservation, which is based in Connecticut with a mission to amalgamate everything needed for monument and gravestone restoration under one roof.
Working in and around some of the oldest graveyards in America, including Williamsburg and Jamestown, Appell has helped many historic and church sites to clean, preserve and protect their monuments.
Currently, Jonathan performs specialized projects and also conducts workshops nationally in collaboration with towns, states, historical societies and cemeteries.
Participants will learn:
- Cleaning of sculpture, gravestones, and monuments
- How to reset leaning gravestones
- Conservation (repair) of broken and fallen gravestones and monuments
- Replacement of broken pieces on headstones.
- Condition assessment (individual stone survey)
- Risk assessment (locate hazardous gravestones and monuments)
The workshop is free and will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 30. Fincastle Presbyterian Church is located at 108 E Back Street. No pre-registration is necessary, but questions can be directed to Alan Brenner 540-537-0272.
