by Judith Radford
On Saturday, September 13, at 9 am members of the Grafton Historical Society Cemetery Committee met at the Grafton Cemetery and welcomed Joseph A. Ferrannini of Grave Stone Matters out of Hoosick Falls. Ferrannini, an expert on preserving old cemeteries and headstones, presented a hands-on seminar to demonstrate the correct way to clean, repair and reset grave markers according to long established restoration procedures.
Members of the Historical Society have long been interested and involved in preserving local cemeteries and did quite a bit of research to find the right person to help them how to do it properly. Members attending were Dorothy Surprise, Joe Ferrannini, Dick Wagar, Gordon Gundrum and Bob Goyer. Also in attendance was Les Radford who has spearheaded an effort on Lake Elizabeth in Grafton to clean up their very old and covered over cemetery.
The seminar went on all day with Ferranninni outlining the tools and materials needed for gravestone cleaning projects. He described the different types of stones and actually demonstrated the procedure on some old stones. Anyone interested in more information on this topic may contact Dorothy Surprise at 279-3298, email dsurprise@aol.com, or Joe Ferrannini at 424-9562, email jaferrannini@aol.com.