Beverly Grave Clear From Snow
BEVERLY (CBS) – For the last 10 years, she has decorated her son's grave for every holiday, but during a recent visit, Bridget Simard found the grave completely covered in snow.
"I came down. I saw the story. I wanted to help," said Andrew Wesley, a Good Samaritan.
Thursday, Good Samaritans turned out in droves to help remove the giant pile of pushed snow that sat on top of the gravestone.
"I don't blame anybody. It's nobody's fault...Something was done, and let's fix it, that's all," said Wesley.
WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports.
The 12-foot snow mound formed when the city cleared cemetery roads of the unprecedented snowfall this season. Beneath the bank was the grave plot of 21-year-old John Simard, who died in 2002.
The Simard family spoke about the heartbreak they felt when they realized John's headstone was buried.
"When we showed up and saw this. I mean, the rest of the cemetery isn't like this," said Simard.
"I know what her feelings are like," said Paul Rallo of Danvers.
Rallo's parents are buried nearby. He turned up with a friend, who has the right equipment, to remove the mountain on Thursday.
"It's just an unfortunate situation...Snow plow drivers just did their job, moving the snow. They just pushed it where they needed to push it, not thinking there might be a cemetery stone underneath it," said Rallo. "Now it's just a matter of make it go away."
Rick Coppola, meanwhile, cleared away snow from his father's nearby grave site. He said it's an act of love and respect. He can't imagine how he would feel if man not mother nature covered up his loved one's stone.
"That's a hear-breaker. I can see the lady's pain. My experience has always been good with the cemetery. If that was on Peter's grave, I would be very, very upset," said Coppola.
WBZ-TV repeatedly reached out to the town's cemetery manager, but those calls were not returned by midday Thursday.
