'Good Cemeterian' volunteers clean Altadena headstones and grave markers
Once a month, Rene Amy gets some cleaning supplies and volunteers together and heads to his Alta Dena neighborhood historic cemetery to scrub and scrub.
Saturday morning, the crew was out at the Mountain View Cemetery with the suds and tools, working away.
The all-volunteer group, dubbed the 'Good Cemeterians" have cleaned hundreds of headstones, primarily veterans, especially targeting Union Civil War vets. They also pay special attention to the markers of young children and mothers.
"This is really a very special place… it's not just history It's really a living vibrant – sounds weird to say – but it's a living, vibrant wonderful place to spend a Saturday morning, which we do once a month … and clean about 50 headstones at a time with a small, but dedicated crew," said Amy
It's a little easier for his cleaning crew now, as over the last year Amy said he's invested in some power tools to speed up the scrubbing process.
The cleaning material used soaks into the rock and six to nine months after the initial scrubbing and cleaning, the rock itself becomes much cleaner, visibly cleaner, according to Amy.
The group welcomes volunteers. Their Nextdoor app message reads, "We've received permission and many "thank-yous" from Mountain View staff for our efforts - and we'd love to have you join us!"
