Update on projects at the Grand Trunk Cemetery

     Thought I would share these photos of the cemetery in June.  School is out, and the cemetery is a quiet , peaceful place for relection.  Many of you who follow this blog have expressed your concern over the years for this ancient burial ground.  Since beginning this project in 2010, I'm pleased that the general condition has been improved and people now seem to respect it for what it is;  the final resting place of some of Portland's first citizens, who resided on Back Cove, and later, East Deering, having come here in the mid-seventeen hundreds, during the era of re-settlement of Falmouth, a colony of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Recently mowed by the City of Portland's Cemeteries Crews

The Cemetery is well cared for.

Looking out toward the Grand Trunk Veterans Memorial

On the right is the memorial stone dedicated to the early settlers.

The large perennial garden; peonies just opening.

The poppies were particularily lovel this year.

PROJECTS

•      For several years we have hoped to have a directional sign placed on Presumpscot Street, at the front of the school so that those folks looking for the cemetery could more easily find it.  As you may remember, the young Girl Scouts who recently earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award raised funds toward the cost of a sign.  The funds were donated to the City of Portland Cemeteries Division.

•      I met with Joseph Dumais at the Cemeteries Office and we agreed, after a site visit, to the location for this sign.  I am also pleased to report that an interactive sign for the cemetery is also in the works. This will include some history of the cemetery with some names and dates.  In may replace the presemt kiosk which is wearing and the plexi-glass scratched., having been damged two years ago by vandals.

• To preserve the ancient trees in the cemetery and to improve the general environment,  the large, rotted oak tree will be cut down, along with other dead branches.  This should open up the canopy over the right side of the cemetery, hopefully improving the soil in that area as well.

• Sometime soon, the old chainlink fence will be removed, and a rail fence, in keeping with the design of the cemetery, will be installed.  This will also allow us to cut away invasive plants and dead wood while improving the general appearance and visibilty into the cemetery.  The better the upkeep, the better people respect the sacred space.

     All of these projects are exciting and very welcomed!

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      Although I haven't written a new post in a month or so,  I have accumulated a lot of research material on Old Isaac Sawyer, and I intend to post an article soon. Please check out posts on our   Friends of Grand Trunk Cemetery facebook page; leave comments, suggestions, questions.  They are always appreciated and welcomed!

     Finally, for those of you visiting Maine this summer, I hope you will feel so inclined to visit the Grand Trunk Cemetery.  If you visit early in the morning, or late in the day, you may see our resident hen turkey.  Sorry, I wasn't close enough to get a photo, the day she visited.  You never know what spirits lurk!