GOOD NEWS TO PASS ON!

Last evening at the historic Mother House on Stevens Avenue, Greater Portland Landmarks held their 2018 Preservation Awards Celebration and Annual Meeting and I was honored to receive a Preservation Leader Award.  Nominated by Joseph Dumais, from the City of Portland Cemeteries, I was totally amazed and surprised to hear I would receive such an honor.  However, it is a recognition which I need to share with all of you who supported this recovery project of the Grand Trunk Cemetery from its inception in 2010, and continue to do so to the present.

Although, in comparison to so many of the outstanding projects, our tiny cemetery and its preservation is an important piece of Portland history and deserves the recognition  So, I share this moment with the Friends of the Grand Trunk Cemetery, the Girl Scouts of Machigonne Service Unit who continue the legacy of Samantha Allshouse and Kayla Theriault, the wonderful, living relatives of some of the souls interred at the GTC, the Portland community,  and those of you who know the importance of preserving and caring for our ancient cemeteries who follow this blog.

Here is the write-up included on Greater Portland Landmark's web site.  I will include the link for you to read about each of the projects which received awards for your interest.  www.greaterportlandlandmarks.org.

I was very happy to have my husband, Joel who has always supported this recovery project from the beginning, Lynda Allshouse, Patricia Theriault, Norma and Benjamin Sawyer, Robert McMann and Joe Dumais present for the awards ceremony.  It was a pleasure to meet a number of people who seemed really interested in finding the cemetery, and I was pleased to tell them about the wonderful, newly installed street sign.  Here are photos:

On the day of installation of the lovely new sign
with crew members from Portland Cemeteries

The sign sits adjacent to the school on city property
and faces out on Presumpscot Street

Sometime, in the future, another interactive sign will be placed in the cemetery and replace the present kiosk and map.  I will keep readers informed,  and hopefully, we will hold an unveiling event and invite all to gather once more at the Grand Trunk Cemetery.

Finally, as has been our custom since 2011, we will hold our annual Cleanup and Planting Party on Sunday, October 28th at the cemetery, sponsored by the Portland Girl Scouts of Machigonne Service Unit and the Friends of the Grand Trunk Cemetery.  This is always an opportunity to provide a service to the GTC while enjoying the company of good people, and having fun.  

This year, additional activities have been planned to celebrate the 158th birthday of Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Scouts founder.  I hope those of you in our local area will join us,  and visit the Grand Trunk Cemetery.  You may even encounter the ghost of Miss Low wandering through the burial ground!  
Happy Halloween!

You may be interested in a new feature on Friends of Grand Trunk Cemetery Facebook page:  On this day.....records particular deaths for those interred at the GTC during the month. facebook.com/FriendsofGrandTrunkCemetery