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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, July 16, 2010 · 14 Cemetery gets facelift By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Classic pit stop The Town of Oakville is breathing some new life into one of its oldest cemeteries this year, restoring many graves and markers damaged by the passage of time. The Town's Manager of Harbours and Cemeteries Heather Turenne stated, Tuesday, that heritage conservation efforts are currently underway at Munn's Pioneer Cemetery, which is located at the intersection of Sixth Line and Dundas Street. The Town is seeking to restore every grave marker in Munn's cemetery by the end of the year. "We are just thrilled that we are doing this work and giving back to the history and the heritage of our community," said Turenne. "These people that have been buried in our cemeteries, we are trying to preserve their history, their heritage, their culture. We are commemorating the lives of these people who were here before us and it's great when we can do that." Turenne said for this purpose the Town has hired a special monument company (HG Hardwick and Son Ltd.), an expert in the restoration of pioneer headstones and markers. This company will be employing numerous conservation methods depending on the style of marker or monument they are dealing with and the state it is in. "Some of these markers date back well into the 1800s, they are laying flat on the ground and what we are trying to do with most of the markers is bring them to an upright vertical position because that's where they belong," said Turenne. "In some cases because of the nature of the headstone itself and the type of material it is made of, it is in a number of pieces so we actually have to put those pieces back together using heritage techniques with a special type of putty." Turenne said some of these headstones require new bases so they can stand up while other headstones just need to be reattached to their existing bases as the concrete holding the two together has long since disintegrated. Other markers, Turenne said, have sunken into the ground and will be raised up. This is year two of what will probably be a 10-year project that will see conservation treatments and restoration taking place at Oakville's Town-owned cemeteries. Last year more than 50 large monuments at Town-owned cemeteries across Oakville were restored after being laid on the ground for safety reasons in 2008. The cemeteries operating budget is provided with $50,000 annually for monument restoration. ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER CAR FANS: Young Jackson Allen sits with Wally MacDonald, on MacDonald's 1925 Durant Star at the Classic Car Show at Sir John Colborne Seniors Centre on July 8.