Annual work party held at Sharon Cemetery in time for Memorial Day
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Although the annual work party of the Sharon Cemetery was scheduled for two hours, with weedwhackers and a lawnmower, volunteer crew managed to tidy the cemetery in a little over an hour. Following the work party, the Sharon Grange hosted an Open House Brunch; the Sharon Grange owns the Sharon Cemetery.
Among the volunteers were members of the Critter Crew 4-H Club, which Donna Boyer started.
“I was part of the grange,” she said, recalling that she wanted to get the 4-H involved in the cleanup so it could be finished before Memorial Day.
Jim Beerbower assumed the caretaker responsibilities of the cemetery in 2023, which is when the annual cleanup began.
“We didn’t have a maintenance program,” he said, adding that “now there’s a bunch of us, it’s less work to make it look good.”
In 2023, Sharon Grange contracted with Bluhm & Associates Land Surveyors to survey the cemetery and locate the grave sites. Beerbower estimates there are 150 headstones or graves, but a number of the graves don’t have headstones. The cemetery still does inurnments, but only of cremations.
The reason some of the headstones are gleaming white is because of Harvey Hamilton, who started cleaning and straightening the headstones in 2023.
“Harvey’s done such a good job,” Boyer said.
This week, Bill Wickwire from VFW Post 1948 and a local Scout troop will place American flags in preparation for Memorial Day.
