Everybody needs a place where they can be free to sit and let that which does not matter slip away; to shake free from daily annoyances and to reconnect with one’s self in order to better face the tasks before us.

Traditionally cemeteries are meant for a different kind of quiet contemplation that is more mournful, where we give respects to our loved ones who have passed. But, for some people, cemeteries can be a beautiful respite from the doldrums of the day. They can be a place of reflection, where we can find the peace that so easily slips through our fingers.

“That cemetery is my special place,” Nederland Parks Manager Nicki Dunn told The Mountain-Ear. “It’s a place where I go to relax and reflect and to not have to think about all of the work that I have to do.”

Thankfully there are those in our community who appreciate the solace found in our Nederland Cemetery, and who revere the lives of those who came before, whether we knew them or not, enough to want to work together to maintain its importance.

Members of the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church gather yearly to preserve the beauty of the cemetery by dedicating one or two days in the summer to cutting grass and whacking weeds. On Saturday, July 15, 2023, church volunteers organized by Jim Reis worked for five hours to spruce up the peaceful landmark.

Thanks to the volunteer efforts of Kevin Woodman, a stone mason who donated his skills and five hours of his time to restore six of the historic headstones, the cemetery now better honors those lives laid to rest; those from Nederland’s past who hold such rich histories, like Alvaretta Ray, who was killed at the age of 13, shot by the Sheriff’s wife in 1881.

“Most days in the summertime I sit with Alvaretta and have lunch, and I’ve always said, ‘I really want to fix your headstone but I don’t have the skills or knowledge to do this kind of stone work,’” Dunn explained. “Kevin came up and he repaired Alvaretta and it literally made me cry when he put Alvaretta back onto her headstone, because she deserves to be honored, she deserves to be remembered and recognized for her life.”

As we visit some of our favorite landmarks in the town that we love, the places that truly bring us to ourselves, that stabilize us and bring us back to the here and now, give a thought to those who volunteer their time and efforts to help keep those landmarks as special as they deserve to be.