Adamsville, Arizona A.O.U.W. Cemetery Clean Up Project
Dear Mr. Dave
Lettelier and the Phoenixmasonry Masonic Museum and Library:
I am please to inform
you that my
eagle scout project at the Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery, in Florence,
Arizona, is now complete. I am writing to thank you for your cooperation and
encouragement in allowing me to accomplish my Eagle Scout Project at the
Adamsville Cemetery. Without your consent and communication, this project
would not have been possible.
At first, the
clean up of the cemetery felt like a large and daunting task, but with the
help of nearly 40 fantastic volunteers, I was able to complete the project
on November 13, 2010. It is a really good feeling to know I was able to make
a difference for the town of Florence,
Pinal County, and all of the families who have descendants and
pioneers buried there. I am very grateful to have taken part in this
historic restoration of the Adamsville Cemetery, and hope that your
organization will be able to continue with researching and marking grave
sites that are no longer buried.
For my project, I was
able to secure a donation from a
local rock quarry in order to "pave" or "line" the entrance into the
cemetery from Adamsville Rd., as well as the parking area to the cemetery.
Through the years, the entrance had become unmarked, and most of the stones
lining the entrance were missing. It was very difficult to find the cemetery
entrance from the main road without a marked way onto the small dirt road. MDI Rock and Landscaping was able to donate approximately 2.5 tons of river
rock, so I was able to re-line the entrance to the cemetery and fill in all
the round-abouts and parking areas. It took one crew to load and unload two
trailers with the rock in order to accomplish this. In addition, I was able
to secure donations for leather work gloves, shovels, rakes,
and miscellaneous yard supplies so that myself and further volunteers could
clean up over six tons of yard debris that had accumulated over almost two
decades. This was accomplished by dividing my volunteers into "teams". Each
team was responsible for a part of the project, whether it be loading the
trailers with the overgrown debris, compacting the debris down into the
trailers and trucks, or unloading the garbage at the Ironwood Landfill. One
team was responsible for raking over the cleaned sights in order to restore
the desert to a clean and leveled out plain, and to make sure all the
smaller twigs, and branches were picked up by shovel and wheelbarrow. One
final team collected garbage,
beer bottles, broken glass bottles, bottle caps, Styrofoam, shot gun
shells, and all other imaginable items.
We were told by some
local residents that teens and groups of transients had found refuge in the
cemetery by hiding behind the brush and debris piles, and partying at night. There had been mattresses, bonfires, and other disturbances that took place
at the Adamsville Cemetery that were a concern to police and local
residents. In addition, the shrubs, branches and
dead tree stumps had become a fire hazard to the area. We were able
to rectify all of these concerns by moving the large piles that had
accumulated in the cemetery, all the dead limbs, and all of the trash. There
is now very little natural vegetation left to hide behind and no where to
throw new mattresses and build bonfires without being seen from the road. All in all, we removed over 5 large trailers full, 6 tons of waste to the
landfill, lay all 2.5 tons of river rock, and restore (rake) all of the
surrounding desert landscape. In addition, we were able to sweep and clean
off the few headstones and plots and remove several large trash bags of
accumulated trash in the area.
I have included several shots of the project
in progress and some of the finished results. There were a total of 5
large piles, ranging in size from 3 ft high to 20-25 feet long each that
were removed.
Casey M. Robinson
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Greetings Brother Casey:
All I can say is WOW!!! The work that
you and your volunteers undertook to clean-up the Adamsville Cemetery is
nothing short of awesome! I am so proud of the work that you
accomplished in just a short time! The cemetery looks great now and
I'm sure the descendants of the families who are buried there will be very
pleased as well. Thank you so much for this great undertaking!
You and your volunteers are to be commended and I am dedicating this
webpage at the Phoenixmasonry Masonic Museum and Library in your honor!
Sincerely and Fraternally yours,
Dave Lettelier, PM, Curator
Phoenixmasonry Masonic Museum and Library
