Straightening the Stones
Sep 22, 2011
Parishioners of St. Agnes Parish of Sigel, a little Catholic congregation north of Yankton, gathered in the cemetery last weekend to straighten their ancestors' gravestones. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
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Sigel Cemetery is no Boothill because there are no hills for many miles around. This is flatland country, and in wet years the rich black soil swells and sinks, causing the heavy gravestones to heave and lean. -
The smaller stones sometimes begin to sink into the sod. Without being raised, they would eventually be swallowed by the earth. -
Here's a "before" picture ..... -
And an "after" picture. Sometimes, the volunteers over-compensated. "It'll settle," was their usual excuse. -
Jim Sees, a lifelong member of the parish, and most of the other workers found themselves fixing the stones of late family and friends. -
They found that the best way to straighten the stones was to get enough "muscle" to pry them up, and then to shovel sand underneath. They hope the stones can then float on the sand base. -
Some of the century-old stones required more muscle than others. -
After a hard-working morning, the men gathered in the church hall for taverns and salads, served by the Sigel altar society.
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Comments
Heidi, I wish I'd had the camera when I was a teenager, cleaning hog barns with my brothers. It took me many years to figure this scheme out, and now you've "exposed" it.