A Lasting Legacy

On Saturday April 30, the Village of Stockbridge saw true community leadership. At a gathering of volunteers cleaning up the Oaklawn Cemetery, you couldn't throw a stone without hitting an elected official. 
Rakes in hand, trucks full of a seasons worth of dead fall, old Christmas decorations, broken plastic pots and other debris, your community leaders and civic minded citizens took matters into their own hands, and had a good time doing it. 
Your Village council made a good showing; Don Byrd, Heath Corey, Phyllis Stowe, and Greg Uihlein were there, as was Tom Ford, working side by side with Annabell Howard and Dan Wilson of the SDDA. No one should be surprised that Stockbridge Township officials Paul Risner and Mary Wilson were there as well.
In most cases, these people brought their families, creating a tradition of civic duty that will be its own reward. This is what leadership looks like.
Stories were told about some of the Cemetery 'residents', memories of friendships and families, a legacy in stone and alive in the hearts of the people cleaning up their final resting place. A couple of tears were shed over lives cut short and families left grieving, of good friends gone too soon and children now playing with angels. There are graves adorned with flowers and trinkets, marbles and toy tractors and even a couple of unopened beers. People still pass this way to pay tribute to the ones who sleep here. 
It should also not surprise you that there was plenty of laughter in this usually quiet and peaceful place, as the clean up crew told stories about friends and family now gone. All in all, it was a tribute to the people who lie in Oaklawn and the people there cleaning up this history lesson carved in stone. 
To all of those who came and worked and shared - thank you, thank you.
The cemetery looks beautiful, and so did you.