Ridgefield Graveyard Committee

The Ridgefield Graveyard Committee, founded in 1991, is making a difference in how the old town-owned cemeteries look and is preparing a detailed listing, including inscriptions, of all the markers.

Anyone looking for a family member or the grave of a long- ago resident will have no trouble, once the database is completed. The documentation will include a photo.

The committee works in the graveyards every other Saturday morning from April through October and would welcome other volunteers. 

Both men and women are needed and there is light work as well as heavy. The work consists of recording, washing, poulticing, uncovering, and straightening the gravestones of early townspeople.

"Our cemeteries, scattered throughout town, are special enclaves deserving our care and respect," says Jeanne Timpanelli, one of the members of the committee. "We can think of them as outdoor museums to be visited and enjoyed. They provide large pieces of valuable open space as well as small scraps set in the midst of neighborhoods. Large or small, their weathered stones and faded inscriptions can’t help but stir our imaginations as they connect us to those who built our community."

To volunteer or for further information, call Doug Clewell at 203-438-0537 or Dorothy Wright at 203-438-5016.

04/09/2001