Vets' cemetery to reopen in Memorial Day ceremony

1989-05-26

Vets' cemetery to reopen in Memorial Day ceremony
By James WaIsh
Staff Writer

Perched on a rough hillside behind a commercial strip of Route 59, the Mount Moor Cemetery was perhaps known best in recent years by dirt bikers.
They liked the challenge of racing up the steep slope and over the rutted dirt road that led into the West Nyack swamp.
But no more.
These grounds, speckled with wild strawberries in bloom and
sprouting graceful Jack-in-the-Pulpits on spring days, are having their rightful dignity restored as a resting place for black war veterans.
Clarkstown has declared the cemetery a historical site, and since February, veterans, civic groups and individuals have reclaimed it from the relentless encrouchment of vines, weeds and trees planted by the winds.
On Sunday at 4 p.m., the Mount Moor Cemetery Association will hold a rededication of the site, said its president, Hezekiah H. Easter.
Easter, a county legislator from Orangetown, sees Sunday's program as just a beginning.
A new flag pole installed by the association, he said, will be
highlighted by a monument now on the drawing board. A new gateway is also planned.
Much has already been done by volunteer workers, and Easter is quick to give his thanks.
"I'm just very grateful," he said this week. "The association and I express our gratitude and appreciation for the work that has been done by so many."
The volunteer efforts grew out of a meeting of veterans in early
February, said Jerry Donnellan, president of the Rockland chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
"We were discussing what we could do for the community," said Donnellan, "and it was coincidentally Black History Month."
The almost snowless winter proved to be a boon to workers
wielding chain saws, weed whips and rakes. An army of as many as 50 people at a time joined in the battle. Lone Star Industries of West Nyack provided 200 tons of crushed stone, and Orange and Rockland Utilities 'give equipment to spread
the rock on the cemetery road. The National Guard in Orangeburg supplied a bulldozer to clear land across from the burial ground, and Xerox fed the workers.
Unexpected labor also arrived.
"The first day we were there," said Donnellan, "we had two kids
come over on bicycles. They just wanted to see what was going on. Well, they started helping out, and they came back to work every Saturday."
Tomorrow a crew from the county sheriff's community service
program is expected to work at the cemetery, said Easter. The
program allows people convicted of minor offenses to work on
community projects in place of jail time.
The grounds are so hilly and rocky, said Donnellan, that mowing is impossible in many areas. A solution may be to plant ground cover and regularly attack the weeds.
Mount Moor was founded in 1849 "for the burial of colored
people," said Easter. The first section was bought for $50, and a second section was bought in 1855.
The oldest stone still visible carries a date of 1854. The most
recent, 1986, marks the burial site of Easter's father, Hezekiah.
For many years, the elder Easter operated a wood yard across
from the cemetery. One of seven cemetery association trustees between 1940 aid 1977, he spent much of his free time maintaining the grounds.
The cemetery, said Easter, has about 100 graves, including those of veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and Korea.
"I would say there is still a considerable amount of work to
do," said Donnellan. "We're looking into getting donations for shrubs, and are planning to sow wildflowers."

[photo]
Kathy Gardner
Jerry DonneIlan, president of the Rockland chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, places a flag on a grave at Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack.

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