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Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery hosts renowned visitor

Story Published: Aug 10, 2009 at 4:30 PM PST

By Kristina Nelson, KCBY News

COOS BAY, Ore. - A leading expert in gravestone restoration and repair makes his way to Coos Bay on Monday to hold a special workshop at a local historic cemetery.

A large group turned out for the all day workshop held at the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery in Coos Bay.

Jonathan Appell, who has been working in fields related to graveyards and restoration for 25 years, lead the workshop, providing information on the composition of the stones, how to clean them and how to repair them.

"As part of the workshop we will work on a number of smaller stones to kind of illustrate the most common conditions that are found. This (stone)was on the ground in about 12 pieces. This was pretty involved, there was a lot of pieces and it's a lot of preparation, a lot of cleaning each piece before you put it together," says Appell.

Appell is the founder of the New England Cemetery Services in West Hartford, Connecticut.

He has been traveling around the country to different historic cemeteries, holding similar workshops, but says he's impressed with the unique feel of this cemetery.

"It's really amazing, interesting, and unique cemetery because of the view, you can see the water beyond us. And the terrain, the topography. There's a large variety of different kinds of monuments and stones."

To learn more about Jonathan Appell, you can log onto wwww.gravestone conservation.com.

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