CLEANUP APRIL 12, SAVE DATE FOR HISTORIC TOUR MAY 17
POTTSTOWN, PA – The annual spring Edgewood Historic Cemetery community cleanup is being planned for Saturday, April 12 at 989 E. High St., with work beginning at 10 a.m. and running until 2 p.m.
At this particular event, planners hope to resume work started by volunteers during the fall 2024 cleanup along the overgrown bank of the grounds located along Keim Street between High and Beech Streets – and to beautify that border of the cemetery.
Friends of Edgewood would like to add as many perennials as possible along the Keim Street border of the Cemetery – with a goal of planting 500 bulbs. To donate bulbs, drop them off at the Cemetery the morning of the cleanup or take them to the Hobart’s Run office at 856 E. High Street any time before April 12; please email cathy@hobartsrunpottstown.org or call 610-705-1018 to make sure someone will be in the office to receive your bulb or perennial plant donation.
Residents who can bring and operate weed-whackers and chain saws will be welcomed – as well as all civic-minded volunteers willing to wield rakes and shovels in this community effort to beautify the grounds. Tools and gloves will be provided.
Volunteer and historian Kelly Fenstermacher will offer free informational tours of the Cemetery during the cleanup.
Rain date for the cleanup will be Saturday, May 3.
“The Edgewood cleanups have become bigger and better each year,” noted Andrew Monastra, president of the Cemetery Friends Board, Hobart’s Run Board member, and Pottstown Borough Council Member representing the Sixth Ward. “Participants look forward to this high-energy community-building day of giving back to Pottstown and to the families of people buried on the grounds.”
Lunch will be served to volunteers through the generosity of local restaurants; contributions are welcomed. Special thanks goes to Little Italy/The Pourhouse for their reliable and generous participation.
Tickets Soon On Sale for the “They Picked Pottstown” Walking Tour
The Edgewood Cemetery grounds will be on full display during the fourth “Walk to Remember” living history tour featuring costumed re-enactors and interpreters. This tour –Saturday, May 17, at 989 E. High Street — will feature gravesites and stories about well-known Pottstownians, from the Brunish’s Grocery family (of Pottstown’s distinctive sausage and hot dog shop fame) to people associated with Bethlehem Steel. Rain date will be Sunday, May 18.
Three tours will be offered, one each at 6, 7, and 8 p.m. Planners took the advice of previous tour recipients who asked for evening tours through the grounds.
There are only 20 spots per tour! To reserve tickets go to https://givebutter.com/6pmWePickedPottstown; https://givebutter.com/7pmWePickedPottstown; or https://givebutter.com/8pmWePickedPottstown.
Learn more by contacting Kelly Fenstermacher by phone call or text at 610-506-7033 or email at kelly@historicedgewood.com. Tickets are $20 each, or $10 for students and children. Light refreshments are included in the tour price.
Adopt-a-Gravestone Effort Ongoing
Volunteers continue to gratefully accept gifts for the “Adopt-a-Gravestone” program created to address the headstone toppling and sinking of many plots due to the natural passage of time, early and less stable burial methods, and the Cemetery’s serious groundhog-related destruction problem. To date these efforts funded by generous donors have allowed the Cemetery to restore nine tombstones with the expertise of Gofus Memorials Inc. of Pottstown.
Individuals who would like to help with Adopt-a-Gravestone may contact Kelly Fenstermacher (call or text) at 610-506-7033 or go to https://givebutter.com/adoptagravestone to donate directly.
All Edgewood grounds maintenance depends upon donors and fundraisers planned by a small band of volunteers including staff from Hobart’s Run, a neighborhood engagement organization founded by The Hill School. Gifts for the above mentioned and other restoration projects will be accepted with gratitude at: Edgewood Historic Cemetery, c/o 740 E. High St., Pottstown, Pa. 19464 or through the organization’s general “Give Butter” donation acceptance site at https://givebutter.com/edgewod-historic-cemetery.
Caring for the 12-acre Cemetery runs close to $20,000 a year. Unfortunately, Edgewood’s caretaker abandoned the cemetery in 2012, and Borough funds are not provided toward its maintenance. The grounds soon became overgrown — until volunteers joined forces with Hobart’s Run, a community outreach and revitalization nonprofit founded by The Hill School, to find ways to collaborate, fund, and restore this resting place.
