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Shining stones at Riverside Cemetery

  • Solution applied by Charles City eighth grader Carly Stevenson removes the moss and grime from an old Riverside Cemetery headstone, revealing a flower pattern Stevenson and cemetery historian Jeff Sisson had not noticed before. Press photos by Kate Hayden

  • Eighth grader Carly Stevenson's progress is displayed on two sides of a cemetery headstone, as she works to restore the shine and pattern of a monument with German inscription across it.

  • Eighth graders Michael Reh and Koyer Kellogg clean off headstones at Riverside Cemetery on Wednesday morning using a special solution to protect stones from damage.

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Eighth graders from Charles City Middle School weren’t going to let this mild weather get away from them.

Wednesday morning was the first day since early December that students returned to the Riverside Cemetery during class, catching up on some project fieldwork before winter returns for the season. One student-led project saw some quick success: With the help of an expert-recommended solution, eight students saw the sheen come back to life on tombstones in the cemetery.

Carly Stevenson and her classmates each sprayed a biological solution called D/2 on headstones, wiping the grime and moss away to restore the stones somewhat to their original conditions.

“It’s not going to harm the stone at all, and it’s not, obviously, going to make it deteriorate any faster than it would if you didn’t use it,” Stevenson said.

Some of the stones students cleaned up dated back to the 1870’s. It took 10 minutes of cleaning before Stevenson noticed a surprise on a German-language headstone she was cleaning.

“We came out here before, and I had no idea there was any patterns on the stone. Now you can see the marbling, and this flower shape,” Stevenson said. “You can make everything out … the solution works very well.”

It’s the first chance of the year for these students to see visible progress right in front of them, but that doesn’t mean all student projects have been put on hold by weather conditions. Some student projects are finishing up, teacher Ryan Rahmiller said, and some are just picking up speed.

“The children’s memorial project, the group that has fundraised to get a plaque for the children that died of diphtheria — they’re proofing their plaque today and that’s been ordered with the money they raised from the dance they put on,” Rahmiller said. “Some are starting to get there, but it’s just weather dependent at this point.”

The next big event for student projects comes on Saturday, March 4, when students host Trivia Night at 7 p.m. with all proceeds going toward restoration costs of the Riverside Chapel. Those students were back at the competition gym in the Charles City Middle School, testing the new gym scoreboards to ensure trivia questions would appear correctly.

“They’re starting to wrap up all the their visits that they’ve done around town. The community’s been incredible as far as donations go for silent auction and for buying tables,” Rahmiller said.

“These are ordinary kids doing extraordinary things,” Jeff Sisson, president of the St. Charles Cemetery Association, said. “They’re really focused on the history of this community and learning more about what things used to be like.”

“I’ve got 130 advocates out here at Riverside Cemetery,” he added. “They’re going to continue to want to learn. They’re officially part of the heritage.”

Some of the technology-focused student projects such as a grave locator have also put the cemetery ahead of what other Iowa cemeteries can do for communities, Sisson added.

“This cemetery’s well ahead of a lot of cemeteries when it comes to being able to help with research, a lot of genealogical work,” he said. “These kids are amazing. They’re turning this into an outdoor history classroom — that’s the ultimate goal.”

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