Boquet Valley softball team lends a hand at at Lewis Cemetery

LEWIS | Spring cleaning at the Lewis Cemetery got over a dozen extra pairs of helping hands last weekend. The Boquet Valley Central School girls softball team stepped up to the rake and spent time clearing brush, leaves and winter's collection of sticks and trash. Lanita Canavan is president of the Lewis Cemetery Corp., which manages this and two other small cemeteries in the Town of Lewis. "I was really surprised at what those girls accomplished," she said on Monday. "Different groups took on different tasks, some raking and moving leaves, others picking up trash along the road." They worked with Nathan Gough, who is sexton of the cemetery corp. In his 80's now, Mr. Gough has been sexton for 65 years. "I think they really enjoyed working with him," Canavan said. "He offered instructions and worked with them. Some of the girls know him from the Lewis Fire Department, and they're so good to him." Canavan, Gough and his wife Barbara Gough form the committee that oversees cemetery care and use here. Work on the grounds can keep them very busy. While some cemeteries are managed by the town they're in, many are cared for by small, local cemetery associations. That is why assistance from the girls varsity softball team was very welcome. "It's extremely important and helps with something that I am so grateful for," Canavan said. Cemetery Associations often need a helping hand, she said. The Lewis group manages the Deerhead and Roscoe Road cemeteries. The town also has a tiny Crossette Cemetery located on the Trout Pond Road with only three stones in it, Canavan said. Work during the summer can be time-consuming. "Mr. Gough goes to the cemetery each day, he walks from his house and around the entire grounds. He is very concerned about the stones that have fallen flat," Canavan said. "We have to make sure the mowing is kept up and manage any other buildings and grounds maintenance. We oversee burials that are done in the cemetery, in collaboration with the funeral home." Lewis Cemetery is kind of a tourist destination as the final resting place for suffragist and Civil Rights activist Inez Millholland and her family. "We have cars come in and ask where she is buried," Canavan said. Town of Lewis Supervisor Jim Monty is coach of the Boquet Valley girls' softball team and he helped organize the Team's work effort. "It is something I've tried to do every year with my team just to give back a little bit to our communities," Monty said. "Next week we're going to take a day and, instead of practicing, we will do something in Westport as well. I just think it's important to show the kids that this is a way to give back." History found among the tiered rows in the Lewis Cemetery is its own lesson. "One of the kids is doing a history paper on Inez, and a group of them went up and did a real good job on the Milholland plot and all around the top of the cemetery," Monty said. There are 14 girls on the Boquet Valley softball team. "It's a great group of young ladies," Monty said.

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Boquet Valley softball team lends a hand at at Lewis Cemetery

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