MAY 2022.VOL. 22, NO. 05. PORTLAND, MAINE.
PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. FREE!
Help sought for new effort to rehabilitate Western Cemetery Executive
Portland Charter Commission Update
By Peter Monro Volunteers are being sought to bolster a new effort now under way to conserve and enhance Western Cemetery in collaboration with the City of Portland and its new Cemetery Superintendent, Mike Ciamaga. You could help by learning how to clean, repair, and re-set gravestones, many of which in the Western Cemetery are derelict or vandalized.You could help with social media or tours of this public burial ground, the second oldest in the city. Also sought is someone with a metal detector willing to walk the cemetery before any probing or digging begins. A revived Stewards of the Western Cemetery consisting of volunteers from the West End and Western Prom neighborhoods are leading these efforts on behalf of the twelve-acre cemetery located between Vaughan Street and the Western Promenade. Anyone with an interest in helping please contact StewardsWesternCemetery@gmail.com.
At 3.pm. Saturday, May 7th, Peter Monro of May Street, the Stewards’ clerk, will lead a 75-minute walk entitled, “The Past, Present and Future of Portland’s Western Cemetery.” Rehabilitation plans will be discussed and questions answered.
By Tony Zeli The Portland Charter Commissioners continued to meet weekly as they pushed to provide a preliminary report to City Council on May 9th. Among their groundbreaking recommendations is a new form of city government with a chief executive mayor and legislative city council.
Above: Volunteers like this cleaner of a gravestone in Eastern Cemetery last summer are being sought this summer for the Western Cemetery.
Upcoming Events Two upcoming events are expected to launch this revival of interest.
Mayor & School Budget
The second event will occur in the week of July 4th. A professional conservator, Joe Ferrannini of Hoosick Falls, New York, the owner of Grave Stone Matters, will start repairs to dilapidated stones. He will work with volunteers at Western Cemetery on Thursday through Saturday, July 7th to 9th. The two previous days he will be repairing stones in Portland’s Eastern Cemetery, where volunteers have been carrying out gravestone repairs for more than ten years.
Conservation Efforts
Monro and the Stewards treasurer, Sam Wilson of Spring Street, spent much of last summer and fall learning to clean and conserve gravestones from conservators with Spirits Alive, the group overseeing the Eastern Cemetery. They will help Why do people believe a witch is bur- lead repair and restoration efforts. ied there? What happened to Longfellow’s parents? Among the 6,000 burials, who is This winter has been spent preparing the most celebrated? Why are the paths for this important rehabilitation effort. and trees special? How was heralded ar- John Folk of Orchard Street, a just rechitect John Calvin Stevens involved? And tired lawyer and the Stewards’ president, why do officials from Ireland visit? successfully applied for the organization’s
Left: The City of Portland is making a new sign for the entry of the Western Cemetery.
Along with other transformative proposals like creating more, smaller city council districts, municipal clean elections, and universal residential voting rights, the commission is poised to recommend a new branch of city government: the executive mayor. A compromised model was debated and amended over the course of several public meetings held virtually in April. A slim margin of seven to five votes moved the compromise system forward.
Under the proposed system the mayor serves as the chief executive officer -Photos by Peter Monro of Portland. A city administrator or Chief Operating Officer (currently the City 501(c)3 status. The Stewards are thus a Manager) oversees the day-to-day operanonprofit authorized to receive charita- tions of the city and reports to the mayor. ble donations which are tax-deductible. As the political head of the city, the The group is also now eligible to receive mayor oversees the implementation of grants. city council policies and would have the Those who wish to make donations power to form task forces or work with can send checks to: Stewards of Western existing council committees to propose Cemetery, 622 Congress Street STE 9998 public policy. Also, the mayor chairs city council meetings, but is not a voting mem# 5267, Portland, ME 04101-3368. Cont'd on Pg. 7 Cont'd on Pg. 3
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