Shiloh Cemetery annual cleanup set for Labor Day

The annual Labor Day clean-up at Shiloh Cemetery will take place Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2.

“Anyone interested in helping is certainly welcome,” says Roger Carter, long-time caretaker and trustee of the cemetery and clerk of the Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church nearby. Carter urges families with loved ones buried there to come assist with the clean-up.

“If you can’t come Labor Day, you can come and assist with clean-up at any time,” he added.

Those interested in helping are asked to bring lawn mowers, weed trimmers, edgers, rakes, hoes and trimmers to help with the work. Weeding will also need to be done in areas mowers and trimmers can’t reach. Picking up of old vases and flowers will also be done at the clean-up.

“We need help in maintaining the cemetery,” Carter said.

In years past, hundreds of volunteers have turned out to help clean the cemetery. In recent years, those numbers have dwindled to less than a dozen.

While the cemetery is on church property, lots are to be cleaned and kept up by the descendants of those buried there or anyone in the community willing to do the task.

There is no “perpetual care,” meaning the families of those buried there are expected to help clean around the graves.

Carter does accept donations for those unable physically to clean around their lots. That money is used to cover the expenses such as fuel and weed killer to clean those areas. Donations for the overall maintenance of the cemetery will also be accepted and can be made to the cemetery fund and mailed to Roger Carter, 6119 Big House Road, Blackshear, GA 31516 Questions concerning this project can be discussed by calling 449-2625.

The cemetery, which now has about 1,500 interments, is the resting place of many of Pierce County’s prominent citizens. It is the burial site of Pierce County’s only Revolutionary War soldier, Elder Isham Peacock, once the pastor of Shiloh Church.

The church, which dates back to 1833, is still active.