Volunteers spend Spring Break cleaning cemetery

WALNUT RIDGE, AR (KAIT) - A volunteer group in Walnut Ridge spent their spring break cleaning up and restoring an old cemetery.

Initiative Fractal works in the College City area to make the community a more welcoming place, according to director Edward Harthorn.

"Not only here at Mt. Zion but at a local bike trail and some other places too," Harthorn said.

This week, they have been painting the cast iron fences at Mt. Zion Cemetery. The fences are estimated to be at least 100 years old.

Harthorn said their work in the cemetery started almost by accident.

"This past fall, we were planting all of these flowers in these various beds and we actually discovered a few pieces of a cast iron fence that had been buried under the ground," he said. "And so we decided to restore them the best we could. From there, we decided that we might as well try to restore the rest of the cemetery as well."

He said they have had several students and organizations from Williams Baptist College come and help with the project.

Harthorn said they also found some buried tombstones that they have put back in their rightful place and sprayed chemicals to keep lichen from growing on them.

This is the last volunteer project the group will host this semester but encourages people to get involved with their future plans.

"This fall semester we will certainly have a number of activities and we will publicize those as well," Harthorn said.

For more information, you can visit their website or Facebook page.

Watch Region 8 News On Demand: On your Desktop | On your Mobile device

Region 8 News App - Install or update on your: iPhone | Android