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The Restorations of 1988 and 2000
- The Process
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In 1988, students, led by Eagle Scout Jack Potts righted many of the stones and restored the landscaping.The 2000 restoration team of Bob and Kathy Terry, who came all the way from Iowa to work their miracles.
For an unknown number of years into the twentieth century, the Stine family took the responsibility for maintenance of the cemetery. When Isaac Stine died in 1913, a small trust fund was set up to maintain the cemetery, with his two daughters as trustees. The caretaker was paid directly by the trust administrator, F&M Bank. For some time at mid-century, Congregation Sons of Israel in Chambersburg contributed to half of the caretaker's remuneration. However, the old cemetery needed more than routine maintenance, as monuments were in disrepair due to vandalism and natural settlement of the earth. In early, 1967, the Stine sisters, who lived in Harrisburg at the time, visited the cemetery and became furious at its condition. They blamed the Congregation for not properly attending to it. The only changes in the property's condition until 1988 were more incidences of vandalism and an occasional cutting of the grass. Due to the efforts begun by Larry Babbits, continued by Stanley Serxner of Congregation Sons of Israel, Eagle Scout Jack Potts, and twelve of his classmates at Scotland School for Veterans Children, there was a wonderful effort to renew the landscaping, place upright and clean six of the larger headstones. The grave of at least one Jewish soldier from the Civil War was identified. There was vandalism as early as 1990, and the cemetery fell back into a desecrated state.