ORRINGTON- Acid rain throughout the years has damaged dozens of gravestones at the Dean Hill Cemetery.
“There’s so much history in any of these cemeteries,” Judith Frost Gillis, president of the Orrington Historical Society, explained.
That’s why members of the historical society and volunteers have taken it upon themselves to reverse some of the damage.
“We use a product called D2, it’s the only product people should be using,” Frost Gillis said. “It’s what they use at Arlington. So we brush the stones, we wet them down with D2 and water, and just keep rinsing and doing this, scrubbing over and over again.”
Frost Gillis said D2 is the only thing that should be used to preserve gravestones and warned against power washing and bleach.
She said they’ve been working in the cemetery for three years, but the work isn’t evident right away.
In many cases, stones need to be scrubbed down more than three times.
Josiah Brewer, one of the areas founders, is just one of many original settlers buried at Dean Hill Cemetery.
“Someday, I would like to think that someone’s taking care of my parents stones too,” Frost Gillis said.
If you want to volunteer, keep an eye on Orrington Historical Society’s Facebook page.
