When Malachi Simper put out a call for volunteers to help scrape moss and clean headstones at the Washington Lawn Cemetery in Centralia, he didn’t know what kind of response he would get.
So when more than 75 people showed up on Saturday in the midst of unseasonably inclement weather in order to donate their time and efforts to the preservation of local legacies, Simper was nearly rendered speechless by the force of his surprise.
Simper, 16, is a student at W.F. West High School who organized the cemetery cleanup effort as part of an Eagle Scout project. He said most of the folks who showed up to lend a hand on Saturday were family or members of his church.
“But I’ve seen some other people from the community as well,” said Simper. “It’s a pleasant surprise.”
Simper expressed his gratitude to everyone who showed up and put in work and noted the power of synergy that’s possible when dedicated people come together for a similar purpose. “It’s great,” said Simper with a wide smile as he surveyed the rapidly transforming cemetery grounds.
Emil Pierson, community development director for the city of Centralia, noted the sheer amount of savings to the city that Simper’s project provided. Working out the math casually in his head, he estimated tens of thousands of dollars in labor costs were saved thanks to the community effort.
Pierson said that the maintenance of the cemetery falls under the city’s jurisdiction but that it can be difficult to stay on top of everything that needs to be done, especially during spring and summer sports seasons when mowers and maintenance is required at ballfields all over town.
“We usually do it right before Memorial Day but not to this extent,” said Pierson. “This is a a very cool old cemetery. It just needs some TLC.”
Pierson noted that moss invades the old cemetery relentlessly thanks to the cover of shade provided by historic old trees. About once a year, someone will go on a headstone-tipping spree, he said. Graffiti also has a tendency to pop up around the cemetery, and the branches of those old trees are forever growing long. It all adds up to a large and sensitive job.
“To have this many people out and to be able to have Malachi come out and do this big project and clean the headstones and work with the George Washington Committee and the whole community is just incredible,” said Pierson, who helped Simper set up the project through the city and has assisted on numerous Eagle Scout projects previously.
“This is far and away the biggest Eagle Scout project I’ve ever seen,” insisted Pierson. “I mean Malachi came out here a few days before this and worked … He’s really a good, hard working kid.”
That perfunctory work that Pierson mentioned was the painting of the exterior retaining wall of the cemetery, which had previously been covered in thick scabs of moss and blazes of graffiti. Simper said that a crew of his fellow scouts came out early in the week and helped him scrape the wall clean, and then his grandfather came out with him another day to slap on the fresh coat of paint.
On Saturday, the biggest effort undertaken by volunteers was the scrubbing of headstones covered in mats of moss and layers of grime that had rendered many of the stones unreadable and essentially anonymous.
Amanda Hanson was one volunteer who turned up on Saturday with a scrub brush at the ready, and she dedicated the bulk of her time to the cemetery's namesake — Centralia’s founding father, George Washington.
At the center of the cemetery is a collection of monuments, headstones and plaques bearing the names of Washington, his wife and children. The ornate display had lost some of its luster over the years as the elements wailed away in the silence of the cemetery. By the end of the day, though, the shrine to Centralia's pioneers had been returned to its pristine presentation thanks to Hanson and the flanks of fellow volunteers at her side.
“I take frequent walks through the cemetery and saw how bad of shape it was in,” said Hanson, of the Centralia Downtown Association and the George Washington Bicentennial Committee. “I’ve always wanted to clean it up a bit.”
