OPINION: Chris Kelly Opinion: 'Domenic Quixote' needs help at Abington Hills

Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·3 min read

Jun. 22—Fewer than 2 miles separate Shady Lane and Abington Hills cemeteries, but in terms of upkeep, the South Abington Twp. graveyards are worlds apart.

Volunteers reclaimed and restored Shady Lane. Abington Hills remains buried by the crimes of past owners. So is Washburn Street Cemetery in Scranton, another sprawling, galling monument to the consequences of greed.

Domenic Graziano got lost in the weeds. The owner of Abington Hills and Washburn Street desperately and futilely hacks at those consequences with little help and less money. He is Don Quixote riding a tractor.

"I understand people are ticked off," he told me Tuesday. "It's just me working up there. I'm doing the best I can."

He really is, and has been since he took over the company that owns Abington Hills and Washburn Street and once owned Shady Lane, too. Domenic is a good guy in a bad situation. Rehashing the sordid pasts of three cemeteries is a dead end. In short, a pair of owners robbed the perpetual care funds and left the cemeteries for dead.

Friends of Shady Lane — a volunteer nonprofit founded by Clarks Summit neighbors Carol Wilkerson and Louise Brennan — reclaimed the ragged public asset and organized a course for its continued restoration. Bill Davis, a retired banker from Clarks Summit, hopes a similar resurrection can happen at Abington Hills.

I met Bill at the cemetery early Tuesday. He has family buried there and a plot for himself and his wife, Jessie. Bill cleared the weeds and grass from his family plots and did some other mowing, but we were there so he could show me how much work is left to do and the sign he put at the Morgan Highway entrance to the cemetery:

"VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO REMOVE DEBRIS

BRING: WEED WACKERS, MOWERS, PICK-UP TRUCKS..."

The sign invites volunteers to register by calling Bill's cell number: 570-687-6718.

"There's got to be something we can do," Bill said as we drove around the cemetery. Some patches were tightly mowed and free of debris. Many — including the graves of veterans — were buried in choking weeds and tall grass, all but invisible behind the heavy green veil.

"I know Domenic is trying, but it's not enough," Bill said, following up with another epic understatement: "There's just too much work. Without help, it's impossible."

No one knows that better than Domenic, who mowed some of the presentable patches we saw Tuesday. There are 17 sections to maintain at Abington Hills. Each takes hours to complete. Domenic will accept all the help he can get.

"My only goal is to fix these cemeteries," he said of Abington Hills and Washburn Street. I believe him, but even Don Quixote needed a Sancho. Bill Davis hopes to raise an army of them.

"I'm really hoping to get a lot of calls," he said. "All we need is people who want to make a difference."

And "WEED WACKERS, MOWERS, PICK-UP TRUCKS..."

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, has all three. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/kelly. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com; @cjkink on Twitter; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.