OPINION: Chris Kelly Opinion: Victory at Abington Hills -- for now

Jul. 13—I took a victory lap with Bill Davis early Tuesday.

As he drove us around Abington Hills Cemetery, the Clarks Summit retiree beamed while pointing to signs of life in the long-neglected South Abington Twp. graveyard.

"I'm just so happy," Bill said. "It looks like a cemetery."

It does. When Bill and I visited the site last month, high grass and choking weeds buried most headstones in thick veils of matted vegetation. Flat markers were practically erased. The graves of veterans were surrendered to the relentless green creep of crabgrass and bull thistle.

"Hopeless" was too kind.

With owner Dominic Graziano's blessing, Bill posted a sign seeking volunteers to help exhume the dignity of the cemetery's dead. The response was immediate and overwhelming.

"I'm just so proud of all these people who came to help," Bill said Tuesday. "It's not perfect. There's still a lot left to do, but what a difference. It's just amazing."

Bill wasn't exaggerating. Overgrown sections of the cemetery I photographed in June were cleared on Tuesday. The veterans' section was parade-ready. Hard evidence of the power of community spirit and shared sweat was everywhere.

Bill and a small army of volunteers — including some veterans — deserve the credit, but a special shout-out is owed to Duane Seymour Sr. of Factoryville-based Duane's Mowing Service, who donated four hours of transformative labor on Saturday. I was unable to reach Seymour on Tuesday.

When I reached Graziano — who worked alongside volunteers over the weekend — he was mowing another of the cemetery's 17 sections. He was extremely grateful for the help and determined to build on the progress.

"I'm thrilled," he said. "There is no way we could have done this by ourselves."

By "we," Graziano means himself and the single employee he has to maintain the cemetery. He said the volunteers' work not only made the cemetery look like a cemetery, but made it more marketable.

"As my mom used to say, 'This mess is a place now, not a place that's a mess,' " he said.

The best option for saving the cemetery is a sale to a new owner with the resources to care for it. A well-kept property is more likely to attract buyers big and small.

"The only thing that's going to save this cemetery is the perpetual care fund," Graziano said. "The way it looks now makes it easier to sell plots, and that puts money back into the perpetual care fund."

The perpetual care funds of Abington Hills and Washburn Street Cemetery in West Scranton were robbed by a pair of past owners who have since passed on. Along with unresolved questions about whether Graziano legally owns either cemetery, he inherited all of the responsibility for perpetual care and almost no money to fund it.

Many people are angry with Graziano, and mad at me for showing empathy for him as a "good guy in a bad situation." Some of these people have relatives buried at Abington Hills, and every right to be outraged by the decay of the cemetery. Same goes for those upset about the decline of Washburn Street Cemetery.

That said, no one knows better than Graziano that the cemeteries are a mess. I believe he truly wants to honor his obligations, but lacks the personnel, equipment and money to get the job done. Kicking him when he's down over conditions beyond his control won't fix the cemeteries.

Neither will volunteers, unless they organize and commit to the properties' long-term care. That's a lot to ask, but Friends of Shady Lane — a volunteer nonprofit founded by Clarks Summit neighbors Carol Wilkerson and Louise Brennan — is a shining example of what's possible when everyday citizens band together in a common cause.

Bill Davis would welcome a solution similar to the Friends of Shady Lane, but for now his focus is attracting more volunteers to meet the immediate needs of Abington Hills.

"There's still a lot to do," he said as we ended our victory lap. "I feel so good right now, but I've got to keep people coming, because the grass will keep growing."

To volunteer, call Bill at 570-687-6718.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, salutes the volunteers who would rather lift fingers than point them. 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.