NO TOOTHPASTE: Historic Cemeteries Commission chair Pegee Malcolm uses a tooth brush to clean the lichen that has grown in the lettering of this grave stone. She provided the following outlined of what the commission has planned for May 14 from 1-2:30 pm: “We will be flagging all the veterans at Brayton ,( there are 260) then we will have a scavenger hunt . Participants will have to find carvings, writings, or symbols on the head stones. These will include items like a headstone taller than you, a headstone with a President’s name, a headstone with your first or last name, a veteran of WW2, a religious symbol on a headstone, a person younger than 10 years old, fruit or flowers carved on a headstone. There are 25 items to find. Along the way, we will have members of our commission sitting at various graves to explain a bit about that person, such as Thomas Vaill, a Civil war soldier who was on the Ironclad Monitor, Orrin Perry, who was known as Skeleton man in the Barnum and Bailey circus( thank you Kelly Sullivan) Judge Brayton, who was a state Supreme Court justice, . There will also be lawn signs at various headstones to explain the symbolism on them. We are asking folks to use their phones or a camera to take pictures of what they find, but are including a map of the cemetery so in the case of no camera they can circle an area where they find each item. We will be giving prizes to the first 3 people (or groups) that find everything.”

A FAMILY CONNECTION: Donna Reinhardt, her daughter Jessica Ferrara and her husband Glenn and their two children Aubery and Nate pitched in to assist with the Brayton Cemetery cleanup Saturday. Donna’s father Emmett Reinhardt, who died in 2003, teamed up with Bob “Red” Darigan to oversee cemetery maintenance for decades when oversight ceased and funds for its upkeep were depleted.

“LEAFING” IT CLEAN: Council President Steve McAllister, Rep. David Bennett, former Mayor Francis Flaherty, Mayor Frank Picozzi and School Committee member David Testa gather for a group shot in front of giant piles of leaves cleared from the cemetery.