The City of Lacombe and the Lacombe and District Historical Society are partnering up to help cleanse some of Lacombe’s history.
Many of the monuments and headstones in Lacombe’s cemetery are well over 100 years all and are beginning to show signs of aging, which are obscuring the history they tell. Maureen MacKenzie, City of Lacombe community services executive assistant, said the City and the Historical Society are currently looking for volunteers to help reveal some of that lost history.
“We thought it would be a great opportunity for the community band together and allow people to walk through the cemetery and read more of the history. It also makes easier for people coming in from out of town looking for the gravesites of some of their older family members,” she said.
This will be the first time a cemetery cleaning will be done as a community initiative — however the Lacombe Legion does annually clean the stones of Lacombe’s veterans.
“History is so important to Lacombe. To me, it is really nice to keep the cemetery as pristine as possible and working together as community is great idea,” MacKenzie said.
So far, over 40 community members have signed on to help with the initiative.
“That shows the degree of community pride we have. It is just so fabulous,” she said.
If you would like to join the effort, MacKenzie asks that you send her an email in order to get on the volunteer list, who will be contacted later in August or September when the cleaning is tentatively scheduled.
“I can put them on the volunteer list and it makes it much easier for me to contact them,” she said
She added, “We have close to 40 volunteers which is wonderful. I am hoping to do a session on a weekday and one on the weekend.”
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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