Teachers from Central Catholic High School in Southeast Portland started their spring break by doing a little spring cleaning at neighboring Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery.
While students took off for break last Friday, 25 teachers raked leaves, fir needles, pine cones and fallen branches to beautify the cemetery. These industrious teachers cleaned the entire MacLeay Mausoleum block in just two and a half hours. The cleared area gives the grass, plants, and blooming flowers room to grow – just in time for spring. The day of the volunteer project, shrubs were flowering and birds were singing.
Bonnie Shoffner, Metro's restoration volunteer coordinator, said that the teachers' self-proclaimed reason for volunteering was "to help and show that we are stewards of this community." Central Catholic students regularly volunteer at the cemetery to help with general clean up and headstone cleaning. Students also put flags at veterans' gravesites for Memorial Day, and use Lone Fir as an outdoor classroom. Several classes, including creative writing, come to be inspired by the cemetery.
Lone Fir is one of 14 historic cemeteries that Metro operates in Multnomah County.