The Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery recently surprised Metro Council President David Bragdon by announcing their creation of an award to honor his service. The David L. Bragdon Volunteer of the Year award is the group’s highest honor, awarded annually to volunteers who have taken their compassion for Lone Fir and assumed a leadership role that has a lasting impact on the visibility and sustainability of the cemetery.
“We couldn’t have made it this far without his help. This award is a way for us to show David our immense appreciation for his leadership,” Becky Oswald, Chair of the Friends of Lone Fir, said.
Bragdon was honored by the award and quipped, “I’m not even dead yet!” During his tenure as the Metro Council President, Bragdon has been a dedicated proponent of conservation efforts and remembrance projects at Lone Fir. Never shy to get personally involved, Bragdon has helped pull ivy in the park, clean gravestones, participated in historical reenactments and led many Metro-sponsored events at the cemetery.
The inaugural award went to Frank Schaefer, a 4-year volunteer with the Friends of Lone Fir, on July 24 during a community event at the cemetery. Schaefer, a tireless and dedicated worker, has been credited with helping return historical art and memorials to the cemetery and has spent many hours working at the numerous Friends events held throughout the year. Though he too, was surprised by the award, Schaefer used the occasion to recruit volunteers for one of Lone Fir’s most popular events, the annual Halloween celebration.
Bragdon has served as Metro president since 2003; his term ends in December 2010. One of his most important legacies to Lone Fir is his visionary leadership of the Block 14 task force which has worked to reincorporate the burial ground into the rest of the cemetery and restore it to protect its historical value. Block 14 is adjacent to Lone Fir and was a burial site for former Chinese immigrants who played an important role in Portland’s development in the mid-1800s. After a repatriation of Chinese remains was conducted in 1948, the burial ground was turned into commercial land, and a building it was placed there. Multnomah County commissioned an archaeological study in 2005 which revealed some remains. Shortly thereafter, the county began restoring the grounds from asphalt to grass and in 2007, the county turned the property over to Metro for it to steward in conjunction with Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery.