LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Volunteers from Bob Ray Tree Co. and TreesLouisville helped clean up a historical west Louisville cemetery with a complicated history.
Now maintained by the National Association for Black Veterans, Greenwood Cemetery was opened in 1903 for the burial of African American residents. After discovering the previous owners engaged in corrupt burial and management practices, it became property of the state.
The cemetery serves as the gateway to the Chickasaw community. Foster Academy is right on the edge of the property.
"Every morning, when these kids come by here going to school, they have to see this," said Shedrick Jones Sr. "With all the messages about hope and accomplishment and whatever.. what really have we been saying? What kind of message have we been sending?"
To clean up the cemetery now covered in fallen trees, volunteers used equipment donated from Bob Ray Co. to restore The Greenwood's original beauty.
"I'm happy," Jones said. "But it's also painful because it brings to mind the neglect that this cemetery has gone through. What is reported to be criminal activity... the number of families that have loved ones buried here that have not had an opportunity to be able to come and view their resting place."
The crew foreman, Rick Dunn, even found a headstone under a fallen tree while Hayley Minogue was at the cemetery.
The NABVETS and TreesLouisville will host more volunteer cleanups starting Monday, March 11, and continuing every second Monday of each month from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. through October. In the case of rain, the cleanup will be on the third Monday of the month.
People interested in volunteering are asked to contact TreesLouisville at 502-648-6707 or 502-632-3785.