By REBECCA SHALOMOFF
Each time Elyse Craft went to visit her many relatives buried in the Lawrence Methodist Cemetery on Rockaway Turnpike, she was heartbroken. The grounds were always riddled with trash, and sometimes she found the gravestones broken in pieces, a calling card left by vandals.
The maintenance of the cemetery has been seriously neglected for many years, she said. Craft, a Commack resident, quickly made arrangements to have her family's stones repaired, but wanted to do more to improve and even beautify the resting place of her ancestors and the other families buried there. Therefore, she formed the Lawrence Cemetery Restoration Project, a non-profit organization to clean and repair the cemetery.
Currently, the cemetery, where some of the earliest settlers of the Five Towns are buried, is the property of the Christian Alliance Missionary, the church that stands across the street from it. The congregation, predominantly Hispanic evangelical, is bound to the agreement dating back to 1831 whereby they are responsible for maintaining the cemetery. But they have no financial means to do so, as the church building itself has become dilapidated and is also in desperate need of repair.
"We cut the grass, but we are not responsible for the stones," said David Nalvaraio, church treasurer. "We have to do a lot of things to the building itself, but we don't have the money. The church is in poor condition. We have just a few members that provide few funds to support the building. We do a little to clean the garbage in the summer, but people vandalize [the cemetery] all the time. We don't have any control over that."
Craft spoke with Pastor Alvaro Glen of the Christian Alliance Missionary and Nalvaraio, who have given their authorization to access the grounds and have any necessary work completed.
About two dozen volunteers have joined the restoration project in the last few weeks since she started the project. They have collected about $1,000 in donations from family members of those buried in the cemetery. Craft thumbed through the phone book looking for the last names engraved on the legible stones to locate and contact living relatives.
Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino (R-Hewlett) contacted Craft to offer any assistance in her undertaking. The Lawrence Funeral Chapel also signed on to help.
But the restoration project is still in need of more donations to purchase supplies and repair gates, fences and gravestones as well as more volunteers to assist in a "clean up" of the property on March 24. Craft said the project will take about 75 to 100 people.
Anyone interested in joining or contributing to this project can write to: Lawrence Cemetery Restoration Project, Inc. c/o Elyse Craft, 4 Palmer Lane, Commack, NY 11725 or call (631) 265-7200, ext. 204.
Before forming the restoration project, Craft contacted the county, town, village, and the New York State and Town Division of Cemeteries, all of which have said they cannot help her out.
"I think this is typical treatment from municipalities," Craft said. "Because of its 'low profile,' nobody wants to deal with this problem. The village [of Lawrence] mayor nor its trustees can't even seem to be bothered making this any sort of priority. There is no sense of historical value or community pride shown by any local municipality. This cemetery is almost 200 years old and its historic value to the local community is priceless. So, what is the problem?"
"With regard to the village, it's private property," said Peter Overs, Lawrence Village Administrator. "So the village exercises very little control. We are thrilled that someone is trying to get the cemetery cleaned up, it's a very historic area in the village. We've been in contact with Mrs. Craft, we are going to assist her anyway we can."
The property has been neglected for years, said family members of those buried there. Three-quarters of the gravestones have been knocked over or smashed to pieces by vandals, and about a half-dozen have been defiled with graffiti. A broken, rusted fence off Rockaway Turnpike serves as the entrance way. Unkempt shrubs hide the presence of a handful of graves. The south cemetery yard borders the Long Island Rail Road tracks with an incomplete and severely damaged fence separating the properties. The grounds are riddled with cigarette butts, smashed litter and all forms of trash. The older stones, dating back to 1811, are sunken in and damaged. Broken headstones make it hard to determine who is buried where.
Hewlett resident Jane Andrews' mother and father are buried in the cemetery, as well as a long line of relatives. Her parents' stones have been broken into pieces, she said.
"I've stopped visiting because I was told that it wasn't safe to go there anymore," she said. "With the homeless wandering through, and people vandalizing. It hurts me that I can't visit the cemetery anymore."
