Volunteers honor veterans with Hammond Cemetery cleanup
Ray Hanks shows a volunteer the damages that have been caused to graves overtime at Hammond Cemetary on Saturday, May 23. Photos by Mari Huglin
Anthony Spooner shows off old flag holders the Committee is restoring and repairing to go on the graves. 
The Boy Scout troop from Rochester helped clean the graves and the area around them. 
Revolutionary War graves are marked with small American flags. 
Some graves were hidden by invasive plants. 
Some graves were used to prop up other graves.
The graveyard is in process of fully being restored.
Ray Hanks shows a volunteer the damages that have been caused to graves overtime at Hammond Cemetary on Saturday, May 23. Photos by Mari Huglin
Anthony Spooner shows off old flag holders the Committee is restoring and repairing to go on the graves.
The Boy Scout troop from Rochester helped clean the graves and the area around them.
Revolutionary War graves are marked with small American flags.
Some graves were hidden by invasive plants.
Some graves were used to prop up other graves.
The graveyard is in process of fully being restored.
MATTAPOISETT — In honor of Memorial Day and their friend Ronnie Scott, Raymond Hanks and Anthony Spooner set out to continue their work of cleaning up graveyards.
Hanks is a part of the Advisory Committee for Cemeteries, Memorials and Veterans Recognition which advocates for cemeteries and veteran memorials across town.
Hanks said he wanted to dedicate the day of work to Scott who died recently and was a Vietnam veteran and the former fire chief in Mattapoisett.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. volunteers of all ages helped restore headstones, remove invasive plants and beautify the Hammond Cemetery located on River Road.
Hanks said it is important to preserve the gravestones and honor the memory of these veterans or they will be forgotten.
“Once history's lost, it's lost,” Hanks said.
In late summer, Hammond Cemetery will be honored with a plaque from the Sons of the American Revolution since it contains 20 graves of Revolutionary War veterans. The dedication will officially recognize the cemetery as a Revolutionary War historical site.
Hanks said he likes that multiple age groups get involved and learn about the history of Mattapoisett.
“I want people to know how much history is here and how much of their family history is actually here,” Hanks said.
Hanks uses a chemical called D/2 that restores and cleans the headstones once it rains. Some of the gravestones are in worse shape and need to be dug out, repaired and replaced, which Hanks does with assistance from a company called TNT Gravestone Solutions.
The Committee receives a budget from town and applies for grants. The group plans to start a Friends of the Mattapoisett Cemetery so they can begin to receive donations.
Timothy Lassiter, student at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School and part of Rochester Troop 31, assisted at the cleanup.
Lassiter said he has been working with Hanks and in the graveyards for 2 years. He usually comes once every five months to take care of the cemetery with other scouts.
“Stones have been forgotten and gotten dirty and I feel like dedicating them would be the right thing to do,” Lassiter said.
He said that one of the coolest things he found in the Hammond Cemetery was gravestones inscribed with veterans who served in multiple, significant wars.
Lassiter and another scout also found a hidden child’s grave in between yucca plants a year ago.
Lassiter said he hopes more people will get involved over time.
“I think more people should be involved though,” Lassiter said. “I think more people from the community should have come out today.”
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