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By Jerry Curry, Staff Writer
There will be an auction to support Covenanter Cemetery this Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Salem Senior Center, 1705 N. Shelby Street. Funds raised will be used for cemetery upkeep. Com enjoy the auction and feel free to donate an item to sell or money to bid!
Organizers are Jan Waterman Davis and Justin Elliott.
Ways you can help:
1. Start saving items to be auctioned off; no clothing, please, but furniture, tools, and collectibles usually sell well. The more personal the better – handmade items, things with sentimental value to those connected with the cemetery, and photos of family members are great - especially if there are 2 or 3 who want it and will bid against each other!
2. Share with all your family and friends to help get a good crowd there!
3. If you own or work at a business that would donate a gift card, free service, or a gift basket, that would be welcomed.
4. Volunteer to help that day – we will send a list of volunteer opportunities at a later date.
5. Drop off your donations the day of the auction between 10am and 12:30pm.
6. Come to the auction ready to bid! Bidding starts at 1pm!
7. If you choose not to bid, monetary donations will be gladly accepted.
The Covenanter Cemetery dates back to 1819 and contains the remains of approximately 100 people, including servicemen from the Civil War, the War of 1812 and WWII.
Family names such as Banta, Boggs, Branaman, Brew, Brown, Bush, Coffey, Faris, Ferguson, Huston, Lane, Lowden, Lusk, Mark, McDoyle, Peden, Phillips, Reid, Spencer, Stuart, Thompson, Tippon, Vaughn and Wilson are common and are likely ancestors of current area families.
The cemetery underwent a restoration last year, with amazing progress being made. Headstones were repaired, reset and cleaned; a fence was put up; and the accompanying church building was restored.
The next phase will include the addition of a garden, exploration to find unmarked graves and the addition of a marker to commemorate those without headstones.