THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310296
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
All Saints' Day will be celebrated Wednesday in a cemetery that has itself come back from the dead.
A sundown service in an Elizabeth City cemetery will honor the dearly departed and give recognition to the site's restoration.
``As far as we know, it's never been done before,'' said Ann Hughes of the cemetery service. She helped spur new interest in the Episcopal Cemetery Society and the downtown parcel that had been dying from neglect.
``It should be a beautiful, short service,'' Hughes said.
The Rev. Josh MacKenzie of Christ Episcopal Church agreed. ``It will be a very brief service,'' he said. ``Ten or 15 minutes max.''
The All Saints' Day service will be open to people of all denominations and faiths, said MacKenzie, who will share duties with church deacon and cemetery activist Dr. Fred Moncla.
``All Saints' Day is an important day in the Christian year calendar,'' MacKenzie said. ``It is a time when we pause to remember those saints who have preceded us.
``We can look back and rejoice in the fact that we are not alone in our faith. But we are surrounded by a community of the faithful.''
The service will begin, in all but the strongest of downpours, at 5:15 p.m. Acolytes and bagpiper Jim Roberts will lead a procession from Ehringhaus Street to the cemetery. Prayers and Bible readings will follow.
Parking will be available on Shepard Street, Waterfront Park and the public lot behind the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce. Guests are encouraged to take flashlights.
Hughes hopes people will come early and browse through the resting place of some of the city's most famous families.
``Oh, it looks beautiful. It really does,'' she says, her pale blue eyes glimmering as she relates details of the restoration that began last spring.
At that time, the cemetery, listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, had suffered - partly because interest in the Episcopal Cemetery Society had died down.
With few funds for upkeep, fencing began to deteriorate and vanish. Carefully maintained plots gave way to weeds, overgrown brush and empty beer bottles. Spent condoms and underwear also became common finds.
Then people like Hughes and Moncla decided to revitalize the cemetery society and help restore the city's 170-year-old landmark, whose gravestones bear the names of influential business and political leaders, including former Gov. John C.B. Ehringhaus.
Recently, 80 chrysanthemums were donated to the cemetery by Luther's Greenhouse in Weeksville. Kenyon Bailey and Farm Fresh have previously given flowers.
The cemetery also has put in four park benches in two groupings. Christ Episcopal Churchwomen plan to provide and tend gardens around each set of benches, Hughes said.
Josh Clifton of Clifton & Clifton Monuments is donating granite markers for each bench, and more than $4,500 toward preservation has been raised from individual, church, civic and corporate donations.
Hughes said more money is needed to restore tombstones and repair fencing. But she and others are extremely pleased with efforts so far.
``It really is a very quiet, beautiful green space now. And that is what we hoped for,'' Hughes said.
This is the first time MacKenzie has led a service in a cemetery.
``And, I might add, probably my last since I'm going to be retiring,'' said the rector, who has been at Christ Episcopal for more than nine years.
MacKenzie hopes people leave Wednesday with ``a sense of appreciation for those who have gone before us and an awareness that we are not alone in our faith. That we are a part of a community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Good works restore Elizabeth City landmark
[Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Members of the Northeastern High School Junior ROTC work on the
grounds of the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery, where a sundown
service will be held for All Saints' Day in Elizabeth City. The
grounds have been restored after years of neglect.
by CNB