A Visit with the DAR

At long last, we have a few exciting pieces of news to share as we shake off those winter blues and head into spring!

Last fall, the Reisterstown Community Cemetery Committee applied for a Historic Preservation Grant from the Maryland State Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  Earlier this year, we received word that our application had been approved, and that we were awarded a $1,000 grant.  So now, we're officially able to make a public announcement!

Yesterday, committee members were invited to attend a meeting of the Soldiers Delight-Thomas Johnson Chapter, which had sponsored our grant application.  In years past, members of the SDTJ Chapter had helped transcribe the grave stones in the cemetery, marked the grave of Revolutionary War soldier Philip Reister, and planted the cherry tree.  Committee President Chris Larkins spoke briefly to the members about the work that has been accomplished so far.

L-R:  Chapter Regent Mary Freyer, Becky Stansfield-Larkins, Kathy Aspden, Chris Larkins, Tom Fischer, Linda Percy, and Kimberly Dotson

We especially want to thank Linda Mistler, state regent of Maryland;  Stephanie Wolfley, state chairman of historic preservation; and Mary Freyer, chapter regent of SDTJ, for all of their help and support!

Which, of course, leads us to our next announcement...

Now that the restoration of the fallen eastern wall has been completed, we've gotten many questions about what's next for the cemetery.  With the help of this grant from the MSSDAR, our latest project is replacing the gates at the north and east cemetery entrances.  For those who don't know, the original gates were melted down during World War II and donated to the war effort.  Committee member Kathy Aspden has been hard at work researching to find old sketches and photographs of the original gates.

Based on those images, Harris Metalsmith Studio in Perryville, MD has drawn up plans.  The committee has submitted the required paperwork to Baltimore County, and hopefully, after an inspection of the cemetery this spring, we'll receive approval to move forward.

So, as you can see, we've definitely been keeping busy over the winter months!  We're also planning a number of events for this spring, leading up to the cemetery's 250th Anniversary Celebration on July 26th.  As more details become available, we'll be updating the events tab at the top of the blog.  Mark your calendars now!