Knights make clear the way to St. Denis Cemetery, Ashburnham

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press

The cemetery was out of sight, out of mind at the end of the dead-end road, according to Jack McCarthy, a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 15972 of St. Denis Parish and St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Westminster.
In April, around Patriot’s Day, Father Guillermo J. Ochoa, St. Denis administrator, asked parishioners to show up for a weekend of clean-up work at the cemetery, which needed it badly, according to Mr. McCarthy.
He said there was a good turnout and the parishioners did a lot of work, so much, in fact, that when they came back the next day, there wasn’t a lot for them to do.
The Knights of Columbus then decided to raise funds to buy signs to show people the way to the cemetery. On the weekend before Father’s Day in June, the Knights put on a pancake breakfast that raised almost $700, he said. That paid for two green directional signs pointing the way to the cemetery.
The town highway department put the signs up, one at Route 12 (Main Street) and River Styx Road, the other at River Styx Road and Kelton Road, which leads into the cemetery.
The parish has continued to work at making the cemetery presentable and has made improvements, according to Deacon Richard C. DesJardins, who also is cemetery director.
He said the cemetery was in bad shape.
“I think there were some parishioners who didn’t even know we had a cemetery,” he said.
The deacon said the cemetery has received loam donated by the Powell Co. of Lunenburg and fertilizer from The Home Depot. The loam has been used to fill in holes around graves. He said the grass in the cemetery had not been fertilized in a long time.
There is now a prayer garden near the cemetery entrance. It is a quiet area that didn’t get much attention previously. Deacon DesJardins and three parishioner/volunteers  – Wayne Sanborn, Joseph Oliveri and Michael Gallant – cut some of the trees, did some landscaping and put down a stone pathway. A statue of the Madonna will be placed in the area, along with a bench. There also are large stones people can sit on. He said it is a place where people can sit, rest and pray.
Deacon DesJardins said the three volunteers have been instrumental in helping make improvements in the cemetery.