The African American Cemetery behind Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye was the location of the Town of Rye’s second MLK Day of Service on Sunday, Jan. 23, having been postponed from Jan. 16 due to the extreme cold. Members of sustainability committees and others “just came together to make a difference,” said Rye Town Councilwoman and Rye Town Sustainability Committee Chair Pam Jaffee, an organizer of the event, which was double the size of last year’s in terms of participation.
Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, accompanied by Rye Town Councilwoman Pam Jaffee, pushes a wheelbarrow full of loose branches picked up around the cemetery to a Rye Town Parks Department truck onsite where staff members were loading up leaves, sticks and other debris cleaned up on Jan. 23 and carting it away.
Valerie Espinoza and Shirleen Vazquez, both Port Chester High School sophomores and members of the school’s Key Club, which does service projects, rake leaves along the path leading into the African American Cemetery.
Will Jaffee, a sophomore at Blind Brook High School, digs up a root along the pathway to the cemetery.
Danielle Orris, Anna Bouadze and Clara Hastings, all seniors at Blind Brook High School, gather sticks they picked up to put into the wheelbarrow for carting away.
Matthew Anderson, president and CEO of The Osborn retirement community (right) in Rye, puts leaves he had raked up into a biodegradable bag. At left is Bill Dadlini, director of facilities at The Osborn, and behind them is Richard Scaglio, also from The Osborn. Rye Town Clerk Hope Vespia recently discovered from an old map that the path leading into the cemetery and the adjacent swamp are owned by The Osborn while the cemetery itself is owned by the Town of Rye. So maintenance of the African American Cemetery has become a partnership between the two.
Eight-year-old Elliott Klein picks up sticks around gravestones at the cemetery. Rye Brook Trustee Jason Klein brought his whole family to the cleanup, including Elliott, son Alexander, 11, and wife Judy.
Vic Federico, head of the Town of Rye grounds and maintenance staff, loads a bag of debris cleaned up at the cemetery onto a track to be removed from the site.
George Beltas, 6, of Rye Brook, runs through the cemetery with a rake, taking it to his father Periklis for instruction on how to help with the cemetery cleanup.
