By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
History and cemetery enthusiasts are getting the opportunity during local history week to learn about one of St. Joseph's historical cemeteries.
Genealogy Librarian at the Downtown St. Joseph Library Marina Trifan is hosting a headstone cleaning workshop at the Adath Joseph Cemetery.
Trifan says this event, which is part of a local history week held every year, is designed for lovers of two things.
"This is mostly for kind of cemetery enthusiasts, local history enthusiasts, kind of anybody who's well interested just to learn about best practices for cleaning headstones and a little bit of history about the cemetery itself," Trifan tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Trifan says she was surprised by how quickly the slots for the event filled up.
"I've always really enjoyed visiting cemeteries and learning about them, I wasn't sure how shared that interest was going to be, but I think this will be the third that we've put on and each one fills up pretty much immediately so I am hoping to do another one in the fall, but that's still in the works," Trifan explains.
Trifan says those attending the workshop will learn the history of the Adath Joseph and also learn proper cleaning techniques for headstones.
Trifan says she chose the Adath Joseph Cemetery as the site for the workshop because it is often overlooked.
"It's right there next to Mount Auburn, everybody kind of thinks it's part of the same thing but it's separate, it's one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the area and the temple is still active and they're working on a lot of restoration projects for the actual temple," Trifan says. "So, the fact that I could help out with the cemetery was something I was really interested in doing."
The workshop on Friday is already full but Trifan says she hopes to hold another event in the fall that you can join the waitlist for.
Event goers on Friday will learn the history of the cemetery and also learn how to properly clean a headstone on some markers in the cemetery.
