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Mike Riley holds a headstone cleaning demonstration at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

Carol Fordyce and Lori Fletcher tend to the headstone of Charles H. Dresser during a headstone cleaning demonstration event at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

Mike Riley sprays the headstone of Col. William Bell at a headstone cleaning demonstration at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

MONTEZUMA — Mike Riley started cleaning headstones because he saw stones in cemeteries that were simply unreadable — and he wanted to do something about that. 

Riley, president of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron and historian for the town of Mentz, said that through the society's genealogical efforts, he noticed headstones at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Port Byron where the engravements became too obscured by dirt and different materials over the years. So he began looking up how to properly clean them online.

A headstone cleaning demonstration was held by Riley in front of over 15 people at the Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday. He told the crowd he is not an expert but it was easy to learn.

"You can go on Tik Tok, and there's millions of people doing this, so I was just kind of poking around. There is a lot of misinformation. I have hopefully gathered what I consider to be and I think experts consider to be the best information," he said.

Among the items recommended for cleaning are a five gallon bucket, two scrubbing brushes, a large brush for dusting, plastic scrapers and trigger spray bottles. When choosing a headstone to clean, Riley said it is important to determine if the stone is steady to help ensure the safety of the person performing the cleaning and the stone's safety. 

"First thing you want to do: 'Do no more damage,'" he said, before pointing to a nearby titled headstone that Riley said was "about to go over. And if you start scrubbing on it, you could accidentally push that over, you could break it." 

Mike Riley, president of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron, NY, holds a headstone cleaning demonstration for attendees at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

He also noted that cleaners should take a picture of the headstone before they begin cleaning and afterward. Riley also said the stone should be wet down thoroughly and sprayed with soap, specifically Orvus soap, which he said has a neutral PH balance and a neutral ion balance.

While cleaning the headstone of Col. William Bell at the cemetery, Riley said it is also recommended to clean from the top of the stone to the bottom. After  He noted a hand pump garden sprayer is "your best friend" when cleaning headstones, holding one up. Riley also asked that people not use pressure washers, as that would damage the stone, and asked that cleaners refrain from using bleach or products such as Scrubbing Bubbles for stones. Other recommendations included rinsing the headstone stone well with water after continually wetting and scrubbing the stone.

Attendees were later able to try to clean a headstone in the cemetery themselves. Sheets of paper on headstone cleaning were available, with a list of supplies and instructions. The instructions included using just water if Orvus soap is not accessible, and for people document and report "any damage, cracks, flaking and/or prior repairs."

While continuing to touch up Bell's headstone, Riley noted the expenses of the tools for his cleaning work mostly come out of his own pocket. He said he finds tending to these stones to be a meditative experience for him, and said he is also helping to preserve people's history.

 "These headstones are the lasting monument to that person's life," Riley said.

Nearby, other participants such as B.J. Bellen and Jennifer Carr tended to a headstone on the ground that bared the name of Daniel Zeluff. Carol Fordyce, her granddaughter, Robyn Fordyce and Carol's niece, Lori Fletcher, were working on a small stone with a great deal of grime caked on. After some time, it gradually became easier to make out some letters on the monument. Through further cleaning work to make the stone's engravements more visible and the website for the Montezuma Family Project, a genealogical database maintained by Kathleen Shaw Decker, who was also at the demonstration, the name on the headstone was determined. The stone belonged to Charles H. Dresser, who was born in October 1871 and died in December 1872 at age 1. At the bottom of Charles' stone, the words "Gone but not forgotten" were visible.

Carol, Robyn and Lori said they believe history conservation is important and that there are headstones they want to clean up. Robyn said this cleaning experience is also a learning opportunity, since she is an archivist and medical librarian. Carol talked about why she wanted to come out to the demonstration.

"I think it's a worthwhile adventure to do, and I think that this is something that really needs to be done to preserve our history," she said.

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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Hello, my name is Kelly Rocheleau, and I cover the education and city beats for The Citizen and auburnpub.com. I've been writing for the paper since December 2016.

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Mike Riley, president of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron, NY, holds a headstone cleaning demonstration for attendees at Mentz Chu…

Mike Riley holds a headstone cleaning demonstration at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

Carol Fordyce and Lori Fletcher tend to the headstone of Charles H. Dresser during a headstone cleaning demonstration event at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

Mike Riley sprays the headstone of Col. William Bell at a headstone cleaning demonstration at Mentz Church Cemetery in Montezuma Saturday.

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