CITY OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Restoring a cemetery that dates back to 1869 is quite the undertaking, but Ron Snyder is determined to pull it off.
"One stone at a time. You fix one stone at a time and eventually you'll get there," said Snyder.
The City of Tonawanda Cemetery on Main Street is owned by the city. As the Chairman of the cemetery board, Snyder spends 20 hours a week volunteering to preserve the legacies of the thousands buried there.
"There are times where a couple of years ago where the grass was two feet tall and that was even in June and July and that's tough to look at," said Snyder.
There are dozens of Civil War veterans buried there. A few years ago, Snyder pulled out a headstone of World War I veteran Harold Gordon and posted pictures of the work online.
"I saw it on Facebook and I said well that's my grandfather's and told Ron who we've been friends for ages," said Rick Neuhaus.
Snyder rebuilt the headstone and repaired the area around it.
"Just did an outstanding job and it was pretty cool, it was pretty emotional," said Neuhaus.
To do this work, Snyder needs funding. It's an issue facing cemeteries around the state, those without funding get abandoned and ultimately turned over to New York State.
A fundraiser is happening at American Legion Post 264 on Wednesday night to help Snyder keep things running.
"Because of Ron's efforts we were able to host this fundraiser and put it together in combination with the American Legion and together we hope to raise a significant amount of money for the city cemetery committee," said Chris Fisher, 2nd Ward Councilmember for the city.
If the turnout is anything like their volunteer days twice a month, Snyder says they'll do just fine.
"We've had volunteer days here where we've had so many volunteers, we almost didn't have enough work for them...and that's what happens in the city of Tonawanda, we always have a good response, no matter what," said Snyder.
Ultimately, the plan is to pass the responsibility to the next generation, so the cemetery remains for years to come. For more information, click here for the cemetery page.
