Participants in cemetery preservation workshop gather at Burlingame Cemetery. Photos by Wendi Bevitt.

Fifty people gathered at Burlingame Cemetery, June 8, 2022,  to learn how to preserve gravestones and monuments. Jonathan Appell, of Atlas Preservation, presented the free cemetery preservation seminar.

Participants reset a Civil War marker using a tripod lift.

For the past 20 years, Appell has worked to preserve gravestones and monuments across the United States, and is the leading preservationist in his field. With his work, Appell has developed simple and effective hands-on techniques and encouraged others to preserve America’s burying grounds. His workshop is part of a cross country tour to complete 48 gravestone preservation workshops in 48 states in 48 days, teaching people how to clean, repair and reset gravestones and monuments in their own backyards.

The Burlingame workshop was attended by individuals of varying backgrounds, representing a majority of the towns in Osage County, and communities from Kansas and Missouri. Several large monuments were leveled, many more cleaned, and one mended.

The event was video documented by Wade Fowler, also known as the Millennial Stone Cleaner, who plans to post the video to his YouTube channel at a future date. Also in attendance were social media personalities, Alicia Williams (aka Lady Taphos) and Amanda Brown (aka Healthy Headstones) who provided additional educational support at the event. The event was sponsored by the Osage County Historical Society and Buried Past Consulting.

Jonathan Appell of Atlas Preservation demonstrates how to clean a headstone, Alecia Williams (Lady Taphos) looks on.

Jack Sanders, Topeka, assists in cleaning the stone of War of 1812 veteran, David Marple. The stone was cleaned and leveled.