TORRINGTON — The work he did in historic Center Cemetery this summer was unlike anything Joey Haag has done in his own landscaping and lawn-mowing business.
There were no gas-powered mowers or weed whackers to be found during the six weeks Haag, 18, who will be a senior at Torrington High School, spent maintaining the cemetery as part of a summer employment program offered by the Torrington Area Youth Service Bureau.
Instead, Haag and his fellow teens used hand clippers, rakes and even toothbrushes to improve the look of the cemetery. They worked five hours a day Monday through Thursday and were paid minimum wage in a program designed to help area teens make some money and develop work ethic.
"I have my own business on the side so I know a lot about this kind of work," Haag said at the cemetery Thursday. "It's tough, though, when you can't use a mower or weed whacker."
The cemetery, established in 1851 and home to many of the movers and shakers who helped build the city, is run by an association of community-minded volunteers led by Fletcher Waldron.
The association has limited manpower and an even more limited budget, so it was thankful for the workers provided by the youth service bureau.
"We have 10 acres here and 3,500 headstones and a lot of maintenance is required," Waldron said during a tribute to the nine teens who completed their job on Thursday. "You took on some very hard work and did a magnificent job."
The teens clipped grass and weeds around the headstones, cleared brush and used toothbrushes, water and elbow grease to remove dirt from some of the stones.
Waldron cited the teens and their supervisor, Tracie Wellman, for their work and the executive director of the youth service bureau, Thomas Donaldson. Torrington Mayor Ryan Bingham also had some words of praise for the teens,
"You earned some cash, you learned the value of hard work, and I hope you learned something about Torrington history," Bingham said. "This is the second-oldest cemetery in Torrington and certainly one of the city's most beautiful. The work you did to keep it up will not go unnoticed."
Ken and Judey Buckbee of Torrington, members of the Connecticut Gravestone Network, presented Donaldson with a framed citation commending the summer work program. The Buckbees spend a lot of time cleaning headstones in local cemeteries using, of course, toothbrushes and water. Anything else would damage the stones.
"We consider cemeteries to be outdoor museums," Ken Buckbee told the teens. "This is the final resting place of some of the people who helped shape Torrington and it deserves to be maintained. It wouldn't look this good without you."
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