Volunteers trim around plots

Quietly ordinary citizens have been clearing away the grass around the graves at Hill Crest Cemetery this year as the city has only one person assigned to cut the grass. Some city employees brought weed eaters and cleaned the grass thoroughly once this season. And a few worked a few hours last week operating weed eaters before being assigned to other tasks, according to an employee.

Upset with the condition of the cemetery which in other times has been kept in immaculate condition by either city employees or contract workers, citizens brought out their equipment and got a start but did not finish the job Saturday.

One source said over the day about 15 volunteers worked without fanfare on clearing grass, some of which was up to two feet high.

Volunteers did not want their names in the paper or to make a big issue of the situation.

“There’s a lot to do but we did get a lot done,” the volunteer said. “It’s so much. Lots of the community said they’ll be back. I hope this is a good stepping stone.”

Some volunteers had no family buried at historic Hill Crest but showed up for friends who did. Some graves have no one living or living near who can attend to their loved ones graves.

“It’s unkept and becoming an eyesore. What are you supposed to do?” the volunteer said. “People said they will be back. It almost brought tears to my eyes. No words were spoken. They just got on their lawnmowers. It was a very sweet and precious time.”

One volunteer said cleaning and removing grass is not something they normally do.

“I’m glad I’m out here. It all had to be done,” he said.

Another said, “It’s a memorial park. We should treat it like one.” Another said, “We’ve never seen it like this. We had to step in and do it.” “Just do it, even if you are not good at it,” said another.

Although some people think Hill Crest is a cemetery for the interment of Whites, Blacks are also buried there. Notably, the first African American U.S. Senator, Hiram Revels, has a plot tucked away under a tree on the hillside at Hill Crest.

More and more African Americans are being buried there.

“The people of Holly Springs, if we can stop seeing things as Black or White, maybe the city will take care of it and not need volunteers,” one person said.