Some of the work the Dresden Historical Society does is highly visible: People in and out of town look forward to the group's harvest supper every fall; and the society's museum is open summer weekends, starting the last weekend in June.

But co-president and Dresden historian Eleanor Everson, 84, said another activity volunteers carry out every year is also one of the most important.

It happens on properties where families once buried their own. Society volunteers trek to a dozen or so of the private, mostly 19th century cemeteries where at least one veteran is buried.

The entire cemetery gets a spring clearing of growth, and the veterans' stones get flags supplied by the town, volunteer and Society member T. Blen Parker said.

The sites are no larger than a two-car garage, Parker said. “Most of these, no one would even know if we didn't do it,” she said. But the motivation for the annual effort is to show respect for those buried there, she said.

When she and fellow volunteers arrive at a cemetery, they pause for a moment to honor everyone buried there; when they finish working on a veteran's grave, they pause again, Parker said.

One gravestone carries the names of John H. Rittal, killed July 3, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg, along with his and Charlotte A. Rittal's 4-year-old daughter Mary, who died four months before her father.

While the wording on many gravestones is worn, the stones themselves and the cemeteries' gates are beautiful, she said.

“It's really an incredible journey to go into these places that, for the most part, nobody has gone into for hundreds of years,” Parker said.

Last year and again this year, inmates from the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset have helped the society's members cut brush and clear the grounds of any small trees that have crept up.

Society member Valerie Woodworth helped with the cemetery work in past years alongside husband Lewis Woodworth, who died last September. She was back this year helping again with the work that meant so much to him.

“I only got into it because Lewis kept coming home every time saying how wonderful it is,” Woodworth said. “He was a serviceman, and he would say we have to take care of our own.”

Two of the cemeteries are on Joel Weldon's land on Cedar Grove Road. His family moved to the property in the mid-1940s, when he was a child. He's no relation to anyone buried in the cemeteries, but is thankful for the society's work.

“I think it's great that somebody takes the initiative to do this, and to honor these people with the flags,” he said.

Society members said they could use more volunteers to help with the cemetery work and other activities. Those include manning the museum on weekends, cataloging the organization's holdings that await on shelves and in boxes, and helping with the harvest supper.

The organization also greatly appreciates the pies people bake for the supper, Everson said.

Society members are currently discussing a possible Civil War commemoration for this summer. Everson would like to hear from both Civil War buffs and people interested in getting involved so they can learn more about the war.

For more information on volunteering with the society or becoming a member, contact Everson at 207-737-8892.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.