The D&L Blog

Mark your calendars for the Second Annual St. Michael’s Cemetery Clean Up! It’s still two months away, but you won’t want to miss this great opportunity to help out in the South Bethlehem community.

• St. Michael’s Cemetery Clean Up
  Saturday, April 25, 2009
  9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Please bring: shovels, rakes, clippers, heavy duty buckets, and wheel barrows. Mark the items with your name.
• Please wear proper shoes. The cemetery is on a hill and has some rough terrain.

Last year dozens of volunteers came out to help preserve this unique South Bethlehem resource. St. Michael’s is important not only to the families who have relatives resting there but to the entire community. This precious open, green space offers beautiful views across Bethlehem to the Kittatiny Ridge and a nice place for a walk. St. Michael’s also helps preserve the cultural history of South Bethlehem, including the rich diversity that waves of immigration brought to the town.

A devoted corps of individuals maintains the cemetery, but they alone cannot do all of the necessary work. They need your help to cut back weeds, remove litter and plant debris, and help grade the slowly-drifting hillside. Please come out, enjoy the spring weather, and contribute a few hours to a worthy cause.

The St. Michael’s Cemetery event is part of the national Great American Cleanup campaign, the nation’s largest community improvement program. In 2008, Great American Cleanup volunteers collected 86 million pounds of litter and debris; planted 107,000 trees and 48,000 gardens, xeriscapes, and green spaces; cleaned 144,000 miles of roads, streets and highways; and diverted more than 189 million plastic bottles and more than 1.4 million scrap tires from the waste stream.

The Great American Cleanup lasts for several weeks, during which the D&L will host volunteer opportunities throughout the Corridor. Check back for updates on what the Trail Tenders have planned. For now, add St. Michael’s to your calendar and plan to see us there.

 This year’s St. Michael’s Cemetery Clean Up is a supported by the South Bethlehem Historical Society, the Mayor’s Southside Task Force, the St. Michael’s Preservation Association, and the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.