Community connections make Cedar Hill’s Civil War sentry project possible

The nearly 141-year-old Civil War Sentry Monument has returned home to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg.

Disassembled in October for restoration by Lebanon-based E&E Fabrication Inc., the monument, first erected in 1884, was re-installed in about four hours on a warm and cloudless day in March.

“Not only is he watching over the village of Fredericksburg (again), he’s watching over his brethren, so to speak, that served with him,” said John Klahr, president of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association. There are 68 Civil War veterans interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery, out of 192 veterans buried there, according to cemetery association treasurer Rita Christ.

E&E sales representative Al Billig said the process of returning the monument went smoothly.

“It went well,” Billig said. “We didn’t encounter any roadblocks. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. It was just great that everything fit together like it should, so I will sleep a little bit better now.”

Billig noted the event drew about a dozen interested onlookers. Although cool early in the morning, this day was sunny and warm as work progressed and the sun rose in the sky.

For E&E employees, the restoration work performed over the winter months was a first-time experience and one they’ll never forget, according to Billig. 

Originally expected to take six months, the work to secure the monument’s base and statue, clean, and paint the entire structure was completed in about five. A new foundation was also built to make the monument more secure, since it was constructed on a stone-based foundation. 

The primary reason for repairing the statue was it had shifted over time and was leaning backwards. Cemetery officials were afraid it might fall from its position around 24 feet in the air.

“It was great that we had the capability to do a project like this, to take it on in the first place and be able to do it,” Billig said. “It was uncharted waters for us, but the more research we did the more we realized that, boy, we can do this.”

Between now and a planned re-dedication ceremony later this month, there remains what Klahr calls a few cosmetic odds and ends to complete. 

Billig noted that workers need to finish bolting down the base and clean up the finish. Additionally, there’s a plan to insert a time capsule within the monument before the access door is reattached.

With the project nearing the finish line, those associated with it said it was only made possible by the local community, which rallied to help once it was publicly announced in March 2024.

Klahr said the Eagle Hotel held two fundraising events to help raise money for a project originally estimated to cost around $120,000. The hotel donated 10 percent of all proceeds from two dates towards restoration efforts. 

Additionally, First Citizens Community Bank officials approached the cemetery association about holding its own fundraiser, according to Klahr. 

“We were extremely pleased that they reached out to us, as many people in the community did,” Klahr said. “They reached out to us and said we want to do something. So everyone on the committee was very happy about that.”

FCCB officials held a chicken BBQ, with the food coming from local donations. 

The chicken was provided by local poultry producer Bell & Evans, BG’s Value Market gave applesauce, Womelsdorf-based Diffenbach’s Snacks supplied the potato chips, and Lebanon’s own Swiss Premium Dairy donated beverages, according to FCCB fundraiser committee chairman Melissa Daub.

“Honestly, there was a conversation in a car from a corporate board meeting one day and one of our executive staff members. They were having a conversation and talking about the statue,” Daub said. “The question was how can we help. It’s easy to just hand over money, but how can we actually help the project? How can we put in the time and effort to contribute to it?”

After that conversation, Daub said an eight- to ten-member volunteer committee of bank personnel was formed, and the decision was made to sponsor a chicken BBQ fundraiser. “In three weeks we had thrown it together,” she added.

Daub said other community members pitched in as well, noting the financial goal was met and only 25 chicken dinners remained because Bell & Evans supplied more product than was requested.

“We had so many people tell us this was a great idea and were asking if we could do it again,” she said, adding that the cemetery is special to her because her parents and other family members are interred there. “When management gives us a path to do something, it’s all hands on deck.”

Part-way into fundraising efforts, it appeared that the project might derail when a restoration company backed out of it, according to Klahr. Following a site visit and a quote that was good for 90 days, cemetery officials asked for an extension since the down payment was half of the total bid. 

“I got on the phone and said, ‘Can we have an extension?’” Klahr recalled. “And they said, ‘Well, what we would do is we would recall rather than give this quote an extension because the cost of materials or things might change.’ And I said, ‘Okay, that’s fair.’”

When a new bid was requested, cemetery officials learned the sales rep for the Ohio-based company had retired and they would no longer handle the project. That announcement left the committee scrambling to find a company to do the work, since few are versed in the restoration of zinc-based statues.

“That kind of put us in a scramble mode and we kind of were brainstorming around the round table of the cemetery association of like, ‘Okay, we got this monument that needs repair.’ And we were just kicking around different ideas and the name of E&E came up,” Klahr said.

The initial meeting went well and the local relationship that was built became a win-win for E&E and for cemetery officials.

“A big part of the savings was we didn’t have to pay for crews to come from Ohio and pay for transportation and lodging and all that kind of thing,” Klahr said. “When the E&E crew showed up, Al looked at it when we were doing the estimating, and he said, ‘I need a crane,’ and got on his mobile phone and made a phone call and 45 minutes later the owner of the crane company was there.” 

Having local business ties among numerous companies benefited the project. 

“He (Dickinson Crane owner) looked at it and said, ‘Yeah, we can do that.’” He also said, ‘And I would use so-and-so for riggers (C&D Rigging).’ So they got on the phone and got them out. And they said, ‘Sure, we can do this. No problem.’ Matter of fact, the rigging company to handle the monument bought all new rigging straps to ensure that they wouldn’t damage it. I can tell you those straps are a substantial expense.”

As the committee lined up potential businesses to perform the work, many gave back some of their services to the project. 

“When we talked to businesses and they heard what we were doing, they volunteered some of their services as a donation,” Klahr said. “It was more or less when you talked to people and said, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ then the response was, ‘Oh, how can I help?’ Or, ‘I could do this for you.’ That’s how it kind of came along.”

Klahr said Boger Concrete donated the concrete, which was a substantial contribution. Funk Construction provided engineering design services. V&S Galvanizing collaborated with E&E since neither had done this kind of work before. And, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Councils of Carpenters volunteered labor and experience to build the form and pour concrete for the foundation.

“We were very happy because all the people that we hired or were hired were our local people,” Klahr said. “So the jobs and the money stayed right here in our neighborhood and we were happy about that. And of course you talked with Al at E&E so you know how his people felt and how they, I guess you could say, enjoyed doing the project.”

Word of mouth was integral in all aspects of the project. About the time E&E was hired, private donations really took off, according to Klahr.

“We would receive donations that were just very generous. People would give what they could, what they felt they could. They’d open up their wallet and say, ‘Here’s $20. I don’t want to be mentioned.’” Klahr said. “We had a lot of that, just generous cash receipts, and you’d talk to one person and they would network with some of their friends. … That’s kind of how it happened – the networking of other people outside of the cemetery association where the big helpers, the silent helpers, really made it all come together.”

With the project nearly done, Klahr said remaining monies will be used for future maintenance and repairs to the monument since people who donated funds intended their contributions to be used for that purpose.

Meanwhile, Klahr said he appreciates the community’s overwhelmingly positive response given the nature of the project. No taxpayer money was used to finance it.

“I’m pleased that we could do it and maintain the monument for future generations. It’s an important thing to me that we don’t forget about those that served, especially during that horrible conflict or any conflict where we’ve asked soldiers to stand up for our rights. That’s a very important thing to remember,” he added.