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WVC Football: Nanticoke Area runs over GAR, 35-0

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LCCC campus hosts huge crafts fair

<p>PLYMOUTH &#8212; Our headline read: &#8220;Goats to the rescue.&#8221;</p><p>Growing up in Plymouth was not unlike growing up anywhere back in the 1960s. Those were the best of times and in our house, patriotism was alive and well. My dad lost his right leg in service to our country and he belonged to every veterans group around. As a result of his involvement, I accompanied him to many veterans ceremonies over the years.</p><p>One of the annual stops was at the Shawnee Cemetery, which sits at the foot of Mountain Road. It&#8217;s a place we would sometimes explore as kids, wandering around and reading the inscriptions on grave markers dating back well before the Civil War. We thought it was cool.</p><p>The Shawnee Cemetery was always well cared for back then, as were all cemeteries. Most had perpetual care funds and a caretaker or staff to keep the grounds clear and the grass well-mowed. That level of care-taking has waned over the years due to dwindling funds for such deserved care and caretakers are all but gone from the workforce.</p><p>That&#8217;s why I marvel at the dedication of Tom and Ruth Jesso and their friend Henry Sobolewski who have been caring for the Shawnee Cemetery for the last 10 years. Tom told me he has family members buried in the cemetery and he has always taken care of those gravesites since he was 12. Over the years, Tom began taking care of adjacent graves and noticed that the cemetery was going downhill fast as far as care was concerned. So he and Ruth and Henry have been toiling away, almost unnoticed and under-appreciated, for 10 years now.</p><p>And they have done a remarkable job, uncovering long-forgotten graves that had been taken over by, as Tom says, Mother Nature. They have cleared those areas and they have restored the sites and returned dignity to those buried. Tom says these graves are &#8220;monuments marking the resting place of our heroes &#8212; Plymouth&#8217;s pioneers and veterans.&#8221;</p><p>With nobody left to mourn or visit these graves, Tom, Ruth and Henry make sure that the world has not forgotten them.</p><p>Caring for a cemetery &#8212; any cemetery &#8212; is hard work. And sometimes you run into situations that need creative solutions. Just this past week, Tom and Ruth and Henry were concerned about a side hill that is too steep for a lawn mower to tackle. The grass and weeds were getting high, making the situation critical.</p><p>Enter Brian Vick and his company, Goats for Rent. Vick told me he had driven by the cemetery just last week and he noticed a sign posted out front: &#8220;Weed Warriors Wanted.&#8221; Now, the intent was to attract volunteers and that it did. Vick contacted the Jessos and volunteered his goats &#8212; 16 of them &#8212; to come down and eat away the high grass and weeds on that steep hill.</p><p>The goats&#8217; service was donated by Vick for five days. Vick says he will bring them back when needed. He even wants to make the goats arrival an event, complete with a picnic and a petting zoo. The goals would be numerous &#8212; clear out the high grass in difficult areas, have children interact with the goats and perhaps enlist some human volunteers.</p><p>Vick tells me goats will eat just about anything except for tin cans and newspaper. They will even eat picker bushes, thistle and poison ivy and oak.</p><p>&#8220;They are weed-eating machines,&#8221; Vick, 41, said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always called my goats weed warriors.&#8221;</p><p>Vick said goats have four stomachs that are designed to ferment and break down all they ingest and then they digest the nutrition from the food. Amazing!</p><p>Vick said his oldest goat is 8 years and the youngest is 8 months. He and his partner, Miranda Cox, also sell retail items on Amazon.</p><p>Vick told me the main reason he donated his goats for this job was because of what it means &#8212; not to the general public, but to those interred in the cemetery.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a matter of preserving their dignity, as well as preserving their final resting place.&#8221;</p><p>Tom Jesso is a disabled veteran. Tending the hundreds of graves at the Shawnee Cemetery has become a matter of honor for him.</p><p>Tom cleans and repairs tombstones, sometimes using a hoist and tripod to lift them out of the earth that has piled up around them. Caring for the place is a labor of love, he said.</p><p>&#8220;Somehow, I was guided to do this.&#8221;</p><p>Let&#8217;s hope Tom and Ruth and Henry continue their outstanding service to the Shawnee Cemetery for many years to come. And may they find the resources they need to keep the cemetery in top shape.</p><p>Let&#8217;s hope Brian Vick and his goats return to serve when needed.</p><p>And may all those buried there, rest in eternal peace.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_OBoyle_Columnshot-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: ‘Weed warrior’ goats help maintain dignity of the deceased