If you’re driving west on River Road toward Durham, look carefully to your right just beyond the overpass and you might see a small white fence. If you get out of your car and get up close, you’ll see a sign at the top of that fence that reads, “Hartwell & Little Yard Cemetery.” A man named Henry Baribeau faithfully mowed that cemetery until 2015 when he turned 85 years old. (Henry passed away in 2020 at age 91.) The cemetery had fallen into total disrepair over the past eight years, but then an energetic young man named Zach Croy decided to do something about it.
“There are people there, there’s history there,” says Zach, explaining why he spent over 350 hours this past summer doing everything possible to bring the cemetery back to life. He cleaned out the overgrowth, mowed the grass, cleared the dead trees and repaired the fence. In addition, Zach has cleaned all 44 gravestones to date using a special D2 headstone cleaner and repaired 19 of them. He has paid for all materials associated with the repair, although Hammond Lumber Company generously donated $400 for the wood for the fence. He’s managed to get the required permission from all but two families to work on the headstones.
In addition to using the internet to get information about repairing old gravestones, Zach has spent time working with and learning alongside volunteers at the historic Eastern Cemetery in Portland.
After he began working at the cemetery, a woman named Ruth stopped by who had a relative buried in the cemetery. She later talked to a friend named Barbara who had surveyed the 40 cemeteries in the Brunswick area. As a result, Zach learned a lot about the cemetery. The first burial occurred in 1832 and the last one in 1910. Those who’ve come to rest here include two Revolutionary War soldiers, a veteran of the War of 1812 and a man who fought in the Civil War.
Zach Croy, now a senior at Brunswick High School, has made a habit of doing good for the community. In fifth grade, for example, he began shoveling the snow around each of the 21 fire hydrants in his neighborhood. “I just love shoveling snow,” he explains. The neighbors have appreciated his good work and so has the Brunswick Fire Department, which gave him an award at an assembly at the High School last spring.
Zach maintains an active schedule at Brunswick High School to say the least. He plays percussion in the band; sings tenor in the Choir; acts in plays; and does the race-walk event on the track team. “I’m always very busy,” says Zach, “I can’t stand still.” He also acts with the Midcoast Youth Theater. To top it off, he runs a lawn-mowing business, and I signed him up to work on our lawn.
Zach plans to go to the University of Maine at Orono next fall, where he intends to major in environmental horticulture. He eventually hopes to start his own landscaping business. Based on my conversation with Zach, I have absolutely no doubt that he will be successful wherever his path leads.
It’s easy to get depressed with the alarming news about our broken American government, chaotic global confrontations and rapid climate change. My chat with Zach Croy helped lift my spirits. I plan to get another fix when I see him and others perform in “The Great Gatsby” at Brunswick High School in mid-November.
(Note: Activity coordinators at one of the area’s senior living centers or historical societies would do well to contact Zach about giving a talk about his extraordinary work with the Hartwell & Little Yard Cemetery. His before-and-after photos will blow you away.)
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.
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