ALTON - Over 80 people gathered at Alton Cemetery for a grave restoration workshop.
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On Friday, June 19, 2026, community members from across the Greater St. Louis region traveled to the cemetery for the workshop, hosted by Atlas Preservation 48 State Tour. Jonathan Appell, founder of Atlas Preservation 48 State Tour, commended Alton for its sizable turnout and the dedication demonstrated by the volunteers.
“There’s a growing interest in this field, and I’m happy to try to share knowledge and information,” Appell said. “The whole goal of the 48 State Tour, it’s like a goodwill mission to help share information. Every city and town in America has similar needs, and there’s almost no funding. So the idea is to help steer people in the right direction and provide practical solutions to common problems, so they can make a difference in their local community. That’s what I try to do, and that’s what we're doing here today.”
Volunteers scrubbed the gravestones and watched demonstrations from Appell and his team on how to re-erect stones. The goal is to share this information so the volunteers can go on to restore gravestones in Alton Cemetery and other cemeteries across the region.
Father Garron Daniels, priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and a new board member for the cemetery, discovered the Atlas Preservation 48 State Tour and applied on behalf of Alton Cemetery. He has a passion for cemetery restoration and wanted to help maintain the Alton location.
He expressed his appreciation for the people who came out on June 19. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that some folks drove multiple hours to attend the workshop.
“Not just are people here to support this cemetery, but they’re here to support all their local cemeteries,” he said. “I’m very blessed that so many people came out.”
Atlas Preservation travels to all lower 48 states to host grave restoration workshops. This summer, they are hitting 23 states in 32 days. They choose one cemetery per state, and Alton was this year’s pick.
“I was thrilled to death when I found out they chose Alton to come down and do their thing,” said Kerry Miller, board president for Alton Cemetery.
Miller noted that, by law, each gravesite belongs to the family who bought it. Because of this, the board only maintains the cemetery itself, not the individual stones.
But Miller, Fr. Daniels and Don Huber, the cemetery’s sexton, are all passionate about maintaining the cemetery as a well-kept, peaceful place. They were eager to welcome Appell and his team.
The men also have a greater vision for the Alton Cemetery. They hope the grave restoration workshop inspires volunteers to create a “Friends of the Cemetery” 501(c)(3) group that would regularly spend time at the cemetery cleaning and restoring graves. This group would also be eligible for grants, allowing them to do more to maintain the cemetery.
In the meantime, all three were proud of the Alton community for showing up for the workshop. Huber noted that the community often goes above and beyond, and he is thankful for Alton’s volunteer base and their continued commitment to projects like this.
“I’m proud of that, but that's not unusual for Alton,” Huber said, adding, “It’s just a pretty special place here in Alton.”
For more information about how to join the volunteers to maintain the cemetery, you can reach out to Huber through Alton Township or email Fr. Daniels at frgarron@gmail.com. Miller noted that the cemetery will soon host the annual Vintage Voices tours, and he encourages people to visit the official Vintage Voices Facebook page for updates.
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