Matt's Portfolio
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Brighton Cemetery struggles to stay alive
Another story of mine. This deals with the struggle faced by a historic cemetery to stay afloat.
It's tucked away at the end of a dead end street, no longer in the town of
Most of
The cemetery is at the end of
One member of the cemetery's association, who can trace her roots back to one of Brighton's earliest settlers, is doing what she can to keep the cemetery going.
Ruth Porter is a descendent of Enos Blossom, who came to
The association has dwindled though the years, falling from a membership of nine to four.
"Most of the members like myself are getting on in years, and are beginning to die off," said association member Ruth Porter. "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be the interest in or knowledge of the cemetery to replace us."
In an effort to rekindle the fire of interest, Porter has spent the last two years, compiling a history of the cemetery along with a listing of the plots.
Porter's history includes the stories behind the people who are buried there. People like William Clough Bloss, a noted abolitionist, suffragist, and member of the temperance movement.
Bloss wasn't always against the consumption of alcohol.
"At one time in his life he owned a tavern on the
In 1834, Bloss became known for his anti-slavery position when he published the essay, "The Rights of Man."
"'The Rights of Man thrust Bloss into national prominence as an abolitionist," Porter said. "He also created a stir by once sitting with and taking communion with blacks at a church service while he a was a representative in
In 1838, Bloss also came out supporting the right of women to vote. The memorial to his family calls him "a man ahead of his time."
William Clough Bloss wasn't the only prominent member of his family. His sister, Celestia Bloss, founded the first private school in
Also buried in the cemetery is Orringh Stone, builder of the Stone-Tolan House, the oldest structure in
Canal history figures prominently in the cemetery. Amasa Drake, who supervised the building of the canal's aqueduct through downtown
Also buried in the cemetery is local newspaperman and historian Arch Merrill who wrote a series of popular books about the Erie Canal and
Unfortunately, all this history seems to mean little to the vandals who plunder the cemetery on a regular basis.
"We're hard hit by vandals," Porter said. "They've destroyed headstones, damaged headstones, and stolen headstones."
The association doesn't have the money to hire someone to discourage vandals. In fact, they're running out of money. Porter said their endowment is down to about $30,000. Unfortunately, the association doesn't know where to turn for help.
"We're a Brighton cemetery, but we're in the city of
"Unfortunately, my hands are tied because it's not in the town," she said. "Hopefully, I can interest a group like Historic Brighton in helping, but they're still a really small organization."
The cemetery wasn't always in this sort of limbo. As a matter of fact, until 1892 it was attached to a church, the Brighton Congregational Church, now the Brighton Presbyterian Church.
In 1892, as the church divested itself from the cemetery, the Brighton Cemetery Association was born. In the early 1900's the event which leaves the cemetery in its current predicament took place. The City of
Porter is hopeful the cemetery will survive, but doesn't know what's going to happen.
"If the association dies and the money dries up I don't know what will happen to the cemetery," she said. "It's a shame because it's such an important piece of the town's history.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
The first post of my stories written while as reporter for the Brighton-Pittsford Post. This story is about the struggle of a young woman to deal with serious burns suffered as a child and how she raises awareness for burn victims.
After the fire, comes life
By Matt Ried
Imagine growing up with disfiguring scars over 65 percent of your body and not remembering life before your accident.
Who do you turn to for support? How would you deal with it?
That's the life of Wendy Hunt of
Every day, someone in the
That's one of the reasons the Finger Lakes Regional Burn Association, based on
The event, which was held to kick off Burn Awareness Week, Feb. 5 through 9, brought local burn survivors together to hear the story of Wendy Hunt and to share in their own stories.
A partnership
The Finger Lakes Regional Burn Association was formed in 1988 as a partnership between local fire agencies and burn-care centers to provide support for burn survivors, burn-prevention education, and financial resources for burn-care centers.
At the time it was formed,
Association president John Hall of Irondequoit was one of its founders.
"There are lots of burn survivors who haven't had the opportunity to socialize," he said. "The goal of events such as this is to get them together to talk and help them on the road to becoming more confident about themselves."
The association provides support to survivors in all sorts of ways.
"We guide them through all aspects of their recovery," Hall said. "Survivors have to deal with effects of their scars on their appearance, their sex life, interactions at home, and in the workplace."
He spoke of one boy burned by playing with matches.
"He's very shy," Hall said. "Other kids have made fun of him because of his scars. But through the efforts of programs like our burn camp, he's starting to come out of his shell."
Burn camp is another aspect of the organization's outreach. Held every year at
"We have an almost 1-to-1 staff-to-camper ratio," Hall said. "In addition to making sure the kids have fun, we provide them with a significant amount of emotional counseling."
The burn camp has grown so popular, the association is looking for a larger camp to hold it at in the near future.
Wendy's story
Wendy Hunt was a vibrant 3-year-old growing up in
"One of the cousins, who was 7, took a Cool Whip container of gasoline and started to pour it on the fire," Hunt said.
What happened next scarred two families forever.
"The fire started to flash," Hunt recalled. "My cousin started to get scared and threw the container at the fire. The gasoline splashed all over us."
Hunt's 7-year-old cousin was so severely burned he died from his injuries. Hunt was burned over 65 percent of her body. Her two cousins suffered burns over 35 to 40 percent of theirs.
Hunt spent four months in the hospital, undergoing multiple surgeries to treat the burns.
"I don't remember any of this," she said. "Everything I've said was told to me by family members. I don't remember my life before I was burned."
Like many burn survivors, Hunt struggled initially to deal with her scars. Throughout most of her childhood, there were no burn camps or support groups to help her deal with her injuries.
"I didn't go to my first burn camp until I was 11," she said.
It was around that time when Hunt decided that she wasn't going to let her appearance limit her.
"I was becoming a teen-ager, and I wanted to do all the things teen-agers do - play sports, date, go to dances, etc.," she said. "The only way that was going to happen was if I went out and did it."
Hunt took the initiative. She started going to dances and trying out for sports. If no one asked her to dance, she would ask them.
"I decided I couldn't sit around and wait to be asked, because I might never be," she said.
As a result of her initiative, Hunt is very self-confident and an inspiration to at least one member of the burn association - co-facilitator Maria Lohr of
"I was burned when I was 21," Lohr said. "It was very difficult because I was at the age when I wanted to start looking at developing a serious relationship and starting a family. I was very self-conscious after my accident and would wear clothing to cover myself up."
Then she met Hunt.
"It was at the World Burn Congress in
Hunt inspired Lohr to follow her dreams. As a result, Lohr went back to school and recently graduated with a degree in social work. She will be leaving the burn association soon to take a job in
Helping the Association
The Finger Lakes Burn Association holds a number of fund-raising efforts throughout the year, including the Burn Walk in June. Another event, which will be held at
"It's called the Firemen's Ski Race," he said. "Basically what it is are teams of firefighters who ski down the mountain wearing their full turnout gear. The proceeds will go toward the association."
Grossman said he is still seeking sponsors for the event.
For more information on the Finger Lakes Burn Association, call 482-6770 or write to