The Sequim Prairie Garden Club reopens its general, monthly meetings to the public starting Monday, Sept. 12, in the Pioneer Memorial Park clubhouse, 387 E Washington St.
Coffee hour begins at 10 a.m. the first Monday each month (except holidays), with a guest speaker starting at 10:30 a.m.
Mick Hersey, known throughout Washington as a master restorer of cemetery headstones, speaks about the restoration of Pioneer Park Cemetery, at the Sept. 12 meeting.
Last year, with help from club volunteers led by Priscilla Hudson, the Michael Trebert Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and other volunteers, Hersey spearheaded the restoration of many headstones in the cemetery that had been vandalized and/or neglected.
Hersey has made amazing progress in giving these memorials the face lift they deserve, garden club officials said. He will share about his restoration process and give an update on the project’s progress. Masks are optional.
Club members also welcome park visitors to see a new outdoor historical sign by the back parking area. Jessica Diewald of In Graphic Detail designed the sign that shares the history of the park.
Next year, the garden club will celebrate 75 years of creating and caring for the park and renting the clubhouse.
For more about Sequim Prairie Garden Club, call 360-808-3434, email to sequimprairiegardenclub@hotmail.com or visit sequimprairiegardenclub.org.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Marion “Mick” Hersey checks the placement of the headstone of the 15-year-old son of E.C. and M.E. Payne in 2021. Hersey is a National Historical Preservationist and Navy veteran from Kitsap County, who came to Sequim to help members of the Sequim Prairie Garden Club and other volunteers repair headstones in the Pioneer Memorial Park.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Volunteers work to improve the memorial corner created by Sequim Prairie Garden Club members in the 1960s at Pioneer Memorial Park in 2021. The history of the Garden Club and the park are intertwined, and from the beginning the club has cared for this 4 acre former cemetery with the aid of community members, turning it into the lush park off Washington Street that all residents and visitors can enjoy. The headstones in the memorial corner were fenced in the early 1980s due to vandalism that occurred through the years. Current members of the club requested that anyone in the community who may have a piece of one of the stones to please return it so they can piece together more of the headstones.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ The public is welcome to Sequim Prairie Garden Club’s monthly meetings starting at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 12 in Pioneer Memorial Park clubhouse, 387 E Washington St., Sequim.
