In May 2023, Carl Hughes, of Meadowlark Memorials and Wilf Bruch from the Old Cemeteries Society came to the cemetery to give their perspectives about caring for our historic graves.
Moss eats away at the concrete and will destroy it in time. Removing the moss will preserve the stone for longer. Following Carl’s presentation, Amber Woods cleaned the ledger stones for Rabbi Marcus Berner, Aaron Shnitka, Sarah Shnitka, Leah Black, and Minnie Berman.
However, the question is now being discussed at the Cemetery Committee about whether it would be better to clean the graves to preserve them or leave the moss as it gives the graves an older look and is part of a natural process.
In the meantime, the process of cleaning the headstones has begun.
This blog will chronicle the work.
The Jewish Cemetery of Victoria, British Columbia 