St Rose of Lima School sixth and seventh graders working towards community service hours helped clean up Christmas decorations from St Rose Cemetery on Sunday, February 2. Students and parents bundled up in coats and gloves to fight off the chilly weather Sunday morning, excited to help their school’s maintenance team clean the cemetery ahead of spring.

Everyone carefully walked around the 10+ acre property and collected various Christmas decorations from wreaths and potted plants to ribbons and ornaments, forming them into neat piles at the sides of the cemetery. A Newtown Garbage Removal truck, driven by Newtown Garbage Removal owner Bill Pendergast, was on-site and collected all of the items for disposal.

According to Maureen Pendergast, this recent effort marks the second year that St Rose students have helped clean up Christmas decorations from the cemetery. She also said that the cemetery doesn’t have perpetual care, so it means a lot to the groundskeepers to have help from the community.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.