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Groups To Clean Up Neglected Cemetery

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By RONNIE BLAIR

rblair@tampatrib.com

Published: February 20, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - The United School Employees of Pasco will lead an effort Saturday to clean up Mount Carmel Cemetery, where some of the county's early black settlers are buried.

This will be the group's fourth cleanup at the cemetery in the past year. The last was Dec. 6, when about 60 people showed up to help.

This time, in addition to working to restore the cemetery from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the group plans to erect a sign at the cemetery entrance off Ehren Cutoff Road. The group will hold a sign dedication ceremony at noon.

The cemetery is the site of the graves of Pasco County's black settlers who worked on farms and turpentine stills in the area before the Ehren Sawmill opened in the 1890s.

By the 1980s, the cemetery had virtually been forgotten and fell into disrepair over the ensuing years.

The Black Caucus of Pasco began the initial efforts to preserve and restore the cemetery. When the United School Employees of Pasco learned of that effort, the union decided to pitch in.

The cleanup is "the perfect project to blend our commitment to education and civil rights," USEP Vice President Frank Roder said in a statement.

Joining Saturday's effort will be USEP members, their families, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and students from area schools.

Anyone interested in volunteering can call Roder or Robert Moore at (813) 996-2119.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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