That's John "Walt" Walters on the right and his helper, Randy, under a temporary roof with a piece of gravestone ready for cleaning and reassembly. John, the Graveyard Groomer, http://www.graveyardgroomer.com/index.htm is under contract with the county to do twenty-four hours of gravestone restoration. The county flagged the graves designated for restoration but from what I could see, they could use another three days easily.
This headstone is dry-clamped for fit and will be epoxied without stainless steel reinforcement rods. John doesn't believe in them. He figures if the vandals come back, he wants the stone to break in the same place. If he rods, it breaks in the same place, but the rods don't move and blow out the front of the marker. Makes sense to me. Note the green goo along the top edge of the bottom half, evidence of a previous repair.
This is a new concrete base with the male plug just removed. John will bury this and slide the marker in the slot.
Fresh from a bath and epoxied together, this marker is striking with no patina, expecially compared to the surrounding ones. The ribbon is a marker for the customers. There isn't enough budget to replace the large chip missing on the bottom right, according to John.
John uses Bonstone, Tenax and other products that I recognized. He's a great guy; take the time to meet him if you get the chance.
Kowboy
