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(Continued from Page 8) from those two towns, killed in action, from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War.

Perrone said he is sure he will be cleaning headstones and monuments for another 20 years and he is glad he’s gotten some help..

“A lot of young people have gotten involved,” he said, mentioning students from Nutley High School, but they are permitted only to do some cleaning because some of the markers are easily damaged.

“These stones are very old,” he said. “Cleaning them requires experience. You can’t put pressure on some of these stones. The natural tendency is to brush hard.”

He demonstrated how to lightly clean a headstone.

“You’re barely touching some of these stones when you brush,” he said. “The students help us with the granite. It’s the rock of ages. You can shoot a bullet at granite and nothing will happen.”

Perrone said it is sometimes necessary for him to repair damaged statuary. This is accomplished by creating molds into which white concrete is poured to recreate the missing part that will be cemented into place.

At the Bloomfield Cemetery, he was cleaning the headstones of two Civil war officers, a New Jersey governor and 10 Revolutionary War soldiers. At the Glendale Cemetery, he had finished cleaning 261 markers of service men killed in the Vietnam and Korean wars and was working on the markers of World War II casualties. At Mount Olivet Cemetery, another five WWII casualties, from Belleville, had their markers cleaned.

“What we find has been pretty amazing and humbling,” he said of his work.

A paper shredding day for Essex County residents is scheduled for Saturday, June 3, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at the Essex County Public Works Department, 99 West Bradford Ave. in Cedar Grove.

Paper shredded at the event will be recycled. There is no limit on how much paper residents may bring to the paper shredding day. However, plastic sheets and covers, and metal binders must be removed from paper to be shredded. Paper clips and staples do not have to be removed. Photo negatives and film are not accepted.

The Essex County Paper Shredding Day is for Essex County residents only.