APRIL
23 2021
Rural nature and rustic villages catch eye of Hollywood
Photo by Kathryn Ross Volunteers and members of the American Legion Riders listen to the Rev. Karen Borchert bless the work at the Johnson Cemetery in Wellsville.
Clean-up effort begins at Wellsville’s Johnson Cemetery BY KATHRYN ROSS WELLSVILLE — Amid the gray, wet, ancient headstones, members of the American Legion Riders, friends and volunteers started to clean up Johnson Cemetery in a drizzling rain Thursday. Dennis White, who is spearheading the move against the brambles, fallen limbs and broken headstones, said the plan is to have much of the cemetery cleaned up and presentable by Memorial Day. But the work on fixing headstones and honoring the fallen and deceased veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War and World Wars I and II buried there will last a couple of years, White said. The work will go on each Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
until Memorial Day. White said additional volunteers are welcome and need only show up. The town highway department is providing the heavy equipment and two operators to help out. The upkeep of the Johnson Cemetery became the responsibility of the town of Wellsville in the 1980s. Little other than mowing has been done. Two weeks ago, the Rev. Karen Borchert arrived in Wellsville and became the pastor of Grace United Church. She was put to work to give the “blessing” on the work taking place in the cemetery. Under umbrellas the members of the work crew listened to Borchert’s message and the Bible verse she read. For White and others, Borchert’s blessing meant
that the life of the cemetery has come full circle. He explained that Grace United Church is the result of the old Congregational church family merging with the Christian Temple Church family a few years ago. An older Congregational Church stood on the street that once led to the Johnson Cemetery before time, flood and the nearby hospital expansion eliminated the street leading to the cemetery entrance. Nathanial Johnson, who created the Johnson Cemetery in the 1840s, was a member of the Congregational Church. “I think it’s great that 180 years later that this cemetery has come full circle,” White said. He noted that extra help and knowledge is needed to repair the toppled and broken headstones on the cem-
etery grounds. Recalling an anecdote, he pointed to a headstone in which there was an open circle. “A bell used to hang there, and it had a little rope that went underground and into a casket where it was wrapped around the hand of the corpse to be rung in case the deceased suddenly woke up after being buried,” he said. “That’s why we have the word graveyard shift, because someone watched over the cemetery during the night in case the bell rang.” White said he didn’t know if they would replace the bell. Aside from the historical relevance with some of the village’s first and prominent residents interred there, Johnson Cemetery is
Clean-up continued on .......... page 4
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Photo by Kathryn Ross The Amish homes and rolling hills of the town of Allen have come to the attention of Hollywood as Paramount Pictures starts production of a movie there.
BY KATHRYN ROSS
location and a sack full of other details that locals are eager to learn. He does say, “I expect a theatrical release for the movie in a year or so.” COVID-19, while shutting down movie theaters, created a crisis in the film industry Clark said. “People are sitting at home watching Netflix and other on-demand venues and they are clamoring for new movies,” he said. Which is just one of the reasons Allegany County and the Western New York area has come into focus. Clark’s job with the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission is to “scout” the area and to know what is available, no matter what kind of film plot comes down the pike — which could be a busy avenue for Hollywood directors and producers. “We’ve come to the attention of Hollywood,” Clark said, noting that recently
ALLEN — “I’m ready for my closeup,” faded silent film actress Norma Desmond declares in the film noir classic “Sunset Boulevard.” Today, so is Allegany County. But the county’s movie career is far brighter than that of the actress in the dark movie. The Paramount Pictures’ movie currently filming in the town of Allen is just the first of many coming attractions, according to Tim Clark, commissioner of the Buffalo Niagara Film Office in Buffalo. Clark is part of why the film company picked an Amish-built house on Old State Road and moved a film crew into the recently vacated Maple Tree Inn parking lot. However, Clark is bound by confidentiality not to reveal the name of the film, Hollywood continued on ........ page 8 its plot, who’s starring, the
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