Historic cemetery has a new look
By Rossland Telegraph
Rossland's historic Calvary Cemetery has been cleaned up and given beautiful new signage, thanks to the efforts and time of many volunteers, and to funding from the BC Heritage Legacy Fund, the Rossland Heritage Commission, and the Community Initiative Fund. Calvary is the Catholic cemetery and is the oldest in Rossland; it has been in use since 1895, and is still open, but only for interment of cremains. The entrance is off Esling Drive, just above the Old Wagon Road.
The signage project has been underway for over two years. Jackie Drysdale and Joanne Drystek of the Rossland Heritage Commision worked to apply for the funding, and Carol Albo of the Calvary Cemetery Committee spent hours researching Sacred Heart Parish records and other sources to add to the list of known burials. Her work was also used for the book "Cemeteries of Rossland," published in 2016.
The new sign pictured below lists all the currently known burials in the cemetery. The people shown are volunteers Larry Cecconi, Vince Profili, Larry Doell, Jim Albo, and a helpful visitor from Edmonton, Gordon Fooks.
The cemetery has been mowed and cleared of much debris, thanks to the City of Rossland, making it easier to stroll through and honour those who have gone before us. The cemetery is always open to visitors, who cannot help but observe the effects of time and vandalism on the final resting place of so many former Rosslanders. Even now, a number of disrespectful mountain bikers have been riding their bikes over graves; a hand-written cardboard sign asks bikers to use the established roadway through the cemetery grounds instead.
