Beaufort National Cemetery community cleanup day planned Tuesday

Beaufort community members -- ranging from veterans to schoolchildren -- plan to lend a hand to spruce up Beaufort National Cemetery on Tuesday.

Cemetery director Craig Arsell said he expects more than 100 people to help over the course of the cleanup day, which will begin 8 a.m. at the historic cemetery, established in 1863.

The plan is to do yard work such as planting new grass and cleaning mulch beds, and to scrub clean as many of the more than 21,000 headstones in the cemetery as possible.

The cleanup event aims to get the cemetery in shape before Memorial Day celebrations May 25.

In addition to reaching out to veterans groups, community organizations and schools, Arsell said the Veterans Cemetery Committee of Beaufort also plans to participate. The group created the Beaufort National Cemetery Expansion Fund to raise money to help buy an additional 5 acres of land for the cemetery.

Arsell joined the cemetery early this year and has worked to improve the landscaping and maintenance of the property. That has included taking down built-up layers of mulch around more than 100-year-old live oaks and other trees, and enlisting the help of local flower clubs to redo flower beds.

A Facebook page has been set up to spread the work.

"There are over 21,000 headstones -- every single one of which is a marker for someone that we all owe a huge debt to. All we need is your elbow grease on this day," reads the "Help Clean Up Beaufort National Cemetery!!" event page.

Volunteers are welcome all day and are asked to bring buckets, rags, sponges and other cleanup items that could be useful. For more information, call Arsell at 843-524-3925.

Follow reporter Erin Moody at twitter.com/IPBG_Erin and facebook.com/IPBG.Erin.

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Beaufort National Cemetery community cleanup day planned Tuesday."