CONCORD, Texas — The community is still cleaning up after the tornado that ripped through parts of Mount Enterprise in Rusk County on March 27.
The Camp Ground Cemetery in the Concord community, near Mount Enterprise, got a bulk of the damage.
Headstones were broken and knocked over, uprooted trees and branches fell all over the ground, the fence that enclosed the area was blown over by the strong winds, and a trampoline from a nearby home somehow ended up on the cemetery grounds.
Peggy Mcalister, the president of the cemetery committee said the committee did not anticipate this kind of renovation into their budget.
"It was horrifying," she said. "It broke my heart to see all the destruction but with the blessings of God I knew we could restore the beautification of the cemetery."
The cemetery is known to its community for the history it preserves. It was organized in 1857 by the Mount Zion Baptist Association, composed of 13 area Baptist churches.
After seeing the damages, Mcalister asked for donations from hardware stores and the community. The people have stepped up in a big way!
"The First Baptist Men disaster team is here volunteering to remove the big stumps and trees that probably would have cost us several thousands of dollars," she said.
The Texas Baptist Men Deep East Texas Disaster Relief Team was deployed to help with the damages. They usually help homeowners but this time they were presented with a new challenge.
"I've never cleaned up a cemetery before... the rest of the team has never cleaned up a cemetery before," volunteer Mike Pedigo said.
They have been out picking up the pieces after the big storm ripped through, free of charge.
"We don't charge anything, we do this because of the love of God," he said.
The trees were the largest and hardest part of the cemetery restoration process. Now Mcalister said she will focus on hiring someone to fix the fence and the headstones that were damaged.
"I never would have dreamed in a million years that a tornado would have passed through this cemetery, but with the climate change and the snowstorm, anything is possible here in East Texas," Mcalister said.
If you would like to donate your time or fund to help restore the cemetery you can send a letter to P.O. Box 186 Mount Enterprise, Texas.