Daniel McFarland and Jamie Antoszyk work to replace fallen tombstones at Saxonburg Cemetary, part of the Saxonburg Rotary's efforts to fix up the cemetary which includes graves that date back to the 1800s.

SAXONBURG — Frost was still on the grass in the Saxonburg cemetery Saturday morning when chain saws fired up.

Members of the new Rotary group in Saxonburg were back at work on their service project at Saxonburg Memorial Church Cemetery. The 20-member group formed in February as a satellite of the Butler AM Rotary Club.

The cemetery sprucing up is one of the group's first community projects, said member Brian Antoszyk.

Saturday's efforts were the second workday, he said.

Members used their own trucks and lawn tractors to right toppled monuments and chain saws to clear brush and bushes, often exposing hidden tombstones.

Antoszyk said, “This is actually three cemeteries, St. Luke's Cemetery, Saxonburg Memorial Cemetery and this, Cemetery X, which is the original cemetery and nobody calls claim to it.

“The Saxonburg Memorial people, they maintain the grass,” he said, but nothing else.Many of the old headstones are leaning or have toppled over. Small trees have grown atop some graves.His wife and the group's chairman, Karen Antoszyk, said the area was so neglected “it almost looked like vandalism.”“Rotary tries to make a difference in the community, and fixing up the cemetery is making a big difference,” Karen Antoszyk said.Her husband said, “One way we're different from most Rotary groups is we have a lot of couples.”The Saxonburg group began, Karen Antoszyk said, when Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, approached Judy Furree, the owner of the Hotel Saxonburg, about starting a Rotary Club.“He kept saying, 'We need this in Saxonburg,'” said Karen Antoszyk.

Cohen must have been convincing because Furree was at the cemetery Saturday chipping cement off a monument base.Furree said, “There's so many great things we can do for the community. And it's fun to be here.”Furree was instrumental in getting the initial members of the group together for its first meeting, Karen Antoszyk said.Furree agreed with Brian Antoszyk that the Saxonburg group had many couples as members and younger members who were putting Rotary's motto, “Service Before Self,” into action.Karen Antoszyk said the group plans one more Saturday morning's work in the cemetery and also plans to renovate the landscaping in front of the South Butler Community Library's patio at 240 W. Main St.The group's next project will be to decide how best to spend a $10,000 grant it received from Bayer Radiology.

Cindy Steffen, a Rotary group member and Bayer employee, said the group applied for a grant to provide local COVID-19 relief.Steffen said, “We got the check last week. One thing we are looking at it helping out with loneliness among those living in senior centers and nursing homes.”“We know that is a really big deal, ”Steffen said.The members will decide how best to use the grant money during one of their biweekly meetings at the Hotel Saxonburg.The satellite group meets at 5:30 p.m. every other Wednesday.Karen Antoszyk said prospective members should come to a meeting to see what Rotary is about and if they want to be a part of it.For more information, people can write SaxonburgRotary@gmail.com.

From left, Jamie Antoszyk, Daniel McFarland and Brian Antoszyk work to replace fallen tombstones at Saxonburg Cemetery on Saturday. The sprucing is part of the Saxonburg Rotary's efforts to fix up the cemetery, which includes graves that date back to the 1800s.

Brian Antoszyk (left) and Cory Fox replace a knocked over tombstone at Saxonburg Cemetary Saturday, part of the Saxonburg Rotary's efforts to fix up the cemetary which includes graves that date back to the 1800s.

Brian Antoszyk, left, and Cindy Steffen replace the ornament on top of a tombstone Saturday at Saxonburg Cemetery.