by Katie Drake
Like a scene out of The Sound of Music, the steep hills above Sherman Street are alive with the sounds of nature. Atop that hill overlooking the City of Little Falls stands an old, rugged wooden cross in one of St. Mary’s oldest cemeteries. It’s a beautiful reminder that this is where some of our city’s families were laid to rest in the late 1800s.
The cemetery has been full for many years now, which means they are no longer burying people there. When that happens, religious institutions, like Holy Family Parish, which owns the old St. Mary’s Cemetery, struggle with the upkeep and maintenance. Until now.
If you walk through today, you’ll see the cemetery is kept up beautifully. Who, you may ask is mowing all the grass, so well in fact that it appears that each of the gravestones has been expertly trimmed? A flock of 135 sheep that’s who. Forty ovines at a time.
A few weeks ago, a mutual contact posted something on FaceBook about a walkthrough that cemetery. It had some nice pictures and the caption “What’s with the cemetery sheep?” There was no picture of sheep, and while I was intrigued, I filed that away in the back of my mind.
Then, last week while golfing with another couple whose property borders the cemetery, they mentioned that while they were staining their back deck, they heard sheep baying and thought that was really cool and so did I.
And so, I tracked down the Grounds Keeper for Holy Family Parish, Chuck McCumber, who shares my enthusiasm for this “d’Ovine Intervention.” Chuck was kind enough to set up a meeting for me with the team at Holy Family Parish: Father Slezak, Pastor, Steven Salamone, Trustee, and himself to discuss it.
Steve Salamone, Trustee for Holy Family Parish said, “This cemetery’s maintenance was always first on our Parish Council meeting agenda. Over the years, we’ve had amazing volunteers. A dedicated group of parishioners used their own money to buy mowers and equipment and gave their time to keep up the cemetery. We have struggled to give it proper maintenance and have considered several options over the years like Boy Scout volunteers, hiring prisoners, etc.”
And how in the hay did they come up with the idea of sheep? Well, Steve was doing some research about goats to propose that as a possible solution. He was talking to his neighbor, Marianne about the goat idea one afternoon and she said, “Have you ever thought of sheep?” He said, “No, what’s so special about sheep?” to which she replied, “Hop in my truck, I’ll show you!”
She drove him to the NexAmp Solar Farm on the hill by Millennium Courts and the Municipal Golf Course, up the road behind Overlook Farm to the gates. A sign greeted them, “Grazing Sheep, Please Close Gates” with a phone number. Beyond the gate were a flock of sheep, mowing the grass of the solar farm, living their best life, and eating the tasty clover. Steve thought this was an interesting idea and brought it before the Parish Council.
Agrivolaics, also known as agrophotovoltaics (AVP) is not a new concept. GreenDayPower.com may have said it best. “To make it as simple as possible the term agrivoltaic is derived from “agriculture” and “photovoltaics,” the technology is to combine the two into the same space. Photovoltaics is the process of generating energy from the sun or solar power and we all know what agriculture is by now.”
This technique was originally conceived by Adolf Goetzberger and Armin Zastrow in 1981 to maximize land usage.
Not only is it not a new concept, but it’s not a new concept for Little Falls. A representative from NexAmp Solar said, “We began grazing at both Little Falls sites for the 2021 season as part of our broader solar grazing program.” The two local sites generate 2.9 MW of renewable energy for National Grid, capable of offsetting the energy needs of almost 1,000 homes. The company has several hundred solar farms around the country and is committed to its mission of sustainability and has plans to expand its grazing program exponentially every year.
Thus, Steve Salamone continued to do some digging. He found out who owned the sheep from the solar farm, and contacted him. Myron Freed owns the sheep. He said, “I’ve never heard of sheep mowing a cemetery before, but let’s take a look.” They met at the bottom of the old St. Mary’s cemetery looked at the maps, and Steve drove them up the winding road to the top. When he got out, Myron said, “My god that’s a beautiful view. My sheep will love this hill!” The Holy Family Parish team was a little caught off guard but got behind this out-of-the-box idea.
Pastor Father Slezak, said, “Weed-eaters and sheep both get rid of the grass. One makes a lot of noise and consumes valuable resources only to leave the grass for dead. Sheep on the other hand are docile and quiet and convert the grass they consume into energy and life. The truth is, we cannot depend on machines for everything. They are good and useful only to a certain extent but are not the solution to everything. Sometimes we must return to nature to find a better way. Our Lord spoke so frequently of sheep and identified with them as The Good Shepherd, I think he would approve!”
What about the 135 sheep? Well, after watching them for some time one afternoon at the edge of the solar farm gate in a failed attempt at a cool close-up picture for this story, they seem very content and happy to me. They were much too busy eating their lush clover lunch and had zero interest in coming to the fence to greet me. Grasping at straws, I even tried playing a YouTube video of sheep noises. They gave me a couple of “Maaas” and a quick glance and kept on chewing but didn’t budge.
The sheep are meticulously cared for. They are provided with two huge vats of water and one of minerals to make sure they are well hydrated. Those are checked and refilled as needed every day the sheep are grazing. The area the sheep graze is large and you may not be able to see their water from your vantage point. Fencing was needed to keep the sheep in and predators out.
As Grounds Keeper, Chuck McCumber worked with the flock’s owner to look at different options of fencing and was able to find an affordable fence to keep the sheep safe.
He raised the suggestion, that other churches and religious institutions struggling with the upkeep of cemeteries may want to consider this as a sustainable option.
As part of the positive green, sustainable direction our city is headed in, this is the story of the cemetery sheep. Go tell it on the mountain, if you wish.
Katie Drake moved to Little Falls in 2003 and fell in love with this city. She says she isn’t really a writer, but a storyteller.
The opportunity to highlight the great people of Little Falls, and share her personal perspectives and some humor from time to time piqued her interest and here we are.
Just ask her, and she’ll tell you that after growing up in Millers Mills, a population of 25+ (according to the sign), Little Falls was just the right size. Katie is the oldest of her two brothers and five sisters.
In 2020 Katie and her best friend Chris began their greatest adventure yet in 2020, with the birth of their sweet and sassy son Nolan who makes them laugh every day.
In her free time, Katie loves to snowmobile, golf, hike, and travel.
If you have feedback on one of her articles or an idea for a story, please feel free to reach out to Katie at KatherineDrakeLF@gmail.com, she would love to hear from you.
If this article leaves you wanting more, or you are just bored out of your mind, feel free to check out other articles she has contributed by visiting Katie Drake Archives – My Little Falls.
Somewhere, somebody is probably saying, “Baaaaaa, humbug!” but I think it’s a great idea!
Awesome article on a wonderful concept. Thanks, Katie and Dave!
My grandparents, Frank and Lillian Angus Lawrence are buried up to the right of the cross with two sons, Raymond who died by drowning on the USS Michigan docked in Pennsylvania (Fishy story) and Lester who drowned in the canal. I remember two aluminum lambs were there and then one visit they were gone. They had their names on them since there was no stone. I tried to drive up there last year but I’m skittish due to the decline coming down. Lots of history in that old cemetery. Never was able to locate my Italian roots. Frank’s father was Anthony and he and second wife Mary raised a second family on Loomis Street.
This article made my day! I’ve been to that cemetery many times and knew it was in dire need of care. God works in strange ways. Thank you for writing this to let us all know about this wonderful event! Or was it a miracle?
I love the idea of the sheep! It seems like a great and natural way to maintain the ground. But I left there crying yesterday after seeing how many tombstones they toppled. Even just driving up the sheep were knocking good size rocks onto the road. I think they are destroying more than they are maintaining
Thank you St. Mary’s for this very innovative idea for our cemetery . I lived on Sherman growing up and wandered the cemetery and surrounding woods for years, It is a treasure. There lies families who made LF and soldiers who bravely defended our country all the way back to the revolutionary war. The views from those hills are spectacular. Surrounding you will see Buttermilk Falls, what we used to call the “second falls ” and the “showers”.within a nice hike. If you knew where to look you could find Little Falls diamonds in the soil of the hills and sedimentary rocks with an ancient fossils. In the fall if you walked those hills the sunlight through the maples put on a show, better than walking through the a stain glass cathedral of Europe. My Dad made us “acorn pipes” from the acorns we found as we went on countless walks of my youth. Truly a special place in a very special and beautiful city.
Once again Katie you provided a story that is just very inspiring. I’m so happy that you were able to research and find out all about this. All of it with a positive attitude towards community. This concept provides a good result all around. Thanks!
As a former CNY resident I love reading this article and all that is involved in it!!!