Volunteers are needed to help City of Geneseo crews clear trees and debris from Oakwood  Cemetery.

The cemetery suffered “severe damage” during a violent early-morning storm on July 21, which featured straight-line winds of more than 90 miles-per-hour, said the city’s public service superintendent John VanDeWoestyne.

A volunteer work day is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 2 at the cemetery.

“Volunteers may come and go as their schedule permits,” said VanDeWoestyne. “By volunteering even an hour or two of your time, you will have a significant impact in restoring Oakwood Cemetery.”

Without volunteer help, VanDeWoestyne said clean-up at the cemetery would be a “long,  slow process.”

“We can’t get our equipment in there as easily as we can other places,” he said. “Without a community effort, it will take months to restore order to the cemetery.”

Though trees are down throughout the cemetery, VanDeWoestyne said the older part of the cemetery was hardest hit. “That’s where the oldest and biggest trees are,” he explained.

City officials are asking for volunteers who are willing to cut limbs and logs and drag all debris out from between the tombstones and onto cemetery roadways.

“We need an army of volunteers to do the dragging and carrying, but we also need as many volunteers as possible who can bring their own chain saws,” said VanDeWoestyne.

Children 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult, and all volunteers are encouraged to wear gloves and, if possible, bring rakes.

City crews will be on hand with front-end loaders and dump trucks to load and haul brush away.

Anyone wishing to cut and take home firewood is welcome to do so.

Fareway in Geneseo will provide lunch for the volunteers.

Those planning to work that day are asked to submit their names as well as the names of any other volunteers who will accompany them, along with the number of chain saws they can bring and the times available to work to city clerk Tracy Kotecki. She can be reached at 944-6419.

Walk-in help also will be accepted the day of the clean-up, said VanDeWoestyne.

“We need a lot of bodies to help clean up the cemetery, and we’ll absolutely welcome anyone who wants to help. The more the merrier.”