Now, the word is getting out about his skills and his company, Preserving our Georgia Cemeteries. Joey is a true asset in preserving that heritage." “The local history and culture that reside in Rose Hill are in excellent hands. “I've had the opportunity to see him work both in the field making repairs and at various events as an advocate for the cemetery, and in both settings he is an invaluable partner for HMF as we work toward restoring this Macon landmark. "Joey is exactly the combination of expertise and enthusiasm that Rose Hill needs,” said Matt Chalfa, Historic Macon’s director of preservation field services. His passion and craftsmanship are evident to those who know and work with him. One repair alone took him about 200 hours. You want to pass it along for future generations.” “There’s a thousand of ’em in here that need work. “I’m doing it the same way they would have back in the 1800s. One morning he was pulverizing marble chips into dust with a hammer so he could mix it with lime mortar to get the authentic look he wanted. He even tries to match the size of the sand in particular mixes. Soon he began volunteering at Rose Hill, a cemetery park that opened in 1840 and was named for Simri Rose, who designed it. He began driving to Savannah and taking classes on everything he could related to grave-site repair, some of them with Jonathan Appell, a leading gravestone and monument preservationist. “From that moment on, it has consumed my life.” So I took it in my own hands, started spending my own money. I started looking and I couldn’t find anyone. Loved ones … (I wondered), “Who’s gonna come out here and take care” of them? “You realized that people were buried there. Many of the markers were in pitiful shape. There he found Civil War graves - and plenty more. It took him two days to get to it, hacking away at the dense brush. The site was overgrown and hadn’t been touched in years. … I went to the real estate company and asked if I could go look at it. “All I saw was a sign that said Stokes Cemetery. Fernandez was driving near the Interstate 75/475 interchange one day when he saw a marker off the side of the highway. It’s a labor of love that started innocently enough - as these things often do. “I don’t think anybody took me seriously until I started doing the work.” “Eighty percent of the monuments in here I can repair,” the 49-year-old said.
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