Menand House Party to Benefit Historic St. Agnes Cemetery- SOLD OUT!
Due to a wonderful response rate and beautiful weather, we enjoyed a sold out signature event on September 15, 2022, on the grounds of the Louis Menand House to benefit the restoration and preservation of Historic St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, NY.
This lovely 114-acre cemetery has been part of our community for over 150 years. It requires daily maintenance, and we work diligently to ensure it is a beautiful and safe place for visitors and families that we are privileged to serve.
Thank you to all attendees, donors and sponsors for donating in support of restoration and preservation projects within Historic St. Agnes Cemetery.
Guests enjoyed a lovely seasonal evening of delicious hors d’oeuvres, summer salads and desserts, beer, wine, and assorted non-alcoholic beverages on the Menand House front lawn. Tours of St Agnes Cemetery were offered highlighting scenic views, beautiful monuments and private mausoleums and past restoration projects. Lighthearted and funny skits were performed on the Menand House porch by actors from Albany Civic Theater.
The Menand House is not generally open to the public, but for rare occasions we open parts of the house for self-guided tours and merriment on the grounds. Signed copies of our gorgeous hardcover book “These Sacred Grounds: 150 Years of St. Agnes Cemetery” were available for purchase for those interested in learning more about the history of the cemetery and some interesting stories about those interred within our sacred grounds.
During the past two years we have been unable to hold a signature event, but staff have been busy identifying and prioritizing issues that greatly impact historic monuments and the landscape that make St. Agnes Cemetery so special. We have concluded that the biggest threat currently to our historic monuments and mausoleums are aging and dying trees located throughout the cemetery. Many of these trees were planted over 100 years ago. They are constantly shedding huge branches, splitting apart, and falling on monuments and destroying everything in their path. Our grounds crew does its best to proactively cut down smaller trees that pose a threat to monuments. Most of the trees that should be removed are much too large to handle with our cemetery equipment. That is why we are making every effort to raise money to address the issue of hazardous trees and make repairs to damaged monuments on cemetery grounds.
[email protected] or contact us at 518-350-7679.
We are very fortunate to have the following community businesses and friends already supporting this event and our preservation work, THANK YOU!
Your support for the restoration of beautiful, Historic St. Agnes Cemetery is greatly appreciated.
The Menand Party [in 2019] was a delight from start to finish; the Open House for the handsomely restored Menand residence (your new administrative quarters); the generous array of refreshments; the company of so many friendly faces; the trolley tours; the marvelous Albany Civic Theater players; and your skits Kelly- they were perfection. For all- great fun – not usually the first words that come to mind when describing a cemetery visit! I believe I speak for many who would welcome such as an annual affordable fundraising event.
Thank you for all your efforts in making the Louis Menand House Party so successful.” – E. O.
