Motorcycle Club volunteers clean up Otisville Cemetery

The Nozzlemen motorcycle club got permission from Van Buren Township to clean up Otisville Cemetery on Riggs Road as the group’s annual public service project.
On the morning of Oct. 8 they set to work and cleared about 15 feet out from the northern fence that had become overgrown with brush.
The following Saturday, on Oct. 15, the Belleville Area Museum planned a cemetery walk and this cleanup made Otisville presentable for the public tour.
Ken Landstrom of VBT is vice president of the Nozzlemen, Chapter 4, which is a group of fire fighters and EMTs from Monroe, Lenawee, and Southern Wayne County who ride motorcycles.
Landstrom, a VBT fire fighter, showed where the volunteers uncovered the graves of little Laura Ilene Barnes (Oct. 22, 1940-Aug. 17, 1941) next to the graves of her parents – all covered by thick brush.
They also found Clifford West (1896-1959) who served on the USS Missouri during World War I. The VBT “Flag Lady” knew where he was, however, because she had placed an American flag next to his gravestone in the heavy brush.
Landstrom, who cleaned up a large part of the cemetery himself three years ago, suggested the project to the Nozzlemen and they agreed. He said they may do this next year, too, because there’s a lot of work to be done.
He said T-N-T Tree Service cut out stumps and took out the piles of branches without charge. The tree service also pointed out one huge tree that would need to be cut down before it fell down.
The Nozzlemen also worked to right old stones that had fallen face down and unearthed other old stones covered by earth.
One newer stone had been knocked over by a mowing machine and left face down, he said.
Otisville Cemetery carries many graves from the Renton and Savage families, early VBT settlers, along with VBT’s late historian Kathy Horste. The graves of the couple that donated the property for a cemetery is there, as well: Rosinah Hubbard (1818-1915) and Harry Hubbard (1807-1889).