Aug. 9—Jeffrey John Cohen was born on Christmas Eve, 1949. He died of pneumonia 27 days later. Jeffrey was laid to rest in the Clover Section of Shady Lane Cemetery in South Abington Twp.
His brother was born prematurely three years later. “Baby Boy” Cohen didn’t live long enough to be named. Like most of the approximately 300 babies buried in the Clover Section, there are no markers for the Cohen brothers’ graves.
On Sept. 23, golfers can take to the greens to change that.
Friends of Shady Lane will host its inaugural golf tournament at Rock Creek Golf Course in Lenoxville. Most charity golf tournaments benefit the living. This one honors lives that might have been. Proceeds will be used to create a monument to all the sweet souls lost under the clover.
“It’s going well,” FSL co-founder and President Carol Wilkerson said Monday. (Whatever the subject, Carol always says, “It’s going well.”) “We’re trying to recruit golfers and sponsors. Right now, we have 18 golfers. We’re hoping for 18 teams of four.
“Businesses can sponsor a hole for $100, with appropriate signage and publicity, and we’re doing kind of an unusual thing by inviting ‘memorial hole’ sponsors, people with a loved one who passed away, whether they’re buried at Shady Lane or elsewhere. We offer a bunch of different ways people can contribute and participate.”
That’s true of the golf tournament and the nonprofit behind it. For $100, golfers can enjoy 18 holes of golf and other games, businesses and individuals can donate items to be given as prizes or raffled off at the after-tournament dinner at the Chinchilla Hose Co. firehouse on Shady Lane. Tickets for the dinner — which is open to nongolfers — are $20 each.
I’ve been blessed to document the resurrection of the 101-year-old, 23-acre cemetery since Friends of Shady Lane was founded by Louise McDonnell and Carol in 2021. Time and neglect made a shambles out of the property and its 6,000 graves. Over two years, thousands of community volunteers — everyday people investing their time, talents and money — have erased decades of decay.
The nonprofit’s all-volunteer board of directors is devoted to maintaining the property as a community treasure. The restoration of Shady Lane by concerned, committed citizens is a lesson in leadership for ineffective elected officials. Words are no substitute for work.
Part of Carol’s work is the documentation and celebration of Shady Lane “residents.” She shares their stories on the FSL Facebook page. The sad, short saga of the Cohen brothers appears today. I would know nothing about them if not for Carol Wilkerson and Friends of Shady Lane. Neither would you.
So consider hitting the greens — or giving some — for this worthy cause. Donations to Friends of Shady Lane Cemetery are tax-deductible. To join or help with the tournament, contact Bill Lester, lesterdesignsllc@gmail.com, or Carol Wilkerson, friendsofshadylane@gmail.com. To volunteer, visit the group’s Facebook page or friendsofshadylanecemetery.wordpress.com.
“We’re hoping this becomes an annual thing,” Carol said.
In other words, it’s going well.
CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, is an avid miniature golfer. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/kelly. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com; @cjkink on Twitter; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.