Friends of Lane Street Project

Lane Street Project: the season’s last service day.

The workday’s shoutouts:

  • to the veterans who visited Odd Fellows Cemetery Saturday morning to place flags for Memorial Day;
  • to Will Kinsler, who came back with friends Haley of Fayetteville and Savannah and Dustin of greater Raleigh. They spent a full shift hacking new wisteria from trees and clearing the tree line to aid our mowing efforts; and
  • to the inimitable Senior Force — Castonoble Hooks, R. Briggs Sherwood, and William Hooks — our foot soldiers month in and month out.

Finally, a resounding thank you to everyone who came out to help this season. Each of you made a tremendous difference in the reclamation of Odd Fellows Cemetery, and we are honored that you chose to spend a Saturday morning with us when you could have been doing anything else.

Big things are coming, and we hope you’ll continue to support us as we put the generous gifts we’ve received to work. Though our official cleanup season has ended, we may call on you for specially scheduled service days this summer or fall related to upcoming projects. Thanks again!

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.

Lane Street Project: thank you, P.L. Woodard & Co./Womble Hardware!

They say a closed mouth don’t get fed.

Tuesday I asked for help cutting Odd Fellows Cemetery’s front section, as our well-used lawnmower recently died and the grass is shin-deep. Within hours, I received a call. P.L. Woodard and Company/Womble Hardware, Wilson’s 125+ year-old downtown hardware emporium, was offering to donate a brand-new mower!

Yesterday morning, Senior Force leaders Briggs Sherwood and Castonoble Hooks picked up our gift. With it, we will be able to keep Odd Fellows presentable during the fecund summer months when our cleanups are on hiatus, but weeds leap skyward under hot sun and rain.

We are grateful for the generosity of Jimmy Miller at Woodard/Womble, as well as those who facilitated this connection, and are greatly encouraged by this concrete show of deep community support. Friends of Lane Street Project is excited about this new phase of our journey to reclaim East Wilson’s historic African-American cemeteries, and we invite you to travel with us. Also: support local business!

Lane Street Project: we’ve leveled up!

We’re so pleased to share that we’ve formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, FRIENDS OF LANE STREET PROJECT, to enable us to better research, improve, and protect the cemeteries we champion. FoLSP’s primary focus will be Odd Fellows — increasing public awareness, amplifying clean-up efforts, and furthering efforts to identify who and how many people are buried there.

Thanks for all you’ve done to support LSP as a community collective. As we shift to a more organized entity, we’ll be rolling out fundraising initiatives and hope you will help us reach our goals. Tune in for more about our plans in upcoming weeks.