Odd Fellows cemetery

Lane Street Project: the Season 7 clean-up schedule is out!

Great things are happening at Vick Cemetery — now help us prepare Odd Fellows Cemetery for its glow-up!

Who do we want? You — and your friends, family, classmates, sorors and frat brothers, lodge members, church organizations, youth groups, alumni organizations, coworkers and colleagues, and students. All are welcome.

To do what? Clear debris from small felled trees, cut vines, chop weeds, cut grass, clean headstones, chart grave GPS coordinates, donate funds for ongoing and future projects (including ground-penetrating radar, an interpretive sign, professional defoliation services, and headstone stabilization), say prayers for safety and success, document.

What do I need to do? Please read last year’s What To Expect. (Conditions have changed a bit, for the better, but it’s still a useful guide.) We have had volunteers ranging from toddlers to seasoned seniors over the past six seasons. We welcome all to contribute as they are able, but please be aware that there are safety risks associated with clean-up of a forested space. So far, no one has been injured while working in Odd Fellows, and we want to keep it that way. You will be required to sign a waiver. Wear appropriate shoes, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and gloves. Watch out for holes in the ground. Do not attempt to cut down trees. Do not lean on, push, or pull grave markers.

Got it. Now what? Gather your team, and let us know you’re coming! Our past partners have included Greenfield School, Barton College, Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sororities, Homeschoolers Honoring Ancestors, Wilson Police Department and Fire/Rescue Services, and Mount Hebron Lodge No. 42. We’ve also welcomed folks from Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, Richmond, Brooklyn, and elsewhere who have been drawn to our mission to reclaim this sacred space. We hope you’ll join us!!

Lane Street Project: a much-appreciated update.

The separate identities of the cemeteries at the east end of Bishop L.N. Forbes Street were muddled by time I founded Lane Street Project. To the general public, they were collectively “Rountree Cemetery.” To the city, which erected granite pillars at the entrance to a small parking lot circa 2000, they were Rountree Cemetery and Vick Cemetery. I was a little way into my research when I realized that there were in fact three cemeteries, with Odd Fellows sandwiched between Rountree and Vick. 

Recently, in another positive development, the city corrected the error on one of the granite markers by covering the word “ROUNTREE” with a bronze plaque embossed with a sankofa symbol and ODD FELLOWS. 

A big thanks to all who made this correction possible!

Lane Street Project: circle marks the spot.

That would be the pin that marks the northeast corner of Vick Cemetery. 

In the middle of the parking lot. Which means everything to the left sits on top of Odd Fellows Cemetery. I once described this encroachment as a “sliver,” but another time as “sprawl.” It’s definitely more the latter. 

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, October 2026.

Lane Street Project: Barton Bulldogs do it again!

When I got the news that a landscape company had done a major cleanup at Odd Fellows Monday, I wondered if there’d be anything left for Barton’s student volunteers.

Apparently, plenty!

The Bulldogs came in two waves today to chop chest-high weeds, fell small trees, and haul debris, pushing further into Odd Fellows’ acreage than ever.

Lane Street Project relies on community, and we’re thankful that Barton is part of our village. Read their press release to learn more the College’s annual service day:

WILSON, N.C. — October 6, 2026 — Hundreds of Barton College students, faculty and staff served throughout Wilson on Tuesday, Oct. 6, as part of the College’s Day of Service and Engagement, continuing a tradition that has connected the Barton community with local schools, nonprofit organizations, churches, and community partners since 2008.

This year, Barton set aside the academic day for students, faculty, and staff to serve alongside organizations throughout the Wilson community. Students gathered through their academic schools and First-Year Seminar courses, allowing them to spend the day serving with classmates and faculty within their academic communities.

Students from the School of Business and Innovation and First-Year Seminar classes worked together to package 15,000 meals for communities facing food insecurity through Rise Against Hunger at the Kennedy Recreation and Intramural Center.

Barton’s ongoing partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace brought first-year students to Truist Stadium for an afternoon service project. Students assembled 30 beds to support the nonprofit organization’s mission of building and delivering beds to children in need. Sleep in Heavenly Peace works to ensure children have a safe, comfortable bed of their own, recognizing quality sleep as an important part of their health and well-being.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see Day of Service unfold across Wilson,” said Brenda Whaley, director of student activities. “From the first groups heading out in the morning through our final projects in the afternoon, students were serving in schools, parks, churches, nonprofit organizations, and community spaces across the city. They worked outdoors, supported local organizations, packaged meals, and built beds, each contributing to the needs identified by our community partners.”

Service sites included The Arc of Wilson County, Foundation YMCA of Wilson, Hope Station, Lake Wilson, United Way of Wilson County, Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, Wesley Shelter, Wilson Area Habitat for Humanity, Wilson Arts, Wilson Botanical Gardens, and Wilson Education Partnership, among numerous other community partners.

“Day of Service is about more than the work we accomplish in a single day,” said Amanda Metts, vice president for enrollment, engagement, and athletics. “It is an intentional part of how we help students develop a commitment to service and understand their responsibility to the communities they are part of. The experience gives students an opportunity to learn from others, form meaningful connections, and carry those lessons with them beyond Barton.”

Barton first held Day of Service and Engagement on Oct. 22, 2008, as an opportunity to foster civic responsibility and service learning as part of the Barton Experience. As Barton marks 125 years, Day of Service reflects a guiding principle that has shaped the College throughout its history — a commitment to service rooted in its Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) heritage and its relationship with the Wilson community.

Photo courtesy of Castonoble Hooks.

Lane Street Project: Odd Fellows is clean as a chitlin! Thank you!

We’re in a season of giving, and I’m so very grateful to those who choose to share their blessings with Lane Street Project.

October started with the monthly donation my sister and brother-in-law send. I deeply appreciate their tangible commitment to this work.

Yesterday, Odd Fellows got a big chop deep into the wood line, courtesy of the generosity of John Kirk Barnes of The Kirk’s Florist and Casey Elliott of Casey Elliott Attorney at Law. Thanks to them, Odd Fellows will be presentable when we celebrate Vick Cemetery next door on October 17.

And today, the Senior Force hosted two shifts of Barton College students who chose to spend their Day of Service clearing brush at Odd Fellows. Barton has been a partner for four years, and we are thrilled by the students’ interest — and strong arms! 

I’ll be sharing the Season 7 clean-up schedule soon. Please support us!

Video of Monday’s interior cutting courtesy of Tracey Briscoe Barnes. Thank you!

Lane Street Project: prepping for Season 7.

Lane Street Project’s Season 7 is right around the corner, and we’re super excited about our plans for the next six to nine months. With the establishment of 501(c)(3) organization Friends of Lane Street Project to oversee fundraising and projects, we look forward to increased sustainability of our work. If you’ve driven past Odd Fellows Cemetery this summer, you will have noticed that we’ve been able to secure regular mowing of the front section and cleared the fence of tattered signage. (It’ll be updated and replaced!)

We recently posted a weather-resistant folder with information for volunteers working our cleanups, as well as signs affirming the liability waivers that all volunteers sign.

The Season 7 schedule will be released in October, and we’ll be reaching out schools, churches, and other organizations with information about ways to support the ongoing reclamation of this historic cemetery. Stay tuned for more information and, in the meantime, feel free to Zelle us a donation — friendsoflsp. Thank you!

Lane Street Project: Ben Mincey’s cleanup work revisited.

Another gift from the Joneses: the aluminum offset printing plates for the 18 February 1989 edition of the Wilson Daily Times, which featured Ben Mincey‘s work to honor his parents at Odd Fellows Cemetery.

On closer look, I see that the photo below was taken in Vick Cemetery. Though the City later was struck by amnesia, the sign clearly states that the property was overseen (if not actually cared for) by “The City of Wilson Cemetery Commission.”

This photo was taken in Odd Fellows, but a very different-looking Odd Fellows than today. The two tall grave markers at center left are those of Della Hines Barnes and Dave Barnes. You’ll notice that, while today they stand in the open, they were then surrounded by trees. A car is visible inside the tree line, likely parked on one of the paths that were used to dump trash in the cemetery.

Below, Ben Mincey stands closer to what is now the Vick Cemetery parking lot (the Barnes markers behind him.) In the foreground, a large flanged metal pipe. In the back, Henry Tart‘s tilting monument.

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: a grass-cutting appeal.

Oh! Look! Odd Fellows Cemetery awash in dandelions! Lovely, isn’t it?

Well. Not really.

Odd Fellows is a graveyard. Not a meadow. It’s overgrown. And our lawnmower has conked out. Until Friends of Lane Street Project (FoLSP) raises funds for a new one, won’t you consider stopping by to mow the front? Our last cleanup of the season in Saturday, May 23, but you can come whenever convenient. 

Thank you!

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.