Sep 25, 2006 By Joyce Koballa 3 min read

DUNBAR TWP. – It took 1,307 hours of cutting brush and weeds not to mention clearing and removing trees from an abandoned cemetery, but when it was all said and done 16-year-old Jarrod Whoric was proud of what he accomplished while learning a bit of history in the process. Whoric, a Boy Scout with Troop 180, took on the six-month project to earn the highest rank of Eagle Scout, which he added to the 61 merit badges he received since he joined the Cub Scouts in first grade.

“I enjoy community service,” said Whoric.

According to Whoric’s father Steve, his son holds the record for the number of merit badges in his troop.

Whoric, a sophomore at Connellsville Area High School, said he decided to clean up the John’s/Liston Cemetery at the suggestion of his aunt.

The site is located about two miles from Whoric’s residence on Dunbar/Ohiopyle Road.

When he initially visited the site last February with his father, Whoric said it was hard to believe a cemetery existed because it was buried under thickets and brush and on property that is state gamelands as well as a township road.

For that reason, Whoric said the project needed to be approved by the state Game Commission in addition to the Boy Scout’s Eagle Scout board and the township supervisors.

The project was financed through various donations from local individuals and businesses, including a $500 grant from Wal-Mart in Dunbar and a $50 check from a family member of an ancestor buried there.

The supervisors also took part in donating 60-ton of gravel.

After getting the go-ahead, Whoric started by clearing the area with the help of his family, and friend and fellow Boy Scout Troy Johnson spending up to 12 hours a day.

When the brush and thickets were finally cleared Whoric said, tombstones were revealed, some of them seven-foot high that were lying down and had to be lifted by hoists and tripods.

Whoric said one of the graves revealed an Indian burial ground marked by a six-foot arrowhead that looked to be carved by hand along with other plots where three Civil War veterans were buried.

Overall, Whoric uncovered 43 unmarked graves with fieldstones used at the head and feet while 29 others were readable.

Whoric said the oldest grave was dated 1805 and the most recent, 1914.

The restoration was completed by planting grass, filling in dirt, installing fencing around the cemetery and the graves with fieldstone markers as well as artificial flowers and a sign at the entrance that reads: John’s/Liston Cemetery.

Whoric said it refers to the last names of the people buried there etched in the majority of tombstones that appear on the tax records at the Fayette County Courthouse.

In conjunction with his project, Whoric presented the Dunbar Historical Society with a scrapbook of his accomplishment along with letters that he received from ancestors of those buried there from as far as San Diego, Calif.

The Whorics also held an open house at the cemetery earlier this month.

For Jarrod, being a Boy Scout has amounted to an adventure of a lifetime and one that he will especially remember on Sept. 27 when he officially receives his Eagle Scout badge at Dunbar Borough Elementary School.