St. Peter & St. Paul Russian Orthodox Church

08/10/2026

08/09/2026

On Saturday, August 8, Todd and I, along with Vaughn and Nadia Duitsman, Travis Sorokie, and Roberta Steinhart met at the St. Peter & St. Paul Russian Orthodox Cemetery to perform maintenance and beautification projects.
The work included scraping and painting the crosses, raising and repositioning foot markers, and trimming grass and vegetation around the markers to make them more visible. The foot markers and headstones were also treated with a non-toxic solution to remove lichen growth. Additional applications may be needed in the future to fully eliminate lichens.
There is still more work to be done. The dead tree located in the center of the cemetery will likely require the services of an arborist for safe removal. This will help protect the headstones, crosses, and foot markers from potential damage.
I am posting before-and-after photos to show the difference our efforts made on Saturday.
I previously shared the cemetery inventory from John Goman’s book, which was published in 1990. On Saturday, I photographed all of the headstones and foot markers to begin updating that inventory. I will be posting the photos and revised inventory in the future. However, the process will take some time, as I need to cross-reference the new photographs with the existing inventory. In addition, a few of the photos did not turn out well, so another trip to the cemetery will be necessary to complete the project.
A special thank you to Vaughn, Nadia, Travis, and Roberta for volunteering to help Todd and me with this project. The difference between what the cemetery looked like when we arrived and what it looked like just three hours later was remarkable. Your hard work, dedication, and willingness to give your time made a tremendous impact. Thank you all for a job well done.
We are proud of what was accomplished on Saturday and look forward to continuing our future cemetery preservation efforts.

08/06/2026

Please remember, Saturday, August 8th, we will be gathering at the Bramble Church at 10:00 a.m. before heading to the Cemetery for some minor maintenance and beautification efforts. This will not be an all day event and hope you will join us at the Junction Bar after the work is done for lunch and conversation!

08/01/2026

UPDATE: If you are able to help us, please let us know. Thank you!

According to John D. Goman's book, titled "Galician=Rusins on the Iron Range", published in 1990, this is a list of people who have been interred at the Bramble Cemetery. I plan on taking a full inventory of the cemetery on August 8.

We are watching the weather forecast and so far, we are still planning on visiting the cemetery on Saturday, August 8, for minor maintenance and beautification. We bought paint, brushes, scrapers, latex gloves, water, sand, some knee pads and will bring a solution for cleaning foot markers and head stones, tools to trim brush around the cemetery, trim around foot markers and sand to raise some of the foot markers. We decided not to tackle the dead tree at this time, because that will be a day long project in itself.

Again, Todd and I plan on being at the Church at 10:00 a.m. to meet and greet anyone who is interested in helping us with this project. Please let us know if you have any questions!

07/27/2026

St. Peter & St. Paul Russian Orthodox Church Cemetery Update: Weather permitting, we plan on scheduling a cemetery maintenance and beautification day on August 8. We will bring supplies to scrape and paint the wooden crosses, add sand to raise foot markers, clean foot markers and headstones, and possibly remove a dead tree.
We will meet at the Church around 10:00 a.m. on August 8 and will provide water. Please bring any other beverages, snacks, food, or other items you may want.
At the end of the day, we invite you to join us for lunch at the Junction Bar in Togo!

Send a message to learn more

07/05/2026

Right now, we are tentatively looking at Saturday, August 8th, weather-permitting to tend to the St. Peter & St. Paul Russian Orthodox Cemetery. Let us know if this works for you.

07/05/2026

We are looking for a date towards the end of July or early August to beautify the St. Peter & St. Paul Russian Orthodox Church cemetery. Are you willing to help? What dates works for you?

06/18/2026

In 2010, the Church hosted a heartfelt celebration honoring the successful preservation fundraising efforts. The day was made even more memorable by a special performance from a group of talented Russian singers/dancers, whose presence brought both joy and cultural richness to the occasion. I am especially grateful to Roberta Steinhart, who recently shared beautiful photographs capturing these unforgettable moments. Thank you, Roberta, for preserving and sharing such meaningful memories.

06/06/2026

Today, Todd and I, along with Rose, Matt, Sigri, and Bart, visited the Bramble Church. The purpose of our trip was to assess the current condition of the church and to spend time in the cemetery evaluating opportunities for preservation and improvement. During our visit, I took several photographs to document areas of concern. These include foot markers that have shifted or sunk, headstones and markers in need of cleaning, and crosses that show varying levels of wear. I would especially appreciate input regarding the crosses. While some require maintenance—ranging from minor touch-ups to more extensive work—I believe they are an important part of the cemetery’s history and should be preserved rather than replaced whenever possible. Additionally, there is a dead tree on the grounds that should be addressed. We are considering organizing a workday later this summer to help restore and care for the cemetery. Further details will be shared as plans are finalized.