Point of the Past

10/14/2025

It was a beautiful night for a walk with my best guy. Check the last photo for a message from him.

10/13/2025

Endurance Gravestone and Monument Cleaner is a newer product, and has become my first choice- though D/2 is still safe to use!

We take "do no harm" seriously and hope you do, too.

Find Endurance and other supplies at Atlas Preservation.

10/10/2025

Just a few tickets are left for Saturday night- hope to see you there.

This Saturday is a perfect Autumn evening to take a Forest Cemetery Twilight Tour with local cemetery researcher Jen Brilowski, sharing stories of love, loss, and triumph that you'll never forget!

Forest Cemetery Twilight Tour
📍2135 Patch St
🕔Saturday, October 11 at 5PM
Only a few tickets remain, so get yours today: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/portagecountyhistoricalsocietytours/event/forestcemeterytwilighttouroct10thcopy/

If a behind the scenes tour of one of the oldest continuously operating Breweries in the United States is up your alley, join Beer Historian John Harry on his Point Brewery History Tour this Friday!

Point Brewery History Tour
📍2617 Water St
🕓Friday, October 10 at 4PM
For more information and to purchase tickets: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/pointbrewerytours/event/pbrewhistotoucop/

Our Featured Exhibit, Rhythms of the River: The History of Music in Portage County also has open hours this weekend. For only $5, see how we are all connected to the music that shaped and transformed our county.

Heritage Park Open Hours
📍2700 Madison Ave
🕚Friday, October 10 from 12-4PM and Saturday, October 11 from 10AM-2PM

09/27/2025

FINALLY, I'm getting some 2025 days in my favorite place! It's been straight up magical, and I can't wait to share the lives of some of the people who are finding me on my upcoming tours, including this year's Forest Cemetery Twilight Tours for the Portage County Historical Society. I'll share some stories here this winter, but am still working on an alternative space that will be easier and better viewing for ALL of us. Misspelling common words to get posts through to you isn't fun for any of us and I'm glad you're still here.

Yes, I'm still having to do a lot of damage control- literally- on many stones, but if that's what I'm called to do, I'll do it. Being asked to care for stones by a family and discovering they've been mishandled by someone else is discouraging, but documenting damage for descendants is part of the work now, and I've reluctantly adapted to it. I can fix bad cleaning, but I can't fix the scratches and other desecration. Luckily(?) most of it seems to be from 2024 and isn't NEW harm, but it's still heartbreaking and unnecessary.

I'm perpetually grateful for the dozens of you who've reached out to offer permissions or request cleanings. I'm glad to offer peace of mind to those who live far away as I check on and care for the memorials of your ancestors. I'm honored to continue the care by pulling weeds, documenting aging stones, and just... visiting. If this post finds you and YOU have family resting in central Wisconsin, I'm happy to help you, too.

Today I'll have the privilege of educating a young group of scouts on how to properly clean and care for stones, and I'm so glad to be able to pass on this knowledge to them! Their enthusiasm is inspiring and has reminded me that there are so many people who care and want to do things the right way- and that will carry me into 2026.

Enjoy your weekend- I know I will!
Jen

09/03/2025

Sometimes I'm too sore to clean or even walk around, so on those days, I take a REAL camera, stay in one spot, and capture some images to help carry me through the times I can't get out of the house. I thought I'd share some shots from Monday evening with you...

There are a couple of scout groups that will be doing some learning and cleaning with me this fall, so if you have multiple family stones in any local cemetery and would like them to be cared for by me and some enthusiastic and well-supervised volunteers, please send me a message. Any cemetery in Portage County or Wisconsin Rapids will work, though within the Point city limits would be easiest. We'd really appreciate your permission and would love to help you care for your family! If you only have a couple of stones you'd like done, that's also helpful as we may get multiple small offers in a cemetery, and we can make that work! Every stone deserves care, and we'll do it right. ❤️🪦❤️

08/23/2025

Giving the gift of my time and attention to these people and their stones is more important to me than ever before. Sure, people have different abilities, but I firmly believe a job worth doing is worth doing right, and everyone deserve our respect and care. So with that in mind, I'll continue to do what I can... and as always, the ones who most need me, find me. On Thursday, Agnes found me.

I cleaned up not just this stone, but those of their two sons who died in childhood. Agnes died from drowning in the river in 1969, and Herman died at home in 1978.

Agnes' obituary tells of how she died, along with a thoughtful write up of her life. When Herman died, no family remained to do the same for him, and you can see the difference. (Obits in comments)

The after photo is one day after being cleaned by me; it took roughly 20 minutes (not including soak times) to care for it. Time well spent. ❤️

08/22/2025

Better late than never this year, I'm getting some cemetery days! Here's hoping I have a long autumn for cleaning and finding stories to share. I've never been so grateful for clean air- pollen suddenly seems manageable!

Last night I spent time with some carelessly cleaned stones (there are hundreds at this point), and with just a little TLC and attention, they're honoring their people again. As always, I take before and after photos to document the stone and to protect myself. Thankfully the ones I found yesterday weren't damaged, but many are. All I can do is what I can do, and I'll do it.

Katherine Grimm worked as a school teacher for over 30 years, primarily at McKinley School, where she also served as principal for a time, before retiring in the 1940s. She lived her life in Stevens Point, though a long illness at the end of her life kept her in the hospital for several years.

She died at the age of 82 and is buried in Forest Cemetery with her parents and sister. It was an honor to meet her.

08/08/2025

"Loutsie" is buried in Forest Cemetery and is well cared for by our local DAR chapter. Happy Birthday to a REAL daughter!

This week the Stevens Point Chapter celebrated the 200th birthday of Elizabeth Louetsie Omans Stewart Seaward. Mrs. Seaward, a member of the Stevens Point Chapter, was the actual daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. Her father, Thomas Omans, enlisted in the Massachusetts Regiment at the age of fifteen.

06/10/2025

Parish cemeteries are usually maintained or "owned” by churches or cemetery associations. You may clean your family monuments; beyond that you should be seeking permission before touching other stones. Stones, especially old marble ones, CAN be damaged by improper methods and you can be held responsible.

Pictured are a couple of my family stones in parish cemeteries. I’ll be checking on them again this year. The first photo belongs to third great-grandmother Agnes, the second is her son, Stanislaw. Two of my immigrant ancestors, they arrived in the US in June 1872.

06/07/2025

Poor air quality has been keeping me out of my cemeteries. I'll be back here as soon as I get back out there. I hope it's soon!

05/28/2025

Thank you to everyone who came out tonight and allowed me to share my stories; I appreciate you all.

05/26/2025

Tomorrow night! I can never share all the stories I want to tell, but I'm looking forward to sharing a few more with you at Forest Cemetery at 6pm.

Send a message to learn more