ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A program at Mt. Hope Cemetery helped get people out of the house last year, but its popularity is still going strong.

It may have been 12-year-old Tiana Walts’ first time at Mt. Hope Cemetery, but it wasn’t her first time gardening.

“Gardening just makes the scenery more appealing in a way,” Walts said. “And it’s honestly just so fun and entertaining.”

She was hard at work tending to her first cradle grave, a special grave that includes a flower bed for gardening.

“I think a lot more people would just like to walk around cemeteries to see all the flowers,” Walts said.

And she was joined by two other Children of the American Revolution, a national organization with members who have ties to revolutionaries.

In Tiana’s case, it’s a distant great-grandfather.

“Isaac Cushman was a spy for George Washington,” Walts said, of her seven-times great-grandfather.

The girls volunteered to help Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery maintain the graves, a program that has exploded in popularity since it launched three years ago.

“It brings volunteers of all ages, as you see today,” Pat Corcoran, president of Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery, said. “During the pandemic, it was very popular because people could come here, get out of the house.”

Right now, more than 200 cradle graves are being tended to, and more are being found buried all the time.

“Mt. Hope Cemetery belongs to this community, it’s a jewel of this community,” Corcoran said.

It’s dirty work, but Tiana says the payoff is worth it, as she has a reverence for history.

“I think the cradle graves look beautiful,” Walts said. “And I think if they were here today they would be very happy with us for taking care of their graves.”

Those interested in adopting a cradle grave or donating to the Friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery can visit fomh.org.