Photos: Resetting the fallen headstones at Apple Grove Cemetery near Argyle
A June 23 tornado destroyed Apple Grove Lutheran Church and toppled nearly 100 headstones but work has begun to reset the stones.
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Peter Emery prepares to lower a tornado-toppled headstone back onto its base at the Apple Grove Cemetery in Argyle. The headstones can weigh more than 600 pounds, with some nearing a ton.
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Peter Emery carries a sheet of plywood while working to repair headstones damaged in a June tornado at Apple Grove Cemetery near Argyle.
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A June 22 tornado destroyed the Apple Grove Lutheran Church, nearby trees and toppled headstones in the adjacent cemetery. Some headstones fell away from the church, others toward the church. In some cases, the base went one way and the headstone the other.
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Peter Emery of Tollakson-Emery Memorials adds adhesive to a headstone while placing it back onto its base at the Apple Grove Cemetery west of Argyle.
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Rudy Gebhardt, president of the Apple Grove Cemetery Association near Argyle, walks among the nearly 100 headstones toppled during a June tornado. The storm destroyed the adjacent church, but work is underway to restore the cemetery. It's unclear if or when the church will be rebuilt.
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Peter Emery of Tollakson-Emery Memorials adds adhesive to a headstone while placing it back onto its base. He also uses wood blocks and plastic shims to position the heavy stone.
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Items retrieved after the tornado sit on the church's front steps. They include Bibles and hymnals, a microphone, stuffed animal and communion tray.
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Timbers salvaged from the Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle, Wis. share the ground where the building once stood prior to being leveled in a June tornado Friday, July 12, 2024. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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A book documenting the history of the Apple Grove Cemetery was among the items retrieved.
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Kevin Phillips, who has been a member of Apple Grove Lutheran Church since 1970, finds a 100 year anniversary book in the debris the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, and those with a family history to the church, look at the damage the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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(From left) Rich and Roberta Scott take in the damaged gravestones that belong to Rich’s family the morning after Apple Grove Lutheran Church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. Rich, who grew up going to the church, has a total of 11 family members buried at the cemetery. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Alysabeth Lantz finds the wooden cross made by her great-grandfather in the debris the morning after Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle was leveled by a tornado on June 22.
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Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle was leveled by a tornado on June 22. Tornadoes are beginning earlier in the year in Wisconsin, and they're touching down more often.
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Apple Grove Lutheran Church members Lucas Flanagan and his 3-year-old niece, Hattie Meier, check out the damage Sunday, the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado.
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, and those with a family history to the church, look at the damage the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Clean up at Apple Grove Lutheran Church the morning after it was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, and those with a family history to the church, look at the damage the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Dan Bohlman, pastor of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, gives communion to members of the church as they gather on the property for a service the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church give offerings after a service was held on the property the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Dan Bohlman, pastor of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, says a prayer as a group gathers on the property for a service the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church and others sing “Amazing Grace” as they gather on the property for a service the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle give offerings after a service was held on the property Sunday, the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado.
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Members of Apple Grove Lutheran Church, and those with a family history to the church, look at the damage the morning after the church was leveled by a tornado, in Argyle, Wis., Sunday, June 23, 2024. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
The effort to upright toppled headstones and shifted bases at Apple Grove Cemetery could take weeks.