The Shanah Stone

The woods were lovely back then. They beckoned to young sprits like they would today if
there were any woods left for such secret sacred shelters. There were camping adventures,
forts, ghost tales, homemade watermelon moonshine, love, freedom and innocence.

It was a time long ago. So long ago that memory no longer serves us well. There were race
cars some recall, and long walks to the new Beckwith School. This long-ago time was when
there was no such thing as “rescue” animals. A time when every so often, a homemade
sign would pop up at the end of a driveway advertising “Free puppies”. That time is gone.
Perhaps it’s best to leave that time back where it was, never to visit here again.

Stray dogs ran loose throughout the town. Shanah was one of those strays. She strayed
right into the hearts of the youths who lived in the Rehoboth Village. For how long she was
with them, few can recall. After all, it was nearly a half century ago. A tragedy overcame the
Village youths when their beloved stray would be sadly killed by an automobile. The loss
was profound. So much so that a monument was erected in her memory from the families
and youths that loved her.

Long forgotten and for some, best not remembered, the monument of the beloved
sojourner stood gathering moss for decades until it was discovered recently by a local
resident. There were so many questions. On one side of this mysterious monument were
some letters. The name “Shanah” became vaguely visible on the crude fieldstone. Careful
inspection of the stone eventually revealed the sentiment “We love you always” and the
names of the youths who professed their love for her and mourned her loss.

After a few days of searching records and a few postings on the RehobothTalk Facebook
page, some people came forward with information about the soul beneath the stone. It
was a memorial to a beloved stray dog placed there by families who lived in the Village.

The bittersweet memorial stone sits, as it always has, alone in a pine grove on town owned
property known today as the Grear Farm. It stands as a silent crude marker of lives and
loves now gone.

Shanah now belongs to the people of Rehoboth. Shanah’s story is now intertwined with the
entire town. It’s a little stone reminder of the ways of life in the country nearly a half century
ago. Some will remember, some would rather not. In any case, the site will be preserved
and so will the story of Shanah, the beloved stray.

Beverly A Baker, Historical Commission Member, Cemetery Commission Chairman