ORANGE SLICES
By Laurie Paolicelli
Guest Columnist
Rich Shaw and Holly Reid Shaw of Hillsborough, NC celebrate nature everyday.
It is through a shared love of the land that Hillsborough residents Rich Shaw and Holly Reid found one another. For decades, the two preservationists have quietly shaped Hillsborough’s landscape—protecting open space, restoring old homes, and stewarding the natural systems that sustain the community and our lives beyond.
Rich spent more than 20 years with Orange County working in land conservation. Today, he chairs Preservation Hillsborough and serves on the board of historic Moorefields. Holly worked as an environmental scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and also served as president and volunteer for the Eno River Association. Together, Rich and Holly have been active in efforts to protect the Eno River and promote solar energy to power homes and cars.
Rich, raised in Connecticut, knew early that conservation would be his life’s work. When the two met at Duke University in the 1980s, their shared values quickly grew into a partnership in both life and preservation. They married, bought an old mill house in Durham, and restored it together—the beginning of a lifetime devoted to protecting places that matter.
Rich and Holly at their home near the Eno River in Hillsborough.
Their journey eventually led them to Hillsborough’s historic Burnside neighborhood. Holly and Rich live in a ca. 1785 Quaker-plan home next door to their parents’ restored 1830s barn. Through their preservation work, they discovered something remarkable about a small structure on their property. A date etched into the wall helped connect the dwelling to Jesse Ruffin, an enslaved coachman once owned by North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Thomas Ruffin.
Celebrating the 160th anniversary of the 13th Amendment at the Coachman’s Quarters.
The discovery became part of a broader community remembrance marking the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Historian Joseph McGill of the Slave Dwelling Project later spent a night in the structure, helping bring attention to the life and legacy of the man who worked there. This year, descendants of Jesse and Rebecca Ruffin celebrated the 160th anniversary of that landmark change to the U.S. Constitution.
“Protecting Black history and preserving Black neighborhoods are deeply intertwined efforts,” Rich says. “Homes, churches, businesses, and schools are the tangible places where cultural memory, resilience, and identity live.”
Dickerson Chapel Hill Hillsborough is a priority project for the Preservation Fund.
He is particularly proud of Preservation Hillsborough’s recent work supporting Dickerson Chapel AME Church. The organization helped secure a $400,000 grant from the Preserving Black Churches program at the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
As Rich and Holly reflect on life’s final chapter, they continue to heed the call of nature and the importance of habitat restoration and land stewardship. They volunteer at Bluestem, a 90-acre conservation cemetery near Cedar Grove.
Bluestem Conservation Cemetery
It’s an elegant idea, a conservation cemetery—one that allows people to return to the earth in a beautiful setting dotted with wildflowers, butterflies, and birdsong as a soundtrack. A place where we become a figure in the eternal, leaving the earth by becoming a part of it.
Created by conservationists Jeff Masten and Heidi Hannapel, the site honors remembrance, reflection, and the natural environment.
Heidi and Jeff at Bluestem Cemetery in Cedar Grove.
“The cemetery was created around the idea that death and memorialization can be integrated with land conservation,” Heidi says. “Instead of a traditional cemetery, burial practices here support the restoration and protection of natural landscapes.”
Named for the resilient native Piedmont grass known for its deep roots, Bluestem opened in 2022 and has already drawn strong interest. The land itself is protected through partnerships with Triangle Land Conservancy and the Eno River Association.
A beloved resting place for a beloved dog.
“There are no words to describe this place,” Jeff says. “People come out to listen to music, watch the butterflies, and take a quiet walk—knowing their loved ones are part of the landscape.”
By linking remembrance with conservation, Bluestem helps protect open space, wildlife habitat, and native landscapes while offering families a meaningful and environmentally responsible way to honor life.
In many ways, Bluestem feels like a natural extension of the life Rich Shaw and Holly Reid have lived together—rooted in care for the land, respect for history, and the belief that our time here should leave something lasting behind. After decades spent protecting fields, forests, homes, and stories across Orange County, it seems only fitting that their final chapter may return them to the very landscape they have worked so hard to preserve.
Bluestem Cemetery
Bluestem Conservation Cemetery is located at 1900 Hurdle Mills Road, Cedar Grove, NC 27231, and is open daily from dawn to dusk.
For more information, visit: https://www.
To learn more, complete an interest form online to schedule an information session, take a 45-minute tour, or reserve a burial plot.
Share your thoughts with me here, Laurie Paolicelli
Disclaimer: Published by Orange County’s Tourism Department through its Public Relations team, this story includes interviews and repurposed content from websites and partner press releases. For more, visit www.visitchapelhill.org or contact Laurie Paolicelli.
Laurie Paolicelli is executive director for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, a position she has held since 2005. Laurie has worked in tourism and marketing for twenty-five years, having served in leadership roles in Houston and California convention and visitor bureaus. She is a native of the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN/Superior Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Communications from the University Wisconsin-Superior and graduate certification in Technology In Marketing from the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. This reporter can be reached at Information@TheLocalReporter.press
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