Sometimes it’s the little things, according to Tom Parshall, that can have the most impact.

Which is why Parshall donated a new sign for the Hartland Cemetery as part of the Hartland Rotary Club's efforts care for the historical site.

“It’s easy for me to give away a sign, but the impact is great,” said Parshall, owner of the Hartland-based sign company, IMC Products. “If more people would do that, we could solve a lot of these problems.”

Parshall, who is also the president of the Hartland Area Historical Society, has had family in Hartland since 1836 and understands the importance of maintaining and helping to preserve certain landmarks around the village.

He also understands, however, that the township budgets can’t cover everything and encourages other residents to help fill in the gaps where they can.

“There’s not much money in the township cemetery maintenance fund, so that perpetual maintenance really needs to be for grounds care,” Parshall said. “There are small needs and they can be filled by people.”

Filling in one of the small needs, Parshall made the sign from plans given to him from architect Gary Cornillaud, who is the rotary president. The club took on sprucing up the cemetery as its annual service project, installing a new sidewalk and performing a general cleanup earlier this year.

"(The) club in its effort to make a difference in the community is grateful to citizens like Tom who are willing to volunteer their help," Cornillaud said.

"Tom volunteered to provide a new sign to replace the existing weathered sign that was beyond repair. A lifelong resident of the village, Tom shares Hartland Rotary’s devotion to the special heritage of Hartland.”

The new sign was installed this last week and Parshall says that the Rubbermaid-like materials used in the latest update are designed to stand the test of time and weather. But he added it's also designed to blend in with his other sign work already hanging up around the village and says the sign still maintains a small-town feel on purpose.

"There all mid-century design, tasteful, conservative," Parshall said. "The kind of stuff you'd expect in a village and a historic village."

Parshall also noted more updates around the village of Hartland are also in discussion that include a plan that was formulated last year. One idea discussed are new sidewalks, according to Parshall, who is optimistic that the future changes, big and small, will continue to improve the conditions as well as the aesthetic value of downtown Hartland.

“There’s a bunch of us, that have an interest and the village is coming around pretty good,” Parshall, said. “As a group, we’ve been pushing, the right kind of pushing, let’s figure out what can be done reasonably and let’s do it.”