Our Volunteer Efforts are Noticed and Appreciated—Thanks to all of our wonderful and dedicated volunteers, 2014 was another very busy and productive year for the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery. We received a number of very generous year-end donations that will help support some major projects that are being considered for the New Year. With one of those donations, a note was included that stated,

“Recently we were at the cemetery to visit family grave sites. The cemetery had been in such bad condition; we were not looking forward to visiting. What a wonderful surprise to see workers at the cemetery and to see all the positive restorations that had been completed. As a family member we commend all that you do.”

Another read, “Thanks for your continuing efforts to maintain and enhance the cemetery grounds. Enclosed is a donation to continue our support for 2015.”

While we very much appreciate these donations that allow us to move forward with restoration and preservation projects, we also love the feedback letting us know how we are doing.

Some Very Impressive Numbers and Accomplishments for 2014:

Community Clean-up Days—82 volunteers contributed 229 hours cleaning-up the cemetery grounds on March 15, May 17, and October 4, 2014.

An additional 370 hours were spent caring for the grounds, in-between our regular clean-up days, cleaning Interpretive Panels, the Interpretive Center, restocking brochures and other cemetery-related chores.

Marker Cleaning—Volunteers contributed 202 hours and cleaned a total of 144 grave markers during 2014. That was an additional 52 hours and 44 markers over what was accomplished in 2013.

Marker Restoration and Preservation—108 hours were dedicated to restoration of markers, curbing and other cemetery ornamentation. Restoration of the Jacob Ish Block has been completed with the exception of a top-dressing of pea gravel, which will be added in the spring. Your donations and our volunteers made this long-anticipated project a reality.

Tours—Our Docents provided some fun and interesting visits to the cemetery for groups requesting special tours, a total of 10 during 2014. Additionally, our Docents came up with some very creative and informative topics for our History Saturday Program. A total of 478 guests enjoyed one of the special tours or attended History Saturday. Volunteers contributed 84 hours to staffing these events.

Day of Remembrance—Our Special event on July 28, 2014, in observance of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I was attended by 75 people with volunteers contributing 24 hours presenting this program.

Meet the Pioneers—Our 9th production of this very popular Jacksonville event was another tremendous success playing to a sell-out audience of over 650 people.

Approximately 600 hundred hours of volunteer time was dedicated to putting this program on.

If you would like to help and get involved this year, contact us at info@friendsjvillecemetery.org or call 541-826-9939. Please visit our website at www.friendsjvillecemetery.org for a complete listing of all our events and activities and other information on the Jacksonville Cemetery.

On behalf of the Board of Directors for the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery and all our volunteers, thank you for your continued support and assistance. We wouldn’t be able to do all that we do in preserving our beautiful Pioneer Cemetery without you.

Dates to Remember for 2015:
Community Clean-up

Saturday, March 14, 9:00am-12noon,
Saturday, May 16, 8:00am-12 noon,
Saturday, October 3, 9:00am-12noon.

Marker Cleaning and Workshops
Third Saturday of the month,
April 18, June 20, July 18, August 15, and September 19.
Workshops are 9:00am-12Noon.
Note: no cleaning in May

History Saturday Programs
Second Saturday of the month,
May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8
and September 12.
Programs begin at 10:00am.

10th Anniversary Meet the Pioneers
 Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10.