While spring time normally signals the start of a busy time for our cemetery volunteers, this spring turned out to be far busier with much more activity and like no other spring in recent memory. Our March 27 Community Clean-up saw thirty-six volunteers contributing close to 100 hundred hours and filling one large trailer, 67 trash bags, and three large piles of debris. The focus was on the IOOF section of the cemetery and an area that needed a little T.L.C. Thank you to all who were able to attend and for helping to clean-up the grounds.

We were also able to install the individual block-numbered signs in the IOOF, Masonic and Improved and Independent Order of Red Men sections of the cemetery. The signs were finished sooner than expected allowing us to complete the project in March and earlier than planned.

Our new program Adopt-A-Block has had an amazing response with close to 170 people signing on to care for a block or more. Members of the Jacksonville Boosters Club and the Jacksonville-Applegate Rotary Club have joined with us to participate in the program. To date, twelve Informational Briefing sessions have been held to brief volunteers on how the program works and introduce them to their adopted blocks. Additionally, four marker cleaning workshops have been held to teach interested volunteers on how to properly and safely clean headstones and monuments in their adopted blocks. Cleaning markers is not a requirement when adopting a block, but is optional with training.

The cemetery grounds have not looked this nice and cared for in all the years that I have been a volunteer and I sincerely thank everyone for all that you have done to make that happen. Great joy at seeing so many grave sites that have not had someone visit or care for them in many years, all neat and tidy and decorated with flowers placed by volunteers in time for Easter.

The interest and participation in caring for those who came before us, certainly tells us a lot about our community and its residents.

May Activities—Our regular monthly Marker Cleaning workshop will be on Saturday, May 15, 9:00am-noon. Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House located near the traffic circle to pick-up cleaning supplies and instructions on the area where we will be working. Dress for this hands-on project, bring a stool to sit on, a hat and sunscreen are also suggested.

The Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery will continue the tradition of placing a flag on the grave site of each Veteran who rests within the cemetery grounds. The flags will be placed in time for the Memorial Day Holiday and remain in place until just after Veterans Day in November. Please remember our Veterans and those service men and women on active duty.

We are hoping to be able to resume our History Saturday in the Cemetery Programs in July and will make a final decision if it is safe to do so by June 1.