Jacksonville Review – October 2024

CEMETERY HAPPENINGS!—Our August History Saturday presentation, “Let Us Entertain You – Entertainment and Leisure in 1800s Jacksonville…from bloomers to bicycles,” brought an enthusiastic group of visitors to the cemetery on a beautiful summer morning to hear another interesting chapter of local history!

In period costume and using historic photos to illustrate their talk, Teresa Smith, and Pam Smith (no relation) shared stories about the various recreational options available to locals for fun and entertainment in the Victorian era and the challenges people faced in enjoying them in those more-than-modest times. Though many of the options then available (bicycling, swimming, dancing, for example) haven’t gone away, our audience had to pay careful attention to recognize them in their “way-back-then” forms. While we talk endlessly about the pace of technological change in the modern world, Teresa and Pam made a clear and convincing case for us that the pace of change in leisure time activities and the ways they have been enjoyed over the years since Jacksonville’s founding has also been both rapid and comprehensive!

The following Saturday morning, just prior to a sudden afternoon onslaught of unseasonably cloudy, cool weather, with thunder, lightning, and at times very heavy rain, some fifteen volunteers turned out for our second-to-last Marker Cleaning Workshop of the season. We enjoyed a near-perfect morning in the cemetery sprucing up a record fifty-one markers, headstones, and monuments in the City Section, north of Odd Fellows and East of the Sexton’s Tool House. With a replenished supply of the “magic” marker cleaning ingredient, D2, thanks to a generous donation from Friends volunteers Lisa Cogswell and David Grant, our dedicated team was able to be even more productive than usual! Our thanks again to Lisa and David.

Finally, in anticipation of fall weather and clear air, we look forward to seeing you for our final cemetery clean-up of the year (details below). Also, please remember that tools and other equipment for marker cleaning and Adopt-A-Block maintenance activities are available for your use in the Volunteer Tool Shed (adjacent to the Pavilion) as your schedule permits.

Fall Community Cemetery Clean-up Day, Saturday, October 26, 9am-noon—Join the Friends and other community organizations and volunteers for a clean-up of the cemetery grounds in preparation for winter. Bring gloves to wear, leaf rakes, pruners, and gas/battery operated blowers (if County fire regulations permit). Eye and ear protection is recommended. Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House, top of Cemetery Road near the flagpole, for directions to the areas where we will be working. Parking is available within the cemetery grounds.

Please check our website at friendsjvillecemetery.org for future events and programs.

Featured image: Teresa Smith and Pam Smith in costume, History Saturday, August 2024 – Photo by: Diana Reynar