Jacksonville Review – April 2025

SPRINGTIME in the Jacksonville Historic Cemetery will be especially beautiful this year thanks to the hundreds of daffodil and crocus bulbs planted in the cemetery as a joint effort by Judy and Jim Finses and the Jacksonville Garden Club!

The “planting party” took place in early November and, funded by the Jacksonville Garden Club, included some 750 daffodils and 75 crocuses, plus several euphorbia plants transplanted from the Jacksonville Community Center to the cemetery. According to the Garden Club’s Pam Smith, the latter are deer resistant, love heat, and are drought tolerant, but may need some water occasionally in summer.

The euphorbia, which bloom in spring and summer, are planted in the garden space on the south side of the Sexton’s Tool House, while the daffodils and crocuses are planted along both sides of Cemetery Road coming up the hill, and in the City Section between the flagpole and the Sexton’s Tool House, with some in the gateway to the IOOF Section as well.

As we write this, it’s still too early to see the results of this very generous project, but we’ll include a photo in a future column (or post on the Friends website) and, meanwhile, we thank the Jacksonville Garden Club members and Judy and Jim Finses for their wonderful contribution to a beautiful spring in the cemetery!

Next month we’ll have news of the Spring Clean-up held on March 22nd, which began the process of readying the cemetery for our recurring programs starting in May: History Saturday in the Cemetery (1st event May 10th), and Marker Cleaning Workshops (1st event May 17th).

As next month begins, the Pre-Memorial Day Community Cemetery Clean-up Day (May 3rd) will give us a chance to put finishing touches on the cemetery grounds in preparation for the arrival of family, friends, and visitors on Memorial Day. And later in the month (May 22nd), our Memorial Day—Flags for our Veterans 2025 event will honor each of the cemetery’s 400+ veterans with a gravesite flag, to remain in place until Veterans Day in the fall. May will be a busy month, and we look forward to seeing you at some or all of these Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery events!

The 1st quarter meeting of the Jacksonville Cemetery Committee was cancelled due to the February snowstorm, but we take this opportunity to congratulate new City Councilor, John Jorgenson, and welcome him as council liaison to the Cemetery Committee. We appreciate John’s willingness to serve, and we look forward to his help as a new Friend of the Jacksonville Historic Cemetery!

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

Featured image: Planting Daffodils in the Jacksonville Historic Cemetery, November 2024. Photo by: Jacksonville Garden Club