Jacksonville Review – June 2026

WE OFFER A SINCERE “THANK-YOU” to the many volunteers who attended our Pre-Memorial Day Community Cemetery Cleanup on May 2nd. Besides helping keep the cemetery neat and attractive, these cleanups help to reduce fire danger particularly in drought years like this one. We also appreciate the work of Cemetery Sexton, Rick Shields, and City staff for their support of our cleanups and for their efforts to remove dead and hazardous trees in the cemetery.

Speaking of Memorial Day, we hope you had a chance in May to visit our patriotic exhibit at the Jacksonville Public Library installed by Friends President, Eric Rogers, with an assist from volunteer Russ Harding. Created by late FOJHC founder, Dirk Siedlecki, and featuring memorabilia from Dirk’s collection, the exhibit honors America’s fallen veterans. Many thanks to Eric and Russ!

While May also featured FOJHC events (yet to happen as this was being written), our second quarter Friends board meeting marked the retirement of our longest-serving board member, Gail Nicholson, who with husband Brian will soon be moving to Florida. Gail has been our devoted board secretary for many years and our “go-to” person for tour scheduling, responses to queries from the Friends Info-Line and much more. She has been a leader in the History Saturday program and contributed to Meet the Pioneers as a long-time member of the Research Committee, Guide Team and as an MTP Player (Emeline in 2010’s The Turners; and Florence in 2011’s The Whipps, co-starring in both with Brian). We miss Gail already and wish the Nicholsons a very happy retirement!

The FOJHC board is pleased to welcome Heidi Elliott, an experienced Jacksonville volunteer leader, as our newest member and board secretary. Thank you, Heidi, for your willingness to serve!

As you may know, the FOJHC is a 501c(3) charitable non-profit and relies on tax-deductible donations to fund our various cemetery programs. To simplify the process, we’ve added a “donate button” on the DONATE tab of our website (see below) to accept credit card donations online.

History Saturday in the Cemetery,

Saturday, June 13, 10-11:30am, “All About the Independent and Improved Order of Red Men”-—No advance registration is required. May not be suitable for the very young. Please dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. There is no fee for the tour, however donations supporting our programs are greatly appreciated.

Marker Cleaning Workshop, Saturday, June 20,
9am-noon—Come learn the latest techniques to safely clean and preserve the grave markers in our cemetery. This is a hands-on workshop, so dress accordingly. Bring a stool to sit on, plus sunscreen and a hat.

All Events—Meet at the Sexton’s Tool House, top of Cemetery Road. Parking within the cemetery.

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

Featured image: The Stars and Stripes, New Main Flagpole, Masonic 354/355. Photo by Dick Meyers.