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News & Notices - Updated 11/5/06 Photos - New! Updated 11/5/06 Finances - Updated 11/5/06
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November, 2006 Newsletter Hello Everyone, As my Dad would say, I'm "a day late and a dollar short" getting this newsletter out. But as I say ... "Better late than not at all!" I just wanted to let you know that we did have a workday on September 23rd (OK, I'm more than a day late!) and about 10 people came to work. Robert Low and Joe Faries had obtained pavers and stenciled "Unknown" on each. These were placed on the majority of the previously unknown graves that were located by the Ground Penetrating Radar work that was done last December. We ran out of markers before we were done, but don't need many more so will hope to finish those up at a later time. Others who worked cleared brush outside the southeast fence near a grave that was located near the road, but outside the enclosure of the cemetery fence. It was a great morning and we accomplished quite a bit. Thank you to everyone who came to help. At noon, we gathered to visit and have a bite to eat. Edwina brought us up to date on her efforts to get our designation as a historical cemetery. The guest register was especially interesting in that there had been a number of visitors since June. Some wrote very nice things and I thought you would enjoy their comments as much as I did:
That's all for now. Best wishes to you all for a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Glorious Christmas.
Janis Templeton Trayler, President Mt. View Cemetery Association of Coleman County
June, 2006 Newsletter Hello to All, As I write this on a HOT sunny Sunday, I am so glad we decided to schedule our Annual Meetings for the spring so we don’t have to work and meet in this heat. I often wonder how our ancestors did it! We did have our annual meeting in April. Because Easter fell on the third weekend, we delayed the meeting and workday to April 22nd. There were about 20 of us who worked to clear brush from the east fence and part of the north fence. The fence on the east side (at the back) was also removed. The flags marking the possible unmarked graves were replaced by markings of paint on the ground in order for the cemetery to be mowed. At approximately 11:30 the group had a picnic lunch followed by the business meeting. Synopsis of the April meeting: The Minutes of the Meeting of September 10, 2005, were approved and the Financial Report was accepted. Map of Graves and Markers: The association president gave a report on the ground penetrating radar readings taken on December 5, 2005. There were 45 possible unmarked graves indicated. A plat has been prepared showing the known and unknown graves and the available spaces remaining. The membership unanimously voted to mark each unknown grave with a cement paver on which will be painted “UNKNOWN.” Wooden stakes have been placed to identify the measurement line used in the GPR mapping. The association would like to replace the wooden stakes with cement markers. 501(c) 13 Designation: The cemetery association’s application for a 501(c)13 designation as a charitable organization was approved by the IRS and is effective as of September 10, 2005. Signage: A metal “Mt. View Cemetery” sign with an arrow pointing the direction was donated to the association and erected at the intersection of county roads 470 and 466 to show the way to the cemetery. Click here to see a picture of the sign. Land Donations: As reported in an earlier newsletter, Gussie Jennings purchased the land that had been sold at the tax auction. She has now donated to the Association the area on the west side (the parking area) and also ½ acre of land on the east side to the back of the cemetery. The transaction has been recorded at the Coleman County Courthouse. Jane Greer donated a small area of land by the parking lot to the association last year and that transfer has also been recorded with the Coleman County Clerk’s office. In addition, a Dedication of Cemetery has also been filed with the County Clerk so that there should be no future problems pertaining to the ownership of the cemetery property. Pavilion: The Directors would like to build a pavilion near the front gate of the cemetery. Application will be made for a possible grant. The pavilion will be dedicated to Gussie Jennings in appreciation for the donation of land to the cemetery. Janis Trayler volunteered to work on grant writing and Joe Faries and Robert Low volunteered to begin plans for the pavilion. New Director: The term of office for Director Lois McCarty having expired, the Association expressed our appreciation for Lois’ years of service to the maintenance of the cemetery. An election was held to fill the vacancy left by her departure. Robert Low was elected to serve from April 2006 through the general election in 2009. Election of Officers: The following officers were also elected: President Janis Trayler Vice President Wanda Corder Secretary/Treasurer Faye Faries Historical Designation: Edwina Early reported that progress is being made on research supporting an application to the Texas Historical Commission for designation of Mt. View Cemetery as an historical cemetery. Specific information is being gathered regarding the history of the cemetery, the veterans (Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Korea) buried there, and the Texas Ranger buried there. Based on the work done in December with the ground penetrating radar, a map of the cemetery has been constructed. The map shows the known graves, the newly located graves, and the spaces available for future burial sites. The map has been laminated and a copy has been placed in the visitor box at the cemetery. A copy of the map has been posted to the Mt. View Cemetery website. To see the map, click here. In addition, two indexes of the people who have been buried at Mt. View have been created: an alphabetical index and an index by section and plot number. These have also been posted on the Mt. View Cemetery website. Future Projects: In addition to building a pavilion near the front gate, future projects of the association are to mark the graves of the unknown with stenciled pavers; erect a fence on the east (back) side of the cemetery, clear the brush from the front entrance, clear the brush and take out selected trees in the new ½-acre donation land, and enhance the entrance on the west from the county road. The association will bear the cost of installing a fence along the newly donated ½ acre on the back of the cemetery. Joe Faries and Robert Low will handle that project. We received a donation that covered the cost of bringing in the ground penetrating radar service to locate the previously unknown graves. We are hoping to secure grant monies to help with the construction of the pavilion. In the past, various members have donated not just their time to cleaning, clearing, fencing, and signage for Mt. View Cemetery, but also their dollars. I’ve never been very good at asking for money, but we will need additional funds to help with the items listed above under Future Projects. Please consider making a donation to the Mt. View Cemetery Association in honor of someone special to you or in memory of someone who has passed on… especially if that someone is buried at Mt. View Cemetery. Contributions should be mailed to Mt. View Cemetery Association, Attn: Faye Faires, Treasurer, 313 Fifth Avenue, Coleman, TX 76834. Fall Workday: Another workday will be scheduled for the fall, probably in September, but the date will be set at a later time. We hope you will be able to join us as we continue to make improvements to Mt. View. If you haven't been there for a while, please stop by when you're in the area. There's a visitor's register in the mail box by the gate along with the map and indexes. I'm sure you will like what you see! Until next time, have a wonderful and safe summer. Janis
Ground Penetrating Radar used to map Mt. View Cemetery. On the VERY cold morning of Monday, December 5, 2005, Rhett Williams from Yellow Rose GPR, Inc. in Bedford met members of the Cemetery Association at the Mt. View to undertake the task of mapping known graves and locating unknown graves. The group met at the cemetery about 8:30 a.m. and to say it was a "crisp" morning would be a huge understatement... it was 25 degrees with a breeze! Brrr! The work began about 9:00 a.m. and continued to about 4:30 that afternoon. We did take time to get warmed up during lunch! I am in the process of transferring the information we obtained to a computer graph. When it is completed, it will be added to this website and included in the information book located in the visitor's box by the gate. We did locate approximately 35 graves that had not previously been identified. In addition, there are approximately 15 locations where there may be graves but the results were inconclusive. We moved the machine outside the west fence and made a few turns around the south side of the parking lot. We were able to locate only one grave outside the fence. It is near the southwest corner near another unmarked and previously unknown grave inside the fence. Michael Autry from the the Coleman Chronicle Democrat-Voice came by in the afternoon to record the activity for the newspaper. Look for a story about it soon. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to those other hearty souls who showed up to lend a hand: Joe Faries, Robert Low, James Low, Rodney Jennings, Gussie Jennings, and Jim Trayler. It was wonderful to have so much help at hand.
If you are able and inclined to help in this way, please consider a contribution to the Association for this specific purpose. Donations should be mailed to Faye Faries, 313 Fifth Avenue, Coleman, TX 76834. INEXPENSIVE GRAVE MARKERS ... For less than $20, you can provide a grave marker for an unmarked grave. These markers are made of a concrete paver, a curved retaining wall block, and a piece of engraved "UV Gold" plastic. This plastic material is used because it will withstand the sun and the weather. The paver and block can be purchased at your local hardware store garden shop. The UV Gold (4" x 6") can be purchased from a trophy engraving shop. I have been working with Pam McDonald in Brownwood at All Star Awards. She is familiar with the UV Gold and has some in stock. Tell her it is for a grave at Mt. View Cemetery and the cost should be around $15. Photographs of the miniature tombstones are located at the end of the "photographs" page. Click here for quick access. The blocks and the UV Gold are affixed with Liquid Nails.
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Created August 13, 2005 Updated: 11/05/2006 Webmaster: Janis Trayler Please report problems or broken links to me at jtrayler @ austin.rr.com (SPAM ALERT: Remove the spaces on either side of the @ before sending) |