Progress Report and Upcoming Meeting

June 1, 2013
Boy Scout, Sam Wertz, members & supporting adults of the Red Cedar District, Hawkeye Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, volunteers and Ely Community History Committee members gathered at Fackler's Grove Cemetery on June 1st to begin the long-needed clean-up of the grounds. Sam Wertz has chosen this to be his Eagle Scout Project.

The scouts and their families and friends did an outstanding job.  They were well organized, prepared for the work that needed to be done, and there was  lot of work!  There may have been some moments of "What did we get ourselves into," when the workers pulled up and saw the chest high grass!

Below are some photos of the work in progress.

Click the images to enlarge them.

A rather daunting look at the lush growth
of weeds and ditch lilies before work started.

 

Work in progress

Lots of foliage to remove!

Above and below:  photos of the "after"

They also removed a lot of brush
and felled one dead tree.

June 15, 2013

The second Eagle Scout work day on June 15th at the cemetery also went very well and a lot of work was accomplished. The scouts and volunteers continued clearing grass and brush and mowed the part they had done June 1st again. They also hauled all the wood from the felled tree to a nearby ravine.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

The Ely Community History Society will be meeting with an expert on ground penetrating radar to learn about the technology and decide if it will be worthwhile to use his services to do a survey of the grounds. GPR is non-invasive so no graves or stones would be disturbed.  A survey could help us with the following:
- Identify unmarked grave locations
- Locate markers or bases buried under the sod

- Result in a "map' of his findings

Upcoming Informational Meeting

ECHS will hold an informational meeting in the lower level of the Ely Community Center on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.   The Center is located at 1570 Rowley Street in Ely.  All interested parties are invited to attend to learn about the Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project.  For information call Clary Illian at (319) 848-4963 or Barb Horak, 848-4074.

If you wish to donate toward this worthy project, please send your check with "Fackler's Grove Cemetery Project" in the memo line to:

 Ely Community History Society, Inc.
  P.O. Box 191
  Ely, IA 52227

The ECHS is a not-for-profit organization.