To honor about 125 veterans buried at Longview Cemetery, a local man has offered to provide a 30-foot flag pole to be maintained by the city after his death.
The city's Cemetery Resources Board accepted the offer tentatively, needing to work out further details. After the board's official meeting, it toured the site, one of three owned by the municipality, as required by city ordinance.
Two new members joined the board Thursday, following their appointments fulfilling the expansion of the board from five to seven members.
They are Dawn Hackman, a stay-at-home mother and a Riverview Cemetery board member, and Jeanne Rutledge, a retired state worker and cemetery volunteer.
The board continues to focus on identification and location of graves at the Woodland-Old City Cemetery.
A partnership is in the works between the city GIS department, Lincoln University's GIS Lab with professor Samson Tesfaye, and the board. The project would provide practical experience for Tesfaye's GIS students, as well as plotting the cemetery for the board's use.
Also, surveyor books with burial information have been discovered at City Hall. For example, one log names those graves relocated when McCarty Street was paved and expanded in 1897.
The board intends to review the information and digitally preserve the documents.
In other business, the board:
Reviewed the last year's cemetery maintenance, including repairing 10 stones, adding a water hydrant, and tree trimming and removal.
Acknowledged the $7,000 budget for stone restoration will address the highest priorities for safety and loss prevention.
Continues to research materials and methods to attach QR codes to headstones in Woodland-Old City Cemetery to better share the history of those interred.
Learned applications nearly have been completed by docents at the Friends of the Missouri Governor's Mansion for six unmarked veterans' graves to receive markers.