This is great news, and we want to thank Elizabeth and the PDC.

In other news, Boy Scout Troop 852 will be doing clean-up at the cemetery on October 3rd. Anyone who wishes to help would be greatly appreciated.

In other news, a youth group sponsored by the Life Fellowship Evangelical Church in Portland came out on Monday and did quite a bit of clean-up work, and we want to extend a big thank you to them.

Also note: since the ground has been rather damp lately, the big mower hasn't been able to cut the grass (it just lays it down, instead). Once the ground dries out, the grass will be mowed. Thank you for your understanding.

Once again, I'd like to mention we are looking for a new groundskeeper. This is a volunteer position. If you're interested, please contact us for further details. Thank you.

On to yesterday's meeting:

For those who weren't able to attend today's meeting, there basically didn't end up being a vote, but if there had been, votes in favor of Glenora staying far outweighed any opposition. So, no change in who runs at the cemetery.

The reason the vote became a non-issue -- Christoff Miller, who was to head the replacement board, is unfortunately in the hospital and would be unable to run the cemetery. Our thoughts are with him and his family.

We want to thank everyone who sent proxy votes and who attended the meeting. Some good ideas were brought up, and we will work to address those as soon as we can.

I've uploaded some photos from the meeting.

Speaking of that, Linda Lathrop continues to post a whole bunch of photos to our new Flickr account. She's added several more tombstone photos, plus photos from some clean up work on April 4th. Check out the various photosets to see what's available.

First up -- be sure to go to the meeting at Kenton Fire Hall in Portland on April 7th at 2pm to vote regarding a possible transfer of the run of the cemetery to another entity. If you aren't familiar with what's going on, please read entries below this one, and join our discussion list. If you can't attend, please contact us to find out how to send a proxy vote. This is a very important meeting, so we really hope you'll get involved.

In other news, we've set up a Flickr account for the cemetery so we can add photos to the site much faster. Flickr hosts photos, for those unfamiliar with the service. So far, Linda Lathrop has uploaded several photos (major thanks, Linda!):

• Work Party - March 21, 2009 - Thanks to all the volunteers who came out and helped! We really appreciate it.
• Roses of Columbian Cemetery
• Tombstone Photos - Last Names starting with A
• Tombstone Photos - Last Names starting with B

Linda has more photos to upload, so be sure to check the photosets as she creates them. I'll be incorporating the tombstone photos into the tombstone photos section of our site here soon, to make them easier to find.

Also note: there was a meeting which was supposed to be a non-meeting yesterday (March 12) regarding a possible takeover of the cemetery (see the entry below this one). That meeting was supposed to last a couple of minutes and then adjourn to the rescheduled time next month, April 7th at 2pm at Kenton Fire Hall in Portland. It went for 2.5 hours, and since we were told there wasn't going to be a meeting, we only had one person there to discuss the issues on our behalf. HCC board members Glenora and Craig we not there because they were told there would be no reason to attend by the lawyer who called the meeting.

Regarding some of the issues raised:

• The records are perfectly safe, and have been well protected, as is the mower. It is not in disrepair, as some have suggested. It only had a flat tire, which has been fixed.
• Some people want to have local access so they themselves can go through the records. The records are delicate and in some cases a century or more old, and would not hold up to general perusal. Information is spread out throughout these files and books, and often cannot be simply viewed to find what one needs. It takes research to put it all together. We are working on digitizing them, but the records are on thousands of card index files and many books, are full of errors, and are often incomplete. We inherited these records, and cannot be responsible for any incomplete records from the years before we acquired them.
• Glenora, president of Historic Columbian Cemetery, is not "bed ridden" as someone claimed.
• If you call Glenora, please note it will sometimes (but not always) be answered by the answering machine, as it is a private residence.
• People are required to have either a deed or a receipt for any unused cemetery plots they may have at the cemetery. Again, we are not responsible for lost or incomplete records from before 2005, though Glenora does her very best to research any and all requests for information.
• The license for the cemetery is current, and will be renewed before the end of the month. The delay was due in part to adjusting to fit new board members. No "fines" have been assessed by the cemetery licensing board, as someone alleged. All costs paid were normal yearly fees.
• The issue of mowing the cemetery was also raised. Please know it would cost $3500 each time to have the grounds mowed by a professional company. That is well beyond what the cemetery can afford.
• We did have it professionally mowed before Memorial Day last year, and it cost $1250, as they gave a one-time discount (it cannot be repeated). Please note: it takes at least two days each time the grounds are mowed. and is dependent on the weather.

If you have any concerns regarding the cemetery, please contact Glenora. She is more than willing to discuss any issues you may have, and to clear up any possible misconceptions. Please keep in mind, this is completely volunteer-run, and we need support. If you would like to volunteer, please let us know. We'd love your help.

Mr. Miller has had no contact with us since 2005 is not knowledgeable nor is he involved in the ongoing maintenance and records keeping at the cemetery. He has never had any position with the cemetery except that of an occasional volunteer, and hasn't had that in over three years.

There are also some apparent misunderstandings regarding the cemetery. If you didn't get a letter (which was not sent out by us) or have any questions, please contact us, or join our low volume discussion email list.

Also note: we are organizing another clean up at the cemetery for this coming weekend. Please join our email list. It is updated much more often than this web site.

Monday Feb. 18, is an informal day of clean up at HCC. My son Craig will be there sawing branches and the wood is free to those who want it. Please bring garbage bags, and for those who can, pickups to haul debris.

Please, get out and do whatever you can. Remember that we operate with virtually no funds and at the moment no caretaker. It's everyone's responsibility to help.

We want to thank the anonymous person or people who have been doing their own clean-ups at the cemetery. It has been a big help, and your work is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The cemetery's gate will be open for Easter. And if someone would like to work on the cemetery they could pick up all the old artificial flowers except any brand new ones. Also they could carefully spade up around the roses and get the grass out of them. They only need to dig up about a foot around them.

Please bring any tools, weed-eaters, or other equipment you can. Bags, and hauling will be taken care of. Keep in mind, we have no power...yet.

Tell those you know, and if this day is successful we'll set up others, hopefully more before Memorial Day.

We apologize, but it couldn't be avoided. Thanks to those who have offered assistance. Our groundskepper is still the ringleader on maintenance issues, so we'll let you know when he can organize another clean up. It should be soon.

Again, please remember this whole thing is all volunteer run. That means outside issues can and do come up from time to time. We can always use more volunteers, so if you want to make a contributions, whether it be time, equipment, money, etc., please let us know.

Gary and Linda Takis took several cub scouts from Pack 437 out to the cemetery on May 22, 2006, to place the American flags on veterans' graves, do a clean up, and to do a flag raising ceremony. You can view the photos here of their activities. We also want to thank Robin Sinclair and Greg Hays at Ahern Rentals for donating the time and effort to re-string the flagpole. Great job to all involved!

Finally, our grounds keeper has been a busy beaver at the cemetery. He took some photos on May 5, 2006, of the grounds, so you can see how far the cemetery has come. View the photos here.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the improvement of the cemetery grounds. Your assistance has been invaluable and greaty appreciated. Thank you, all.

For a few before and after photos and for information on how to donate, please see the before and after - grounds keeping update page.

In other news, we've registered a new domain name for this site, and have changed a few things, to reflect our new status as the group which now runs the cemetery, instead of just the 'families/friends of' group we've been running. Everything else, including our postal address, email addresses, etc., will remain the same. Both domains -- columbiancemetery.org. Both domains -- fohcc.org and columbiancemetery.org -- point to the same site, and both will remain fully functional.

Also, we've now added a Cafepress online store, where you can buy Columbian Cemetery calendars, t-shirts, coffee mugs, bags, and a bunch of other stuff, all to benefit the cemetery. Buy some nifty stuff, and help us make the cemetery better. We appreciate the support!

We want to thank everyone for their continued support. It's been a long road, but well worth it.

Also note -- we still have copies of the Memorial Day video and DVD, so if you're interested, see the post below.

We'd also like to thank Tom and Meredith Gilbert for all the good things they're doing for the cemetery. They've gone out of their way to help, and it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Linda Lathrop for the photos. Please click on each image to see the bigger version.

A meeting was held March 9 with ODOT about their plans that could affect Columbian. They listened to our concerns, but it will be some time before final decisions are made. They are in what they call the impact phase, which is hearing and studying how the project could impact adjacent locations by any means. We had a good turn out of our people, and the consensus was clear that no impact is the only acceptable choice for the families. However, there is much to be done in hopes of making that reality. They asked that all who have opinions send them in. They can be mailed, emailed, or phoned to Kate Deane or anyone on the I-5 Delta to Lombard Project.

We are also in need of more history of the cemetery to present, and would appreciate anything people might have on the cemetery and the people buried there. There will be future meetings which we'll post on this site. Please email the site with any questions you might have and we'll try to answer them. Preserving Columbian in all ways is a must, and we all need to work together.

Please see ODOT's web site for more information on the expansion.

The person who maintains the site, Celine, has health issues which prevent her from getting up information in a timely manner, and we have a lot of info yet to go on the site. You would get full credit for your work as a contributor, and would be helping many people in many ways.

If you're interested in volunteering and can devote a few hours a week to the site (how much time would be completely up to you), please let us know at families@fohcc.org. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

• Farrell, William L.
• Force, George Washington
• Force, Susan Jane
• Windle, John

More bios are yet to be added.

Added: a link to an overhead photo from Portlandmaps.com to the Maps, Weather, And Other Info page.

We're working on adding several obituaries, so please look for those as they're added this weekend and early next week.

• Frank Clark Tufts
• James Hamilton Tufts
• Jennie A. Williams

• Margaret Peoples
• Merrill Peoples
• Wendall Arthur Shields

• Frank Bradshaw
• Earl W. Carr
• Belle Graves

Also added -- new views of the following stones:

• Peter Helser
• Nancy Griffith Love
• John Mock / Mary Mock
• Mary White

And I went out on a limb and actually alphabetized the Tombstones - G page.