Jan-June 2025
January: The Summerlee Foundation gave our cemetery a $2,500 grant for boulders. We are very grateful for the donation. We wanted to get the largest boulders to place along the fence line of the cemetery. We found the perfect boulders at Classic Rock Stone Yard. They went above and beyond, storing the boulders until I obtained a permit.
Feb:
We started the classes w/4H club. I had ordered a large banner for the cemetery fence with the classroom information listed, including the dates of the classes. I also had some flyers made. We partnered with the Inspired Compassion Center (across the street) to have a class every Tuesday for 10 weeks (we ended up adding 6 more weeks to the class adding a CLM class. Elvir Prado, 4H, coordinated different teachers to come volunteer to talk about bees and other insects. We were able to set the classroom up at The Compassion Center. Pastor Karen made sure the kids had drinks and snacks during class. We would then go to the cemetery to learn outside. Pastor Karen also wanted to give the kids a new toy after the class. So, the kids would line up and get to pick a toy to take home. She did this every Tuesday.
We started learning about bees, and then we focused on all the other insects. They got to see everything up close, try on the bee outfits, and learn how important pollination is.
I spoke with a city contact to determine the type of permit I would need. I began the permit process and thought the only challenge would be to coordinate the boulder company and city permits to jive. Little did I know it was a big roadblock to obtaining a permit. I attempted several times and was directed to hire a barricade company. I then contacted a few barricade companies and got a quote from one of them. It was going to end up costing me over 1k.
March: I then reached out to my City of Dallas contact, Bart Poche, City Council district 5, he offered to reach out to see if he could help. I also reached out to Grady McGahan, at Parks and Rec, and he contacted a person he knew. Bart ended up reaching out to Tina Richardson, Assistant Director of Public Works, and she approved letting the city remove the guardrail, place the boulders, and reinstall the guardrail. That was the best news and my parents and I are very thankful for all the help!
We continued to hold classes every Tuesday. The kids also participated in community work by picking up trash in the cemetery. We began doing this after every class. The kids did not mind pitching in and getting trash. The trash grabbers were a big hit, so I ordered 10 more for $100. Every week they all wanted to get a grabber and pick up trash. It was awesome! Trash is a constant issue at this intersection.
Last year I had painted a "give a hoot, don't pollute" sign. I was holding on to it to use for my temporary fence (once we had removed the damage fence).
I also made "Give a hoot" kits made out of Benefiber containers. I had trash bags, gloves, and sanitizer in each one. Since my wooden kiosk was stolen, I didn't want to take a chance and lose another one. So, I attached the trash kits to the fence in a few places. That way if anyone needed to have the supplies, they would be there handy. So far, they are still there. I plan to replenish supplies as needed. I also bought 5 gallon buckets to hold grabbers, gloves, and trash bags. This made it easy to bring.
I had seen several bug hotels on pinterest and wanted to create one in the cemetery. I started to save items, scaps of wood, bricks, etc. to have for the bug hotel. The kids built bug hotels at the cemetery.
I made a big bee sign for the cemetery to take selfies with. I made it from a shower curtain.
We needed the trees to be trimmed and some of the perimeter cleaned up. The same person who cut the trees also removed the damaged areas of the fence.
April: 1st delivery of 5 boulders. The 1st boulder got stuck in the mud with the forklift. The rest of the boulders were temporarily placed until the next delivery.
Met Andre Herron and Leon Roberson (with Dept. of Transportation & Public Works) to discuss placement of boulders.
May: Last 3 boulders were delivered from Classic Rock Stone Yard.
City of Dallas scheduled crew to place boulders. This crew was awesome!
We continued to have class at the Inspired Vision Center. The kids continued to learn about The Constellation of Living Memorials.
They learned about each vignette on the CLM banner.
I have recently realized the Historical Marker for Albert Carver Cemetery is incorrect. It states that Albert and Mary had 4 sons who are buried at the cemetery. All five sons have been buried there. Thomas was left off the list.
The owner of Celebrate Life reached out to me to see if I wanted to be involved in his company. He is taking care of our cemetery for free. I am working on uploading information on each Carver. We have all the headstones on his gps. We will get a sign at the entrance to scan a qr code. The qr code will direct them to the gravesite and also tell you about the person. https://www.celebratelifeco.com/obituaries/182
Coming up….
July: flora & fauna survey
October flora & fauna survey
Coming in the fall: Start planning to prepare the wildflower seed area. And plan what to plant around the new boulder areas.
Prepare for 4H classes.
