Cemetery Commission

APPROVED COPY Deerfield Cemetery Commission Meeting Minutes May 10, 2016 Members of the Commission assembled at 6:30 p.m. on the Deerfield Cemetery grounds located at 570 Waukegan Road prior to the start of the regular scheduled meeting. The main focus was to inspect the grounds for any maintenance needed due to the winter weather as well as getting the grounds prepared for the Memorial Day holiday. A meeting of the Deerfield Cemetery Commission was held on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall Executive Conference Room at 850 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, Illinois. Present were: Maynard Grossman, Chairman Mike Cramer Paul Meintzer Dan Ziemba John Zobus Also present: Jean Spagnoli, Village Planner Debbie Galante, Secretary Public Comment: There was no public comment. Document Approval: The minutes of the October 19, 2015 meeting were unanimously approved. Business: 1. Review observations made at the cemetery grounds The first item discussed was what type of tree should be planted in place of the dead crabapple tree that has been removed. Ms. Spagnoli suggested speaking with Dawn Rummel at Moore Landscapes for suggestions. At the same time she will also ask about the two oak trees that look like they may be in distress and need some attention. Deerfield Cemetery Commission May 10, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Chairman Grossman thanked Mr. Meintzer for his work on the pavers around the Memorial Pole. Mr. Meintzer told the commission he has some finishing work to do on them and will have the project completed in time for Memorial Day. It was the general consensus that the cemetery overall withstood the winter with little to no damage. Comments were made by Mr. Zobus and Mr. Ziemba on how well the cemetery lawn looks for this time of year. Mr. Cramer suggested the landscaping looks to be much better than in years past. Overall the commission is very pleased with the condition of the cemetery. 2. Deerfield Cemetery website a. Usage and Hits Ms. Spagnoli reported that since the website has gone public there have been a total of 2,224 hits to date. In the past 6 months there have been a total of 236 hits. Ms. Spagnoli presented a graph that was produced by our GIS team to the members demonstrating the constant activity on the website. Mr. Cramer wondered if the hits were able to be tracked in terms of local use. Chairman Grossman replied that it usually can be done for an additional cost as his cemetery is able to track time of day, number of pages, time on each page and location. Ms. Spagnoli offered that the Deerfield Cemetery website does not have that capability at this time. b. Stone rubbing guidelines A letter was sent to Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld, District 109 regarding some general guidelines the commission would like followed by any of the class field trips that may include the cemetery. Most importantly any monument or marker rubbings as they have done in the past. Chairman Grossman asked if there has been any communication with Mr. Lubelfeld and he did in fact reach out to Ms. Spagnoli and informed her he will be sending a copy of the letter to all of the Deerfield Elementary schools. The letter includes information about using Blue Carboff Cemetery Rubbing Paper that the village does have on hand. This is the only way rubbings can be done safely in order to preserve the engravings. Ms. Spagnoli will look into getting information onto the website about obtaining the paper and instructions on how it should be used. Deerfield Cemetery Commission May 10, 2016 Page 3 of 4 3. Deerfield Public Library guest, Librarian Anne Jamieson a. Cemetery Tours Anne Jamieson along with coworker Ted Gray put together three cemetery tours in October 2015. Ms. Jamieson passed out to the commission members a Deerfield Cemetery Guide and Map that each participant received at the start of each tour, giving some history of the cemetery as well as history of the people buried there. The tour included both Mr. Gray and Ms. Jamieson dressed in period clothing engaged in dialogue while moving from grave to grave. They offered 3 tours over a two day period with a limit of 15 people in each tour. It was so well received by the community that every tour had a wait list. The Library would like to continue offering the tour in October and possibly with the cooperation of the Deerfield Area Historical Society and the American Legion and add a Veterans Tour on Veterans Day as well. Ms. Jamieson shared numerous possibilities for tour ideas and would like to involve all interested parties in the planning as well as possibly recording the tour and making it available for people to view. There was some concern from the commission that the Veterans Day events along with Mayor Rosenthal’s community event called Give Where You Live may be too much on one day. Chairman Grossman hoped that all parties involved could get together and make it work for the community. Mr. Cramer inquired about where all of the historical information was gathered from. Ms. Jamieson responded that much of it came from the Village website as well as a book by Marie Ward Reichelt’s History of Deerfield. Ms. Jamieson also spoke to the commission about the class she teaches in ancestry at the library and since its inception, has always used our website as a tool for the class. Many of the patrons that have taken advantage of the class have expressed how pleased they have been with the website and its content. Upon completion of her presentation, Chairman Grossman thanked Ms. Jamieson on behalf of the commission for taking the time to inform the commission on what had been done in the past and what can hopefully be accomplished in the future. Deerfield Cemetery Commission May 10, 2016 Page 4 of 4 Chairman Grossman suggested the Library should reach out to both the Historical Society and the American Legion about including everyone on the Veterans Day tours. Mr. Cramer suggested the Library might want to attend a Historical Society Board meeting held the 2nd Wednesday of every month at the Historical Village, to which everyone agreed. 4. Next meeting date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 - Time TBD Items from the Commission: No items from the Commission. Items from Staff: No items from staff. Adjournment: Being no further business or discussion the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Debbie Galante Secretary