What's New?

I added three articles this month, one on Historic Military Headstones, another on Military Cemeteries, and finally, one Inspirational Bible Passages for Tombstone Inscriptions.

If you didn't submit your story for the book project honoring the former caretaker of Riverside Cemetery in Denver, Cliff Dougal, you still have time! If you would like to submit a story Cliff told you, or tell one of your memories of Cliff, please use this submission form.

Coming Events

In honor of Colorado's founding, there will be a special month of free obituary posting. For the entire month of August, post your obituary for free! This is a $25 value, and if you post an obituary for a loved one interned in a Colorado cemetery, you will also be adding them to the full database.

Featured Article

Working Toward a Non-Profit Organization

Since last month, I've been following two threads from the last newsletter. This month, I'd like to fill you in on that progress.

First, I've started to look into organization structures, fees required, and filing requirements for a non profit organization. I've been reading books and getting ideas from the library on how to build alliances with other groups and people. I've started to talk with other like-minded individuals, and we are looking to find people who might be interested in lending his or her expertise to such an organization.

I work like to encourage historians, preservationists, or enthusiastic amateurs interested in working as a member of the Board to contact me from the website. I'd like to start some more formal planning, and schedule some meetings with those interested in working to get this off the ground.

Next, I've been looking on resolving some of the technological hurdles in coordinating data collection, and I have had a few people "field testing" the forms as they currently exist. So far, my feeling is that these tools need some serious work, and so, I probably need to put more hours into making it more robust and easier for people to contribute data.

I've learned that the fees for filing for tax-exempt status are in the neighborhood of $400, and there will be other costs associated with starting such an organization, such as a PO box, bank account, and other administrative costs. If anyone loves working on those details of running an organization, contact me we need you!

Ultimately, it becomes increasingly clear to me that for the organization to work, it will take all of our efforts. I am indebted to the people I've meet through this venture for inspiring me with their love of cemeteries, their energy, and their willingness to contribute. I look forward to finding and talking with more of you.

Have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

Around the Web

I admit to still being any amateur photographer with much to learn. This week, I found this article on photographing tombstones which has some good tips.

Property owners converting a former funeral home to a museum, upon discovering many unclaimed sets of remains, have been working to make sure the veterans among those unclaimed are give a proper burial.

Sadly, what those museum owners have discovered is becoming more and more common. More and more frequently, funeral homes have seen increasing numbers of unclaimed remains.

Ever wonder about what it would be like to be a groundskeeper at a cemetery? Here's anin-depth portrait of a crew that prepares and maintains the sacred grounds where we come to mourn.

A fence segregating a cemetery by race is a constant reminder of the struggles of a country trying to heal the pains of the past.

Find us in Facebook!

More pictures! More discussion! More cemeteries! Introducing a new way to keep up with all the Colorado-Cemeteries.com news, and even talk about the site with other "fans."

Missed an Issue?

Don't fret! All the issues of Grave News can be found online at: http://www.colorado-cemeteries.com/Grave_News-backissues.html