Community Corner

Girl Scout Troop Gets Kudos for Huntley Cemetery Project

Troop creates database and map of veterans' gravesites.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 828 always put American flags on the graves of fallen soldiers resting in Huntley Cemetery, but they felt badly about missing some gravesites.

“We want to honor every single one,” Girl Scout Delaney Hajek, 11, said, adding the troop did not want to miss giving a single soldier the honor he or she deserved.

The problem was there was no real record listing the names and locations of veterans’ graves, troop leader Carolyn Krich said. The American Legion had a list, but it wasn’t up-to-date.

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“We were having problems finding all the veterans and were worried we weren’t finding them all,” Krich said.

The 12 members of the troop and their leaders decided to take on the major task of researching the veterans buried in the cemetery, creating a database of the names and a map listing the location of their gravesites.

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Each Girl Scout spent about 25 hours apiece walking the Huntley Cemetery rubbing information from gravestones with flags on them onto paper then researching the names using cemetery records, Krich said.

The Girl Scouts recognized their effort with a Bronze Award, one of the highest honors for girls in their age group, and the troop received many thanks from village officials Thursday night.

“I want to publically thank you girls and the troop for what you’ve done for the cemetery and the village,” said Bill Eisenmenger, a member of the cemetery committee. “It’s a good thing.”

Krich and fellow troop leader Kristin McCusker created a spreadsheet with the information and a map, which should help the troop next spring, when they again place flags in the cemetery. As veterans pass away and are buried in the Huntley cemetery, their names will be added to the database, Krich said.

The oldest grave dates to the Civil War but does not include a date of birth or death. The person’s name is S.C. Vanhorn, Krich said.

Another veteran whose gravesite the troop was able to find belonged to Capt. Thomas Grimley who was born July 5, 1822. The captain died Dec. 3, 1894.

McKenzie Krich, 11, said the troop loved doing the project and worked together as a team. Everyone had a job on the project and spent a lot of time on it, she said. Like the rest of the troop, she received a bronze pin for the project.

The troop also created a new sign for the cemetery, which they presented to the village board.

“We are very proud of them,” Eisenmenger said, adding it is always nice to see the community’s youth take a project like that.


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