Scout gathering data from graves at Blackberry Cemetery

There's more to a grave marker than meets the eye. And there are more than 6,000 grave sites in the 11-acre Blackberry Cemetery at Route 47 and Keslinger Road.

For Brock Feece, a sophomore at Kaneland High School, that adds up to an Eagle Scout project challenge.

Three years ago, Blackberry Township Supervisor Dave Anderson told me that he and cemetery supervisor Fred Dornbach were trying to think of a way to compile all of the pertinent data related to the cemetery grave sites as a way to compile historical and genealogical information.

So Feece comes to the rescue in that sense, taking on the task of gathering all of that information for his Eagle Scout project.

"We're just getting started on the actual field work (taking pictures and taking notes of information supplied on the grave sites), but there was a lot of preplanning involved and lot of paperwork to go through," Feece said. "It's been a year in the works, as there were many documents and records on the families to go through."

Part of the project will call for Feece to oversee the work of some fellow Troop 41 Scouts out of Sugar Grove, who will help him compile data.

Essentially, Feece said, his project will attempt to get all of the pertinent information regarding a grave site, including a photo of the grave marker, all in one place on a computer.

During the process, Feece will be able to eventually record the number of military veterans buried in the cemetery.

Anderson, for one, was surprised when he learned that 122 young men from Elburn and Blackberry served in the Civil War.

"That's a lot more than most people would have thought," Anderson said.

"Brock is a great kid and this is going to be a great service to the people of the community, especially those interested in family histories and lineage," Anderson added.

Hotel struts its stuff:

It was fun to dance in the Rainbow Room of the Hotel Baker again last Wednesday in the first of a series of upcoming live music dates at the downtown St. Charles gem.

But I marveled at how the hotel has changed from its days when I served on the Lutheran Social Services board of governors helping oversee operation of the hotel as a senior living center.

For those interested in the history of the hotel that opened in June of 1928, it closed its doors to the public on Christmas Eve of 1969 and reopened two days later as the senior center.

In the past decade or so, it was put on the auction block and saved by St. Charles businessman Craig Frank. When it went up for sale again, Joe Salas bought it.

It has enjoyed a nice revival and restoration and, in celebrating its 80th birthday this year, here's to hoping it stays a viable part of the community for decades to come.

Those airmail deliveries:

The items of the past few weeks regarding the mail drops by helicopter at Wheeler Park in Geneva some 50 years ago have triggered interesting responses and questions about that delivery.

When a reader asked why that mail came by helicopter instead of by train, some longtime residents speculated that it had to be special airmail delivery.

Bernie Naughton of Geneva, who worked for the St. Charles post office for 36 years, confirmed that speculation. Part of his job was grabbing those bags of mail after the drop-offs.

"Those helicopters all had air- or first-class mail on them, so it had to be delivered faster than what the trains could do," Naughton confirmed. "That was your most expensive mail, and people paid extra for it.

"That helicopter had other drops, other than in Wheeler Park, but I'm not positive about that," Naughton said. "My memory is not one of my stronger things these days."

Naughton said his days as a letter carrier were fairly simple back then. "You strapped a bag on your shoulder, and you took off," he said. "Near the tail end of my time there, you could drive your car to certain spots, deliver the mail, and then go back to your car."

Switching shelters:

I've so often mentioned a St. Charles homeless shelter that my brain must have locked in on that town when I wrote of Aurora University students' fundraising efforts for a shelter last week. They raised $6,000 for Hesed House which is in Aurora, not St. Charles, as I wrote. My apologies.

dheun@sbcglobal.net