Cemetery accounting important

It might sound a tad morbid at first, but "retracing" the gravesites in a cemetery has its purpose.

It is particularly important for the Blackberry Township board, which recently took over care of Blackberry Cemetery at Keslinger Road and Route 47.

"Our sexton, Fred Dornback, is working hard at getting a record of burials there and mapping it to make sure it is known who is in what gravesite and what their age was," Blackberry Township Supervisor Dave Anderson said.

With advice from the St. Charles Township Cemetery Association, Anderson said the process will result in a computerized record of the cemetery.

This is important as a future reference for historical purposes, potential land development issues that could arise years from now, and for family records.

But part of that end result will be that the township may conduct a historical "cemetery walk" next spring, Anderson said.

"Township residents will be able to come out and learn who is buried there and the age of those burials," Anderson said. "Right now, it appears the earliest birth of a person buried there is 1770."

Lots of power: Lots of mental and physical power went into organizing the St. Peter Barn Sale, so now its planners just have to wait with open arms for the crowds they hope will gather at the county fairgrounds for this annual event.

But this weekend will mark the first time the sale is at the fairgrounds and back in the hands of St. Peter Church. So don't show up at Holy Cross in Batavia, where it has been held the past 10 years.

A fat prize: Steve Saunders apparently feels he has a fat mouth, and his newsletter of the same name earned him a $1,000 prize from Realtor Magazine for a top cross-marketing idea.

The Fat Mouth newsletter promotes some of his clients but mostly gives area businesses a spot for a quick promotion, while also benefiting the real estate investment company Saunders operates called the NextProperty Group in Geneva.

Saunders wants the newsletter viewed as a community-based information source, not just a plug for his company.

Cart from the heart: As I was walking into the Butera grocery store on the east side of St. Charles, an elderly lady moving very slowly with a cane was making her way into the store at the same time.

I quickly went to the shopping carts so I could pull one out for this woman, who looked as if she might have trouble doing so herself.

Of course, I chose a cart that was stuck inside of another. I pulled and tugged and yanked, to no avail.

The lady watched my battle and said, "Oh my, that cart is really stuck." She then proceeded, with one hand, to slowly pull out her cart. And then she pulled out another.

"Here you go," she said, with a smile.

By this time, I was nearly ready to jump on my conjoined carts and use my feet for extra leverage in an attempt to separate them.

"I was trying to get one out for you," I told the lady.

"I know," she said. "That's why I got one for you."

dheun@sbcglobal.net