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31 <br />TTIE ROSLYN CEMETERIES <br />KarYne Strom Ware l98E <br />Clu.rfered screnely on tlfteen acres ol'woods an{ hills, twenty-six separate' but arljacent cemetsries <br />iorm the Roslyn scillc{sry cornpler. Dating lrom 1886, lanri was purchits"b Frorn or was dorurted by the <br />Northern pacific con,fony try fi'aternal, <br />-ethnic, and r:ivic organizalions for burial of their cleceased <br />members. At least twenfy-flur nationalities ale represented within the nearly 5'000 graves' <br />Burial customs from those countri*, .un be observetl todiry. The ltalians and .Yugoslavians <br />especially, used elaborate markers. Photographs of the departecl can still be seen ensased in clear tile <br />embedded in the tombstones. Many graves seem to bc actually above the grerund due to thc praclice of <br />building curbings around rhe perimeter of the plot. '['he ornate-antl picnrresque l'ences aroltnd plots were <br />originaily *r..r"-d ro prorecL rhe site lront foraging cattle and wildlife. <br />In part, the uniqucncss ol the Rr:slyn i"**,"ry is thar, fbr most seclions' thc 'perpe{'tlal' care <br />exisred only as long as the participating organizarions and/or families were around to provide the <br />majntenaoce. Over the years, toag"s disbandJd and families died out or moved away' Except for the <br />Veteran's, the City Cemerery #3 (&lemorial Garclens), fte Slasonic and the Rcd Men Lodge sections for <br />which perpetua.l care is pravided, the mainrenance and restoration of this hisrorical area has becotne the <br />joint projecr of Fred Krueger's cle Elum lligh schoot history class and the Roslyn Kiwanis' It has been <br />through Krueger's efforr.s ihu, nu, cammunitics are beginning to recognize the importance of preserving <br />our precious heritage and relics of the past. <br />Recenrly the Cle H,lum High School hisrory cla.cs was f'eted at an after-school supper' hosted by the <br />Roslyn Kiwanis Club. TiLis was in-way of rhanks io these ycrung people lor their part in the restoraiion and <br />maintenance of the Rostyn Cemetery, o pr,4*tr spearheadetl by theirinstructor' Fred Kru1ee1 <br />Since I 914 the local history program has grown lrom a small segment of a <br />-semester <br />in washington <br />State History ro a tull t*o r.m"r,*irnurr* uf its*own. Three years ago-, in 1985, Krueger apprnached the <br />I{oslyn Kiwanis sceking a joint effbrt to clean up the overgtown- cerneteries and to begin prcserving the <br />historical value of the niea. In ,o*. of *re cemeteiies brush hadn't been cleared fbr over thtrry years' <br />Former Roslyn mayor ant! long-rirne Kiwanian, Dave Divelhiss, says that over the years proposals <br />werc made to have the city clean tlie ce*creries. 'tire legaliry of officially entering atrd maintaining <br />privatety owned llnd was questioned. The ciry att1xncy aailt*d that such a pructice is not legal' So the <br />area conlinued to deteriorate. <br />The Kiwanians enthusiastically endorsed Krueger's plan an,J retired Roslyn businessnran' Fabian <br />Kuchin, agreed to chair thc commiltel. Kuchin, Sl years young, coordinates the clean-up crews and sets <br />rhe work-pace by physically laboring right with the'young ptJpt"' "Much h;u been accomplished in the <br />pa-st hree years by these kiis", Kuchin says.'They work*l'our ioort u wcek during the schor:l year and' <br />besides gaining a respcct for our cemeteries they haie leamed to use.many tools expertly.' ' he continued' <br />over 110 rruckloads of brush and debris were hauled a\l'ay in 198?. As encroaching woods ere ctlt <br />back, lorgotten tornbstones emerge to reveal bunal placa-s lrom iung ago' These discoveries are exciting <br />and importanr t0 those involvcd ,iiff-r tf," project. n victeo rour of the cemetery was filmed by four of thc <br />srudenrs during Memona-l Day of 198?. There is a possibility it will be shown on Yakima's educationa'l tv <br />channel. <br />one of the fbarured scenes in the video is oi the kiosk rhat, spring to fall, occupies a prominenl <br />place at the lowerentrance just in tiont of the new veteran's cemetery. con'structed of a special laminate <br />to protect rhc hisrorical pictures and tcxts researched and written by the history classes' this two-sided <br />infonnation board is an impressive addidon to the cemetery' <br />The comrad".y a"i"top"d while *o.king on a shared project was mentioned as a plus by class <br />mernbers. Another is the projects they do which io.u, on local historical events' The general consensus is <br />that this class is interestin!, in pun, because their insmrctor is so interested. Nearly 150 srudenrs have been <br />involved with their communiry through Fred Krueger's classes'