-HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2006
(ALREADY!)

Happy New Year! Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy President’s Day! Happy 2006 to one and all! May all good things come to everyone and may this be the best year ever! There is something about a new year, new beginnings, new ideas, new faith, new aspirations, new wishes, new freshness that seems to get people moving. This year will be a banner year! How could it be anything else?

We have been on the move. We have already tentatively set our schedule for the year and we are in the process of making “it” happen. Beginning in May we will list the events we will have for each month so you may set your calendar to come and be a part of them! We are very excited about our events. There will be history, drama, things you thought you knew, but didn’t, really! But most of all there will be fun!

Have you been watching the changes on the website lately? Have you visited the “Historical Biographies” or clicked on the “Genealogy” button? Did you know there are over 20,000 names in the genealogy alone? Make sure when you explore that area that you look over the notes as well. There are many stories and details that are amazing to read. As a matter of fact, Bruce Mathews, who has built that program for Elmwood Cemetery, will be giving a presentation about that very subject in the Armour Chapel on Saturday, April 29, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. Bruce is a very motivational speaker and we know you will absolutely enjoy hearing and learning from him!

Our Memorial Day Weekend of Events is coming up. The month of May will be here before we know it! Last year’s Hog Roast with the James and Younger Family reenactors was such a success that we have decided to do it again this year. As a matter of fact, the entire first day, Saturday, May 27, 2006, of the Memorial Day Weekend of Events will be full of action and we invite you to join us. Our Opening Ceremony begins at 9:00 a.m. with the Color Guards from the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department and the Kansas City, Missouri Fire Department. At 10:00 a.m. the Dedication Ceremony for “Heroes’ Way” which expresses our appreciation for the “First Responders” in our community, those folks, who everyday, put their lives on the line to ensure our safety, Police Officers and Fire Fighters. Tyson Hanie and Troop 8 are building this project, for young Hanie’s Eagle Scout badge. We are very proud to have Tyson and his troop involved in this permanent memorial section. The “Way” will be mulched and hold picnic tables with stanchions that will hold biographies of the officers and fire fighters beginning with the First Chief of Police, Thomas Speers and the First Fire Chief, Francis Foster. We are very excited! Then at 11:00 a.m. our hog roast begins! We will have reenactors to mingle and mix with the picnickers and we will also have hamburgers, hot dogs, beans, potato salad and cole slaw for everyone to eat! Be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, May 27, 2006 beginning a 9:00 a.m.!! You sure don’t want to miss out! Watch our “Events” page for more details as we get closer to May!

Derrick Hover has made it home from Iraq and is taking back his position as our grounds keeper. He is very excited to be home and is looking forward to taking care of the “yard.” Derrick has already looked over the property and knows there is a lot of work to be done. We are absolutely delighted to have him home and healthy!

In the last few years, we have been approached by scouts looking to complete their work for their Eagle Scout Badge. Usually, these are young men who have known someone who knows someone who has come to us for ideas. We are so very pleased to have the opportunity to be of assistance in this worthwhile goal. If you know of someone who would be interested in projects toward their Eagle Scout Badge, please contact the office at 816-231-0373. We have a number of projects of all types out here. We have discovered the more we do, the more we find we have to do. It is an amazing thing and we are extremely grateful for the involvement of our young people.

Speaking of scouts, we also have the wonderful organization Girl Scouts of America troops out here as well. There are many things Elmwood requires, many projects and ideas that need to be fulfilled. This is a most wonderful place for the planting of gardens, re-working of landscaping, resetting stones, cataloging of trees and bushes, making a better nature reserve for bird-watching and butterfly watching. The Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts have worked very hard for us and we look forward to their increasing involvement in the years to come! You can be sure these are young folks of whom we can all be very proud.

Please be sure to visit the “Biographies” and “Genealogy” and then make suggestions or comments on our “Forum” page. We are always interested in the views of folks who visit the website as well as those who visit Elmwood herself. We enjoy input and ideas for improving the grounds; of course, we are always looking for volunteers who will help us carry out those very ideas!

If you would like to become a sponsor for Elmwood Cemetery, or know someone who would, please contact the office at 816-231-0373. We have many projects we need funding for and we would be more than enthusiastic to give credit where credit is due! We have very affordable sponsorship levels and will gratefully speak with all interested parties. We are a 501(c)13, a non-profit since 1898, and we are a 501(c)3 through the Kansas City Community Foundation. If you donate through the Kansas City Community Foundation, please be sure to earmark the donation to Elmwood Cemetery, 4900 Truman Road, Kansas City, MO 64127. Remember, we are all volunteers here so all money goes to the upkeep of Elmwood and to mow our “yard.” Approximately 98% of our operating budget comes through donations, so keep us in mind! We are tax-deductible!

Everyone take good care at the beginning of this marvelous year of 2006 and may God bless you and keep you safe!

Breaking history news from Elmwood Cemetery!! We are proud to announce our firm and concrete place in the storied history of young Abraham Lincoln! Sarah Rickard Barret was a prominent love interest and sweetheart of young Lincoln back in his early days at Springfield, Illinois. Her husband, Richard Barret was a close friend to Lincoln and knew him for many years. Due to that friendship, Lincoln appointed Richard to an office when he became President! But...the story doesn't stop here! Lincoln boarded with Sarah's sister, Elizabeth and her husband, William upon his arrival to Springfield. Sarah also knew Abe's best friend, Joshua Speed, was aquainted with Lincoln's law partner, William Herndon and she knew Mary Todd Lincoln!! The whole story of this magnificent and groundbreaking find are now found on the "historical biographies" page. We are spotlighting history like we have never done before with Sarah and Richard Barret as the only two new additions to under "New Biographies!" and you have seen that the home page has been dedicated to this! Elmwood has been in contact with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois and they are excited about our new find as well! They have asked us to supply all the information we have on this and they in return will be linking up to us on the Presidential Library website! This story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, The Pitch, Northeast News, KMBZ Radio, The State Journal Register newspaper in Springfield, Illinois and will soon be covered by The Kansas City Star newspaper and KMBC TV in the near future!! Do not miss this unbelieveable history that is not only news for Elmwood, but for Jackson County, Missouri, the city of Kansas City and the state of Missouri. Elmwood is nationally recognized by the Sierra Club headquarters of San Francisco for the burial place of naturalist, John Muir's father, Daniel AND by the Jesse James Farm and Museum in Kearney, Mo. for being the temporary resting place of Jesse's devoted wife, Zerelda "Zee" James! Recognition by The Lincoln Presidential Library just strengthens our clout within historic Kansas City! To date, THIS IS the most historic find in the 133 year history of Elmwood Cemetery! Bar none!

Image of Abraham Lincoln used by permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, Illinois.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! THIS November, Elmwood Cemetery will post what is it's most significant and historic find in it's 133 year history!! This story was written about in the October 28th Wall Street Journal and is continuing to build momentum as it spreads! We are overjoyed at this extremely educational piece of history and promise that it will be a major surprise!! We will spotlight this story in a way it has never been done on our website!! We hope to incorporate it into living history plans for the future and make this one of the great tales in Elmwood Cemetery! A Presidential library has already confirmed that they want the info that we have as far as burial records and photos of the plots. This is a most exciting time for our cemetery, Jackson County and Kansas City! If there was ever a time to exclaim "Think you know whose buried in Elmwood cemetery?.....THINK AGAIN!" This is that time! DON'T MISS THIS!!!!

Finally...the ten biographies have been added to bring the total to 100 and we are not stopping there! Never in the 133 year history of Elmwood Cemetery has it's history been put together like this! This is a landmark milestone in the growth and development of expanding Elmwood into an educational facility and library and taking our firm and rightful place among the most historic places in all of Kansas City! From Independence, Missouri to the Peru-Bolivia border in South America, Elmwood continues to bring you the newest and greatest from the annals of time. More and more bios are on the way! To add to all of the excitement, a brand new find in history has taken place and it is the most historic and valuable find in the 133 year history of Elmwood Cemetery!! Yes folks, a new day has come at Elmwood and it brings the most jaw dropping and unbelievable story this cemetery has even known!!! In November, only two new biographies will be added. These two additions will be spotlighted with this incredible news and we know you will be stunned just as we were. We hope you enjoy the ten new additions and be sure you don't miss the two additions in November!! It might be "four score and seven years" before history like this comes again!

We are anxiously rolling towards October and gearing up to unveil the next 10 biographies that will bring our total to 100!!! We are sure that there will be a little something for everyone! Some of the biggest and most historic names from U.S. history, entertainment and sports are intertwined within the lives of our Elmwood residents and there is much more to come! After the 100 bios are set, we will begin again with #101 where more history will come to the forefront. DONT MISS these unique and educational stories of our departed Elmwood citizens! If you have a relative or relatives at Elmwood, please share your stories with us so we may tell THEIR stories and remember their legacies that they left behind! AND.......DONT MISS THE 3RD ANNUAL ELMWOOD 5K GRAVEYARD RUN AND COMMUNITY WALK ON OCTOBER 29, 2005 BEGINNING AT 8:00 A.M.!!!! SIGN UP NOW! All proceeds go to the maintenance and ongoing work to keep the gates of Elmwood open and the Elmwood history alive!

Elmwood held a bottled water drive for the Hurricane Katrina victims from 9am - 5pm on Sept 1 and 2. We are very proud to announce that it was a great success!! A whopping 43 cases of bottled water and 32 one gallon jugs of water were collected!! THANKS TO ALL who participated!! Please remember the Katrina victims across the Gulf region! Call 1-800-HELP NOW or go to the Red Cross website at www.redcross.org.

WE’RE BACK!!!!!! Good to see you again, everyone! Thanks to everybody for there patience while we were away! We are up and running with sixteen brand new biographies loaded with some of the most interesting and unforgettable information to date!! We have prided ourselves in bringing you the greatest stories and fame from some of our Elmwood residents and these sixteen are not different! Unbelievable history that has been long forgotten is being released for out historical biographies page and they are full of some of the most familiar names in American and world history! With and addition of these sixteen new people, we are ten way from out landmark 100 biographies! That’s right, folks… 100! Join us in October when we will release the last ten biographies to coincide with our 3rd Annual Elmwood 5K Graveyard Run & Family Walk on October 29, 2005 and celebrate out landmark 100 bios! Excitement is very high at Elmwood and we are just beginning! We are building this cemetery to be arguably the most historic spot in Kansas City by variety of history. In our goal to reach the status of educational library, we so far have 150 books and rising by donation or on loan that are now in our possession. And to add to that, our goal of transforming into a historical museum is taking massive strides as we have obtained several authentic and precious items to add to our museum items inventory! Our website is averaging around 1,400 hits per day from all over the world in places like Canada, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the U.S. Military forces! Yes, the Elmwood train is on the tracks and gaining steam. The process of establishing this cemetery as an institution of learning and valuable resource for education is being cemented every day. Our genealogy computer files are growing thanks to the families from all over the United States that have provided information for us and we are getting requests for genealogy information all the time! If you have an ancestor or relative here at Elmwood, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? Compile and copy any and everything you have, bring it or send it to us and we can add it to our files and computer. We have updated the following pages on our website: Home page, historical biographies (including updates to Ella Loose, Charles Shipley, Frank Ringo, Kersey Coates, Edna Johnson Anderson and John W. Reid), Accomplishments, Volunteers and Support! So, bounce around and check out all the new stuff we have jammed into our pages! Elmwood was once known as the “Premiere resting place in Kansas City”, it’s truly becoming one of the “Premiere learning places in Kansas City!” Our path to 100 historical bios will run alongside with our 3rd Annual 5K Graveyard Run and Family Walk in October! They will include a plane ride with actor, Wallace Beery, having Abe Lincoln over for dinner and someone that was never afraid of the “phog” while being the uncle of John Foster Dulles! Can you guess who these people might be?? If you think you know whose buried in Elmwood Cemetery….. THINK AGAIN!

See you in OCTOBER for our landmark 100 BIOGRAPHIES update!!!!

H&R Bloch's Henry Bloch autographs and donates a copy of the Wollman-Bloch Family history book to our volunteer photographer, Bruce Mathews. This is the 150th item for the Elmwood Library!

An authentic 1894 theatre program from Eddie Foy's "Off the Earth" theatrical production in Boston is acquired from RubyLane/ShowBizaar in New York city as a part of our museum inventory.

Authentic copies, taken directly from the original letters written to Charles Appy from composers such as Franz Lizst, Clara Schumann, Neils Gade and Hans Von Bulow, are acquired from the UCLA University Music Special Collections archives as a part of our museum inventory. Also, the public holding vault is cleaned out and the vaults where Zee James was placed are pinpointed and available to be shown to the public!