Austin Cemetery, Pioneer Memorial Unveiling Ceremony
A short ceremony honoring the pioneers of the past.
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www.kelvinbueckert.com
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00:00Welcome to the Austin Cemetery.
00:28I'm Janice Weave, Chairperson of the Austin Cemetery Committee, which consists of Arlene
00:33Jarama, Barb Grift, Lorraine Schipanski, Doug Hodgins, Jack Kronk, and Ken Winters.
00:40Not everyone can say their cemetery is a busy place, but ours has had a lot going on, even
00:45in these quiet times.
00:46We are into our third year of refurbishment project, where we are straightening and washing
00:50headstones, especially the historic ones at the risk of falling or where they are unreadable.
00:57Our $3,000 per year budget can do between 20 to 30 stones, depending on the work involved
01:02with each.
01:03Community generosity and support of our fundraisers goes a long way on this annual ongoing project.
01:09Should your family's plot need work, please contact us and we'll let you know what's involved
01:14in getting it fixed up.
01:15A new columbarium is coming this fall where the new cement pad sits.
01:20Funds were being raised and the generosity of the Tom and Hazel Lowe Estate topped up
01:24that project.
01:25So thankful to the Lowe family for their support of a true community project.
01:30Our veterans are always treated with the greatest respect here in Austin.
01:34Annual copy placement ensures their visibility in our midst.
01:38The Cenotaph also lists the veterans from this community.
01:41The Cenotaph is receiving a facelift this summer made possible by the Manitoba Military
01:46Grant, a North Norfolk Foundation grant, sales from fundraisers, and general donations.
01:52Thank you to everyone who supports this cemetery in these ways.
01:57Now the Pioneer Memorial.
01:59This cemetery is located along the Fort Ellis Trail.
02:02It is said to come by where the grandstand of the museum sits and then passes along the
02:08north side of here and goes west across our farm.
02:12Elders in the community talked of crosses along the trail marking graves of settlers,
02:17pioneers, and travellers who travelled no further.
02:21In most instances, those markers are long gone.
02:24In our cemetery, we also have many unmarked graves where wooden crosses and markers once
02:30were or records have been lost.
02:33Our Pioneer Memorial project is in honour of those whose presence in history was real
02:39but their graves are no longer visible.
02:42The Manitoba 150 grant in 2020 of $6,500 made this memorial we are unveiling tonight a reality.
02:50Our history lies in our cemeteries and we honour it gladly with this beautiful reminder
02:55of those who have gone before.
02:58Thank you to everyone for their interest and for coming out in support of cemetery projects.
03:02The generosity of our community members with donations and volunteer time and with the
03:07support of the Municipality of North Norfolk as well as the Province of Manitoba with grants,
03:12our cemetery is able to restore, refurbish, maintain, and build new for future generations.
03:19We'll have a few words from Karen Goote from the North Norfolk Foundation.
03:25Thank you Janice.
03:26Hi there, I'm Karen Goote from the North Norfolk Foundation and thank you very much for this
03:30opportunity to present at the unveiling of the Cenotaph.
03:33Arlene Jarama on behalf of the Austin Cemetery Committee applied for a Build 150 grant for
03:38her interesting project in recognizing the need for the marking of the graves.
03:44These types of projects are unusual and very important to history, especially of North
03:49Norfolk.
03:50I'd like to take a moment to thank Arlene for working tirelessly on these types of projects
03:55because not everybody just picks up a project like this.
03:58So we appreciate that you're so connected to history but also to the people of North
04:04Norfolk that have lived here and Janice as well, and Janice Weave as well.
04:10It was very interesting when Arlene came to ask for a grant from the Build 150 and she
04:18presented in front of the entire committee.
04:22What was interesting about it was the fact that we had never heard of this witching stick
04:28that she uses to find graves and she described the whole process and she had absolutely everybody
04:35enthralled.
04:36And so it's very unusual for us to have an opportunity to hear such a storytelling project
04:44and that's part of what the legacy of Build 150 is supposed to be about.
04:48It's building for Manitoba's on of course of its birthday 150 years and about the storytelling
04:54and the stories that are around our province.
04:57And so this was just a perfect project to be chosen as one of the four projects that
05:01the North Norfolk Foundation sponsored.
05:04So the North Norfolk Foundation matched four grants for a total of $40,000 to create a
05:08legacy Manitoba Build 150 projects.
05:12The North Norfolk Foundation chose Austin Cemetery, Sprucedale Greenhouse, Valley View
05:17Bible Camp and the North Norfolk Dog Park to receive funding.
05:22These projects were chosen to have long-lasting impacts to the North Norfolk area.
05:27The North Norfolk Foundation continues to grant worthy projects in our area, granting
05:31approximately $68,000 per year.
05:35We really are glad to be a part of this and we hope we continue with more history projects
05:40in our area because that's what keeps it alive.
05:43We have a tremendous relationship with the museum across the street and I've been funding
05:49numerous projects over the years and continue to support those as well.
05:54But I know that as I look around there's others that are interested in history projects and
05:58I hope you reach out to the foundation we'd like to support.
06:02So thank you very much for having me today and this is a wonderful opportunity for all of us.
06:06We've also got Arlene here.
06:07If you see anything pretty in the cemetery, Arlene's responsible because she is the artsy
06:12person on our committee and she makes everywhere she goes more beautiful and she works so hard
06:17and tirelessly for our committee and for this cemetery.
06:20So Arlene.
06:21Okay.
06:22First, I'm going to talk about the on-mark graves.
06:28When Janice came on the committee, she said there are so many babies buried here that
06:38are on-marked.
06:40We should have some kind of dedication to them.
06:45So I applied when this Manitoba 150 came up and I applied and we received it.
06:51This summer, Janice and I walked the cemetery with the wires.
06:55We found and recorded 126 on-mark graves, not including this area which is, you said,
07:08over 100.
07:11So this all probably are burials that had wooden crosses over 120 years ago.
07:22So this is the only project we don't have any funding for.
07:25We have 29 graves we have found that have names.
07:32Not all of them have dates yet.
07:35Five of them will be family-supported.
07:39So this is something that will be our next project is the on-mark graves.
07:45It's $150 to support a small stone.
07:50And as I showed you with this, we just walk it and pretty good chance I'll find one.
08:01Oh, there we go.
08:13We can also tell if it's male or female.
08:15Janice is better at this than me, but there can't be any wind.
08:19If you hold it like this, it depends whether it goes clockwise or counterclockwise, whether
08:24it's male or female.
08:27Another project, I've been doing cemetery saddles.
08:31They're $50 each and $25 goes to the cemetery.
08:35This one is for sale.
08:37This was on spec.
08:39So I've done about eight so far.
08:45Anything else?
08:52Thank you everybody who came and is interested in our projects that we do here and thank
08:57you everybody for your support and we're going to take the tarp off this beautiful
09:01memorial.
09:04Oh, this way.
09:06Are you ready, Declan?
09:10Get in there.
09:17Thank you to Ed and Kelvin for the sound and we have Declan on the drone and Neil's taking
09:25pictures.
09:26Barb's taking pictures.
09:27Thank you so much, Danny.
10:27Those who have passed this way, travelers, homesteaders, pioneers, and infants who lay
10:34in unmarked and unknown graves in the Austin Cemetery, as well as those buried in nearby
10:42fields and along the Fort Alice Trail, erected by the Austin Cemetery Committee with funding
10:49from Manitoba Build 150 and the North Norfolk Foundation, June 2021.
11:10Could we just take a few minutes to bow our heads and think of those in the unmarked,
11:19unknown graves, as well as those marked and known in the Austin Cemetery.
11:50Thank you for your respect.
12:04I guess that'll tarp.