Memorial Day Weekend: Annual Pioneer Cemetery Hop

One of our family traditions is put flowers on the graves of our family members on Memorial Day Weekend.  On Saturday, we go to the Drain area and visit the 7 pioneer cemeteries where our ancestors are.  Whoever can make it does, and always my Mom and her two sisters, Mardy and Sondy are there.  Guys are welcome, but they are infrequent.  After they grow up, they usually drop out of this special event.

I left Mayberry at 10:45.  I stopped by work first, getting some gas money and a kiss from my Cary.  I drove the two hours to Springfield and picked up Casey at his daycare, and then went over to my friend Sandy's house. 

Mike, Sandy and Kathy ~ Kathy Matthews

Sandy and I haven't seen each other for probably 10 years.  It was so nice to catch up!  I love that lady.  Casey was good, even though he was pretty bored.  We visited for over 3 hours.  Mike came home near the end, and Casey took our picture.

Kari, Kristin and Casey's yard. ~ Kathy Matthews

When Kari and Kristin got home from work, we went back home.  Isn't their yard pretty?  I couldn't get enough of the lush greenness of the valley, even though it rained the whole time so I was reminded what it takes to get it looking so pretty.

Grover greets Kari with a kiss as Casey watches on. ~ Kathy Matthews

We visited, watched "Modern Family",  and Kari made us a yummy dinner.

Meat and Cheese Cups with Green Bean Casserole ~ Kathy Matthews

You take biscuit dough from the store, put one slice in each muffin pan spot, put a cube of cheese in the bottom, fill it with meat filling and then bake.  Easy, yummy and creative!

What a handsome boy. ~ Kathy Matthews

Another handsome boy.  This was the first time that I had met Grover. ~ Kathy Matthews

Casey is in the plaid shirt in the top row, next to the boy in the hat. ~ Kathy Matthews

We also watched Casey's school musical that they performed last week about Lewis and Clark.  Boy, it was so well done!  I was really impressed.  Casey was singing the songs and doing all the motions as we watched the video, you could tell that he really enjoyed it. Kudo's to that music teacher.  Casey told me that the CD cost $15.00, because it was very rare.

Kathy Matthews

In the morning, Casey went out into the rain and cut a bunch of flowers to put on the graves.  He is quite helpful and gets stuck with lots of jobs that we don't really feel like doing.

Those of us from Eugene met at Mom's and drove to our first stop, Fir Grove Cemetery in Cottage Grove.  Here is our route:  Cottage Grove, Analauf, North Drain, Drain, Yoncalla Pioneer Cemetery, Hardscrabble (inside the tree farm) and Tin Pot (Putnam Valley).

Grandma Jody ~ Kathy Matthews

Mom brings extra flags just in case, for the veterans.  The cemetery peeps are good about putting flags on the graves, but sometimes they miss somebody.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I still think that my sister resembles Sarah Palin.  See that little video camera in her hand?  She was doing a documentary.  On us.

Nanny, Jen and Kristin ~ Kathy Matthews

Our part of the group got there early.  We walked around, shared the stories and took pictures and notes.

This year's group. ~ Kathy Matthews

We came from Portland, Eugene, La Pine and Sutherlin.

Busy at work. ~ Kathy Matthews

Orange girls rock!  ~ Kathy Matthews

We stop in Drain and go to the store.  This year, we did a photo shoot in front of this awesome old house.  It used to belong to Great-Great Aunt Myra and Great-Great Uncle John Hedrick.  For awhile, Aunt Myra used it as a boarding house and then later it was a funeral home for a while.  I'm going to do a whole separate post on it soon.

The Traylor Sisters ~ Kathy Matthews

 Sondy, Mardy and Jody

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

After leaving Drain, we went to the Yoncalla Pioneer Cemetery and ate lunch.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Done with that stop, we drove to the tree farm in Hardscrabble.  This is a 600 acre ranch that John and Louisa Hedrick homesteaded in the mid-1800's.  It is now a working tree farm, and we have permission to go in and visit the graves there each year.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Photo Source: Julie Anderson

See the red plant behind my hand?  Posion Oak.  I hope nobody will break out with a rash.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

We are training up the next generation, just as we were trained up.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Julie made a video of the day, and will be posting it on her blog as soon as she's done editing it.  It is going to be so cool, and I'll post the link to it when it's up. 

Please click here to go to Chubby Mommy Running Club and view the video that my sister Julie made of our day on Saturday. She also did a wonderful blog post. 

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I told Nanny that she looks like the Morton Salt girl in this picture.  She thought that was funny.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

This as we were getting rained on and leaving the very last cemetery, Tin Pot (Putnam Valley).  Then we hopped in our cars and drove back home.  It was a wonderful day!

How did you guys spend your long weekend?  I hope that you enjoyed it very much.


~ Kathy M.

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