For the coming Memorial Day weekend, EMCA will place flags on the graves of over 100 veterans buried in the cemetery to honor their service to our country. This ritual has become a tradition. We have been highlighting veterans' graves with flags for the past 16 years.

 

Memorial Day was first established in the late 1860s by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) to commemorate the Civil War dead. One third of the veterans buried in the Masonic Cemetery fought in the Civil War. Many of them were from the East and Middle West who, following the war, crossed the plains to Oregon and settled in Eugene. Many were active in the GAR, the pre-eminent Union veteran organization. Two of our veterans, however, had fought with the Confederacy, one of them a future UO professor.

 

A second tribute to veterans will be the playing of Taps by Barry Barreau on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday noon in the Public Square. Barry and his bugle will commemorate all the veterans buried in the Masonic Cemetery and elsewhere.

Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind, and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape as demonstrated by Fran Ross in the photo. The practice goes back for centuries, but was truly made into an art form by the French Impressionists. Their desire to paint light and its changing, ephemeral qualities, coupled with the creation of transportable paint tubes and the box easel-the precursor to the plein air easels of today-allowed artists the freedom to paint "en plein air," which is the French expression for "in the open air."

 

Today the practice is flourishing with artists attending paintout events, workshops and joining plein air groups worldwide.The Plein Air Painters of Lane County have nature in abundance in Oregon, from the Coast to the Cascades. All artists are welcome to join in the experience of painting "in the open air." 

Back in 2001, the EMCA embarked on a long range project, the replacement of all the vandalized stained windows in Hope Abbey. We started by reopening all the bricked up openings and installing security windows to prevent future vandalism. Our intent is to sell all the windows as memorials to fund the project. When all the windows are sold, those sales will fully fund the project, and free up the original investment for use in other mausoleum projects.

 

About two years ago we finished the last window. Since 2001 most of the windows have been sold as memorials, as can be seen on the two donor recognition boards flanking the entrance doors. John Rose, our stained glass expert, designed and constructed the donor boards and with the help of Pete LaVelle fabricated and installed all the windows.

 

You still have a chance to provide a lasting
window memorial for a relative or friend.

>> Of the original 62 clerestory windows, there are 10 unsold. We sell these for $500, and the names of the donor and the person honored or memorialized are placed on the south donor board.

>> Of the original 10 lower tier medium sized windows, there are 4 left. We sell these for $1,000, and the names of the donor and the person honored or memorialized are placed on the north donor board, and an individual plaque is mounted on the wall under the window.

>> Of the original 2 lower tier large sized windows, there is one left. We sell these for $2,000, and the names of the donor and the person honored or memorialized are placed on the north donor board and an individual plaque is mounted on the wall under the window.

 

When these are gone there will be no new window memorials, but there will be several places for memorial plaques throughout the cemetery. Please help us finish funding this project by contacting me, Denny Hellesvig. I can be reached at (541) 485-6124, or at <hellesvig@comcast.net>