Music to Die For

David Gross & Friends  

Sunday, September 25, 2016 

Hope Abbey Mausoleum 

2 PM

 

David is a singer-songwriter who began his career in the Chicago club scene, and toured the Midwest, opening for such performers as Odetta, John Prine, Tom Waits and many others. He now lives in Eugene. David appeared with Music To Die For in 2014.

This time he's bringing a slew of friends with him:

Jim Dotson            Banjo

Palmer Utterback  Harmonica

Andrew Greene     Percussion
Kriss Crawley        Vocals

Kathy Burleson      Vocals

Join us for an afternoon of folk and bluegrass music to delight the ears.

All MTDF programs are held in Hope Abbey Mausoleum on the grounds of the Eugene Masonic Cemetery, 25th & University, and begin at 2 PM. Seating is limited so please arrive early. All programs in this music series are free, however donations will be solicited.

Parking on the cemetery grounds is extremely limited, but both gates are open to allow alter-abled people access to Hope Abbey. Ample parking is available on nearby streets.

Last month I promised to tell you why we do a complete mowing only once a year. So why don't we mow?

Well, we do mow, but only in late summer do we mow the entire cemetery. (We regularly mow the Public Square, the cemetery edges and entrances, and the Hope Abbey meadow.) This is intentional; it is not negligence. The mowing strategy is an integral component of our comprehensive landscape management plan. Here are four reasons why we minimize mowing.

Read more? - Click here

A cemetery is filled with stone monuments which occasionally need to be moved or lifted for repair or leveling. Smaller ones can be wrangled by a couple strong backs. Large monuments require calling in a professional with a truck mounted winch. This leaves a large quantity of markers in between; those which weigh from perhaps 200 pounds up to 750 pounds. We needed a way to maneuver these medium size monuments simply because it was too expensive to hire these repairs performed commercially.

 

Commercial lifting hoists suitable for our needs cost well over a thousand dollars; money that's difficult for a non-profit organization to come up with, especially if there are other solutions. To that end, The Masonic Cemetery applied for a grant last year from The Lane County Historical Society for funds to build a lifting hoist. The grant was funded and the project began. Except for operational and safety training of the volunteers who will use it, the project is complete.

 

The hoist looks like a giant photographic tripod. (See photograph.) The legs consist of 10 foot lengths of sturdy 2 inch diameter electrical conduit. (There is also a set of interchangeable 7 foot legs for shorter monuments.) These attach to the "hub" at the apex with heavy duty removable pins. A commercial chain hoist is suspended from the hub. Heavy duty nylon straps wrapped around the marker like a hangman's noose provide a safe and secure attachment method.

 

The Board of Directors of the Eugene Masonic Cemetery is dedicated to protecting and restoring the priceless monuments that dot the hillside. This is an important addition to the cemetery's ability to respond to this task.