When Boy Scouts decide they want to become an Eagle Scout, they are required to choose a service project that will benefit the community and find a way to fund it. Included in the project is required paperwork and documenting every action taken to complete the project from start to finish.
Ian Estrada, of Boy Scout Troop 69, found that there was a tremendous amount of history, that most weren't aware of , buried in the five cemeteries that the Palatine Township owns. He wanted to find a way to have a permanent record available to the public via the Palatine Township of the following five Cemeteries; Cady, Hillside, Salem, Sutherland and Wolfrum (a total of over 3,500 graves have been recorded).
Also, as a participant of the annual American Legion Post 690 Memorial Day flag placing (at these cemeteries), it was found to be very difficult to stick the flags into the ground, many ending up broken or tattered. He also noticed that landscapers would use weed whackers to trim around the graves/tombstones, catching the stick of the flag, thus the flag would end up on the ground. Ian thought there had to be a solution to this problem. So he raised funds, via donations, from the Palatine Historical Society, mowing lawns and going door-to-door to neighbors. The funds were used to purchase heavy duty steel holders that could be easily placed into the ground. American Legion Post 690 generously donated flags so every stake holder would be complete, our fallen heroes honored.
As his Eagle Scout Project, Ian, along with several volunteers including fellow scouts, friends, and family worked tirelessly to map the graves in each cemetery, install flag stake holders next to each Veterans grave and place an American Flag in each holder.
Thanks to these efforts, families will now be able to search for their relatives and ancestry via the mapping compiled and now on file with the Palatine Township.
