COMMERCE CEMETERY CLEANUP THIS WEEKEND

COMMERCE -- It is cleanup time at the Old Commerce-Anderson Cemetery.

A two-day, clean-up work session will be held at the cemetery this weekend.

"We'll start at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday," said Mrs. Jack High of the Commerce Historical Society. Joining in sponsorship of the cleanup is the Scott County Historical Society.

"They should bring clippers, rakes, bug repellent and gloves," said High. "The cemetery is overgrown with vines."

People are urged to bring sack lunches and spend the day.

The cemetery is on a hill at Commerce. Recent clean-up efforts have been hampered because roads leading to the area are in bad shape.

The cemetery includes remains of state Sen. John Coffman, who served in the Missouri Senate in the late 1800s, and a number of Civil War veterans.

One of the oldest headstones found in the cemetery was from 1801.

About 250 people may have been buried in the six-block cemetery, said High. The latest burial was recorded in 1983. That was also the last year a complete cleanup of the cemetery was done.

High said a fund was being established to provide care for the cemetery.

"But don't expect any pay this weekend," said High. "We would like to see a lot of people at the cemetery. Once we make a complete cleanup, it should be easier to keep it in good order."