October 23, 2008 at 7:30 a.m.
Goal of local geneology hobbyist is to make County's cemeteries accessible on the Internet
Goal of local geneology hobbyist is to make County's cemeteries accessible on the Internet
Chudek's paternal side of his family was basically unknown to him until about 1996. His father had just died and he remembers his mother showing him his dad's father's wedding ring and a postcard. Chudek was simply driven to know more.
He located some living relatives from his father's side (Czudek was the original spelling) and by spring 2000 he was booking a flight to Europe to meet Czudek descendants. He received a warm reception, one thing led to another, and since he's the type who always carries a camera-- pretty soon he was photographing every gravesite and headstone at the Kosariska Cemetery in the Czech Republic. He documented 158 gravestones.
When he returned to his house north of Chisago City, he up-loaded the photos to a computer and built a website making the information easily available to others maybe lacking the resources to personally visit where he'd been.
That was eight years ago.
More recently he became familiar with www.findagrave.com, and Chudek went to work again. He completed uploading tons of personal data and the Czech cemetery photos onto www.findagrave.com as of May 2008.
What to do next? Said Chudek, "I like a mystery, I like to solve problems." He also gets great satisfaction in helping other geneologists.
He got to wondering about local cemeteries and if his computer skills might be used to create a master inventory and visual record of graves in Chisago County.
A game plan started forming in his mind. Chudek contacted Sherry Stirling at the county historical society to find out what, if anything, other local historians were doing along the lines of Internet applicable gravesite information.
Phase one, he says, became taking pictures of the entrance to every cemetery in the county and to upload the GPS coordinates so people can locate the actual site. "I get to combine a couple of things I enjoy, riding my motorcycle and doing photography," Chudek remarked.
Believe it or not, there are 20 cemeteries here.
They range from a graveyard just over the countyline near Forest Lake, to the rolling, expanse of Kabahkong in Taylors Falls, to a wooded area, well off the beaten track outside of Rush City, with handmade crosses stuck in the earth probably marking the resting places of pioneers.
Chudek soon realized he needed some help. Armed with his horsehair brush and a spray bottle of water he has documented about 3,300 gravesites, but the sheer number remaining is more than one man can handle.
Last weekend he gave a presentation at the Chisago County History Center to an audience of about a dozen enthusiasts, hoping to drum up like-minded volunteers. He gave a nod to two volunteers already involved; working in the Stacy-Lent Cemetery is Karin Green and Dave Johnson is tackling the Trinity-North Branch Cemetery.
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The History Center in Lindstrom is a repository of all sorts of census data, family biographies and related data. Director Stirling also noted that volunteers can come to the center and help clip and upload obituary notices. There's stacks of old obits to be processed, she said.
The History Center will be open the third Sunday of the month, at least November and December, for anyone interested in helping to come. The third Sunday has been set aside for geneology-type projects and speakers.
If you are interested in helping with photographing gravesites or otherwise have some time to devote to document local interments and update death records please contact either Stirling at 257-5310 or Chudek-- his e mail is [email protected].
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