Eagle Scout Service Project · Troop 6, Phoenix
A map at the gate and restored lot markers for one of the oldest cemeteries in the Valley, so every visitor can walk straight to the person they came to see.
I need your help
Fundraising is open. Thank you for your support!
I'm a Life Scout with Troop 6 in Phoenix, working toward the rank of Eagle Scout. For my Eagle service project I'm partnering with the Camelback Cemetery Association to make their historic cemetery easier to visit.
Today, if you don't already know where a grave is, it's very hard to find. There's no map, and many of the small lot markers are faded, broken or missing. I'm going to fix that: a durable pedestal map right at the entrance, a digital map you can open from a QR code, and every lot marker repainted or replaced so the grid is easy to follow.
The Camelback Cemetery Association is a nonprofit cemetery company under section 501(c)(13), and gifts to it are tax-deductible. The Association sends a thank-you letter for every donation. Funds raised are for this project, and any extra money goes to the cemetery's capital campaign and perpetual care fund.
The beneficiary
Camelback Cemetery sits at 6920 E. McDonald Drive in Paradise Valley, across from Kiva Elementary School. It began on land donated by pioneer homesteaders Hans and Mary Weaver after their son-in-law died, just weeks after marrying their daughter. In the 1930s the family formed the Camelback Cemetery Association to own and care for the cemetery, and it still does today.
It's the resting place of early Scottsdale and Paradise Valley pioneers, military veterans, early judges and a postmaster, and Joe "Cheyenne" Kiser, the 1923 World Champion Cowboy.
Get involved
Fundraising goal: $0
Give securely online through Zeffy. Donations go straight to the Camelback Cemetery Association, and any extra money goes to the cemetery's capital campaign and perpetual care fund.
DonateTo give by check, please email the Camelback Cemetery Association at [email protected] for details.
Have family at Camelback Cemetery, or know someone who does? Share this page. Local businesses can also help with materials.
The project
A weatherproof map on an angled pedestal by the gate: an overhead drone photo of the cemetery with every lot and plot drawn on top, a "You are here" star and a short history. Built for the Arizona sun, the way national parks build their trail signs: a porcelain enamel panel warranted for 25 years against fading.
A QR code on the sign opens the interactive map on the cemetery's new website.
Each lot is marked by small 4×4 concrete blocks at its corners. We'll clean, prime and repaint them bright white with clear numbers, and place new blocks where they're missing.
We'll create a website for Camelback Cemetery. Scan the QR code on the sign and it opens an interactive map to help you find a lot: search for a lot number, see it highlighted on the drone photo, and get walking directions from the gate.
Try a potential draft of the website below: find a lot.
One work day when a crew of 20–30 Scouts installs the map sign, restores the lot markers, and rakes and tidies the paths so the grounds look their best.
This is a draft of a potential sign that will be at the cemetery.
Scout volunteers will prepare the site and install it.
The lot markers
Every lot has small 4×4 concrete blocks at its corners with the lot numbers on top. Today many are worn, broken or too faded to read, so visitors can't tell one lot from the next.
Find and check Locate the corner with the lot map and work list, without disturbing any grave.
Clean Wire-brush off dirt and loose, flaking paint.
Prime Exterior masonry primer, so the paint bonds to the concrete.
Paint white Two coats of bright white: easy to spot and cooler in the sun.
Stencil on A pre-cut stencil with the lot number and an arrow pointing into the lot, so every number matches.
Dab black Tap the number and arrow on with a nearly dry brush.
Peel and seal Peel the stencil, then a clear sealer to protect it.Where a block is missing, we'll place a new one. Photos from the cemetery; step pictures are drawings.
A potential draft of the website
This is a potential draft of the interactive map for the new Camelback Cemetery website. It's a drone photo of the cemetery with all 124 lot numbers from the Association's drawn lot map laid over it, oriented the way you'll see it standing at the gate. Try it: type a lot number and press "Show me." On the work day we'll check every corner marker against it.
Type a lot number, or tap any lot on the map.
Draft map. Lot positions are approximate until the Association's inventory and the marker check are done. Drone photo by Ronan.