Woodmen Memorial Day Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A nice drive in the country to learn about a little known grave stone.
When Joseph Cullen Root founded Woodmen of the World more than 100 years ago, one of his objectives was to provide a decent burial for all members.
Root made a special effort to honor deceased Woodmen. He created Woodmen Memorial Day, celebrated on June 6 each year, and included the following statement in the Objectives of Woodcraft: "... to give honorable burial to our sacred dead ..."
Early Woodmen certificates provided for a death and a monument benefit. Gravestones were originally furnished to members free of charge and later were offered only to those who purchased a $100 rider to their certificates.
However, during the 1920s the Society stopped providing stone markers to members when the cost of gravestones increased and cemeteries began prohibiting above-ground markers for maintenance reasons. The monument rider was discontinued and converted to an extra $100 of insurance protection, but for many years after that, members and lodges arranged for markers and monuments on their own.
Markers vary
Woodmen gravestones vary greatly in size and shape. Some resemble a tree stump, others a stack of cut wood. There are elaborate hand-carved monuments, simple stone markers and stake-type markers driven into the ground.
Woodmen gravestones were originally intended to be a uniform design sent by the Home Office to local stonecutters, but not all the cutters followed the design. Some used their own interpretation of the Woodmen design which they felt was more appropriate.
The result was a wide range of designs that reflected members' personal tastes and included elements that were symbolic of Woodmen ceremonies or rituals. A tree stump, part of the Society's logo, is the most common symbol used on gravestone designs. Many stand approximately four to five feet high.
In one Kentucky cemetery, the gravestones started out as a modest Woodmen stump and grew larger with each additional burial. One gravestone is three feet wide with seven branches.
The cache is not near this unique gravestone but the gravestone is one of the neat features of this old cemetery.
The location of the cache is simple and the hint should lead you right to it. Please place the container back just like you find it. You're looking for a camo two inch PVC pipe that screws apart in the center. There is enough room for small items.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
srapr yvar gerr