Need some ZTA Help - Medallions on the Founder's Graves
 

Hello all! I live in the Tidewater area, and we would like to clean the medallions that National Council placed on the Founders' graves. We however, aren't sure what they are made of. Does anyone here have an idea what the material is? I left a couple of messages at IO with not return call. Here is a picture for reference.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...undersday1.jpg

You can see the medallion on the corner of the grave marker.

ZLAM!

Not a ZTA, but based on a little research and the white bit of corrosion, it seems to be brass.

The white is supposed to be Zinc Oxide.

Gosh, I don't have any idea, but what a sweet idea. Thank you all for doing this!

Please keep trying I.O. Even though they are in the central time zone, they operate on eastern time.

I will try IO again tomorrow. I also tried to friend Deb Ensor and Becky Kirwan on FB in hopes that I could maybe send them a message and ask.

i sent a message to deb-if she is not traveling we may hear from her soon. i will let you know if i hear from her.

Thank you. I know both Becky and Deb are very busy women. But that is who the woman at IO was going to contact. My other option may be to reach out to the Peninsula Alumnae Chapter. I think one of their members was involved with the project.

ZTABullwinkle...please check your PMs:)!

Thank you so much for getting back to me! Yeah, we know have an answer. I will try to get out there in the next couple of weeks to clean them! I appreciate you answering me.

ZLAM!

I think I can do that. One of these days, I am going to have to make the drive over to the Peninsula to see the other Founder's graves.

So, what are they made of?

They are made of brass.

Thanks.

Why does this thread make me think we need a thread for pictures of graves of founders to go along with the threads pictures of houses, badge trends, arms . . . .

Well, five of our Founders are buried in Virginia, all within forty minutes of each other. I can get pictures of those five. But another ZTA is going to have to get a picture of the others, including the one in Hawaii.

i love that idea, MysticCat.

i would be happy to fly to hawaii and will accept donations to do so!

Well, maybe there are already pictures online or pictures in a book that can be scanned.

I think I need to do some looking myself.

Do you think I can fit into your suitcase if you go? ;)

Here's an idea -- we organize GreekChatTours, with which we go to founding sites, graves of founders and other places of interest for the serious Greek.

Who's in?

me,me!!

and yes, sister, you can stow away in my bag!

LET'S GO!

I am in!

In related to this thread, today would be Alice Grey Welsh's 131st birthday. In this article from Themis, there is a picture of her gravestone.

After 50 years, a proper Aloha for a Founder

Three of us went today and cleaned one of the medallions today. I promised you pictures. Here are the before and after pictures:

Before http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1..._medallion.jpg


After http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1..._medallion.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ders/grave.jpg

how fabulous! thank you all so much. it looks remarkable!(((((hugs))))) to you all!

is that a pot of strawberries i spy in the after photo?

Why yes it is. She is after all the Founder who received them as the gift, so we thought it was fitting!

i remembered that- i love that story and it is indeed fitting!

AWESOME!!! You ladies did a great job. Snaps to you for taking the initiative to do this.

Zeta love!

We figured out a better way to clean the medallions and make them shiny again! Cut a lemon in half, cover it with salt, and scrub. Worked like a charm.

Here are more pictures of Mary Cambell Batte-Jones (also known as Cammie:

Before (Medallion): http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...edallion-1.jpg

Middle of cleaning: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...edallion-1.jpg

Final cleaning: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ion_after3.jpg

Cammie's gravestone mid-cleaning: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ders/grave.jpg

Cammie's gravestone fully cleaned (still wet from the cleaning): http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ave_after2.jpg

Della Lewis Hundley's graves
 

The other Founder who is buried in Norfolk, is Della Lewis Hundley. Her marker is for the most part flat, so her medallion looked really bad.

Before (Medallion): http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ion_before.jpg

Before (Grave Marker): http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ave_before.jpg

Cleaned Medallion: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...lion_after.jpg

Cleaned Grave Marker: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ker_after2.jpg

I had help with this project from two others in my alumnae chapter. I only have a picture of me and Corinne (Kim took the picture): Here we are: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...d_I_cammie.jpg

We are planning on going over to visit the three graves on the Peninsula (other side of the Bay for us - about twenty minutes in good traffic). We are not sure what the medallions look like on those graves, but we are going to be prepared to clean them also.

Anyone know how I can make the pictures smaller? They are huge!

OMG THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!

i know that you don't want to toot your own horn, but please send this in to Themis.
this is so worthy of a story in our magazine.

Good Job! I agree with FSUZeta, send this in to Themis.

Crashing, but just wanted to say what a lovely thing that you did! Although I am not a ZTA, I do think that your membership would love to read about your gesture in your magazine. Who knows? It may lead to getting those other medallions around the country cleaned as well!

Thank you for sharing this.

I am seriously blushing over here. Thank you everyone for your comments. These two graves are located in our area - Hampton Roads, VA (Norfolk to be exact). There are three more Founders buried on the "other side of the water" called the Peninsula. We have finally gotten the names of the cemeteries and directions, so we are planning our trip there. There is one buried about 45 minutes Southwest of Longwood University, one in Henderson, NC and the one in Hawaii.

I tagged our National President (who is an alumna from the same chapter the three of us are from, Iota Sigma) and Foundation President on FB. Slowly the pictures are making their way through FB world. I also have forwarded them to one of our Archives co-chair.

I will talk with the others about submitting it to Themis. We did it because we care for these Founders, and didn't like seeing the medallions so tarnished.

This is such a beautiful gesture! Kudos to you ZTABullwinkle!

(I can't believe how shiny you were able to get them - especially the second marker!)

How amazing!!! What a wonderful thing to do! Kudos to you!!!! (I can't believe what a lemon and salt will do, holy cow!)

The markers turned out beautiful! I am amazed at what the lemon and salt was able to do. Snaps to you!

Tomorrow, we have plans to visit the three Founders who are buried on the Peninsula, VA. They are Helen Crafford, Alice Bland Coleman and Ethel Lee Coleman Van Name. We have no idea how the medallions are going to look. But we will be sure to take lots of pictures to share.

Yay, ztabullwinkle!!! you all rock! can't wait for the photos.

We made it to three Founders graves on the Peninsula. I have photos that I will post later. Suprisingly, the medallions were in pretty good shape except for Helen Crafford's which was overgrown with grass. We have more work to do at her site.

Now with Pictures!
 

The first grave we visited on Saturday was Ethel Coleman Van Name. She and Alice Coleman Bland are buried in Gloucester, VA, in the same small cemetery behind a church.

This is the view from the gravel road:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...hel_grave1.jpg

This is the view from straight on:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...hel_grave2.jpg

Here is what the marker looks before any cleaning:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ave_marker.jpg

A before picture of the medallion before any cleaning:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ion_before.jpg

Now the after pictures...If you notice a green wire in the close-ups, ignore it. It was the only way we could attach the strawberry and white violet bouquet to the grave. Also, we did try to "seal" the markers after cleaning with a wax recommended online. We plan on going back to see how successful it was. ;)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ave_after1.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ker_after2.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...lion_after.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ion_after2.jpg