I started a garden business due to the thrown away flower pots I found at my father's cemetary. The custodian of the cemetary gave them to me. Now every spring March thru July I pot up perennials from my gardens and make some $$$$$. Often cemetaries have a clean up date when they remove pots from graves and toss them. If you contact the caretaker prior to that date you can get spring tulips, daffodils, mums, etc and haul them home. Bulbs are perennial!!!!

I assume you're not really from this area, right? First--as to the church. It's really not a large or significant church. If you look at the mass schedule, you can see that they have almost no masses any more--unlike the DOZENS a week held in even the smallest suburban churches around here. The population of Camden just doesn't support a large Roman Catholic church. And that's another thing--if you decide to do any leg work in the city of Camden. GO IN A GROUP. Do not go into the city alone. DO NOT GO INTO CAMDEN AFTER DARK. Be very aware of your surroundings, and be very, very careful. It's usually listed as the #1 most dangerous city in the country. I've taught there in the past, my husband still works in the city--and believe me, it is NOT a safe place to be. You should probably know, too, that a lot of graves in the city cemeteries have been desecrated--stones knocked over or destroyed--and it's not uncommon for those visiting their dead to be robbed or have their cars stolen while there. Have you gotten your hands on a Camden County phone book? And tried calling people with the last names you're looking for? Probably a lot of Rafferty's, but only a few O'Days--maybe with a little luck, you might find someone who has some info for you? Again, good luck, but do consider safety as you continue your research.

This is a heart warming gesture, and the display is wonderful. There's no argument there, but the contrarian in me wonders if that effort could have been better spent. I was raised in a culture where every penny had to count. What if the wreath compny gave those wreaths to the school organization that sponsors a class trip to Washington D. C. They could sell the wreaths at $5 each as a fund raiser to support their activity. Let's see, that would be $25,000 if all 5000 wreaths were sold. Now there's a problem: selling that many wreaths. They'd have to organize and sell outside their area. The wreath company could generate the same amoount of good will while saving the cost of transportation. There is an additional cost: Someone has to place these wreaths and then remove those after the holidays. That cost money, too, possibly tax payers money. I know! I know! Its a wondeful display and I'm not bashing it. In addition to the gift by the wreath company, they also provided jobs for those who made the wreaths. I'm just wondering if the costs could have been put to a more productive use. Like I said, my home culture could not afford any amount of waste.

Best Christmas memory ever was not during my childhood but with our own children. It was 1983 and the year of the Cabbage Patch doll frenzy. DD was 7 and DS was 5. we had a neighborhood full of little girls and of of course everyone was expecting a CPK that year from Santa. Parents were lining up for them. I'm not one to buy into the masses so I sat both kids down and explained that apparently Santa's elves had run out of them and so had the stores. I promised them that after Xmas when the stores had them again they I would take them and they could pick out any one they wanted. On Xmas Eve DH was driving home from work and heard that a local business was having a drawing for a CPK for anyone who stopped in. Long story short, he stopped in and won. Now what to do. We had one doll and two children. Finally we decided to tell DD who had stopped believing in Santa that year. So we called her into our room and said we had a doll but didn't want to put it under the tree for her since we agreed they both would get dolls after Xmas. Well, her response was immediate. It's a boy doll and K doesn't have any friends here with all the girls. I can wait , let's give it to him, from Santa. So that Xmas a very happy little boy had a very special Cabbage Patch Doll under the tree. With a hand written note from Santa. Dear K, I understand you have been wishing for a friend of your own to play with. I was about to head back to the North Pole and discovered I had one last toy left. This is Bo Jacie and he was very lonely without the other dolls. So I decided of all the children you should have him and be his friend. Love, Santa DD's selflessness paid off. Shortly after Xmas she got her first CPK. Then they began to rain down upon her. We went to a car dealership to check out the new models and they had just had a raffle. Woman who won was nearby and asked if we wanted to buy it for a few dollars. Done. DD in a bowling event. Won the prize, another doll. Sold most tickets for a fundraiser, another one. On and on it went. LOL Now I still have a box full of them still in storage, preemies, baldies, black ones and white ones, girls and boys.