Eagle Scout project restores forgotten cemetery, connects past to present

ORLAND PARK, Ill. — A small, blink and you’d miss it – grassy patch, sits along Harlem Avenue in Orland Park. It’s the spot where some of the area’s first settlers were laid to rest.

Time has taken a toll on it so when 15-year-old Jimmy Sullivan decided to tackle the task of becoming an Eagle Scout, he figured a cleaning operation could be just the ticket.

“I put some significance into the historical aspect. I knew that’s what I wanted to do for my project,” he said.  ”The last time someone was buried here was 1917.”

Along with cleaning up, he’s been digging up some stories as well.

Local historians Brad Bettenhausen and Libby Paulson have been helping Jimmy link the past to the present and in the process connected Jimmy to a kindred spirit in preservation.

WGN’s Bronagh Tumulty has the story. And if you’d like to help Jimmy, he has created a GoFundMe page.

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