Pioneer Cemetery grant application rates highly

The Town of Cathlamet's application for funding for renovation and repair of the Cathlamet Pioneer Cemetery has been ranked fourth out of 40 grant requests in statewide rankings, Council Member David Olson announced Monday.

The ranking came Monday afternoon from the advisory committee to the Washington State Historical Society, in the course of a five hour public meeting conducted via Zoom, Olson said.

The recommendations of the advisory committee, including to fund the Town of Cathlamet grant request, now go to the Washington Legislature and the governor for funding in the 2021-23 Biennium.

"Many thanks to the mayor and council for support of the grant application, with sincere thanks to Kari Kandoll of the Wahkiakum County Historical Society and Stephanie Olsen of Cemetery District 1 for partnering with us in support of the grant," Olson said in an email reporting the development. "I also want to thank county Commissioner Mike Backman for ensuring that we had a letter of support from Wahkiakum County commissioners.

"I also want to thank Town Attorney Fred Johnson for his excellent and expeditious work completing the lease agreement between the Town and the cemetery district allowing for the grant to proceed, along with Clerk-Treasurer Sarah Clark for helping facilitate all aspects of the two-phase grant submittal, including the Phase 1 qualifying round on April 23 and the Phase 2 submittal June 25."

Information about the Heritage Capital Grants process is available here: https://www.washingtonhistory.org/heritage-resources/heritage-capital-projects/.