TOWN OF DIAMOND BLUFF – The Diamond Bluff Cemetery received a new sign to landmark its location a couple of weeks ago from a resident with family ties to the cemetery.
Dustin Thompson, whose grandfather and many other family members are buried in the cemetery, made the new sign as a part of the legacy to one of his grandfather’s last wishes. Thompson’s grandfather always wanted a new fence at the cemetery, so after his grandfather died, his grandmother donated money for a new fence to be built. It was around this same time Thompson landed on the idea of making a new sign for the cemetery.
“I want to say it was 11 or 12 years ago, my grandfather had passed away. That was about the time I started to get the idea of what I wanted to do. The sign that was at the cemetery was starting to fall apart. So, I guess after the fence was, that started to get the wheels in motion of where I wanted to go with it. It just, it took me about a decade to finally, finally get around to doing that,” said Thompson.
Linda Kinsman, a member of the Diamond Bluff Cemetery Board, was astounded when Thompson brought the completed new sign to the cemetery.
“There never really was a sign beforehand at the cemetery,” said Kinsman. “This helps landmark it for people to find while passing along the highway.”
When the idea first came to Thompson, he had a grandiose plan of making a 16 foot arch over the cemetery's entrance. The more the plan came to fruition, the more Thompson’s plan downsized into what became the final product at the cemetery now.
Thompson said he doesn’t know if he will make another sign for neighboring cemeteries in the future.
“It’s one of the things that's more time consuming, and more financial investment than what I had originally thought it was going to be. Once I started thinking about it all, you know, by the time you get the metal and the letters cut out, and the fabrication part. That was nice, that wasn't so bad, but you got to get the things sandblasted and whatnot. You don't think stuff when you first envisioned it, but it all starts racking up once you get into it,” he said.
This was Thompson’s first ever attempt at making a sign of any sort. He said it was certainly a learning experience and is happy with how the final product has turned out for every- one to see.
Photo by Sarah Nigbor
Dustin Thompson crafted and erected a new sign at the Diamond Bluff Cemetery in memoryof his grandfather.
