Kaleidoscope Fall 2016
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Casson, staff take care of four sites CEMETERIES
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That’s where all that experience in counseling comes in handy. “You tell them, ‘I’m glad to see you, and I’m sorry,’” said Casson, who spent 43 years teaching and counseling in Prophetstown and Lyndon schools. “Then, if they want to talk about it, they can. If they don’t want to, they don’t have to. You don’t pry for information, and that’s part of counseling. They should let it come out, because they want to let it come out.” Thanks to his staff of three – full-timer Mike Hoogerwerf, fullish-timer Dave Anderson, and summer help Matt Wagenecht – the backdrop of those reunions is breathtaking. The biggest of the four cemeteries, Riverside Cemetery, is slickly manicured, with its 5,500 or so headstones accented by nearly 400 large pots of lush petunias. Impressive, considering it would take two guys 3 days to mow just the nine lots at Riverside.
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Jim Casson, 74, reminisces about his days as a school counselor in Prophetstown and Lyndon while giving a tour of Riverside Cemetery in Prophetstown on June 14. He spent 43 years teaching and counseling in the school district, and has overseen SITES continued on 144 the care of four rural cemeteries for 14 years.
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