By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A Girl Scout from Hays recently earned an award for cataloging a cemetery near Bunker Hill and learned a little bit about her own family history in the process.
Mariella Dreiling, 13 and a Cadette with Troop 10095, was awarded the Girl Scout Silver Award, the second highest award for girls in Scouting for her work at the Dubuque Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.
Mariella's mother, Monica Dreiling, grew up in Bunker Hill and her grandparents still live there. Mariella, through her genealogical research was able to determine members of her family were buried at the cemetery.
"We knew that it didn't have a proper map and a proper map of the people who were buried there, so I thought this would be a good way to help out the community," Mariella said.
Mariella, a seventh-grader at Hays Middle School, donated a small directory to the Bunker Hill Historical Society Museum and added the information into the Find A Grave website. Mariella added 49 entries into Find A Grave. There are 151 people buried in the cemetery.
"I think it will and already has helped people with genealogical research to find their family trees," she said. "And people who want to visit the cemetery will know where their family members are buried."
Mariella found that some of the headstones were deteriorated to the point the information on them could no longer be read.
An example of this was a small limestone marker for Genive Thorne, who died as an infant in 1914. Mariella used genological records to identify Thorne and determine she was a relative on her mother's side of the family.
She also added the infant's information to Ancestry.com.
Mariella was also able to determine an iron cross at the cemetery marked the grave of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Maria Engel Klusener. She born on Feb. 23, 1821, and died July 6, 1892. Her marker held a porcelain plaque, which translated from German read "Christ lives and we shall also."
Mariella has used her genealogical research to apply for and receive membership in the Children of the American Revolution. She documented her lineage to the Revolutionary War Patriot Cornelius Bogart.
Mariella said she plans to continue in Girl Scouts and work toward her Gold Award when she eligible as she enters high school. The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting, also requires a community service project and is equivalent to Boy Scout Eagle Award.
She is excited with her troops upcoming project, which will include the troop sending up an atmospheric balloon in cooperation with Fort Hays State University.
Mariella worked on her project from December 2019 to June 2020. She received her Silver Award on April 10 during the annual meeting of the Girl Scouts of the Kansas Heartland.
Adult volunteers from service unit 74, which includes Ellis, Trego, Russell, Ness and Gove counties, were also recognized at the annual meeting. Those awards are listed below.
Volunteer of Excellence: Chelsey Hoffman, Danielle Scott, Kris Bradley and Monica Dreiling
Appreciation Pin: Amy Church, Jessica Albers
Treasured Time: Karen Wilson
Young Alumna Shining Star: Maggie Woodward