Lichens licked at rural Clay County cemetery

The Clay Raiders 4-H Club on Sunday 'lynched the lichens' at Swedish Lutheran Cemetery located two miles east of Royal on B-40. Members spent a beautiful evening cleaning headstones in the township cemetery while viewing lichens under portable microscopes, which connected to their cell phones.

The 4-H'ers used a variety of tools to remove the fast-growing and stubborn fungi from tombstones, washing monuments with a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution and a mild dish soap solution, then rinsing them with clean water.

It was a fun community service project and learning experience for club members...