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Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

@Lucky Charm wrote:

I also think it's disrespectful to have tour buses and 'spooky skits' etc in cemetaries.

 

Not every one who passed is a Shecky Greene.  

 

Graves are filled with tragic endings, devastating diseases and unsolved mysteries. 

 

Their not just filled with the elderly, but young lives taken too soon.

 

Let the actors perform on stage, not on hallowed ground.


@Lucky Charm

 

At our cemetery, it isn't about spooky, it is done during Memorial day weekend, and it is costumed actors telling the story in the first person near the grave of the person they are portraying. They usually choose people who were famous locally for business, charity, or just average folks who had a story of service in the military, underground railroad, civil rights, or something. It gives us such an up close and personal look at the names that appear on schools, roads, and in local history and lore. 

 

I find nothing offensive about it. I don't think of cemeteries as somewhere off limits. I believe certain behavior is expected, and while it is a resting place, and to be honored, there is so much to be learned and shared there. I believe more people should walk through cemeteries and visit with (and learn from) those of the past.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 177
Registered: ‎09-13-2010

This is a very informative (non profit) site re New Orleans cemeteries (31 historic). New Orleans is unique in the above ground burial sites. There is also great historical and architectural signifigance relating to the tombs etc. There are many year round tours but this is the only non profit/preservation group:

 

 

 

http://www.saveourcemeteries.org/

 

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 102
Registered: ‎07-15-2010

Re: Cemetery Tours

[ Edited ]

Our high school history club does a cemetery tour for Memorial Day.  The students dress in period clothes and perform as the person they are representing.  It is very informative, involves the kids and the community. 

 

We live in a small, rural town.  Many of the founding families and those who have been laid to rest in our local cemeteries have descendants living in the area.  I have not heard that anyone is offended by the cemetery tours.

 

I have led tours in my neighborhood cemetery.  It is one of the most requested events of our neighborhood association.  One of my dear friends has family buried there.  She is not offended by my tour, and in fact, has helped me with my research. 

 

It is only as spooky as your imagination will lead you. That said, as I explore cemeteries to do my genealogy, I prefer to research during the day (because I do have an imagination that gets the best of me sometimes), but it is easier to read old and worn grave markers in the evening by casting a shadow on the stone with a flashlight to catch the shadows of the engraving.  I won't go alone at dusk!  And... I do believe in ghosts.  lol