Dear Liza,
At the end of this month, I will volunteer to help the Lone Fir Cemetery with its Tour of Untimely Departures. And this week, we had our first walk-through.
Our leaders of the day were Margaret and Katie.
These two fine ladies walked our group of about 20 volunteers around Lone Fir, explaining how the tour will work. We followed each of the two routes (called North and South) and stopped by each of the graves where an actor will play the person who untimely departed (that usually means they died young).
A few of the actors were with us, to get the feel of things and practice their speeches. The actress who plays Maude McCroskey even came in costume and make up! She told her sad tale of being murdered by her abusive ex-husband, and we were all sad. But then she got to the part where HE became the last person executed in Multnomah County.
On a lighter note, the woman portraying Chloe Connelly Boone Curry told the story of her life, more than her death. She was the great granddaughter of Daniel Boone and came west with her family as a young woman. She became the first teacher in Oregon outside the mission system. She had the perfect demeanor for a teacher… sweet, loving, and with an strong backbone. She reminded me a little bit of myself.
Four graves are visited on each tour, with lots of interesting stories in between. The afternoon walk-through went well, and I look forward to our dress rehearsal next week and then the main event on October 28!
P.S. I couldn’t resist this picture of Margaret and a fellow ghoul admiring a brand new headstone made for a recently-passed fellow. The etched portrait and the leaves are so colorful!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 