Twilight Tombstones

Dear Liza,

The Friends of Lone Fir is a non-profit, volunteer group who help maintain and educate folks about our wonderful local pioneer cemetery. They put on tours of the Women in Lone Fir, symbolism and architecture of tombstones, and headstone cleaning workshops.

And this year, the Friends hosted a five Saturday series of tours called Twilight Tombstones. On each Saturday in October and one in November, guides lead four groups of twenty through the cemetery, telling stories of the folks buried there.

It was sold out in minutes!


This year, Auntie Bridgett volunteered with me. She greeted folks at the gate and steered them in the right direction.

My job was “tour support”, which means I made sure our group, lead by Peregrine and Paul, stayed together. I also answered extra questions from the folks in the group. It was a delightful, educational, exhausting evening.

The fun began even before the tours started! A friendly group of Zombie Carolers came by after serenading the Dead, and shared their songbook with us. Their songs are not for the squeamish, featuring such delightfully gruesome tunes as “Rudolph the Undead Reindeer” and “Good King Wenceslas Tastes Great.”

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tombstone Twilight Walkthrough

Dear Liza,

I get to volunteer at the Lone Fir Cemetery again! This year the event is called Tombstone Twilight, and will be held every Saturday in October from 4 to 7 in the evenings. (Buy tickets online at FriendsofLoneFirCemetery.com)

This should be an easier to manage, mostly-daylight activity, in contrast to last year’s event. The Tour of Untimely Departures was one, very long, very dark, evening.

I am looking forward to being part of the show, and this year, Auntie Bridgett is getting involved!


We met up with J Swofford and other volunteers at Lone Fir the other day, for a walk-through of the tour. We got to ‘meet’ such interesting folks as Julius Caesar, a formerly enslaved man who made a name for himself as a political orator for progressive causes. He was also a local baseball fan, and on his tombstone, along with his name and dates, are the words “Play Ball”.

Walking in Lone Fir always gives me peace and perspective, and learning about the lives and accomplishments of the folks there shows me the possibilities of the human spirit. (There are also a lot of cute squirrels.)

I will be making the walkabout a few more times before the tour, so I will not get lost escorting folks around, and I’ll tell you about it as it happens.

Love,

Grandma Judy