Fifth grade students from Munger Hill Elementary School provided historical tours of The Burying Ground as part of 2012’s Harvest Days. From left to right front row: Shannon Sullivan, Althea Fiordalice. Back row: Emily Gelinas, Jessica Crosby, Cindy Gaylord and Erin Olearcek. (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – The history of Westfield will come to life this fall when current residents portray the lives of former residents now interred in the historical Old Burying Grounds off Mechanic Street.
The Historical Commission, in conjunction with the Westfield Athenaeum and Westfield on Weekends (WOW), will conduct the ‘ghost tours’ at one of the oldest cemeteries in the country during the last weekend of September and the first weekend of October.
Commissioner Carly Bannish said last night that the inaugural program was so well attended that the commission members have decided to expand the event to meet the increase in resident interest.
“We’re going to be doing four nights this year instead of two,” Bannish said. “Tickets, $10 for adults and $5 for children, will be available at the Athenaeum.”
The commission is asking that children be of school age to attend the tours and have decided to cap the number of participants for each tour at 35 because of safety concerns posed by larger groups.
The ghost tours spotlight some of the residents who have lived in Westfield since its founding in 1669. The tours are guided to specific headstones where volunteers, dressed in period customs of the 1700 and 1800 centuries, give a first-person presentation about the individual buried there.
The one-hour tours will be presented on Friday, Sept. 29 and Friday, Oct. 3 starting at 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Sept 30 and Oct. 4 starting at 5:30 p.m.
