WESTFIELD – Due to a forecast of inclement weather, tomorrow’s installment of the Westfield Historic Ghost Tours will be postponed until Sunday evening with the same schedule of tours (four hourly tours at 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m). Tonight’s event, which has also been sold out, will go on as scheduled.
Ticket-holders are asked to return their tickets to the Athenaeum in order to receive a refund, if they are unable to attend on Sunday evening.
“We are thrilled at the response to the tours and will definitely continue the event in future years,” said Westfield Historic Commissioner Cindy Gaylord.
As during last weekend’s tour, ghosts from Westfield’s past will once again come to life to tell their stories at the at the Mechanic Street Old Burying Ground.
With the assistance from members of Westfield on Weekends, Westfield State University, Westfield Police Dept., and many other community volunteers, the tour features 12 colorful residents of colonial Westfield.
These “ghosts” tell their story using lantern light and special effects provided by lighting specialist Jay Pagluica.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 6-12 and are on sale now at the Westfield Athenaeum. It is not recommended for children under the age of 6. Additional information may be found online at www.westfieldonweekends.com.
The Old Burying Ground is one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States still remaining in its original location and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It contains the graves of many of the founding families of Westfield and the oldest remaining stone dates back to 1683. The people buried there had to survive Indian attacks, harsh winters, deadly epidemics, and the isolation of being the westernmost settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The proceeds from the Ghost Tours go directly to the preservation and restoration of the stones and original wrought iron fencing in the cemetery.
“The hope of the Historic Commission is to not only preserve and restore these beautiful gravestones which are such a part of Westfield’s history,” said Gaylord. “but to also once again reopen the Old Burying Ground as a public park and destination for school field trips.”
