Thank you Vera! What a wonderful compliment. This was our first time doing the cemetery walk. So we each had our own twist. But I think it went very well. We were so thankful to have such a beautiful day for it. I so much enjoyed talking about my family. Again thank you for taking to the time to share your experience. Here is what I wrote up for our newsletter "Pondering the Past." On a sunny Saturday afternoon, May 13th, the Dutch Hill Cemetery in Parish was the scene of the Parish Town Historical Society's first Cemetery Walk. For a brief period of time, a few of the early settlers of the Parish area were brought back to life. Approximately 30 people were given a transitory history of Parish in the 1800's of this Dutch community on the eastern side of Parish. Mrs. Edna Michael, adjoining property owner, placed American flags at the entrance with pride, just before the action took place. Geraniums were placed on the selected grave sites of those portrayed: Albert Comstock (Linda McNamara), Mariah Miller (Mary Lou Guindon), Elizabeth Orton and grand daughter Emma (Nancy Bookheimer and grand daughter Katherine Grace Alsworth), Annah Tisdale (Evelyn Stelmashuck), Phillip Fritts (Steve Stelmashuck) and also David Smiths, as his verse was read at the closing. Weep not for me though separated on earth we shall meet again in heaven. The characters were dressed for the time period they were representing, along with canes, aprons, triangle dinner bell, and a plank bottom chair for props. The Town of Parish has been sprucing up the Dutch Hill Cemetery in anticipation of re-opening the cemetery to new gravesites available to the public in the near future. The details were accomplished earlier to enhance the Parish Town Historical Walk activity. An old fence was replaced, fallen trees and branches were cleared, and a drive/parking space were installed (more than the width of a horse and buggy). Dave Reader and members of the Parish Town Historical Society spent time in the Parish rural cemeteries a few years back cleaning and Reader repairing many of the broken gravestones. Many are in need of TLC once again. The Dutch Hill Cemetery provided a beautiful and peaceful setting for an afternoon of soliloquies from a different time gone by. A special thank you to the Parish Girl Scout Brownie Troop 296 for serving refreshments at the end of the tour. Mary Lou Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 22:45:46 EDT From: VRuddyoung@aol.com To: NYOSWEGO-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Parish Cemetery Walk A couple of weeks ago on this site, I saw mention of the first ever Cemetery Walk in the Parish, Dutch Hill Cemetery, and having never been on a cemetery walk, I felt I had to attend. Well, getting together two grandsons and making the two hour trip to Parish, I was just a teeny bit late. It was amazing, the minute I got back home, I started writing scripts for two of my ancestor's cemetery. It's actually very easy to create a fill in the blank kind of form. I am hoping that a couple of my grandsons will want to read on Memorial Day, and then for our family reunion this summer. Thanks to Parish Historical Society, it was a great experience. Vera Rudd In God we Trust Let there be Peace, Mary Lou 315.625.4575 www.syracuse.com/weblogs/parish http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Parish-Community-Recreation/ --------------------------------- Feel free to call! Free PC-to-PC calls. Low rates on PC-to-Phone. Get Yahoo! Messenger with Voice