Looking for a way to get into the “spirit” of All Hallows Eve?
Drop by Louisburg’s historic Oakwood Cemetery Sunday afternoon for “Sip and Stroll with the Souls.”
Dorothy Cooper, one of the organizers of the event, said it should be a fun way to learn more about some of the famous – and not-so-famous – people who are buried there.
It kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and there will be numerous docents on hand to talk about particular people, from Gov. Thomas Walter Bickett to Richard Fenner Yarborough, whose son donated the land that became cemetery property.
“We thought it would be a nice idea to get people into the cemeteries,” Cooper told Bill Harris and Mark Pace on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
Both Harris and Pace will be participating as docents – Pace will discuss the elder Yarborough and Harris will talk about his Foster family ancestors that are buried in the cemetery. It’s not a ghost tour, or a spiritual tour, Cooper explained, but it’s just a happy coincidence that the tour falls the day before Halloween.
Tickets are $10, and there will be complimentary beverages and baked goodies for those who attend. Proceeds will be used to help with restoration and preservation of the headstones, some of which date back to the Revolutionary War era.
Over time, things do happen in cemeteries – stones fall or are turned over, Cooper said.
Getting people to come to the cemetery and learning about the lives of those whose graves are now marked with beautiful stones is a way to reconnect – and rekindle interest – in the cemetery.
The Oakwood Cemetery is located on N.C. Hwy 39 just outside Louisburg.
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