Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Raising the Dead



I’m not sure if any connection was intended, but our small town used the Columbus Day weekend to commemorate some explorers of our own.
We did it by communing with the spirits of the people instrumental in making our town a reality. 


          On Sunday night, some fifty (hard to be sure – it was pitch black) or more of us gathered in Adams Cemetery to hear the stories of our early settlers. It was a beautiful night, only about 60 degrees, with a clear star-sprinkled sky above. We all parked on the edge of the small graveyard and carefully worked our way to the first gathering point, flashlights our only weapons against a sudden face plant into someone's historical resting place. 
 


          In caps and capes, members of our town’s athenaeum society took on the roles of past residents, the only light from a nearby flashlight in case they forgot their lines. 


 

         


 We learned about local participants in the French and Indian War, our town’s part in Shay’s Rebellion, and the trail Henry Knox used at the end of town when transporting his cannon from Fort Ticonderoga. 


          This was not an evening for flagging attention spans. The presentations were interesting and just the right length, and anyway, if you lost focus there was a pretty good chance you would fall over one of the small headstones crouching less that a foot above the grass or walk into a huge table monument recognizing the most notable. 


          A perfect evening, and what could be better than an event that ends with free apples? 

10 comments:

  1. Entertaining near-Halloween post. This is your former student, by the way, whom you saw today at Randall's Farm! Just thought I'd check out your blog. You're very funny :)

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    1. Hey, Ms Blackwood (I know who you really are - what power!)
      But then, I have few secrets from you since you've spent 185 days staring at me as I pontificated at the front of the room.

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    2. Oh, and to any of my readers who are romance fans, check out C.M. Blackwood's books - yes, that's plural - at Amazon.

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  2. What an amazing event. Clever presentation too.
    How I wish my city would do something similar.

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  3. I really like your community. We should do something like that here as we have lots of historic folks.

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  4. Sounds like an interesting way to spend an evening and yay for free apples.

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  5. How interesting! Never heard of such an event, and then to end with free apples.

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  6. What fun that would have been, with perfect weather and just the right time of year, too. Thanks for sharing your great pictures of the "departed" town residents! :-)

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  7. I think I should have moved to an even smaller town.

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  8. What a really neat idea. I hope there were youngsters there to learn how their road was paved.

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.