HOLYOKE — Wistariahurst Museum is once again inviting the public to the Cemetery Tours at Forestdale on Oct. 12 for a peek past the cemetery gates and a view into Holyoke’s history in the fitting fall event.
Led by museum volunteers, visitors can walk through the meandering paths of Forestdale Cemetery and see the serene landscape and the final resting place for many of Holyoke’s founding families.
“Learn some of Holyoke’s history through the tales of the people that lived and died here,” said Penni Martorell of City History. “Forestdale Cemetery is such a unique and beautiful setting to reflect on the history we share with the people you will see represented in our tour.”
The tours include walking and standing on cement and gravel walkways with tours lasting around 45 minutes. Tours will begin at 3, 3:20, 3:40 and 4 p.m.
To fully enjoy the tour, guests are asked to wear comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. In the event of rain, the tours will be canceled, refunded and not rescheduled.
“Wistariahurst Museum’s Cemetery Tours blend history, concepts of the afterlife and local connections to create an unforgettable outing,” said the museum in a statement.
Wistariahurst Museum Director Megan Seiler told Reminder Publishing the cemetery tours provide an educational but spooky time through Forestdale.
“It’s really a great opportunity to experience Forestdale Cemetery. It’s a really, really beautiful space even though it is a place where people are laid to rest. You’ll meet a lot of really interesting and fascinating people who are buried there by waking and stopping at the headstones to learn about the people buried here in Holyoke,” Seiler said. “It’s a really fun, not too scary, way to experience the cemetery and learn about some of its residents.”
Seiler said most experiences with cemetery’s are not through a tour such as this but the museum stays committed to respecting the space but using it’s informative history for public education.
“We’ve had a lot of really interesting people who have always been in Holyoke and you also learn a little bit more information about the cemetery itself and some of the more unique headstones that are in the facility as well,” Seiler said.
Seiler said some of the highlights along the tour are seeing the headstones of a civil war hero from the city, former industrialists of the city including members of the famous Holyoke family the Skinners, as well as more interesting characters from throughout Holyoke’s history up to the mid-20th century.
To register for the event visit tinyurl.com/yju9hm6m.
Seiler said the event is a fundraising event to help support the institution and she hopes people come out for the once a year opportunity to explore and learn about Holyoke’s history.
“We’re really grateful for people who come out and come to our events because all of that goes back into keeping this a community space that is low cost and free as much as possible,” Seiler added.
