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(Date Posted:09/10/2007 6:11 PM)
This is an annual event held at Elgin's Bluff City Boulevard Cemetery. If you've never been on a Cemetery walk, they are a lot of fun (even if you can't 'see' the people that are being portrayed.')Annual Cemetery WalkOn the 4th Sunday of September each year, the Elgin Area Historical Society hosts the Cemetery Walk at Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin. This beautiful and historic cemetery is the final resting place of many prominent Elginites and has many fine examples of elaborate headstones and mausoleums. Noteworthy citizens are portrayed at their gravesites by members of the Society and other volunteer performers, in authentic historical costumes and in character. The life and times of people buried in the cemetery is presented through a living window to the past in a touching and memorable way?in their own words.The 2007 WalkThe 2007 walk will take place on Sept. 23, noon to 3:30 PM. The cemetery is located on Bluff City Boulevard, approximately 1/2 mile east of the intersection with Liberty Street (Rt. 25). Bluff City Boulevard is located one block south of U.S. 20 on Elgin's east side.Here's a brief introduction to the people featured on the 2006 Walk.John Qualen :Arenowned Hollywood character actor for more than 40 years, John was in more than 100 film, includingThe Grapes of Wrath,Casablanca, andElmer Gantry.May Hunter Snow:Wife of Gilbert Snow, the general manager of the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company.Nicholas Goedert:Emigrated from Belgium at the age of 18. By 1884 he was the owner of an "honest saloon" in Elgin.Leopold Adler:A German-born Jewish merchant who opened an Elgin clothing store offering "the best goods at the lowest prices"in 1859.Adoniram J. Joslyn: Pastor of the Elgin Baptist Church, later editor of theWeekly Gazette, he crusaded tirelessly against slavery and drinking.Cyrus King Wilber:Elgin lawyer, also prominent in the railroad business. His involvement in Elgin's amateur baseball team, the Bluff Citys, provides memorable stories.Nellie Mann Chappell: The daughter of prominent Elgin citizens and wife of a dentist whose divorce brought unexpected and unwelcome notoriety.
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