Monday, July 19, 2010

EWGS Presents "Walking With Ancestors"

The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS) is proud to present an all-day event, "Walking With Ancestors," in partnership with Fairmount Memorial Association. Guided tours, a barbecue lunch, displays, and how-to classes are all a part of the day-long FREE event, to be held Saturday, July 31st at Fairmount Memorial Park, 5200 West Wellesley Avenue, Spokane, Washington (marker A in the map below).


Beginning at 9:00 AM, there will be a short opening ceremony, followed by a choice of three guided tours of the cemetery. Attendees will be led to graves where costumed actors representing either the deceased or the deceased's relative will be giving a sketch of the individual's life. Famous Spokanites and ordinary people will be equally represented; their graves were chosen and their lives thoroughly researched by the participating actors. The three guided tours will repeat approximately every 45 minutes, and attendees can attend as many of the three as they wish.

In addition, members of the 1st Michigan Artillery Unit of the Washington Civil War Association, a Civil War reenactment group, will be on hand in full military costume, complete with a cannon! The display tables will be manned by members of EWGS, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, Creative Memories Scrapbooking, Fairmount Memorial Park (to assist attendees in finding a loved one's gravesite), Honor Flight, the World War II Memorial Registry, and Nostalia magazine will be on hand to answer questions and hand out materials.

Free "how-to" classes will also be available. They include:
  • Beginning Genealogy, by EWGS members Bette Topp and Lola McCreary
  • Photographing Tombstones, by Northeast Washington Genealogical Society and EWGS member Susan DeChant
  • Gravestone Rubbins for Beginners, by NeWGS and EWGS member Karen Struve
  • Properly Cleaning Headstones, by EWGS member and Fairmount Memorial Association historian John Caskey
A free barbecue lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided by Fairmount Memorial Association from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM. No tours or classes will be held during this time. The event will conclude at 3:00 PM. For more information, contact Shirley Penna-Oakes at firebugvw@directv.net.

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Please note: Due to street construction on West Wellesley from Division to Maple Street, it is recommended that those travelers heading from the central part of the city take either Garland or Francis Avenue west to the Maple/Ash corridor, follow that corridor to where it intersects with Wellesley, then travel west to Fairmount. Another good alternate route is to take Northwest Boulevard.

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