March 29, 2024

Gibson Memorial Library hosting cemetery walk

The cemetery walk will be a fundraiser for the library and for the Union County Genealogical Society.

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Gibson Memorial Library is partnering with the Union County Genealogical Society to host Creston’s first ever cemetery walk Saturday, Sept. 23, at Graceland Cemetery in Creston.

The cemetery walk is a joint fundraiser for both the library’s capital campaign and the Union County Genealogical Society.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Gibson Memorial Library or from any library capital campaign committee member or Union County Genealogical Society board member. The cemetery walk begins at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 23 and the program will likely conclude by 6:45 p.m., with refreshments afterward in the Graceland Cemetery chapel.

The cemetery walk is also sponsored by Lenox Monuments, Pearson Family Funeral Service and Cremation Center, Powers Funeral Home and Fredrickson Memorials.

“We have a lot of interest in genealogy and Graceland Cemetery, in particular,” said David Hargrove, executive director of Gibson Memorial Library. “I was doing some of my own research out there. It occurred to me it would be really neat if there was a cemetery walk course that called attention to some of the more notable gravesites.”

Hargrove said he initially saw the cemetery walk as a fitness walk, but after attending an Iowa Library Association conference earlier this year, he learned about cemetery walks done in other Iowa communities.

The discussion generated from that conference led to Hargrove organizing a cemetery walk held in the fall. Participants will visit the gravesites of several notable Creston pioneers, with local actors performing historical interpretations of those pioneers.

“I look at this as a way to involve the library in the history of the community,” Hargrove said. “Some of my favorite kind of programming involves local history and area history. My hope is this kind of programming and these kind of events can raise community awareness about the library.”

Hargrove worked together with Jane Briley of the Union County Genealogical Society to select what stories to tell.

“We were able to identify several folks who may not be well known today, but who were very important in the Creston area,” Hargrove said. “I wanted to make sure that we had women in addition to men. A lot of times, when people talk about the pioneering generation, they tend to dwell on the men in the community. In Creston, we had quite a number of women in prominent roles.”

Among those whose stories will be told are Alice Gummere, the first female postal carrier in Iowa, Creston’s first librarian, Creston’s first Eagle Scout and J.B. Harsh, who founded the Bluegrass League and was the first state senator from Creston.

Hargrove hopes the cemetery walk becomes an annual event, with more notable Creston residents being added to the list of historical interpretations in coming years.

According to Hargrove, the only stipulation he received from the city for holding the cemetery walk was that the walking portion of the cemetery walk be concluded before dark. He also received permission to hold the event from the cemetery board.

In the event of rain, a rain date has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30.