Cemetery Walk
Six actors portraying historical Butler County figures will don costumes to address audiences for “Echoes from Our Past — Historic Cemetery Walk” on Sept. 27 and 28 at North Side Cemetery.
The event is a collaboration between the Butler County Historical Society, Butler Little Theatre and North Side Cemetery Association.
These are not ghost stories but the histories of six actual county residents.
Pat Collins, administrative director of the historical society, said, “When planning these tours, you just have to go up and find something of interest.”
The six figures this year's tour is built around are:
Bertha Laing Wise (1865-1952) as portrayed by Cecilia Tomko
Thomas Rainey Hoon (1835-1904) as portrayed by Jason Brewer
Captain Ira McJunkin (1860-1935) as portrayed by Steve Fogle
Jane Kearns Potts (1770-1861) as portrayed by Margaret Cahill
T.W. Phillips Sr. (1835-1912) as portrayed by Dean Weiland
Rolland Spaide (1884-1945) as portrayed by Mark Nutter.
“We thought Thomas Hoon was just a simple farmer. Then later we found out he's not just a simple farmer,” Collins said.
Hoon served nine months in the Civil War and later became Butler County sheriff.
“Bertha Wise was a businesswoman in a time when women weren't business people,” Collins noted. Wise served in many roles at the Butler Eagle including as its president from 1924 to 1933.
And Jane Kearns Potts, who came to Butler County in 1797 and would probably not have used her maiden name as part of her moniker, Collins said, exercised a settler's right to buy 100 acres in her own name, even though she was a woman.
Another part of the cemetery tour that needed exact planning was the walking distance between headstones.“There are six different spots on the tour, and we had to space them out so when the actors are talking they don't run over each other basically,” Collins said.A tour guide will talk about other points of interest as the groups walk through the cemetery.“There's a little bit of stopping in between sites, especially with the hills,” Collins said.She described the 90-minute tour as one of moderate difficulty.“The tour goes on rain or shine,” she said.The historical society partnered with Butler Little Theatre for this event, as it did for the first such event last year, and will split the profits.“We hope to build this as a major yearly fundraiser,” Collins said.“A couple people from BLT jump in and help with research and different things,” Collins said. “Jana Semler is in charge of getting all the actors and lining them up, and they're responsible for getting all their own costumes. It's everyone working together and making it work.”Collins said historical society members go through the archives for props. The research and scriptwriting took six months.“We set up a table with a lamp and a rocker for Jane Potts, and there's a family Bible and a spinning wheel and a bucket,” she said. “Whatever gives the flavor of the time period these people lived in, whatever we can do to add to the educational experience, that's what we do.”The North Side Cemetery pitched in too, Collins said.“They have been great to work with,” she said. “They make sure everything is ready.“It's just great to be able to share our history in a unique way like this,” Collins said.The North Side Cemetery is at 1002 N. Main St.“Echoes from Our Past — Historic Cemetery Walk” will go on at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sept. 27 and at 2 p.m. Sept. 28.Tickets are $14 for the general public and $10 for historical society members and BLT season ticket holders. Call 724-283-8116 or visit butlerhistory.com. Ticket sales end Sept. 24.
