NORTH WEBSTER – The North Webster Community Public Library will host its 10th annual Cemetery Walk from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 11. Open to the public and free of charge, this living history event is sponsored by the library’s Local History and Genealogy Center and endorsed by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission as a Bicentennial Legacy Project. During the Cemetery Walk, the library conducts guided walking tours through the North Webster Cemetery where enactors are stationed throughout the cemetery portraying individuals who are buried there. As the reenactors tell their life stories, visitors learn about local history and the people who formed the fabric of the community in years gone by. The 2016 Cemetery Walk will remember the late John Lincoln Scott (1861-1941) portrayed by his great grandson Gary Earnhart; Ruth B. Hamman (1903-1987) portrayed by Tara Smith; Caroline Huffman (1831-1898) portrayed by Janette Stackhouse; Frank Kruger (1886-1963) portrayed by Garet Becker; Morton and Tressie Schwinn (1887- 1952/1886-1950) portrayed by Forrest Boesenberg and Lori Hickman; David Mock (1824-1906) portrayed by Victor LaBarbera; Abner and Lottie Gerard (1787- 1855/1794-unknown) portrayed by their great-greatgreat grandson Clayton Koher and his wife Pam; Bernard and Avelda Roberts (1915-1999/1916- 2008) portrayed by their grandson Matt Roberts and his wife Mariah; and Lester and Elsa Wyland (1891- 1981/1904-1987) portrayed by Todd Lucas and Katie Anders. The departed persons featured in this year’s Cemetery Walk were selected from a Cemetery Walk Essay Contest held in March in which patrons researched and submitted essays about the life of a person buried in the local cemetery. The essay authors are: Cindy Keirn writing about John Lincoln Scott; Missy Sorg writing about Ruth B. Hamman; Kenneth Fawley writing about Caroline Huffman; Thomas Kruger writing about Frank Kruger; Barb Hetric writing about Morton and Tressie Schwinn; Andrea LaBarbera writing about David Mock; Clayton Gerard Koher writing about Abner and Lottie Gerard; Brad Leedy writing about Bernard and Avelda Roberts; and Rebecca Pressler writing about Lester and Elsa Wyalnd. Guided walking tours begin at the library, located at 301 N. Main St. in North Webster; and leave every 15 minutes between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The North Webster Cemetery is within a short walking distance from the library. Golf cart shuttles will be available for people who have difficulty walking. The Friends of the Library organization will furnish free refreshments while patrons wait for their tour to begin or after their tour ends. Guitarist and banjo player Dan Kuhn will provide musical entertainment. For more information, contact Local History and Genealogy Center Director Beth Smith, at 574-834- 7122 ext. 205.
