Ridgefield's Graveyard Restoration Committee to Host Cemetery Walking Tour as Part of 'The Big Read'

The Town of Ridgefield’s Graveyard Restoration Committee is hosting a self-guided walking tour in Mapleshade Cemetery. The walking tour is a part of Ridgefield’s “The Big Read.”

Ridgefield’s Big Read Cemetery Tour promises to be an interesting and educational afternoon as visitors can learn about the “Resting Ridgefielders of Gatsby’s Era.” The self-guided walk will take guests to the final resting places of some of the “Summer People” who made their fortunes during the Guilded Age.

Grave sites on the tour include an illustrator of Mark Twain’s books, the first female reporter to use the term “sob sister” during the roaring twenties, the clergyman who hunted big game with Teddy Roosevelt, as well as local hard working residents of that era.

Volunteers in Gatsby-era attire will be at select grave sites to bring the “resting Ridgefielder’s” stories to life.

The tour is part of Ridgefield’s town wide celebration of this year’s Big Read, “The Great Gatsby.” The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

The tour is set for Saturday, Oct. 18 from 1-4 p.m. Parking is available in Mapleshade Cemetery. The entrance is located at the corner of Mapleshade Rd. and North St., and at the American Legion Hall on Rte 116.

Photo: Ridgefield Graveyard Restoration Committee

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