Long Beach Cemetery Tour goes online
The Long Beach Historical Society‘s annual Cemetery Tour will not be presented live this Halloween, thanks to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Instead, there will be a “virtual” version – actually, a ninety-minute film that uses documents, images, postcards, and maps, and performances from previous tours to portray local history.
The Long Beach Historical Cemetery Tour is slightly misnamed. Though it does indeed include a tour of Long Beach Municipal Cemetery & Sunnyside Cemetery, the heart of the event is a series of theatrical vignettes, with actors impersonating those buried in the cemetery, who relate their life stories to the audience. These stories range from amusing to heart-breaking, covering topics such as women’s suffrage, prohibition, the depression, World War II, and the Japanese internment camps. The high quality of the writing and the performing should provides lots of great material for the film, which is titled From Seaside Resort to International City: The Story of Long Beach Lives in its Cemeteries.
Viewers can access the film from October 30 through November 13. Prices start at $40 for a household, with a $5 discount for members of the Historical Society. Generous donors can pay the $100 Super Supporter Household price or the $250 History Lover Household price. This is a non-profit event; all proceeds will benefit the Historical Society of Long Beach.
For more information, visit the Historical Society’s event webpage.
