The tenth annual tour of the Smithers Municipal Cemetery is coming up.
Every fall, usually creeping close to Halloween, Bulkley Valley Museum curator Kira Westby gives a tour of the local cemetery and tells tales of past residents.
This year, being the decade-long anniversary, will be slightly different.
Normally Westby features the same stories on both days but this time, she will feature different stories of the past on each day to be able to revisit more favourites.
Westby said the cemetery walk is her favourite activity that she gets to do as part of her job, and said the research is always so interesting, adding while it can take hours to complete, it's a labour of love.
"I started the cemetery walk 10 years ago because I personally really enjoy cemeteries and I wanted an event where we could get outside of the museum and talk about the history of the community in a different setting," she said.
"Over the previous nine walks we have featured forty-one individuals, many of whom no longer have living relatives in the community. As they don't have anyone local to remember them, I think that it is a very nice thing for us to take time to hear their story and acknowledge their life, whether it be relatively ordinary, or extraordinary.
"There are moments of humour and moments of sadness, there may be instances of crime, or racism towards others in the stories. We get to see the complexity of real people — their successes, their struggles, how they participated in community life.
"Every person featured in the walk has unique ties to local businesses, clubs, organizations, politics, old buildings, healthcare, sports, other families — there are so many connections. The research into the lives of these individuals regularly reveals new information about the broader history of Smithers and the development of the community that we then use for other exhibits and museum collections research."
This year, the walk will feature several of Westby's favourite stories, including a British First World War veteran named Leslie Peveril Sutcliffe. He lived in Smithers for only two weeks before dying at the age of 26 on November 4th 1918. She noted that she was around the same age when she first learned about him, and this helped to create an emotional connection to his rather sad story.
"He is separated from any family that may still exist, they would be in England," she said.
"Another favourite story that will be featured this year is an American woman named Emily McLaughlin who retired and died in Smithers in 1963 at age 88. She has this very small, very nondescript gravestone that in no way reflects her incredibly amazing life.
"She is one of few non-British citizens to be awarded the Royal Red Cross, a prestigious military nursing decoration first awarded to Florence Nightingale, and she has a building named after her in a major US city. As detail after detail about her life emerged, I was absolutely floored at what she had accomplished. It's an incredible story that I can't wait to share again at this year's walk."
Normally, between 50 and 60 people attend the walk annually.
The walk is scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6 and will start at 11 a.m. each day at the cemetery.
