The Brick Store Museum hosts the annual All Souls’ Walk, a narrated tour through Hope Cemetery, on Saturday, Oct. 26, beginning at noon. Courtesy photo
KENNEBUNK — All Souls’ Walk, which offers narrated tours of Hope Cemetery, complete with costumed actors depicting long-deceased community members, returns Saturday, Oct. 26.
It is just in time for the upcoming Halloween season and for All Souls Day – a day when friends and family members say prayers for the dead — which is marked on Nov. 2 this year.
The event is hosted annually by the Brick Store Museum, and continues to draw folks interested in history, and interested in getting into the “spirit” of what many would likely agree is the spookiest time of year.
‘It is a walking tour that comes alive,” said Brick Store Museum Director Cynthia Walker, who gets into the spirit of things herself as an All Souls’ Walk tour guide.
She said those taking the tour get to “meet” a dozen different historic Kennebunk figures, who are buried at Hope Cemetery. The historical figures speak in character, telling their stories.
Walker said one of the characters whom tour takers will encounter is Lizzie Bourne, a young Kennebunk woman who died atop Mount Washington on a hike in the 19th century.
The 16th annual All Souls’ Walk in Kennebunk features historical figures telling their stories in character. Courtesy photo
Online accounts of Bourne’s untimely death note that the young woman, 23, set out from Glen House Hotel to climb Mount Washington with her uncle and cousin on Sept. 14, 1855. According to New Hampshire Magazine, Lizzie had a heart condition, but was determined to spend the night at Tip-Top House, to see the sun- rise. Despite the afternoon’s turn to bad weather, they continued on, according to the New Hampshire Magazine account by Barbara Radcliffe Rogers. Other accounts note that her uncle, George Bourne, built a stone wall to try and shelter the trio from the wind. Lizzie died during the night.
She is buried at Hope Cemetery, where continuous tours begin at noon from the museum, with the last tour departing at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person, or $30 per family. The tour covers a half-mile loop, lasting approximately family activity . Tours conclude at the museum, where guests are invited to enjoy cider and treats while viewing the museum’s fall exhibitions, including the opening of the Bauman Family Gallery’s contemporary show by artists Rosalind Fedeli and Susan Barrett Merrill.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Brick Store Museum, or online at www.brickstoremuseum.org. Tickets can also be purchased on the day of the event.
The event occurs rain or shine, since a modified indoor version of the program (through collections storage areas) will be presented in the event of inclement weather.
Walker said the popularity of the event, held for 16 years, continues, with a 50-50 mix of those who take part every year as an autumn tradition and those experiencing All Souls’ Walk for the first time.
Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@mainelymediallc.com.
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