Monongahela historical society’s ghoulish tales tours not wanted in cemeteries
Nighttime tours through Mt. Zion Cemetery in Nottingham Township by Monongahela Area Historical Society during the Halloween season are being met with opposition from families of those buried there.
Mt. Zion Church along Cracker Jack Road in Nottingham Township
MONONGAHELA – A historical society in the Mon Valley is meeting with opposition again over its plans to hold ghoulish-themed nighttime tours through a cemetery during this Halloween season.
Relatives of some of the deceased who are buried in historic Mt. Zion Cemetery in Nottingham Township are calling for the cemetery board to reject the upcoming tours planned there by the Monongahela Area Historical Society to show respect for hallowed grounds.
“Mt. Zion Cemetery is a sacred and private area, one that our ancestors deserve to rest in peace,” Melissa Haywood Young stated in an Oct. 5 letter to the cemetery board.
Monongahela Cemetery’s board of directors nixed the historical society’s plans to hold the events there, thinking they would have been inappropriate, said board President Jim McCune.
McCune said the board felt the events would have been “disrespectful and unbefitting of a cemetery.”
The Monongahela Ministerial Association also objected to the tours at Monongahela Cemetery.
The society is planning to hold the “tale-telling with history” tours Oct. 20 and 27 at Mt. Zion, according to its Facebook page.
“It is definitely not for the faint of heart,” the society stated in the post that promotes the Mt. Zion events.
Mt. Zion Church, which is closed and stands beside the cemetery, was built in 1846 on property along Cracker Jack Road when the Lutheran congregation relocated from a log building dating to about 1780 in neighboring Fallowfield Township.
“Clearly, the fact that war veterans and generations of families are at rest in this small cemetery is appealing to those that seek a thrill at this time of year,” Young said.
She said the members of the historical society are good people.
“They are missing the point,” Young said. “It’s not a place for a spooky party.”
She said she has sought legal advice on preventing the cemetery tours, and declined additional comment on that decision. She said others who have family members buried there are also opposed to the tours.
McCune said the historical society is a good organization that does good things for the community, and that it’s welcome to hold future appropriate events during the daylight at the cemetery.
Historical society President Susan Bowers declined to comment on Young’s complaints. Cemetery board member Cindy Scherer could not be reached Wednesday.
In a prepared statement, the historical society said the nearly 100 people who registered and prepaid for the Monongahela Cemetery tours will be refunded.
“The fact that anyone believes that the historical society would show disrespect for the dead or the living is upsetting,” the society stated.