Most of you are familiar with the Saints and Sinner Tours. However, I suspect few of you know the “back story.” The first Saint and Sinner Tour occurred in 2005. It was the creation of our former Director Joni Blackman who nurtured it and grew it into the marvelous event that it is today. The first task is to select several people who are buried at Lakeview Cemetery with interesting stories to tell. This is our cast of “characters” Generally, we tell around 12 to 15 stories and now the work begins.
Each person is researched in detail to get a true flavor of their life and enough details to allow us to write compelling scripts. These 3-to-5-minute scripts are written from the person’s point of view or sometimes from a family member or friend’s point of view. One of the determining factors for the focus is who we can recruit to act out their story.
Then with the wonderful assistance of the staff at Lakeview, we must locate each gravesite. As some are not marked this can be challenging! Now that we have determined where the “characters” are buried, we divide them up between the Walking Tours and the Carriage Tours. This step is followed by mapping the actual route for each tour. We must factor in a couple of issues as we complete this portion of the preparations. Can the horses pull the wagons up the hills, navigate narrow roads and some of the tight turns? For the Walking Tours, the primary question is, “Are the distances reasonable?” When we get to the weekend of the tours, the routes are marked with arrows and then Luminaries are places along the routes that will be used after dark. A “small” additional note here, after the last tour, all the luminaries must be retrieved and turned off. This process is repeated for week Two.
I mentioned that we need actors to portray our various characters. How do we find them, you might ask? Some have been with us a very long-time others must be located each year. We canvas local schools, theater groups, friends, neighbors and family members. It can be incredibly challenging. After we have matched them to a part that they believe will work for them, we assist as needed in costuming suggestions and props. Shortly before the actual tours, we hold a couple of meetings and rehearsals.
Tour Guides are another essential aspect of the event. We have 4 to 6 each year and as with the actors, some are very experienced and some step up brand new. They are provided with a map of the route, a copy of each character’s script (Just in case someone has an emergency and cannot come), and a suggested Tour Guide script. This last item is a compiled document of facts and interesting items that can be shared during the time between characters. Then a couple of weeks before the tours, they are afforded the opportunity to walk the routes with one of the organizers. In addition, we encourage our new guides to shadow one of the more experienced guides prior to going out on their own with a group.
A Booklet is prepared each year that provides background information on the cemetery and prominent people from Jamestown’s history, a summary of each character (with a photo when available) and detailed information on the Mausoleums being featured that particular year. These booklets are available for purchase at our main tent at the cemetery.
We have a tent set up next to the cemetery office. This houses our sign-in table, merchandise sales and food sales and is staffed with yet more volunteers. The sign-in process has been automated by our Office manager making this process much smoother. We also greet walk-up guests and arrange for them to join a tour. Again, volunteers are needed for this. As you can see the Human Resource portion of the event is huge.
Each Saturday and on the final Sunday, several hours ahead of the tours, we set up the event. This includes placing TIKI Torches and lanterns at all the actors’ locations, making sure that the chalk marks on all the routes have not been washed away by rain. And of course, setting up the main tent area with tables, lighting, food, and merchandise.
The planning group also takes care of the advertising that begins fairly early in the year. Word of mouth has been a great part of this. Each year we begin to receive inquiries as early as March for folks wanting to know when the tours are scheduled.
As you can see, it is a big project with much to do to provide our guests with an entertaining and memorable experience. We welcome volunteers at any portion of the planning and presentation of the Saints and Sinners Tours. Please consider joining us for some portion of this fun and rewarding event.
