On Friday and Saturday nights, October 2-3, 2015, the Lake Washington Foundation Beautification Committee will present its fourth annual Greenfield Cemetery Candlelight Tour in Glen Allan, MS. Advance tickets are required and will go on sale August 1. Performed each year before sell-out crowds, this year’s event will bring seven new stories and the return of St. John’s caretaker, Jesse Crowell as portrayed by Rev. Charles Young. Visitors will be guided through the lighted cemetery to selected gravestones of early settlers, where local residents in period dress will emerge from the shadows to portray those individuals who now lie buried beneath the stones. Framed by flickering torches, the costumed storytellers will recount stories of wealth, poverty, war, and tragedy in this historical presentation of the lives of people who first settled the Lake Washington area.
Greenfield Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Washington County, having been established by the earliest settlers who built homes and carved plantations out of the land around Lake Washington beginning in the 1820s. The cemetery is also the site of the ruins of St. John’s Episcopal Church, consecrated in 1857. Like its people, the magnificent Gothic building suffered the depredations of the Civil War. Its leaded windows were removed and the lead melted down to make Confederate bullets. Consequently, rain and wind ravaged the interior of the church. Around the turn of the century, an effort was made to restore the church, but a tornado in 1904 destroyed all but the bell tower and brick foundations which remain today as iconic subjects of photographers and quiet visitors.
Advance tickets are $25 each and may be purchased from committee members, the Green Apple in Rolling Fork, Roy’s Store in Chatham, Greenville Animal Clinic and Hospital in Greenville, or by mail, payable to LWF Beautification Committee, P.O. Box 81, Glen Allan, MS 38744. Include name, complete address, requested night and number of tickets, full payment, and a contact phone number and/or email in case questions arise about your order. The Committee is unable to issue refunds, make exchanges between nights, or help purchasers resell unneeded tickets.
All tour guests must meet at the Glen Allan United Methodist Church where they will be assigned a tour group number as they arrive. Light refreshments and local historical material will be available while patrons await their tour. Tours of 20-25 guests will leave the church approximately every 20 minutes, with the first tour leaving at 7 pm and the final tour at 9 pm. Transportation to and from the cemetery will be provided since there is limited parking at the cemetery. Tours last about 1 hour and are not ADA accessible. This is a walking tour over uneven ground and involves periods of standing, so please consider this before purchasing your tickets. The Methodist church will open at 6:30 pm each night to accommodate guests. A limit of 150 tickets is available for each night.
In case inclement weather precludes going to the cemetery on a given night, two complete presentations will be held for that night’s ticket holders in the Methodist Church sanctuary at 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. of inclement weather, two complete presentations will be held in the Methodist Church sanctuary at 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm tThe Greenfield Cemetery Candlelight Tour is a fundraiser of the Lake Washington Foundation Beautification Committee, a 501c6 non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification, promotion, and preservation of the Lake Washington area.
For more information see our public web page (no FB membership required): www.facebook.com/greenfieldcemeterycandlelighttour or call Lynn Robinson @ 662-822-6868.
