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Dine with the Dead: Cemetery Customs and Traditions of Days Gone By- SOLD OUT

Event Details

October 4th at 11:00am – 1:00pm

302 E. Miller Street, Bloomington, IL 61701

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Tickets for this event are now SOLD OUT. Please click here to email the Education Department to be added to the waiting list.

Enjoying a picnic in a cemetery was not always a taboo activity. Quite the contrary — a graveside lunch was a leisure activity for many. In the mid-1800s, people often dined while visiting their dearly departed, and city residents regularly took advantage of cemeteries for strolls and carriage rides too.

In the spirit of the age, join us on Saturday, October 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a picnic lunch and one-hour guided walking tour of Evergreen Memorial Cemetery. Participants will learn about funerary customs of the Victorian-era, explore the types of monuments that populate the cemetery, and hear some stories of the McLean County citizens who reside there. Candace Summers, the Museum's Senior Director of Education, will lead the tour.

Tickets are $30 for the general public and $28 for Museum members. Participation is limited to 30 people. Tickets include boxed lunch, water, lemonade, and one-hour guided walking tour. Please dress for the weather and wear good walking shoes. We will walk approximately one mile over a one-hour period, standing and stopping between various sites. The tour will begin and end at the entrance to the cemetery located at 302 E. Miller Street, Bloomington, Illinois. Lunch will immediately follow the tour.

This program is a part of the Museum's programming series Mourning in McLean: The Story of Death, Grieving, and Funerary Customs in McLean County. It's accompanying display will be up from September 15 through November 21, 2025 on three floors of the Museum. Mourning in McLean is presented by Pontiac Granite Co., with major support from East Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, and additional contributions provided by Evergreen Memorial Cemetery and Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home.

For more information, please contact the Education Department by clicking here or calling us at 309-827-0428.

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Tickets for this event are now SOLD OUT. Please click here to email the Education Department to be added to the waiting list.

Enjoying a picnic in a cemetery was not always a taboo activity. Quite the contrary — a graveside lunch was a leisure activity for many. In the mid-1800s, people often dined while visiting their dearly departed, and city residents regularly took advantage of cemeteries for strolls and carriage rides too.

In the spirit of the age, join us on Saturday, October 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a picnic lunch and one-hour guided walking tour of Evergreen Memorial Cemetery. Participants will learn about funerary customs of the Victorian-era, explore the types of monuments that populate the cemetery, and hear some stories of the McLean County citizens who reside there. Candace Summers, the Museum's Senior Director of Education, will lead the tour.

Tickets are $30 for the general public and $28 for Museum members. Participation is limited to 30 people. Tickets include boxed lunch, water, lemonade, and one-hour guided walking tour. Please dress for the weather and wear good walking shoes. We will walk approximately one mile over a one-hour period, standing and stopping between various sites. The tour will begin and end at the entrance to the cemetery located at 302 E. Miller Street, Bloomington, Illinois. Lunch will immediately follow the tour.

This program is a part of the Museum's programming series Mourning in McLean: The Story of Death, Grieving, and Funerary Customs in McLean County. It's accompanying display will be up from September 15 through November 21, 2025 on three floors of the Museum. Mourning in McLean is presented by Pontiac Granite Co., with major support from East Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, and additional contributions provided by Evergreen Memorial Cemetery and Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Memorial Home.

For more information, please contact the Education Department by clicking here or calling us at 309-827-0428.