Photos: Batavia Cemetery Ghost Tour 2010

This ghost tour--especially those people inside the Richmond tomb--just comes across as wrong to me.

Jerry, I agree. When the Richmonds spent a lot of money having the tomb erected, as with most people, it was for a sacred purpose in honoring their own deceased family members and now it is being treated as a holiday playground. I guess if I went to a family members grave, and a bunch of people had props set up all over it for entertainment purposes, I'd be upset. There are many faiths represented in a single cemetary all having different rituals in death. For some the burial process and final resting place is a very holy and sacred ritual and it seems like an intrusion on someones faith practice.
Here are a few links on cemetary etiquette:

http://www.suite101.com/content/cemetery-etiquette-a82454

here is one from the Jewish perpsective

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/394002/jewish/Cemetery-Et…

http://www.cloverdalefuneralhome.com/resources/cemetery-etiquette

here is one from the "ghosthunters" perspective

http://www.hollowhill.com/guide/cem-etiq.htm

Honoring Batavias pioneers and celebrating the rich history can be done in other ways than tromping all over their graves and others.

I have volunteered for many events at the cemetery. I'm proud to be part of the Ghost Walk and help in any way I can. Jerry and Jeff have you ever been on the tour? Nobody "tromps over graves". It's history, it's done with the utmost respect. It is an hour long tour where you visit with the fore fathers of Batavia. I would agree with you IF it was a carnival or If they set it up like a haunted house or made fun of the people or were in any way disrespectful.. There are varying degrees of respect and paying homage to someone is probably one of the highest forms of showing respect. I invite you to come next Saturday and volunteer. See what it's all about before you make a snap judgment of something you obviously know nothing about.

Susan, the pictures speak for themselves. How do you know that placing skulls and candlabras on top of one of the bodies and having people dressed in costumes set up a table and chairs inside the area meant for people to come and pay their respects would not be highly offensive to the family that built the tomb? Unfortunatley they are no longer here to ask, so it's at best, a broad assumption that they wanted their private family investment used to promote historical tourism using your interpretation of what is acceptable iside the tomb. You make a statement about snap judgements on something I "obviously know nothing about" then ask me to volunteer?

I went last year and I found it very respectful. I actually thought it was going to be more spooky and less historical but was surprised at the level of knowledge some of the actors had.

Jeff,
Have you ever visited battlefields where our dead are buried? They also hold reenactments. They also hold historic tours. Many are now known at "parks".

We are all entitled to our opinion as to what we determine to be respectful, however we cannot determine what we would assume others would find respectful. I have dealt directly with and studied the death, dying, and mourning rituals in ours and other cultures. The emotions involved in the death and mourning process are the rawest of all human feelings. They are also as diverse between faiths, cultures, and social standings as anything I can think of. What we should not do is retroactively apply our modern interpretations of what is right and respectful and say that that is what someone who died 100 years ago would want. Their is a rich tradition in our area of Ku Klux Klan members. Many were prominent, respected leaders of our communities. They would be tickled pink if we honored thier lives by burning some crosses, but out of respect for those who would be greatly offended, rightfully we do not.
One of the unique things about our culture is that as a young nation made up of immigrants from many other nations is that we do not have a uniquely "American" death and mourning ritual. Our rituals are a conglomeration of many others and as such, we need to tread lightly among those who adhere to some very specific cultural and religous traditions of their own.
I'm all for historical cemetary walks and would probably enjoy one, but what I see in the second and last picture, I think (JMHO) is not in keeping with the spirit of honoring the dead while respecting all cultures and faiths.

Jeff.........and yet you take the moral high ground of getting offended for other people? You know how everyone feels, in this case you're offended... so everyone is offended.

You are taking something very simple and making it a one man crusade. You don't have a clue... you've never been on the tour so there-fore you have nothing to say. I only said for you to volunteer so you could see what we were doing. to make an informed opinion of the tour. Snap judgment??? Me? .. Snap judgment...YOU! You think you know the full story by looking at a few pictures?? You have no leg to stand on here.. yours is a misinformed opinion.

You don't have to tell me about death or dying. We have all lost people near and dear to us and we are all very aware of grief and the "raw emotions" at the time. I'm a widow I am very aware of the emotions and I still see nothing wrong with what they are doing. I don't take it personally and I'm not offended that people take tours of this history rich cemetery.

As far as the whole cross burning thing.. yeah way to take something way to far... that has nothing to do with anything.. This is the last you'll hear from me on the subject because until you've visited the cemetery you have no argument..