Mount Mora to host annual Voices of the Past cemetery tours
Oct. 7—The Mount Mora Restoration and Preservation Association is holding its annual Voices of the Past interpretive tours this month.
The two-night event shares stories of residents' vacations from long ago, digging into elite St. Joseph's culture. The tours will take place at 6 and 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, and at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14. Tickets are available for $25 each at stjosephmuseum.org/events or those interested can call 816-232-8471.
Sharon Kosek, a Voices of the Past volunteer, has been with the cemetery for as long as the tours have been running over the last two decades. Supporting Mount Mora has become a personal mission for Kosek.
"As a small child, my grandparents would take me there and I would just walk around the cemetery and look at the headstones and look in the mausoleums because it was so historically interesting," Kosek said. "I think that I've found that has made me even more interested in helping, but it helps to raise money so that we can raise up tombstones, keep the mausoleums in good order."
Volunteers will dress in vintage apparel to transport visitors back in time to the 1800s. These "voices" will share stories about each character they are portraying for that night. Kosek was dressed in costume, as Mrs. Mattie Clayton, when she spoke with News-Press NOW.
"I am dressed to go sailing if I might want to, that was one of the things we did, we would go sailing, fishing, reading, whatever type of relaxing activities we might want to do," Kosek said. "Lots of families from St Joseph went there (Wisconsin). Fishing was our most favorite thing to do there."
The tours begin at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, where attendees will be bused to Mount Mora Cemetery. Mr. Simeon Kemper, one of the original property owners, will greet the guests and take them to Mausoleum Row to lead the tour.
"Guests will hear about many of St. Joseph's residents' favorite destinations — Manitou Springs, Colorado; Buffalo, New York; Coney Island; and the greatest destination of them all — Lake Contrary Park in St. Joseph," said Voices Director Bob Fitzpatrick.
Mount Mora is one of the oldest operating cemeteries in town, established in 1851. The stories told during the tours each year change, sharing the history of the St. Joseph area as well as those of stature around the city.
The tours will last about 45 minutes to an hour, and guests will get an inside look at what life was like at the time of those characters' lives. The tours are fully research-based.
"This gives us an opportunity to share history of St Joseph's past, which is so important we keep alive," Kosek said.
