Photo by Rhonda Van Pelt
The community was horrified and angry in May, when news spread that Crystal Valley Cemetery had been vandalized. Peggie Yager of the Manitou Springs Historical Society felt that way, too.
“It really, really broke my heart when the vandalism hit,” she said in her Miramont Castle office.
Yager immediately started thinking about how to raise funds to help repair the damage and to install cameras and lighting to help prevent another incursion. The answer: a cemetery tour.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, attendees will visit the graves of 12 prominent Manitou residents; volunteers will be in character and costume, telling that person’s story.
Among them: Eber Duclo, the only Manitou resident killed in World War I; Emma Crawford, namesake of the renowned Coffin Races; and Gen. Charles Adams who, among other accomplishments, helped organized the Manitou Springs Mineral Water Bottling Co.
Guides will direct people on their journey through the cemetery. Yager is looking for volunteers to help with that and the reenactments — contact her at miramontcastle@yahoo.com or 685-1011.
As of Thursday, Sept. 2, they still needed two men and three women to recount the stories of the dearly departed. The castle can supply some elements as costumes.
Participants also will stop at the chapel, the building with Manitou greenstone walls just inside the entrance. Yager is especially proud of the work she and the historical society did to renovate the building.
“We repaired all of the broken windows. We stripped all the woodwork and refinished it,” she said. “We had the walls retextured and painted. We had the light fixtures donated to us and we donated them to the chapel.”
That took the entire summer of 2013. The project was paused while the city removed shingles containing asbestos, replaced the roof and painted the exterior.
“The theory behind it was that it would be open for people to be able to use it and have small funerals and meetings, and that was what the city had agreed to. And I want people to know that that building is there for them,” Yager said.
The chapel can accommodate about 17 people, who will listen to castle volunteer Ahna Wolff talk about Victorian mourning traditions.
Although she’s just 15 years old, Ahna is passionate about cemeteries — she also volunteers at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. She’s already ordered her Victorian-style mourning dress for the fundraiser.
She echoes Yager’s desire to ensure Manitou residents and visitors know what a gem the cemetery is.
“We’re hoping that this will open a gate to a bigger sense of community engagement in the cemetery,” Ahna said.
She envisions the fundraiser as a launching pad to start a preservation society for Crystal Valley Cemetery. Members could oversee additional fundraisers for future programs such as Wreathes Across America, which coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies on veterans’ graves throughout the nation and the world.
Ahna also hopes that the fundraising tour will be such a great experience, the guests will want to return and help with headstone cleaning and other projects. Although she said city staffers already do a great job with maintenance, they don’t have time for the small details.
“I would love to bring people in and show them that it’s such a historical place. You don’t have to go there just for a funeral, because it’s such a beautiful area of Manitou,” Ahna said.
Yager envisions volunteers helping update the cemetery’s records, contained in a book that’s 25 years out of date, and finish photographing the headstones to be added to the Find a Grave and BillionGraves websites.
In the meantime, the historical society has rounded up local organizations to help with the fundraiser food and drink.
The Manitou Springs Volunteer Fire Department will be on hand to grill hot dogs and hamburgers, and the Mineral Springs Foundation will make Manitou lemonade with chokecherries. Miramont Castle staff will create traditional funeral desserts and funeral cakes; the latter will cost extra.
“We’re going to step you back in time,” Yager said.
Visitors should park on the edges of roads through the cemetery’s southwest end, opposite from the entrance at the northeast end. They’re encouraged to carpool and wear costumes.
No tables and chairs will be available, so visitors should bring blankets or chairs.
Yager is hoping to raise $7,000, which she thinks is doable if all timeslots fill. Adults’ tickets cost $40 and children’s tickets cost $30.
“It is a little pricey. But all of the money is going to this,” she said.