21st annual Elgin Cemetery Walk

The 21st annual Elgin Cemetery Walk will be from noon to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children. Cost for Elgin Area Historical Society members is $5.

An autumn tradition in the Fox Valley, the society's historic Elgin Cemetery Walk is held on the fourth Sunday in September. Visitors to scenic Bluff City Cemetery are guided to grave sites of "former" residents, portrayed by actors in period costumes, who share something of their lives and times. Among them may be a founding pioneer or early doctor, a war hero or crafty politician, a teacher or banker. With a cast that changes each year, these vignettes provide a glimpse of Elgin's rich heritage through the lives of its citizens.

The cemetery is located on Bluff City Boulevard, approximately half-mile east of Liberty Street (Route 25). Bluff City Boulevard is located one block south of Route 20 on Elgin's east side. This beautiful and historic cemetery is the final resting place of many prominent Elginites and has many fine examples of elaborate headstones and mausoleums.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Elgin Historical Museum and at Ziegler's Ace Hardware stores at the reduced rate of $5.

The historical figures featured on the 2008 Walk will be:

• Joseph Forrdrescher, a man with Boston connections, one canine and the other in merchandising.

• Philip Freiler, a teetotaler who ran a liquor business.

• Alice Byrd Potter, a woman who steered a path to her own destiny.

• Libbie Samuelson, a young widow, left with an estate of $115, who raised two daughters and put them through college.

• Judge David Sherwood, a man ahead of his time. He believed in electric and wind power before the turn of the 20th century.

• Katie Thiele, a woman who found her future husband while lost on her on her first day in Elgin.

• Dr. William Todd, a doctor who could not stand the sight of blood.

Marge Edwards of the Dundee Township Historical Society will give a presentation on Victorian superstitions. For details, visit www.elginhistory.org.