6th Living History Cemetery Tour July 7

George W. Hubbell, who established this ice cream emporium on Wawaka Lake, s one of 11 people to be portrayed in the tour on July 7.

The sixth Living History Cemetery Tour presented by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) takes place Saturday, July 7 (rain date July 8) at the Halcottsville Cemetery. Tours begin every 20 minutes starting at 4 p.m., with the last tour departing at 6 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 845-586-4736. This popular event will bring to life eleven people who once lived in Halcottsville, ten of them now lying in this peaceful cemetery on Back River Road, on a hill overlooking Lake Wawaka. Meet the trio of brothers who shaped commerce and community in the hamlet; the diarist who recorded the comings and goings of her neighbors for 50 years; the railroad station agent haunted by a horrific train crash; the hotel keeper who was witness to a scandal, and the woman who knows the truth behind it and returns to tell her story.

Tour goers will be led in small groups to meet these folks and others who will talk about their families and friends, struggles and joys, and the events that shaped their lives. Humor, pathos and secrets mark this year’s presentations by area players, some of them descended from the people they will portray.

This is a fundraiser for HSM; tickets are $20, children 12 and under get in free.
Characters in this year’s tour, and the actors who will portray them, include Jennie McKenzie Hewitt Doland, schoolteacher, seamstress and diarist (Agnes Laub); the Kelly Brothers — George, Norman and David — who ran a large farm and several businesses in the hamlet (Rich, Tim and Terry Kelly, great-grandsons of George); Ed and Aurelia Griffin, railroad station agent, and keepers of a general store, post office and restaurant (Dave Truran and Amy Taylor).

Also, Andrew Moldovan, Russian immigrant farmer (Erwin Karl); Sherman Bussy, hotel proprietor, and his grandson Winfield (John Bernhardt and Eli Taylor); and George W. Hubbell, factory owner and jack of all trades (great-nephew Burr Hubbell).

Bertha Williams (Anne Saxon Hersh), who shocked the community in 1913 when she ran off with a local man and made a new life in South Dakota, will float on the cemetery’s periphery, bending the ear of tour goers to set the record straight.

Tour guides will be Tina Greene, Sydney Asher and Barbara Funck.

Scripts were written by Anne Saxon Hersh, Mary Barile, Beth Sherr, Mack Oliver, Jenny Liddle, and Terry Bradshaw, as well as Frank Canavan and Joyce St. George, who also serve as directors of the event.

To find a schedule of HSM’s 2018 events and programs, and many articles and photos pertaining to Middletown’s history, visit mtownhistory.org, where you can also become a member and make an online donation towards the preservation of local history.