History focus of scavenger hunt event
Auglaize County's graveyard genealogical scavenger hunt is
back on after being postponed last month. The hunt will start at
6 p.m. this Thursday at Greenlawn Cemetery.
But there will not be any touching, just looking.
According to Judy Haggard, president of the society, the purpose of the hunt is to help others understand the importance of cemeteries and what grave stones can tell people.
Her biggest goal for having this is getting people to learn about the genealogical society and for
members to learn about people in the community.
The hunt will start in front of the Civil War statue where Haggard plans to go over some rules.
"Things like, 'don't block the driveway so other people can get through,'" she said.
But above all, don't lean or stand on a cemetery stone.
"Some of these stones are over 100 years old," she said. "The
adhesive they've used to put the
stones on their bases is getting weak."
People have actually hurt themselves or died doing that.
Following that, Haggard plans to examine Civil War
stones and show people where to find information they'll
need to complete the hunt using a Civil War soldier as an example.
Participants will then have the opportunity for a 30 minute exploration of the cemetery on their
own with the goal of completing a worksheet Haggard will pass out to everyone
before starting.
Prompts will include finding funny
names, determining the number of spouses a person had, locating children's
names on stones, determining marriage dates and even finding pets.
She will then bring explorers back together to discuss findings. According to Haggard, the entire process will be
anywhere between 30-60 minutes.
She's never done something like this before, but believes the event could be a fun way for people to get involved in the
community and learn about the Auglaize County Genealogical
Society, and said she's received positive responses so far.
"I would like for people to have a better appreciation of the stones that are
out here," she said. "We drive by, maybe we're looking for a
particular stone and we just look for that one, and yet there's
so many things out here to see."
Haggard hopes to get 20 people to show
up. If the weather doesn't cooperate they'll meet at either the shelter house by the swimming pool
or the middle school library.