TW and I headed over to the 17th Annual Historical Cemetery Tour being held at Sunnyside Cemetery and the Long Beach Municipal Cemetery which are located next door to each other, on E. Willow St. (near the airport) in Long Beach, CA.
This is one of my least favorite cemeteries as it is small and unkempt, with few impressive monuments. But, it has a rich history including an Ansel Adams image of it’s “Angel of Sorrow” which I photographed in 2009: Link to Sunnyside Cemetery - 2009
The $18.00 price of admission was a little high but I spent three hours and got to see eight 10-minute dramas that were well written and beautifully preformed by local actors in period cloths.
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Darthula V. Bouggess Portrayed by Zadie M. Cannon |
Co-founded a scholarship (which still exists today) to help African American youth attend college.
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Mary Timney Portrayed by Mary Timney |
Tells the story of her mother, Ramona V. Linares who in widowhood, supported her eight children by starting the first Mexican restaurant in Long Beach, which was family owned for 55 years.
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James Buttlerfield and Roland Swaffield Portrayed by Will Proctor and Denis Kortheuer |
These men, told the story of entrapment for profit when in 1941 the Long Beach Police Department conducted a sting to catch “social vagrants” (code for gay men). Innocent or guilty, the city made money because most defendants would pay a hefty fine rather than have the arrest publicize.
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Edna and Tod Faulkner Portrayed by Elizabeth Waite and Steve Dean |
The Faulkners, a former boxer turned bingo parlor owner and his much younger wife, who died while still young.
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| Hisa Fuji Ishi Portrayed by Jennifer Jung |
Part of the Nisei generation, Hisa Fuji Ishi, was the daughter of a picture bride and survivor of a Japanese interment camp during World War II.
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Spencer and Lillie Decker Portrayed by David Narloch and Melelani Satsuma |
The Deckers were the first mangers of Sunnyside Cemetery
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Dr. and Mrs. Price Portrayed by Kevin Spaeth and Vanessa Rose Parker |
A Hypnotic healer and his estranged wife…guess she got upset with the “holy kiss” he would bestowed on the women members of his 1905 psychology cult.
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William Willmore and Ida Crowe Portrayed by Scott Ringwelski and Mary Hinds |
Long Beach was originally named Willmore City for the man who tried to start the city by the sea but was in the real estate business too early and left too soon. Ida Crowe was a well-to-do benefactor who took him in when he was homeless and nearly senseless.
All of the scripts were well researched using Historical Society of Long Beach achieves, newspaper accounts and other sources.
This bi-plane was not part of the event, but just another ghost from the past that paid a visit.
Above, my tour guide points out one of the interesting symbols to be found on the different headstones. This one was the Order of the Eastern Star which was the female order of Freemasons.
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| Dia De Los Muertos Exhibit by Teresa Marino |
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| Day of the Dead |
I got a new look at a few interesting headstones:
While I was photographing the models, Todd got some shots of the event:
It was Walk for the Animals:
The Best Model contest had 20 contestants (in the order they were photographed):
Check out over 20 years of my animal holiday cards: 
