Community Cemetery Stories was an opportunity for people to come to the historic Pleasant Street Cemetery located in downtown Kamloops to share stories of the beloved dead and living (trees, birds, flowers) within this public space. Our intention was to animate the cemetery as a space for sharing grief, appreciation, wildlife and the stories that accompany them.
Our event was held on October 19th, and there were approximately 20 attendees. We promoted the event through social media, on CBC (our interview about this event is included in the links below if you want to listen!), on eventbrite and through our community networks.
At the event, co-hosts Emily and Bonnie spoke about the desire for the people’s stories of the cemetery to be witnessed; the everyday loved ones that lived and impacted Kamloops, as well as contemporary experiences of connection with nature.
We had originally intended on having people submit stories they wanted to share as part of their registration so we could plan a tour around the cemetery accordingly, but few people had submitted stories when they registered. Instead, after the introduction to the event, we gave people the opportunity to have some reflection and observation time on their own to see if a story came to the surface that wanted to be told. After circling up together, there were many stories that came forward about loved ones who were buried at the cemetery, pregnancy and infant losses, the personalities and lives of those who lay buried there, as well as encounters with owls and trees and other wildlife in the cemetery.
After the story share, attendees were invited to plant daffodil bulbs (because they finish blooming prior to the first mowing in the spring) in the locations of their stories. We did a short tour to several graves nearby and heard some additional place-based anecdotes. Bonnie’s (event co-host) Scottish great great grandmother is buried at the Pleasant Street Cemetery, so the event ended with a popular Scottish call and response song about going home, at her grave.
We had refreshments and hot apple cider and people were free to stick around and chat afterwards. Emily and Bonnie are also part of the community group advocating for inclusion of green burial practices in the municipal cemeteries and beyond.
