Under a Full Moon, Cemetery Tour Sets Attendance Record

I find the stories so interesting,” she says. “We just have such fabulous history, and you don't have to make any of this up because we have such great stories here. ”

The 13th annual Globe Cemetery Tour saw a record turnout this year, drawing roughly 200 attendees. Thanks to an early rain shower that passed to the east, the evening temperatures carried just a hint of fall weather, skies were clear, and the full moon shone brightly. 

More than 50 actors dressed in period costumes participated in this year’s tour, stationed next to the gravestones of those whose life events they reenacted. The reenactments are historic in nature, as the cemetery was established nearly 150 years ago. 

For more than a decade, the local theater ensemble Copper Cities Community Players and the Globe Downtown Association have produced this walking tour as a means of both honoring those interred at the cemetery and educating tour-goers about Globe’s history. 

There is a process to determine which stories will be reenacted during the tour. Many of the stories told are based on research by Bullion Plaza Museum's local researcher, Lee Ann Powers. 

“I find the stories so interesting,” she says. “We just have such fabulous history, and you don't have to make any of this up because we have such great stories here.”  

A longstanding member of the players, Powers started out as an actress for the event. Fascinated by the stories told during the tour, she eventually asked to get involved in the research process. 

She has found many of the stories used in the cemetery tour while digitizing newspapers in her research and by reading historical accounts. Several local families have also contributed stories.

After vetting the stories for historical accuracy, Powers passes them along to Community Players director JoNell Brantley Thomas, who works with the group’s script writers and actors to come up with content for the tour. 

Numerous new scripts were written and incorporated into this year’s tour, including stories based on Herman Wolf, a German property owner at the cemetery and ancestor to several present-day locals; Frankie Gill, whose favorite cow gored him; Ralph Schofield, who died in 1891 under suspicious circumstances while working a contentious case as a Gila County deputy sheriff; and Italian immigrants Dominic and Lucy Zucco, who ran a bakery on Euclid street, and later a grocery store.

As the demand for this popular local tour continues to grow, the event may be expanded in future years, says Brantley Thomas, perhaps with a second night of tours.  

Acknowledgements: 

Directors JoNell Brantley Thomas Producer  Molly Cornwell-Thompson

Chief Researcher: Lee Ann Powers Script Writers: Kip Culver, Margaret Brantley, Tom Foster, Dee Hunt, Erika Fores, Jason Marr and Kim Stone  Lighting: Guillermo “Willy” Thomas and Isaac Webb Photography: Cathi Cenatiempo  Slide Presentation: Kim Stone   Special thanks to the City of Globe, Topo Joes, Vincent Mariscal for the firetruck sponsored by Globe Fire and the Gila County Historical Museum, our many volunteers, and all our actors who helped us pull this off again this year.