Rotary After Hours Twin Falls Brings Back Historical Cemetery Tour!
The second Twin Falls Historical Cemetery Tour was a grand success. Our club held this well received event in 2014 but due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to host it again until this year. Over the years the community has approached us numerous times asking when we will be hosting the tour again, so we are excited to bring back this educational fun event to the community.
Participants are guided to various gravesites of local founding fathers, hero’s, artists, and a notorious villain, to hear how their lives impact and shape what Twin Falls is today. Local actors portrayed the historical figures with the guidance of Mychel Matthews a local historian. Mychel shared with the actor’s details about their character then encouraged them to do more research on their own to make the character more personal to them. It is a powerful exercise which the actors say really helped them become the person they were portraying. And it showed! We heard so many rave reviews as participants left the cemetery.
This year’s event highlighted I.B. Perrine the man considered the Founding Father of Twin Falls he is responsible for developing irrigation to our high mountain desert. Paired with him was Charles Walgamott who was a developer. Participants heard stories from The McCullum’s, who built the first stick home in Twin Falls and took care of the men who were building the town, The Bisbee’s our famous photographer who photographed all the amazing beauty in the Twin Falls area, Brothers who lost loved ones to the 1918 influenza pandemic and finally last but certainly our most colorful notorious character, serial killer Lyda Southard who murdered her five husbands, a brother-in-law and her own child between 1912-1920. She used arsenic cooked in apple pies to disguise the taste! Yikes! All for their life insurance money.
After each tour children received treat bags and everyone indulged in snacks and coffee at our concession stand. Over two hundred participants took the tour on a beautiful sunny cool day. Money raised went into our local charities fund so we can help various charitable organizations.
Rotarian Charles Kelly (c) as I.B. Perrine w/Historical Director Mychel Matthews (l) and Mike Winterholler (r) as Charles Walgamott
Braeden Sanchez as Clarence Bisbee
Mike Winterholler as Charles Walgamott telling his story.
Audrey as Jessie Bisbee
Daniel Gardner as the sad/angry Edward Meyer murdered husband of Lyda Southard played by Lori Young
Edward Meyer murdered husband of Lyda Southard and Lyda herself!
Escorting a group to start the tour.
Rotarians taking a break between tours.