A Halloween activity growing in popularity is that of cemetery tours. These guided tours are designed not only to provide a little scare, but usually include a lot of history about the cemetery and the people buried there.
Preservation Idaho, which works to preserve historic sites in the state, is hosting a tour Sunday of Boise's Cloverdale Cemetery. It’s known for its resident swans and a group of reindeer which live on the premises.
But historian Amy Pence-Brown says there’s a lot of history wrapped up at Cloverdale, including the final resting place for the victim of an infamous Treasure Valley murder.
But in spite of its interesting history, Cloverdale isn’t as well-known as some of the other, older cemeteries in Boise.
Halloween brings to mind haunted cemeteries full of the ghosts of the dead. But Pence-Brown, who studies cemeteries, says they’re really places built for the living.
“They’re really here to help us move on with our lives in a healthy and positive way,” says Pence-Brown.
She’s leading a Halloween tour of Cloverdale Cemetery Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
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