What Better Day Than Halloween...

...for a Graveyard Rabbit to celebrate a blogiversary?

Back in 2008, I was pleased and honored to be asked by the late Terry Thornton to be a charter member  of his new project, The Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

What is a Graveyard Rabbit? From About The GYRabbit Association:

Welcome to The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits – an association dedicated to the academic promotion of the historical importance of cemeteries, grave markers, and the family history to be learned from a study of burial customs, burying grounds, and tombstones; and the social promotion of the study of cemeteries, the preservation of cemeteries, and the transcription of genealogical/historical information written in cemeteries.

The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits was founded by Terry Thornton (Mississippi) with assistance from footnoteMaven (Washington) and Bob Franks (Mississippi). The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits is authored by Terry Thornton of The GYRabbit of The Hill Country. It features a weekly article with links to all of the articles written by the membership and a weekly feature devoted to the introduction of one of the members. Members are in contact with each other through their blogs, through a frequent Graveyard Rabbit e-Letter, and through interaction at the Graveyard Rabbit Group at Facebook. Additional publications planned include an e-Quarterly and an e-Annual.

The Association publication is implementing an articles and links library created with the contributions of its members. Discussions are ongoing about a Cemetery of the Year Award sponsored by The Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

WHY THE ASSOCIATION OF GRAVEYARD RABBITS?

The Association was named for Frank Lebby Stanton's poem, The Graveyard Rabbit. Although the poem is about superstitions associated with graveyard rabbits, Stanton also establishes that such rabbits have a charmingly intimate knowledge of graveyards and a loving association with the dead. These traits are the motivation of the human beings interested in this group.

I have only lived on the Central Coast for 7 years, but I have to say, the cemeteries here are gorgeous! I mean, who wouldn't want to be buried here?

It's true: the dead at the Santa Barbara Cemetery have a better view of the ocean than most of the living. I've already told my husband to bury me there, but at $20k+ per plot, I sincerely doubt that will happen!

And during my cemetery research and travels, I was surprised to discover a member of my own extended family buried in the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura. As a 2nd generation Californian, it's not often that I find family I didn't know about buried here, especially on the Central Coast (most of my family migrated to the Inland Empire).

Although life has kept me busy, and I've often neglected this blog, my commitment to cemeteries and the history they preserve has never wavered. I hope that I have honored Mr. Thornton's memory by continuing to participate as a member of his project.

If you love cemeteries and would like to join the Association, please visit The Association of Graveyard Rabbits and click the JOIN button to fill out the application.

Thank you for hopping by today!

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Upcoming Event: Santa Barbara Cemetery Talk and Tours

Founded in 1867, The Santa Barbara Cemetery is unique. It has not only passed through the five distinctive stages of cemetery development in the United States, but has melded these eras into the remarkably beautiful, functioning "Best Last Place." Author David Petry spent eight years researching, while traveling to over 1,000 cemeteries around the country and around the world.

He has given tours of the local cemetery since 1996, covering it's development as well as some of the many notables buried there including many Santa Barbara business, political, and arts leaders; captains of industry, writers, screen actors, and a princess.

Lecture and Reception at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum
136 East De La Guerra Street
October 27, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
$25 Museum Members ~ $35 Guests

Walking Tours at the Santa Barbara Cemetery
901 Channel Drive
$10 Museum Members ~ $15 Guests

Saturday October 29, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.
~ or ~
Sunday October 30, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.

Walking tour notes:

Meet at the Cemetery Chapel

Tour is approx 2.5 hours, walking approx 1 mile.

Bring water, hats, and a camera.

Santa Barbara Historical Museum members, please call 805-966-1601

for reservations for the talk or walks.

Be sure to follow David's blog, Decomposing Santa Barbara!

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Upcoming Event: Halloween Walking Tour of the Santa Barbara Cemetery

Resignation by Ettore Cadorin (Petry)

"It's Halloween and Dia de los Muertos and All Souls. The veil between the worlds thins, and its time once again, to recall, to visit, to glide through, the Santa Barbara Cemetery."

David Petry, author of the book The Best Last Place: A History of the Santa Barbara Cemetery, will be your guide through this fascinating place in Santa Barbara history.

Saturday, October 30, 2010, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

~ or ~

Sunday, October 31, 2010, 1:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Santa Barbara Cemetery

901 Channel Drive

Santa Barbara, California

$15 per person

Please RSVP to dlpetry@gmail.com

Bring water, a hat, a camera, and your curiosity!

*  *  *

From one of Mr. Petry's previous press releases:

Issac Sparks marker, 1867. His initial   
burial in a broken-down Westside
cemetery is the reason the Santa 
Barbara Cemetery exists today. 
(Petry)

The Santa Barbara Cemetery is unique among cemeteries. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the cemetery is home to actors, industrialists, authors, musicians, sports stars, and many of the town’s founders and leaders. It was, for the duration of the Reagan presidency, the chosen site for the Reagan’s burial plot. The Cemetery Chapel is the only sacred structure designed by famed architect George Washington Smith; inside are the only completed murals of Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Where most cemeteries are corporate-, church-, or government-owned, the Santa Barbara Cemetery is owned and operated by a nonprofit board whose by-laws were originally drafted in 1867.

But more importantly, the Santa Barbara Cemetery has transcended five separate incarnations: as a dusty and geometric town cemetery, as a rudely conceived rural cemetery, as a fitful lawn park cemetery, as an over-achieving memorial park, and as a local columbarium. The Santa Barbara Cemetery has embraced each of these phases and has built upon them, becoming in the end, a modern cemetery that is better than any of the models it followed.

Be sure to sign up for The Best Last Place group on Facebook!

*  *  *

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Mr. Petry's book or business in any way. I do own a copy of the book, and I think it is excellent.

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Central Coast Cemetery Scavenger Hunt!

If you're like me, you probably haven't participated in a scavenger hunt since you were a kid. In this cemetery scavenger hunt, 15 items were found at various cemeteries around the Central Coast.

CROSS - Found at Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.

HEART - Found at Oak Hill Cemetery, Ballard, California.

FRATERNAL SYMBOL (Masons) - Found at Goleta Cemetery, Goleta, California.

MONUMENT - Found at Oak Hill Cemetery, Ballard, California.

FLOWER - Found at Arroyo Grande Cemetery, Arroyo Grande, California.

HAND - Found at Lompoc Cemetery, Lompoc, California.

ANGEL - Found at Santa Barbara Mission Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.

BIRD - Found at Santa Maria Cemetery, Santa Maria, California.

TREE - Found at Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.

STAR - Found at Santa Maria Cemetery, Santa Maria, California

OBELISK - Found at Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.

FOUR-LEGGED ANIMAL (front) - Found at Oak Hill Cemetery, Ballard, California.

FOUR-LEGGED ANIMAL (back)

PHOTO - Found at Oak Hill Cemetery, Ballard, California.

MILITARY GRAVESTONE - Found at Arroyo Grande Cemetery, Arroyo Grande, California.

MAUSOLEUM - Found at Santa Barbara Mission Cemetery, Santa Barbara, California.

This post was composed for the July 2010 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival: Scavenger Hunt.

All photos in this post by Elizabeth or Ben O'Neal, photographed on various dates..

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Upcoming Event: Historic Walking Tour of the Santa Barbara Cemetery

Resignation by Ettore Cadorin (Petry)

I received the following announcement yesterday from David Petry.

* * *

Historic Walking Tour of the Santa Barbara Cemetery with Historian, David Petry, author of The Best Last Place: a History of the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Sunday, May 30, 2010, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Rain or Shine!)
Meet at the Cemetery Chapel, 901 Channel Drive.
$25 per person. Pay at the door.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Mr. Petry's excellent history of the cemetery, The Best Last Place: A History of the Santa Barbara Cemetery, the book is discounted to $15 (retail $30). Payment in cash or personal check is accepted.

Issac Sparks marker, 1867. His initial
burial in a broken-down Westside
cemetery is the reason the Santa Barbara
Cemetery exists today. (Petry)

The Santa Barbara Cemetery is unique among cemeteries. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the cemetery is home to actors, industrialists, authors, musicians, sports stars, and many of the town’s founders and leaders. It was, for the duration of the Reagan presidency, the chosen site for the Reagan’s burial plot. The Cemetery Chapel is the only sacred structure designed by famed architect George Washington Smith; inside are the only completed murals of Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Where most cemeteries are corporate-, church-, or government-owned, the Santa Barbara Cemetery is owned and operated by a nonprofit board whose by-laws were originally drafted in 1867.

But more importantly, the Santa Barbara Cemetery has transcended five separate incarnations: as a dusty and geometric town cemetery, as a rudely conceived rural cemetery, as a fitful lawn park cemetery, as an over-achieving memorial park, and as a local columbarium. The Santa Barbara Cemetery has embraced each of these phases and has built upon them, becoming in the end, a modern cemetery that is better than any of the models it followed.

The tour provides a brief history of the cemetery and a 1-mile walking tour to the most interesting gravesites and sections of the cemetery. See the burial sites of town leaders Charles Fernald and Thomas More Storke, actors Ronald Colman, Laurence Harvey, and his daughter Domino, murderer Cyrus Barnard, gold magnate Augustus Sahlberg, business founders Jheri Redding, Sam Battistone, David Nancarrow, and George Oscar Mayer. Among many others.

Get a $10 discount on the tour if you sign up for The Best Last Place group on Facebook!

* * *

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Mr. Petry's book or business in any way. I do have the book, and I think it is excellent.

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Alexander Leslie Ellis

In Memory of

Alexander

Leslie Ellis

Fourth son of

Robert Francis Ellis

of Macherymore

Wicklow, Ireland

Born Nov 6, 1856    Died Oct 17, 1914

at Santa Barbara

The Gift of God is

Eternal Life

Alexander Leslie ELLIS is buried in the Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Co., California, Ocean View section, Grave 1222.

"Headstone of Alexander Leslie Ellis." Digital image. Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, July 19, 2008, Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Co., California.

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

Upcoming Event: Santa Barbara Cemetery Walking Tour

David Petry, author of the book, The Best Last Place: A History of the Santa Barbara Cemetery, will host a walking tour of the Santa Barbara Cemetery this Halloween weekend:

Saturday, October 31, 2009
10 AM to 12:30 PM
901 Channel Drive, Santa Barbara
$15 per person
Meet at the Cemetery Chapel

The Santa Barbara Cemetery is unique among cemeteries. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the cemetery is home to actors, industrialists, authors, musicians, sports stars, and many of the town’s founders and leaders. It was, for the duration of the Reagan presidency, the chosen site for the Reagan’s burial plot. The Cemetery Chapel is the only sacred structure designed by famed architect George Washington Smith; inside are the only completed murals of Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Where most cemeteries are corporate-, church-, or government-owned, the Santa Barbara Cemetery is owned and operated by a nonprofit board whose by-laws were originally drafted in 1867.

More information about this event is available here.

P.S. I have a copy of Mr. Petry's book, and it is excellent. The history of this cemetery is really quite fascinating!

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal