Diary of a Cemetery CEO: The Start of Spooky Season
This is the time of year when everything moves at hyper-speed here at Oakland.
As the weather cools and everyone heads back outside after the steamy summer, I love seeing the Cemetery full of visitors enjoying the grounds. Seeing the number of little kids at Oakland over the last couple of weekends at Sunday in the Park and then at the Pumpkin Patch is really special. Where else in this country is there a generation of kids growing up with a historic cemetery as their park and greenspace? I think that's really cool. (Oh, and there are still a few spaces remaining in our Fall Break Camp, too!)
There is so much still to come this Fall—especially Capturing the Spirit of Oakland and Dia de Muertos—and I look forward to seeing you at the Cemetery soon.
Something I'm grateful for: Everyone who has been showing up with such fervor already this Fall. We had the most amazing celebration of Historic Oakland Foundation's 50th Anniversary at our Golden Jubilee Picnic and the most wonderfully beautiful fall weather for Sunday in the Park ft. Tunes from the Tombs and we also (mostly) dodged the rain at the Pumpkin Patch this last weekend. We're so grateful to everyone who makes Oakland's events and programs a part of their lives. It brings us joy to bring happiness and fun to people's lives, and the fact that all proceeds from these activities go back into our mission to preserve, restore, enhance, and share Oakland Cemetery is the cherry on top.
Something happening behind the scenes: The incredible hard work of all of our staff and volunteers. I wouldn't blame you if you've not stopped to think about how all of our programming, events, camps, and activities happen. The Historic Oakland Foundation staff and volunteers, alongside the City of Atlanta staff at Oakland, have been working tirelessly for months to plan and execute the range of activities that bring the Cemetery to life in the Fall. It is really amazing to see the dedication and tireless effort that goes into making all of this happen. The fact that it happens while the Cemetery continues to undergo active restoration work and landscape maintenance is credit to the many, many people who work to make Oakland the special community asset that it is.
Something I'm excited about: Capturing the Spirit of Oakland. Simply put this is one of my favorite things we do here at Oakland. Since when I first attended as a guest in 2016, these tours never fail to thrill me. Seeing many previously unknown stories (and a few better known) come to life in such a visceral way never fails to challenge preconceived assumptions of Atlanta and its history and add color and texture to my understanding of this city. I can't wait for you to experience this year's tours. As it is the 20th Anniversary of Capturing the Spirit of Oakland we have a few (more) surprises in store - and while I don't want to give too much away let's just say there's a porcine surprise awaiting you this year!
Something I'm excited about - part 2: I'm not a very patient person, but Oakland frequently re-teaches me that patience can, in fact, be a virtue. Four years ago, Georgia Department of Transportation reached out to us about planned changes to the traffic patterns on Memorial Drive, and we asked them to consider adding a cross-walk between the Cemetery's pedestrian gate and Six Feet Under. It has finally happened! For anyone who has dodged cars on Memorial in search of fried fish or a Little Tart pastry, I know you'll be as excited about this as I am. We've been focused on connecting Oakland more deeply to the community, and this is an exciting physical manifestation of that aspiration.
Oh by the way: You can now rent the greenhouse for your next event and based on what we've seen so far - it is magical!!!
