By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
For more than two decades, the Living History Day event in Bowling Green has portrayed the lives of influential local residents buried here in Wood County.
But starting this fall, the show will go on the road – with the stories of past citizens being told at their gravesites in cemeteries throughout the county.
The Wood County Museum has announced the conclusion of its long-running Living History Day event in its traditional format. The program will be recreated into a series of cemetery tours offered throughout the year, creating new opportunities for the community to connect with local history in a more immersive and ongoing way.
“This is about storytelling,” said museum curator Holly Kirkendall. “Everybody, at some point, has an interesting story. The best way to do it is in a cemetery.”
With 55 registered cemeteries in Wood County, the goal is to host several storytelling visits each year. Though most graveyards now are exclusively used for burials, they were once places where communities got together.
“Historically, they were gathering places, before there were public parks,” Kirkendall said.
Over the years, the Living History Day event told the stories of hundreds of people who made a difference in the earlier years of Wood County.
“We know that it is very popular,” Kirkendall said. But finding volunteers to portray citizens was getting increasingly difficult, she added. “Any event after 20-plus years needs a reinvention.”
So the museum staff, along with Millie Broka of the Wood County Genealogical Society, teamed up to reinvent the program.
“Maybe people will follow us to different parts of the county,” Kirkendall said of the discussion to include cemetery tours as part of the events.
The test run will be held in Portage Cemetery, southeast of Bowling Green on County Home Road. No date has been set, but it will be early this fall, said Marissa Muñiz Kolhoff, museum marketing and events coordinator.
The pilot presentation will focus on about a dozen people buried at the cemetery.
“We’re still working out the kinks,” Muñiz Kolhoff said.
By traveling to different cemeteries, those attending will be able to connect former citizens who have left an imprint on their communities through street names, businesses, and organizations.
“You can learn little tidbits about the area you live in,” Muñiz Kolhoff said.
The first Living History Day took place on Aug. 29, 2004, inspired by Lolita Guthrie, then-president of the Wood County Genealogical Society and a member of the Bowling Green Sesquicentennial Committee. Guthrie assembled an advisory group, including Dorsey and Kay Sergent, Ann Householder, and Joan Gordon to develop a program centered on sharing the stories of individuals buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green.
From the beginning, the committee envisioned several goals:
- To relate the history of the town.
- To promote and preserve local heritage.
- To learn about those buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.
- To encourage appreciation for historic cemeteries.
Over the years, the Living History Day moved from Oak Grove to the Paupers’ Cemetery at the Wood County Museum, and then to the museum grounds.
As the event evolved, so did its reach. Living History Day expanded to include stories from cemeteries across Wood County. And by year 13, annual themes began aligning with museum exhibits, exploring topics such as collections, World War I, World War II, and the Poor Farm. Over time, the program broadened to honor individuals whose lives made lasting impacts on Wood County communities.
“For 22 years, Living History Day has preserved stories that may otherwise have been forgotten and connected generations through shared local history,” museum Director Annette Wells said. “While the traditional event is ending, the mission behind it remains unchanged. Reimagining the program as multiple cemetery tours allows us to continue honoring those stories in new ways throughout the year.”
The new cemetery tour series will provide visitors with expanded opportunities to explore local cemeteries, uncover untold stories, and engage more deeply with the people and events that shaped Wood County.
Additional information regarding upcoming cemetery tours and programming will be announced in the coming months.
