On Friday, October 31st at 4 PM the cavalry is invited to take part in an "Evening at the Graveyard" to be held at Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery. Come in uniform and under arms to sit by the campfire and tell spooky ghost stories about the war. The event will end at about 10 PM.

The newspapers will be there to interview and photograph us and the kids will be showing up for some history and candy handouts. We will be protecting this historic graveyard from vandalism of the gravemarkers which has been going on for decades on this night.

I have permission for horses to be on site and if no one else can commit their horse I will bring Stoney. I will put up the fly and bring some firewood. I still need a metal "pan" to put the fire in if anyone has one to donate. They don't want us digging in the graveyard!

Civilians, Soldiers both blue and gray please contact me and commit to this event. I need your help to make it work.

Sincerely,
Capt. Ahearn

Well it was a COLD one but at least it didn't rain on us and I think we all had a great time. There were 11 of us over the course of the evening and my thanks goes to Bill Alguire (and the black horse with the red eyes "Justice"), Linda Hamer, Eric Sloop, Deb Sloop, Dan Miller, Ken Morris, Mark Miller, Mark Stevens, Steve Betschart and Mark Hopson for taking the time out of their schedules to experience a night in the Pioneer Cemetery. The event wound down about midnight but Ken and I stayed until about 1 AM to get the firepit out of danger.

Pat Dunn supplied lots of information about the graveyard itself which holds several historic figures of the area and even some from further away - such as the territorial governor of Idaho. Friends of the cemetery came by with treats, hot soup and hot water. This was certainly appreciated.

We got lots of visitors, some stayed around the campfire to hear stories and tales of the civil war and even walked the grounds reading headstones. Many teenagers came by and told us of their support in keeping the graveyard away from nightime vandals. Lot's of kids came by for the candy and their parents discussed history with us while their kids sat in front of the fire getting warm.

I went back the next morning to get the firepit and found a present placed on the pathway by Justice, not only that but someone had thoughtfully placed a real apple on the road apples.

I am sure they will want us back next year so keep this in mind. Halloween is on a Sunday in 2004!

Thanks to all,
Capt. Ahearn

Hi all,

That Halloween night thing sounded so fun! I would've loved to have been there. But prior commitments were all ready in place. It muast have been so interesting reading the head stones and getting the history of the graveyard and all. I'll plan to try and come next year.