“The Early Rivals Of Hollywood Cemetery” On Wednesday

From Hollywood Cemetery Events webpage:

Join us for a presentation by Dr. Ryan K. Smith, Associate Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The speaker will discuss the rural cemetery movement and the founding of Hollywood Cemetery, including discussion about the designer John Notman. The presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 7:00pm.
St. Catherine’s School
Kenan Flagler Auditorium
6001 Grove Ave.
Richmond, VA
For more information, please email Nancy Shepherd at nshepherd@hollywoodcemetery.org.

Cars of the Pyramid

Neighbor Todd Woodson took this photo today:

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Don’t forget that Hollywood Cemetery is participating in The Amazing Raise on September 16-17 and they need your support!
Hosted by The Community Foundation, The Amazing Raise is a two-day online giving event designed to elevate and celebrate the work of local nonprofits.
To support Hollywood Cemetery during this event, simply visit The Amazing Raise website and search for Friends of Hollywood Cemetery. From there, you can make a secure online donation with a minimum gift amount of $25. All credit and debit cards are accepted.
Participate in this fun 36-hour event to help support a Richmond treasure! Find more information here: www.theamazingraise.org.

Hollywood Cemetery’s New Enterprises

Richmond BizSense has an article on Hollywood Cemetery’s new businesses:

Excerpts:

RVA Gem Car Tours recently began selling private tours of Hollywood Cemetery on six-person electric carts.

Owner Buck Ward said the venture, which launched in May, is a spin-off of his other businesses Segway of Richmond, which launched in 2008, and RVA Trolley, which got rolling in 2012.

Ward said the cemetery tour business is in keeping with his mission of letting people experience Richmond in different ways. He said the carts cater to groups too big for a Segway tour but too small to rent out a trolley.

“This is another way to see and discover Richmond,” Ward said. “It’s more geared toward private tours.”

RVA Gem Car Tours has three Polaris GEM cars in its fleet. Ward said they cost about $20,000 apiece – the price includes the cost to install solar panels on each vehicle. The cars are street legal and can go as fast as 24 miles per hour.

On the virtual side of things, the nonprofit Friends of Hollywood Cemetery launched an interactive website in July that lets users take virtual tours of the burial ground.

The group enlisted local ad firm Addison Clark, the agency of record for the cemetery.

Jeff Allen, managing partner at Addison Clark, said the new site caters to the two segments Hollywood Cemetery serves: tourists and plot seekers.

“Hollywood Cemetery is a very unique entity,” Allen said. “Everyone thinks of them as an outdoor museum. Not a lot of folks know that they are an open, functioning cemetery. Those that do know assume they are cost prohibitive or for old Richmond elite.”

Over the course of about six months, Addison Clark and HostRVA, formerly NimblePitch, built a digitized map of Hollywood Cemetery and overlaid it with GPS coordinates. They then focused on compiling online reference materials and integrating them with points of interest on the digital map.

The website can be used both by on-site visitors looking for interactive, self-guided tours and by remote desktop users curious about the cemetery.

Symbolism and Monument Styles Walking Tour of Hollywood Cemetery Today

There is a Symbolism and Monument Styles Walking Tour of Hollywood Cemetery today from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Learn to interpret the spiritual, occupational, vegetal and fraternal signs and symbols found on headstones and ironworks. Discover the historical origins of monument styles including cradle stones, pyramids, pier stones, mausoleums and reliquaries. Meet at the entrance at Cherry and Albemarle streets.

$15 per person
$5 for Valentine Members
Walk-ups welcome.
Cash or check
On-street parking.

– See more at the Valentine’s event page.

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Fun fact: The office at Hollywood Cemetery was first built as a gate house, designed to look like the ruins of a stone tower. It cost just over $2,000 to construct.

Rifle Fire In Hollywood Cemetery Tomorrow

Hollywood Cemetery has a ceremony planned for tomorrow at 10:00 am and there will be rifle fire. The cemetery office apologizes for the late notice, the ceremony holders did not realize they should supply advance notice.

In other news, complaints from neighbors are mounting in regard to the now DAILY cannon fire from the American Civil War Museum at Tredegar. It’s being shot off around 2:20 pm every day “for tourism”, while disturbing residents and their pets. Some who are closer to Tredegar are becoming concerned about the noise actually shaking and damaging their walls and property.

ASL Tour Of Hollywood Cemetery Thursday

The ASL Walking Tour of Hollywood Cemetery this Thursday will share some interesting facts about Jefferson Davis’ son, Billy, who was hard of hearing and about the Davis’ family connection to renowned deaf artist John Carlin.Dr. Pajka will also be discussing American novelist Ellen Glasgow who communicated largely via writing due to her deafness.

This walking tour will be given in American Sign Language and will not be voice interpreted. The tour will begin at 9:00am. This is a walking tour of approximately two miles, so please dress for weather and walking. We ask that participants make a $15 contribution to Friends of Hollywood Cemetery.

For more information, please visit the FaceBook event page or the Hollywood Cemetery event reservation page.

St. Andrew’s Grace Arents Commemoration on June 20

From email announcement:

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is hosting Picnic and Prayers commemorating the life and legacy of Grace Eveyln Arents. Pack a picnic basket and bring a blanket, and we will provide drinks and dessert. At sunset we will have a candlelight prayer service in memory of Miss Grace. Saturday June 20, 2015, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at the gravesite of Lewis Ginter and Grace Arents, Hollywood Cemetery, 412 South Laurel Street, Richmond Virginia. Contact Barbara Ambrose 804-648-7980

Hollywood Cannon and Belle Island Tour

There will be cannon fire as part of the annual Jefferson Davis birthday ceremony in Hollywood Cemetery on Saturday, June 6th, from 9:00 am to about 11:00 am. The ceremony will include a keynote speaker, Rev. Herman White, Chaplain of the North Carolina Division, SCV, as well as a bag pipe band, rifle squad, artillery salute and wreath laying. The event is free and open to the public. The cannon fire will happen towards the end of the event.

And if you want to know more about that Belle Isle prison camp, there’s a Sensory History Tour of Belle Isle Prison Camp on Saturday, June 6, noon to 2 p.m. This conversational walking tour is sponsored by the Tredegar Society of the American Civil War Museum in partnership with RVA Archaeology. Tickets cost $10. www.tredegar.org/ts.aspx or Sean Kane: skane@acwm.org or 804 649 1861, x123.