Oahu Cemetery comes alive at a 154th anniversary commemoration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The free event at features a Royal Hawaiian Band concert, free ice cream and balloons for children and walking tours.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Sunset casts a ghostly glow on Oahu Cemetery in Nuuanu.
Somber cemetery is the site
of a celebrationVisitors can locate the site where annexationist Lorrin Andrews Thurston is buried. He's among 125 notables in the new book, "O'ahu Cemetery, Burial Ground & Historic Site" ($19.95 through Saturday, $27.95 after that date) by Nanette Napoleon Purnell.
Other luminaries include composer, singer and political leader Bina Mossman, Hawaiian historians John Papa I'i and Samuel Kamakau, and "Mother" Margaret Waldron, the patron saint of Kakaako.
"When people come, we're going to give them maps and it will tell them exactly where to find the history makers who are in the book," said event organizer Purnell, an authority on Hawaii historic graveyards.
Anniversary activities include a grand procession at 9 a.m. followed by historic displays, food and beverages, a book signing with Purnell and walking tours from 9 to 11 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; tour reservations are required.
The cemetery is located at 2162 Nuuanu Ave. For information and reservations, call 538-1538.
Kekoa Catherine Enomoto, Star-Bulletin
