Norfolk lays to rest proposal for cemetery party

NORFOLK

Imagine a Halloween party featuring a goth costume fashion show, the screening of silent movies and attendants eating good food and drinking beer and wine in a cemetery where thousands of Norfolk residents lie in eternal rest.

That's what a group of philanthropic and business leaders proposed to the city two months ago.

Modeled after similar events in San Francisco, Denver and Boston, organizers proposed hosting their Halloween bash in a vacant portion of Elmwood Cemetery this Saturday. Proceeds would have been split between the Hope House, which provides care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the Friends of Norfolk's Historic Cemeteries, which could have used the money to spruce up Elmwood.

"We had expected to clear more than $10,000," attorney Mike Imprevento said.

Sinclair Communications, the Norfolk-based owner of several local radio stations, in August submitted an application to the city to hold its event. For nearly two months, it received no reply.

Finally, after Imprevento spoke at a City Council meeting last Tuesday night to ask for a response, Sinclair officials got their answer: a resounding no.

The reason: No alcohol can be served at any of the city's parks or cemeteries except for Town Point and Ocean View parks, Assistant City Manager Anne Odell said.

"This is Norfolk," Councilman Paul R. Riddick, a funeral home owner, told Imprevento. "Just because they might do it someplace else where they might be a little more liberal doesn't mean we should do it here.

"It would not be respectful to the people buried in these cemeteries."

Imprevento said the Halloween celebration would have been held the evening after the city's From Here to Eternity 5-K Run, also being held at Elmwood. Not only would the event have raised money, it also would have heightened awareness of historic preservation of the city's deteriorating cemeteries, he said.

The event would have been respectful and restrained, Imprevento promised, and no one would have been allowed to trample on graves. Twelve off-duty police officers would have been hired to maintain decorum.

"We can't do it without alcohol," he said. "As a practical matter, that's what brings people in. It doesn't mean people are going to be swinging from the trees."

Responded Riddick: "People should go drink a cold beer elsewhere."

Norfolk runs eight graveyards, including Cedar Grove Cemetery, which opened in 1824 and holds the remains of many Civil War veterans, some of the city’s founding fathers, and thousands of victims of Norfolk’s Yellow Fever epidemics, including many in mass graves. Elmwood Cemetery, just south of Cedar Grove, opened in 1853.

Forest Lawn, the city’s newest and largest cemetery, opened in 1906 and is between Wards Corner and Ocean View. More than 250,000 people are buried there.

Kevin Murphy, who heads the Downtown Civic League, said the old cemeteries are crumbling. Although Murphy was not part of the group that attempted to put on the Halloween Party, he said: "This is the kind of event the city probably should embrace."

Imprevento said Sinclair hopes to work with city officials to hold a celebration for historic cemetery preservation next Halloween.

"Norfolk is broke," Imprevento said. "It's hard to get money to fix cemeteries. Most of the families have long since died.

"Norfolk needs to look around. People look at something like this and say, 'This is cool, this is history.' It gets people interested."

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com