Boxwood at Night, with 290 attendees, sees biggest crowd in event’s 5 years

Medina’s historic cemetery was lighted up and featured live music, docents in period costumes

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – This group gathers on the top of Boxwood Cemetery on North Garvel Road in Medina to hear Barb Gorham share about David Carr, the first person buried in the cemetery in 1849. Carr told people he wanted to buried on the hill just north of Medina.

Since his burial, about 5,000 others have been buried at Boxwood.

There were 290 people who attended the Boxwood at Night on Saturday, an event that raises money for the cemetery (with tickets at $20 apiece) and also highlights local history.

Barb Gorham was a docent for the second year, dressing in a period costume with a fake beard to portray David Carr.

“It’s a nice event and it’s good for the community,” she said.

She was one of 10 docents at Boxwood at Night.

The band, Together Again, featured Medina teacher Rachel Trillizio on vocals, retired band teacher Jim Steele and other musicians.

Megan “Marge” Furness created this display by her van, which she calls Cindy. Furness is owner of Hippiesque TieDyes, and makes custom tapestry and apparel. This was her first time featured at Boxwood at Night.

This lighted section is the potter’s field area on the other side of the hill at Boxwood. There were 107 people buried in the potter’s field. Of those 107, only 28 have head stones. The Friends of Boxwood Cemetery is working to install a monument listing all 107 people.

Cindy Robinson served as one of the docents. She highlighted the potter’s field and the monument that is expected to soon be installed.

Michael Zelazny sang and played his guitar near the start of the event at Boxwood. The start was near the Glenwood Lake boat launch.

These letters were lighted up for the event, which is organized by Friends of Boxwood Cemetery.

Jenna Papponetti created charcoal landscape drawings of Glenwood Lake and the waterfalls. This piece is called, “Still Water.” Papponetti went kayaking in the lake and near the waterfalls and took photos to reference the drawings.

Catherine Cooper, Orleans County historian, portrayed Amelia Bennett, who was buried in 1831 at a cemetery on Gwinn Street. That area is now a playground. The bodies and monuments were relocated to Boxwood in 1895. There weren’t any new burials at Gwinn Street after 1850, Cooper said.

The Vine Church choir sang hymns in the chapel of the cemetery.

The chapel with the people singing hymns was one of four stops with musicians. The chapel has been the focus of a restoration effort with extensive work on a stained-glass window and other interior improvements.

The chapel at Boxwood was built in 1903 with a $22,000 donation from the late Silas Burroughs, who was influential in the pharmaceutical industry. His father also served in Congress.

Reinhard Rogowski portrayed Silas M. Burroughs, who was a congressman and owner of the Burroughs mansion at State Street Park in medina. The mansion was built in 1850 and was one of the area’s finest homes. It burnt down in 1913. His son, Silas Mainville Burroughs, was a very successful entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical industry.

Mandee DeMarco arranges chicken-wire sculptures on the trunk of where a large tree that recently was taken down. DeMarco is part of a Paradise crew that does pop-up events with art and flood lights.

Kat McKinney portrayed May Howard, a survivor of the Titanic sinking on April 15, 1912. Howard was 27 when she was on the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

Howard, a native of England, was headed to visit her brother in Toronto and then her sister in Albion. She traveled as a third-class passenger and secured a spot on a life boat. May lived locally until she died at age 68 in 1958. About 1,500 passengers died after the Titanic hit an ice berg. Howard was one of about 700 survivors.

Shawna Baldwin, left, is dressed as a raven. Robert Keirn is at right. They shared poetry by the famous writer who died in 1849, the year of the first burial at Boxwood.

The read from The Raven, Annabel Lee and The Conqueror Worm.

The Orleans County String Band performed played Appalachian music while people strolled on the north side of the historic cemetery on North Gravel Road. This building recently received a new roof and could become a museum for the cemetery in the future.