Tea at Boxwood should provide fun, and raise funds for Medina cemetery

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Georgia Thomas, left, and Cindy Robinson, both members of Friends of Boxwood Cemetery, hold a sign promoting the second annual Tea Time at Boxwood June 8.

MEDINA – Having tea in a cemetery may sound unusual, but in olden times it was a normal thing to do.

On June 8, the Friends of Boxwood Cemetery will sponsor the second annual Tea Time at Boxwood, a fundraiser to benefit efforts to maintain the cemetery. The event will run from 2 to 4 p.m.

“Everybody last year seemed to enjoy themselves immensely,” said Georgia Thomas, who is helping organize the event. “They loved having tea and going through the cemetery. Years ago people literally brought picnic baskets on Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) to have a picnic with their deceased loved ones. Victorians would gather in cemeteries as they would in parks to socialize and picnic.”

It was a perfect setting for parasols and fancy hats,  which prompted the Friends of Boxwood last year to have a tea.

Cindy Robinson described it as a high tea with more substantial foods. This year’s event will be low tea with more finger foods.

The tea will include hot tea and iced tea. New this year will be a table decorating contest.

“Last year, a guest brought their own bistro table and chairs, nicely decorated with Victorian accents,” Robinson said.

Winner of the contest will receive a $25 gift certificate to the English Rose Tea Shoppe. In addition, there will be little drawings throughout the event. Attendees will each receive an entry for the drawings with each ticket purchased. Anyone who joins Friends of Boxwood before the event will receive five additional entries.

Another feature will be a presentation by Mary Lewis, owner of Creekside Floral, who will discuss the proper plants for a cemetery.

The day will conclude with a historic tour of the renovation chapel with historian Todd Bensley, said Friends of Boxwood president Rob Klino.

Klino also reminds the public about future events at Boxwood Cemetery. These include “Bigger, Better, Brighter Boxwood at Night” on Oct. 5; and a tombstone cleaning event in August.

“It’s about creating awareness of Boxwood Cemetery,” Klino said. “People go through there to kayak on Glenwood Lake, and they come there to walk. It’s becoming a destination. “We are trying to undo the neglect of many years.”

Thomas described Boxwood Cemetery as “a parklike setting built in the late 1800s.”

Tickets for Tea Time at Boxwood are $20 for Friends of Boxwood members or $25 for non-members. They are available at English Rose Tea Shoppe, 527 Main St.