A special historical tour at Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island, Illinois, will be offered September 8, 2001. The tour, sponsored by the Rock Island Preservation Commission and Chippiannock Cemetery Heritage Foundation, features 14 historical Rock Island characters speaking lyrical vignettes, portraying interesting people buried at the cemetery. The tour highlights unique landscape and funerary art of the 146 year-old cemetery which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Thespians tell stories of Rock Island’s famous sons and daughters in glowing detail complete with costumes and an occasional prop. Past epitaphs have featured merchants, bankers, inventors, African American Civil War heroes, exemplary women, early race car drivers, winning boxers, pioneers, famous brewers and lumber barons and even a mass murderer. Contact Jill Doak, 309-732-2900 or the Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, 800-747-7800; www.visitquadcities.com.
