Tombstone Tales feature ghosts of Taylorsville’s past

Taylorsville • It's not every day you see ghosts rise from the grave, much less wearing pioneer garb while telling their life stories, but that's exactly what is portrayed at the Taylorsville City Cemetery.

The city's Tombstone Tales event, running through Saturday night, features local actors playing the parts of former community members interred in the cemetery, telling the true stories of the dead.

Six individuals and families are featured, one an ancestor of Mayor Larry Johnson.

Taylorsville residents Judy Mackey and her husband Marvin have previously attended and were in the crowd again Thursday night for the event, which only occurs every six years due to the amount of work and preparation required for the project.

Though the location is the same, each series features different ghosts telling different life stories.

Mackey said hearing stories of pioneers is "always interesting" for her because some of her own pioneer relatives are buried in the cemetery and may have witnessed firsthand the tales she heard recounted this week.

It's important for members of the community to feel connected to their history, she said.

Taylorsville's public information officer Tiffany Janzen agreed, saying that those in charge of the "fun" event ultimately want to help families in the area to feel a sense of pride in their heritage.

That message was reflected in the script, written and directed by Susan Holman of the Taylorsville Arts Council.

"Remember to listen because you'll see yourself in some of these stories," the Sexton, played Thursday by Bob Bedont, said during his introduction.

He also encouraged those attending to go home and write down their own stories for the benefit of their descendants, sharing how his great-great-grandmother's diary personally affected him and eventually the city of Taylorsville.

Featured ghosts this year are Hazel Pixton Paxton, Mabel Holder, members of the Leo and Blanche Player family, Fred Barker, Eva Rupp and Joseph Harker, most of whom were Mormon pioneers or children of pioneers. Their characters share tales of loss, love, humor and faith.

In years past auditions were held for locals who wanted to be part of the production, but this year the actors were handpicked by the event's organizers. "They try to get one of the descendants of the actual people as many times as they can to tell the stories," Judy Mackey said.

The event is sponsored by the Taylorsville Arts Council and Taylorsville Historical Preservation Committee.

Visitors can take free, guided tours through the candle and lantern-lit graveyard every 20 minutes, starting at 6:30 p.m. Those who drive are asked to park in the south parking lot of Eisenhower Junior High, 4351 So. Redwood Road, from which they can either walk to the cemetery or be "transported back in time" by a tractor-drawn wagon.

mnoble@sltrib.com