James Dow Sperry – portrayed by local actor Pat Thibaldo – reads next to his own gravestone in Menomonie’s Evergreen Cemetery. Fun fact: Though Sperry’s headstone is there, his body actually isn’t.

This year on Memorial Day you have the opportunity to do something no one has done for hundreds of years: Meet and talk to Steven Taintor. See, Taintor – a revolutionary war veteran who settled in Menomonie – has been deceased for a long time, inhabiting Evergreen Cemetery. This isn’t a zombie story though:

This is a living history event put on by the Dunn County Historical Society, Dunn County Genealogical Society, Evergreen Cemetery and the Menomonie Theatre Guild. 

Six residents of Evergreen Cemetery – including a Civil War nurse, a lumber barron and clergymen – will be brought back to life by interpreters to tell stories and answer questions about the Menomonie of old.

“Having the opportunity to meet the people who shaped our past does for us something no book can,” said Chuck Backus, the executive director of the Dunn County Historical Society, “It puts an historic person in flesh and blood.”

Backus said the groups involved were looking for an event to collaborate on to benefit the community at large, and that this living history idea played on the strengths of each one.

Participants will park at Menomonie Hospital and be shuttled to the cemetery for tours, which will last 20 to 45 minutes. Backus stressed that this is an interactive experience for the whole family.

Even though the event takes place in a cemetery, it’s not morbid, though.

“This is very much a family experience,” Backus said. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate live and the the lives of people in our past.