My sincerest congratulations to our cast of sixteen players who delivered an outstanding performance, twenty-two times, during this year’s Meet the Pioneers on October 4 and 5. Backing them up and making everything run smoothly was a staff of some forty-five volunteers who greeted guests in the Ticket and Boarding area, directed traffic, boarded the bus, guided tour groups around the tour route, and provided refreshments to our players and other volunteers. A special thank you to those of you who helped set up each day and take down each evening.

These unique Living History Tours continue to be very popular and successful as a result of our loyal and dedicated volunteers. My gratitude and sincere appreciation to each and every one of you.

Tickets, which went on sale beginning September 4, sold out in two and a half weeks. Nearly 450 people attended this year’s program, taking one of the eleven tours that were offered each day. Based on the feedback we received as people boarded the bus at the end of the tour and down in the ticket and boarding area, this year’s presentations were very well received. I would like to thank our loyal fans who have been attending over the years and all who may have attended for the first time. Thank you for attending and supporting this fundraiser for the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery.

Thank you to our friends at Jacksonville’s Pioneer Village for their continued support of this program by offering their bus and drivers that make it possible for us to offer these tours. They have been an important part of this event since its beginning back in 2006. Thank you to the City of Jacksonville and its employees for their support and help, to our cemetery neighbors and to the Jacksonville Review and their fabulous freelancer, Peggy Dover, for the great coverage.

Finally, my appreciation to Bill Miller for providing us with inspiration for some of this year’s stories, to our research committee, to Arlis Duncan for her work on taking video of our players’ individual presentations, and to Ken Gregg for his photographs of our players.

Featured image: 2019 Meet the Pioneers Cast. Photo by Ken Gregg.