Cemetery Tours - Vancouver and Burnaby - August-September 2009

Woodward Mausoleum, Masonic Cemetery, Burnaby, British Columbia. Photograph, M. Diane Rogers.


Front column detail, Woodward Mausoleum, Masonic Cemetery, Burnaby, British Columbia. Photograph, M. Diane Rogers.

Cemetery tours are coming up soon in the Lower Mainland - at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver this Sunday, August 23rd, and on September 13th at the Masonic and Beth Israel cemeteries in Burnaby.

The Vancouver tours will be led by Lorraine Irving of the BC Genealogical Society and John Atkin. John is a local historian and Lorraine has been researching in Mountain View Cemetery for many years and is a very active member of the BCGS. Their tours are on Sunday, August 23rd at 10 am. Meet at 33rd and Fraser Streets on the south west corner - look for the red flag. $10. each. Pre-registration is not necessary.

These are the first in a new series of regular walking tours of Mountain View Cemetery.

The Burnaby cemetery tours are led by Maurice Guibord of the Burnaby Village Museum. Tours start at 10 am. $10.50 each. Please pre-register. You'll be given details then. Register on-line through the website or by phone. Burnaby Village Museum: 604-293-6500.

Maurice is a local historian, the Programme Co-ordinator at the Burnaby Village Museum, and also a BC Genealogical Society member. The Masonic and Beth Israel cemeteries are side-by-side in the Brentwood area. At the Masonic Cemetery, for instance, you'll learn about the architecture and the history of the Woodward Mausoleum shown in these photographs, while at the Beth Israel Cemetery, Jewish burial traditions and graves will be shown and discussed.

Watch for more information about future cemetery tours in the Lower Mainland.

Maurice Guibord discussing the Woodward Mausoleum in the Masonic Cemetery in Burnaby. Photograph, M. Diane Rogers