Spirits Alive Volunteer Opportunities
You don’t need to be an actor to participate in the Spirits Alive production. There are all sorts of behind-the-scenes opportunities to participate.
For the event nights, we need people to set-up and clean up the Cemetery, as well as Guides for the Tour Groups, “Runners” during the event, Ticket takers, Raffle Basket sellers, and Photographers.
We also need volunteers for the all-important mason jar cleaning that is scheduled for September 5th! In the past, we have had Girl Scout troops help us out but school is not yet in session this year, so it’s difficult to enlist these groups.
To volunteer for any of these roles, please go to our sign-up sheet at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0448A8A62AA2F5C16-65087524-spirits#/
We also hope that general volunteers, will be able to attend the dress rehearsal as we think it will be a great way to give everyone a lay of the land. For those who cannot make it to the dress rehearsal, we can do another meeting the Saturday before (26th), or as needed. (Anyone with a more specific role will have additional communications.)
If you have any questions about specific roles, please contact our Coordinating Director, Kim, at SpiritsAliveCheshire@gmail.com
2018 Mason Jar Cleaning Operations1
At Long Last … Admission Tickets are Now Available to All!
To purchase tickets for the Spirits Alive 2026 Cemetery Tour, go to: https://www.ticketsource.com/spiritsalive
Choose the Date you want to attend (10/2 or 10/3), then the Tour time, and follow the instructions on the site.
Tours are estimated to take about 1 hour and 45 minutes each.
Each night, the first tour starts at 5:00 PM and the last tour sets off at 8:15 PM.
The Spirits look forward to meeting you!
After a 7-year hiatus, the Cheshire Historical Society is reviving the popular Spirits Alive Cemetery Tour on October 2nd and 3rd at Historic Hillside Cemetery.
While we already have the scripts and the volunteer actors, we are essentially starting from scratch for everything else. Previous costumes suffered the ravages of time and hungry moths, so we will have new professionally-designed and sewn costumes this year. We also need to acquire props and lighting materials.
To help us defray some of these re-start-up costs, we are offering sponsorship opportunities to the local business community.
If you would like to support the return of our lively Spirits, please consider donating a gift card/certificate or product to one of the many Raffle Baskets we will be offering. Or perhaps an entire Raffle Basket, if you have some creative employees!
In advance, we thank the Cheshire business community for the support you have provided to the previous 6 Spirits Alive! Tours, as well as your ongoing support.
The Cheshire Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. EIN # 23-7206063
Cast List for Spirits Alive 2026!
Yes, you read that correctly. Our popular Spirits Alive! Cemetery Tour is being "reanimated" this year.
The auditions took place in May 2026 and both the Spirits and cast have been chosen!
Anna March (1818-1879) will be portrayed by Amanda Salvo
Ralph Lines (1757-1776) will be portrayed by Stephen Holt
Maggie Egan (1872-1888) will be portrayed by Doris Hall
Laura Tuttle (1785-1870) will be portrayed by Rachel Bevins
Moses Dunbar (1746-1777) will be portrayed by David Finessi
John Moore (1865-1917) will be portrayed by Stephen Mulholland
Warren Ives Bentley “Glance Gaylord” (1847-1868) will be portrayed by Tabz Palmer
Widow Kye (Pre 1770s) will be portrayed by Dawn Marchand
Performances will take place on October 2nd and 3rd. Each performance night will consist of 12 runs of a 10-minute monologue, performed at various stations within Historic Hillside Cemetery.
Spirits Alive Virtual Edition
Important Note: Back in 2020, the popular in-person Spirits Alive Lantern Tour was no longer able to continue live, in person.
The organizers were no longer able to devote the time needed to revive this event (i.e., researching Cheshire history, writing scripts, finding actors, rehearsing, sourcing costumes and props, and then there is all of the ticket sale coordination and staging of the cemetery that must be done and then un-done).
So, these videos were created for your viewing pleasure during the interim.
The Cheshire Historical Society hopes to revive the Spirits Alive Lantern Tour for October 2026.
Welcome to the second video in our Spirits Alive Virtual Edition series:
Welcome to the third video in our Spirits Alive Virtual Edition series:
Welcome to the fourth video in our Spirits Alive Virtual Edition series:
Welcome to the fifth video in our Spirits Alive Virtual Edition series:
Welcome to the sixth (and final) video in our Spirits Alive Virtual Edition series:
Below are some photos from Spirits Alive productions in recent years:
