hayward area historical society

We took a tour of the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery on All Saints Day at 9 pm, and had a great time. The cemetery has been around since the 1853, thought they stopped using it officially in 1931 or so. The tour is guided by volunteers, who dress as various undertakers and mourners. The women "actors" are particularly creepy since they have veils that make it nearly impossible to see their faces, and they shuffle about, sometimes making noise to startle you, sometimes they walk up very close to you and you don't know until you turn around. But all in good fun - no chainsaws or other such awful in-your-face stuff as has become the "horror" of today. This leaves plenty to your imagination, and the stories the undertaker tells are true stories of the people buried there.One of the stories is tragic, school kids killed on a school outing on a wagon long ago by a train. On our tour, totally not "planned" an Amtrak train came through on a track next to the cemetery right after the train story an I admit I jumped a couple of feet.The tour fees go to support the Hayward Area Historical Society.It is not a glossy high end Disney experience, it is just a real cemetery with real stories told in a spooky way by some good volunteers.