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10/19/2016 08:30 AMAs in many New England towns, important figures from local and state history are buried in the Town’s oldest cemeteries. The Cypress Cemetery, laid out in 1635, is no exception. Fortunately, the stories of these historic characters’ lives weren’t buried with them.
Each year, these stories come alive in a Cypress Cemetery tour conducted by Torrance Downes. Aiding him in this task are student volunteers acting out the roles of some of the figures whose stories he recounts.
This year’s Cypress Cemetery Tour will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 100 College Street in Old Saybrook. A donation of $5 per person to benefit the Old Saybrook Historical Society and its programming is requested. Tour participants should arrive a few minutes early to allow the tour group to step off precisely at 4 p.m. and finish before dusk falls.
Downes will once again tell stories about some of the town’s most historic and iconic characters: Lady Fenwick, Nathaniel Lynde, Miss James and the Petry family, Lt. Giles Ward, and the Hart family. Downes is also adding new figures and stories to this year’s script including those of other early Saybrook Colony families: the Chapmans, the Dickinsons, and the Ingrahams.
One historical society student volunteer who will play the role of two historic town figures this year is Old Saybrook High School student Olivia Gaidry.
“I will be playing Anna James (the first female African American pharmacist in Connecticut) as well as her niece, writer Ann Petry,” said Gaidry. “I hope to major in theater, and I always feel like I’m getting into character when I do the Cypress tour.”
Other student volunteers will join her. This annual tour is just an added task to the students’ central volunteer responsibility to act as docents and tour guides at the historic Hart House during the summer months.
“Living within walking distance of the Hart House, I would pass it every day on my way to school and wanted to learn more about it. I took a tour as a guest, and knew that when I was old enough, I wanted to give the tours,” said Gaidry.
“I’ve been a student volunteer for three years now. The people that I meet while giving tours come from all over the world. They appreciate learning about our charming town and I enjoy hearing about where they are from and why they chose to visit Old Saybrook,” she continued. “Volunteering with the historical society is an amazing experience and I am so grateful to be part of it.”
Another student volunteer, Kungsang Dorjee, agrees with Gaidry, saying, “My favorite [experiences] are always when someone outside of the U.S. visits the Hart House, because not only are you teaching them about the history and culture of Old Saybrook, but you are also learning about different types of cultures that you have never been exposed to. Being both a great teacher and a great listener are very important aspects of being a volunteer.”
The Volunteer Program
The society’s student volunteer program was the brainchild of two longtime leaders of the Old Saybrook Historical Society, President Marie McFarlin and Donna DiBella, the society’s Ways and Means chairman. When DiBella first took on the bigger role of Ways and Means chair, McFarlin agreed to step up and take sole leadership of the student volunteers program.
“We started the program in 2005 with a $500 grant from the Youth & Family Services Agency,” said McFarlin. “We put a poster up at the middle and high schools announcing it and had 50 kids respond.”
In 2006, McFarlin and DiBella narrowed the volunteer program to just high school students. Twelve were in that first Hart House docent and guide group.
One volunteer in that first group was Christopher Covey, who later became salutatorian in his class.
“He ran his own garden business, did tours at the Hart House, and then swept up at Walt’s for his other job. He was so involved,” said McFarlin. “He worked with Bob Labriola and then taught three of his 8th grade classes in a tour at the Hart House. He developed and gave them guide sheets of what to look for.”
“His experience and that of others in that first group lead me to believe it was a good program,” said McFarlin, who for nearly a decade has been the sole coordinator of the student volunteer program.
“It’s not a guide program, it’s a volunteer program,” said McFarlin. “I tell them up front that the Old Saybrook Historical Society was started all by volunteers because they felt it was important to preserve this history of the town. I tell them as a volunteer, they represent this organization and are expected to represent it well.”
McFarlin said the student volunteers have to follow certain rules such as the requirement to volunteer at least 15 hours. The routine volunteer tasks are to be a summer docent and tour guide at the Hart House, but students also provide help with the Torchlight Parade, the Memorial Day Parade, and the Wassail Party. Students get a folder with a student volunteer time log that they have to maintain. For each event at which they volunteer, an adult signature on the log confirms their participation.
“Over time, we set up program guidelines. Each [prospective volunteer] has to fill out an application. Every year they have to re-apply and say why they want to continue. We have about 15 to 20 student volunteers each year in the program. And 99 percent of the students go over the 15 hour minimum, said McFarlin.
The Youth & Family Services Agency recently in an award ceremony recognized McFarlin as an Asset Builder for her leadership of the historical society’s successful student volunteer program over the past decade. McFarlin and the program were cited for providing youth with strong role models and adult relationships, imbuing community values in youth, tapping youth as resources, and providing opportunities for youths to give service to others.