By Mark Ambrogi
City of Westfield Community Events Manager Kelley Wells said the city is proud of its history.
The annual opportunity to explore Westfield’s past is approaching. Voices from the Past is set from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 8 in Westfield. Tours are offered every 15 minutes, with the last tour starting at 6:30 p.m. The 90-minute walking tour begins at the east entrance to Asa Bales Park. This is the seventh year for Voices from the Past, which spans a time from 1834 to the 1950s.
“We change up the script that the actors recite,” Wells said. “We have used the same scripts, but every year is different from the year before. Along the tour, the tour guides are giving our attendees information about important landmarks, points of interest throughout downtown Westfield. Along their tour routes, they go to the anti-slavery cemetery, which is located in Asa Bales Park.”
The actors in the cemetery will perform three short skits portraying people in Westfield’s past. The tour then continues to Old Friends Cemetery Park, which is on South Union Street. There will be three more skits.
“The people they are portraying range from Asa Bales, one of the founders of Westfield, to people through the 1950s,” Wells said. “So it’s a wide range of prominent citizens they are portraying.”
The actors are supplied free of charge from the Westfield Playhouse, Wells said.
Wells said typically about 125 to 150 attend each year.
Second-grade students take a field trip that morning.
“They get to meet the actors, ask questions and play some games from the 1800s,” Wells said.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students ages 13-18. Children 12 and under are admitted free.
For more, http://westfieldwelcome.com/voices-from-the-past/.
Learn Westfield’s History
What: Voices From the Past, telling Westfield history from 1834 to the 1950s
When: 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 8, with tours every 15 minutes. Tours last 90 minutes.
Where: Tours begin at Asa Bales Park’s east entrance, 211 N. Union St.
Price: Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students ages 13-18. Children 12 and under are free
For more: westfieldwelcome.com/voices-from-the-past/
