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Thurs. July 14 And now for something rather spiritual ... The 13th Annual Lantern Festival at Forest Hills Cemetery is taking place Thursday, July 14th, 6-9 p.m. What's this, you ask? We went to our first in 2007 (and have returned several times) and have this to say: Forest Hills Cemetery: It’s not just a big rolling green space to be buried six feet under any more. Never was, really. It was designed, early in the last century, not just as a burial ground, but as a place of rest, contemplation and beauty for the living. A park with splendid monuments, opulent crypts, sumptuous landscaping and a little lake. “It’s the greatest outdoor sculpture museum in the country,” said Forest Hills Educational trustee Dick Smith. Not everyone sees cemeteries that way. All those George Romero zombie movies, you know. But over the past decade, the Forest Hills Education Trust folks have promoted life-affirming events like the "Lantern Festival,” a Buddhist-inspired, Asian-themed, but cosmopolitan, night. At an early wine-cheese-nibbles VIP party, attended by 1 50 donors and patrons, two dancers swayed to Balinese music and people discussed the afterlife and tranquility. Later, for the main public event, Master Tsuji’s Samurai Taiko Drummers (and martial arts group) played to a crowd of 5000. Then, people floated candle-lit and personally inscribed lanterns across Lake Hibiscus. The feeble breeze, however, left many vessels hugging the shoreline. At the close, a bagpipe outfit played “Amazing Grace.” If you think of Forest Hills, said the cemetery’s board chair Bud Hanson, you may think “yankee.” But, he added, “This has become the burying place of choice for the Asian community – 50 to 60 percent of our new clientele is Asian. They start saving for their funeral when they’re born; the gravesites we have now have available have Eastern exposure; there’s sloping land: and (the Asians) are birds of a feather.” As, he noted, are most ethnic groups, when it comes to final resting spots.
People of all stripes spent $10 on a lantern (drawn by a Japanese calligrapher, personally inscribed to your dead loved ones by you), to place upon the lake. “It’s a peacefulness, a letting-go,” said Heather Colmore, of Charlestown. “The cycle of life includes death. It’s an acknowledgement we’re all connected.”
Lidney Motch, a Jamaica Plain investment manager, said, “ I hope for peace and comfort. I think our culture needs more spirituality and events like this.” Annie Bisphom’s husband died in 2004, and is buried at Forest Hills. The Mattapan teacher says, “I feel at peace when I’m here. This helps the healing process.”
Want your dirt nap to take place here? Plots start at $3750 and you can spend up to $1 million said George Milley, the president and CEO of Forest Hills Cemetery. You could be parked in worse turf. You’re surrounded by famous folks – Eugene O’Neill, e.e. cummings, etc. – and you (or your ancestors) are assured eternally great landscaping. “We’re the hidden jewel on the Emerald Necklace,” Milley added, looking around. “There are so many people here visiting a cemetery and not in a depressed mode.” 95 Forest Hills Ave., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-3150 www.foresthillstrust.org |
