Voices From the Past Cemetery Walk

Shake, Rattle & Roll: Winona County in the 1950s
Admission: $10 Adults, $5 Students & $3 Youth 4 to 12 years old
Accessible Performance at the Winona County History Center
Wednesday, October 5 • 6 p.m.
Cemetery Walk in Woodlawn Cemetery
Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9 • Noon until 5 p.m.
Admission: $10 Adults, $5 Students & $3 Youth 4 to 12 years old
Accessible Performance at the Winona County History Center
Wednesday, October 5 • 6 p.m.
Cemetery Walk in Woodlawn Cemetery
Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9 • Noon until 5 p.m.
Take a walk into the past with our autumn fundraiser event that brings stories of Winona County to life with community actors. Join us in beautiful Woodlawn Cemetery to hear from our past and learn more about local history in a fun and unique way.
Allow at least 90 minutes to take the self guided tour through Woodlawn. Community actors are found by graves portraying people of our past and the stories they share. Each year is different! For 2022 we will being highlighting people, events and life in the 1950s. Just be sure to wear your hiking rather than blue suede shoes. Cannot make the Walk, then join us for an indoor accessible performance of all the sites at the History Center.
World War II was over. It was a time of building and expansion. The baby boom was on. Communism was a threat. Music and the media were changing American culture. If you were alive during this decade this will be a trip down memory lane. For folks too young for memories this will be an opportunity to learn about the era in which your parents or grandparents came of age!
Because this walk involves a more recent time, some of you may have known those portrayed. Please note that it is difficult
for us to cast actors that physically resemble the individuals they portray.
Allow at least 90 minutes to take the self guided tour through Woodlawn. Community actors are found by graves portraying people of our past and the stories they share. Each year is different! For 2022 we will being highlighting people, events and life in the 1950s. Just be sure to wear your hiking rather than blue suede shoes. Cannot make the Walk, then join us for an indoor accessible performance of all the sites at the History Center.
World War II was over. It was a time of building and expansion. The baby boom was on. Communism was a threat. Music and the media were changing American culture. If you were alive during this decade this will be a trip down memory lane. For folks too young for memories this will be an opportunity to learn about the era in which your parents or grandparents came of age!
Because this walk involves a more recent time, some of you may have known those portrayed. Please note that it is difficult
for us to cast actors that physically resemble the individuals they portray.
Voices From the Past is proudly sponsored by:
Voices you will hear from:
1. Entertainment at Home Judith J. Herbert Whetstone (1937-2011); Jane Foster Herbert (1877-1966), her grandmother; and Lynn Shoemaker (1942-2008), her cousin 2. Drive-in Restaurants Emil Berzinski (1905-1987), owner Emil’s Drive-in, pictured and Myrtle Douglas (1921-2001), a waitress at Kresge’s 3. Health Care Mary Pendleton (1918-2017), pictured, polio victim and Olga “Ollie” Kohan Laufenburger (1915-2004), an obstetrics nurse 4. Shake, Rattle and Roll! Marlene Tuttle Hardt (1939-2011); Robert J. Ziebell (1940- 1988); Gary W. Morken (1940-1983); and Kathleen Kreuzer Morken (1943-2016) 5. In the Home Donald C. Whetstone (1912-2002); Lorraine Knoll Whetstone (1912-2007), his wife; their children: Marlene (1934- 1952); Lyle (1938-2008) and Judy Whetstone Barth (1946-2018) |
6. Corner Grocery Stores
Helen Ferdinandsen, (1907-1986) of Ferdinandsen’s Grocery and Laura Soldner Dorn (1903-2002) of Dorn’s IGA 7. Cruisin’ “Mutzy” Paffrath Kukuloff Meinert (1907-1992); Aloise “Pete” Wolfe (1917-2005), who worked at Venerable Motors; and Clayton Haessig (1920-2013), a gas station owner 8. Entertainment in the Community Manley St. John (1901-1971); Lois L. Butler Smith (1893- 1982); and Beulah Berg (1920-2020) 9. Going to School Frances A. Schroeder Hadler (1898-1956), a 1st grade teacher; Erwin Bachler (1921-1983), a 9th grade math teacher; and Janice Goetzmann Kelly (1944-2008), a Jefferson student |
Create A Character and More!

Hey, kids of all ages, who were some of your favorite Winonans that you saw at Voices From the Past? Print and color the person and make them into someone for our history. What would they wear? Would they have any accessories that relate to the stories they told?
Other Family Fun & Home School Activities:
Draw a comic strip based on one of the people portrayed. They can depict one of the stories the person told or draw a series of pictures that tell about who that person was.
Find an object in your home that could represent one or more of the people portrayed. Discuss why you chose that object. How does it relate to the historical person or a story they told?
Create a journal entry for one or more of the people you saw portrayed. What would they date their entry? What 2-3 facts could that person tell about themselves? Was there a significant event that happened to them or a larger historical event that happened while they were alive? Part 2 - Now it’s your turn! We are all living at a historic time now. What would you tell people of the future about COVID-19 in a journal entry? How has the effects of COVID-19 affected you? (School, being with friends, cancelled vacations, do you know anyone who is/was sick?) You can also share it at History as it Happens.
Draw a comic strip based on one of the people portrayed. They can depict one of the stories the person told or draw a series of pictures that tell about who that person was.
Find an object in your home that could represent one or more of the people portrayed. Discuss why you chose that object. How does it relate to the historical person or a story they told?
Create a journal entry for one or more of the people you saw portrayed. What would they date their entry? What 2-3 facts could that person tell about themselves? Was there a significant event that happened to them or a larger historical event that happened while they were alive? Part 2 - Now it’s your turn! We are all living at a historic time now. What would you tell people of the future about COVID-19 in a journal entry? How has the effects of COVID-19 affected you? (School, being with friends, cancelled vacations, do you know anyone who is/was sick?) You can also share it at History as it Happens.