NOTE: The cemetery has cancelled this event for 2024 due to unforeseen circumstances.
A Local Cemetery is Hosting a Trunk of Treat and Some Parents Aren’t Happy About It
The Garden of Memories Funeral Home and Cemetery on Airline drive recently posted a graphic on social media advertising a Trunk or Treat at their facility. Activities will feature a scavenger hunt, exciting prizes, and family friendly Halloween cartoons. As you can imagine, the response was swift and divided.
Many thought that this was disrespectful, tone-deaf, and tacky. Some stated that they have family members resting here, and they don’t want the memory of their loved ones sullied by the irreverence of such a trivial event.
Others feel pretty much the opposite, also having loved ones interred who would relish having youth, joy, laughter and life return to their place of rest – if only for an evening.
It’s certainly not unprecedented. In places like the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, they have an event schedule of screenings, concerts, even podcast tapings. They are world-famous for it, but can a smaller, dare I say more – straight laced- community like Metairie support that kind of quirkiness? A commenter on social media, presumably affiliated with Garden of Memories, did comment that attendance has been low in this cemetery since the pandemic, and they have been brainstorming creative ways to drive folks in. She also promised that the scavenger hunt would be drive thru only, with stops only on paved areas, and mausoleums are off limits. The intention, therefore, is being presented with very pure sentiment. What are cemeteries for if not to stop in on our dearly departed?
What do you think? Is this just a lighthearted attempt to remind us to visit Maw-Maw and Great Aunt Mary? Or a tasteless attempt at event planning?