![\"Staci](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/staci_ucf_faculty.jpg\")
Staci M. Zavattaro<\/p>\nWhen I moved to Orlando 12 years ago, the hottest ticket in town wasn\u2019t to one of our local theme parks or the latest restaurant. Instead, it was to hear Don Price tell stories under the moonlight at Greenwood Cemetery. As soon as the tickets for his free walking tours were released, people snapped them up just as quickly. When I finally got a chance to take my parents, I understood why.<\/p>\n
Don, as the former sexton and caretaker of the City of Orlando-run and -maintained cemetery, shared his passion for history with everyone who came. We would all wander around, stopping at various gravestones for him to tell us about our city\u2019s history buried right under our feet. Don made the cemetery come alive \u2014 pun absolutely intended. Many of us have driven down Bumby Avenue or strolled through Leu Gardens, but the final resting place of these city pioneers is Greenwood, and we might never know it. July Perry\u2019s grave and Pulse Nightclub victims also are at rest inside the cemetery gates, more parts of dark history who deserve to have their stories told and remembered.<\/p>\n
Don liked to say that people only truly die when we stop telling their stories. Cemeteries are places to keep memories alive, to create community by sharing a sense of mourning but also of remembrance, joy and peace. As a professor of public management at UCF, I study the public servants who maintain municipal cemeteries throughout the country. That is how I first met Don all those years ago, and it is people like him who perform an important role that most times we as the public rarely notice. That is why this spooky season, I encourage you to visit Greenwood or any of the local cemeteries in Central Florida to connect with our history.<\/p>\n
Staci M. Zavattaro<\/p>\n
Cemeteries sometimes get a bad reputation as being haunted or creepy. Other cultures throughout the world are much more comfortable with death. D\u00eda de los Muertos, for example, is a Mexican celebration where families gather to welcome back the souls of their departed loved ones. Death, then, is not something to fear but is a natural part of life as families have a chance to reconnect spiritually with loved ones. Cemeteries often play a central role in the celebration, transforming into colorful, vibrant, illuminated spaces where families all gather to welcome back their loved ones. Cemeteries are not scary but reverent and vital.<\/p>\n
How can you visit a cemetery this season to learn about the city\u2019s history? First, follow the posted rules and if someone is there to visit a grave, be respectful. Second, download the Find a Grave app or have the website handy so when you stop at some gravestones, look up the person and learn their history. This is how we can do what Don suggested and keep someone\u2019s story alive. Third, share what you learn on social media by posting about your visit, tagging a friend to get them to visit a well.<\/p>\n
Finally, go back when it isn\u2019t spooky season to wander cemeteries. Find cemeteries when you travel. They are outdoor museums and often tell stories about places if you are willing to listen. Some are certified arboretums. Some have priceless sculptures. Some are small and quaint and meaningful to a local community \u2014 and often the only remaining connection to the past as towns grow. Cemeteries can connect us to the past and help us understand the future. Where else in Orlando can you visit something that dates to 1888 and is still active, growing, changing, and telling our city\u2019s story?<\/p>\n
Staci M. Zavattaro is professor of public administration at UCF. She studies the public management of death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I moved to Orlando 12 years ago, the hottest ticket in town wasn\u2019t to one of our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[483,482,139,141,140,109,76410],"class_list":["post-423141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-commentary","tag-opinion","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}