A Victorian style picnic will be held in Mount Allen Cemetery on Saturday, complete with music, activities and the opportunity to learn about the Victorian era’s “obsession” with death.

Ellis County Historical Society invites the public to bring lunch and a blanket to enjoy a sunny afternoon in the cemetery. The FHSU String Quartet will provide a variety of music and activities for children.

ECHS Director Lee Dobratz will lead a discussion of historical examples of dining with the dead, as well as the cemetery conditions that led to today’s memorial parks. Gather at Mount Allen Cemetery, 27th and Vine in Hays, by noon Saturday to join the festivities. Park along 26th street or in St. Joseph Cemetery. Costumes welcome.

Located at 100 W. Seventh, Ellis County Historical Society, founded in 1972, collects, preserves, and exhibits items and documents that illustrate the history of Ellis County.

— Submitted