This past weekend was the annual fund-raising event for Osceola History – an event called Dine with the Departed.

It is a catered dinner with multiple options for making financial donations to the Osceola County Historical Society. The event takes place in Rose Hill Cemetery, which is the historic cemetery in Kissimmee where many of the early settlers and pioneers from even before the county was formed (1897) are buried.

We have a large tent placed at one of the crossroads of the roads within the cemetery and we park a restored horse-drawn hearse in front to add to the ambience. Don’t get me wrong. This is NOT a ghost tour or haunted house type event. We try to treat the grounds as respectfully as possible in an attempt to honor the “departed” residents of the county who have come and gone before us.

The interior of the tent is decorated with lights and chandeliers and alternating windowed walls with open to the air sections. March is a great month in which to do this. The weather was PERFECT for this year’s event.

As part of the fundraiser opportunities, guests can engage in a silent auction for a number of donated gifts and items.

One of our own staff members even dressed up in period clothing to provide lovely dinner music!

Here are two of my colleagues prepared to welcome guests to the party!

We had eight other costumed folks prepared to provide some evening after-dinner entertainment.

Our Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer is a long-time volunteer for Osceola History, often providing historical interpretation for field trips, local history tours, and even our annual Santa at the Village event.

Guests were seated at round tables and were encouraged to bid on a few live-auction items during the after-dinner event.

As winners of the auctions and raffles prepared to claim their items, actors made their way out to their assigned places in the cemetery for the after-dinner visits with departed residents.

Each year we honor 4 departed residents of the county by having two different actors portray them and tell their story. We take dinner guests along two pre-determined routes to meet each of the four characters.

This year we honored Temperance Partin (shown being portrayed in the next two photos). She was born in Georgia in 1847 and married Stephen Clay Partin. They were the patriarchs of the famous Partin’s of the great Florida Partin cattle ranch. Temperance died in 1930 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.

The next person to greet guests along the tour was Raymond V. Lanier (depicted by the actors in the next two photos). Born in 1872, Raymond was came from a family of typical Florida Cracker Cowmen. However, Raymond also sought after new career opportunities by working for Hamilton Disston on his canal building projects. Raymond’s house is one of the houses on display at Pioneer Village. Raymond is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.

Anna Tress (portrayed in the next two photos) and her husband were the owner’s and operators of Tress’ Newsstand on Broadway in Kissimmee. Born in 1866, Anna and her husband were devout Catholics and Anna’s faith was a big part of her life. She was widowed in 1904 and ran the Newsstand until her death in 1945. The Tress family played a key role in the building of the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Kissimmee. Anna is buried at Rose Hill as well.

A. G. “Gus” Mann (actors in the next two photos) was born in 1893 and lived until 1977. Only competing a 6th grade education, Gus still became a very prominent cattleman and citrus grower in the county. He was a part of the first Florida Citrus Mutual Board. He also served as a County Commissioner. Gus is buried at Rose Hill as well.

This event is always a lot of work to put on, but it’s also a lot of fun to participate in. Thanks for reading!