Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Commemoration at Mount Auburn | Page 12

A New Perspective on
Cemetery Services
As Mount Auburn’s new Vice President of Cemetery Services
Sean O’Regan believes he brings “a different perspective on
client service.” His background includes work in the high
technology industry, such as, appropriately, data capture and
data conversion for cemeteries. Sean wants to “meet the
various needs” of a diverse and changing public regarding
commemoration choices: “My hope is that Mount Auburn
will have a wider mix of buyers who are of broader economic
means. Birch Gardens, the Cemetery’s newest landscape of
commemoration, offers such a range of choices.”
Sean sees monuments as giving people “the opportunity
to create a memory and then leave that behind.” This makes
commemoration such a personal and sometimes seemingly
daunting task (that can be made less daunting with the help
of Cemetery Services staff). He stresses that living people
can be honored here by endowing a plaque on a bench
or tree, and points out that one of Mount Auburn’s most
celebrated memorials—to Civil War hero Robert Gould
Shaw—is in fact a cenotaph because his body was interred
with the dead from
his regiment at the
South Carolina battle-
field where they fell.
All cemeteries, Sean
believes, must “come
up with a better way
of presenting the
memorial options
for cremation. The
perception is: ‘I’m
cremated, so why
would I be buried?’
But in fact, burial
and commemoration
of cremated remains
Sean O’Regan and his wife, Suzanne
must be considered.”
(See page 2.)
The beautiful grounds and chapels at Mount Auburn are
also available for special events, such as wedding services. If
you are interested in finding out further information about
these or other options, please call Sean at 617-547-7105.
Visitors Kiosk Will Put Mount
Auburn “At Your Fingertips”
By Bree D. Harvey,
Director of Education & Visitor Services
Mount Auburn is creating a new interactive, educational
kiosk that will give visitors a wealth of general and cus-
tomized information about the Cemetery. To be housed
in the Egyptian Revival Gatehouse at the Mount Auburn
Street entrance, it will debut during the fall of 2009. A
team of consultants, all experts in the world of interactive
exhibits, is working with the Cemetery to complete this
exciting project. The kiosk is being made possible thanks
to the generosity of the Anthony J. and Mildred D. Rug-
giero Memorial Trust. Created by the Small Design firm of
Cambridge, MA, the kiosk will have a touch-screen format
that marries text, images and maps in a manner that is user-
friendly, informative and attractive. It will enable visitors to
explore information about the Cemetery’s history, horticul-
ture, wildlife, art and architecture, and the notable figures
interred here. Providing a brief and compelling overview of
the subject of the visitor’s choice, the kiosk will then point
the visitor towards some of our printed maps and brochures
for further exploration. A burial look-up feature will allow
visitors to locate the graves of family and friends within the
Cemetery, and will assist visitors interested in finding out
more information about attending public programs, joining
the Friends, or purchasing burial space. The kiosk
10 | Sweet Auburn
Above: The Egyptian
Revival Gatehouse at
the Mount Auburn
Street entrance, future
site of the new kiosk.
Left: The new
educational, interactive
kiosk will be located
and open to the public
under the east portico
above. Illustration by
Filament Design
Studio.
People and Happenings
Autumn 2008 Festivities
On September 28, 2008, on what Mount Auburn President Dave Barnett
admitted was an “iffy wet day,” a large crowd turned out for the Cemetery’s
Fall Celebration, highlighting the opening of Birch Gardens and the new
Wildflower Meadow at Washington Tower. At the Birch Gardens ribbon-
cutting, Dave called the landscape Mount Auburn’s “newest and grandest”
interment space, “following the vision of the Cemetery’s founding fathers.” A
jaunty white trolley-style bus traveled a continuous loop around the grounds—
stopping at the Visitors Center at Story Chapel, Bigelow Chapel, Consecra-
tion Dell, the new Wildflower Meadow at Washington Tower, Birch Gardens,
Auburn Lake, and Halcyon Lake—as guests, including many families with
children, enjoyed the walks, sketching classes, and cider and cookies.
Among those present for the opening of Birch Gardens were: David Russo,
Chair, Watertown Historical Commission; Brian Murphy, Vice Mayor, City of
Cambridge; Chris Hayward, Watertown Conservation/Preservation Agent &
Tree Warden; and Mary Louise McDermott, Chair, Watertown Conservation
Commission. Birch Gardens encompasses property in both Watertown and
Cambridge. Photos by Jennifer Johnston
(Far left) The new Wildflower Meadow at Wash-
ington Tower (left center) in the shadow of the
Tower as seen from the Tower.
(Left)
Volunteer
docent Jerilyn
Familetto
of Belmont,
MA, greets a
guest at the
Wildflower
Meadow
will be available whenever the Cemetery
is open to the public, even at times when staff and docent
volunteers are not present, such as when the Visitors Center
and Administration Building are closed.
Spring 2009 | 11