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Gravediggers' Ball Fundraiser For Laurel Hill Cemetery Marks 10 Years

By Dan Wing

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Crystal Tea Room at the historic Wannamaker Building in Center City Philadelphia played host to the 10th Annual Gravediggers Ball Friday night. The annual ball is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Dressed in tuxes and gowns, guests mingled about with people in costume, like the CEO of Laurel Hill Cemetery Pete Hoskins, who was dressed as a beer baron.

"We are especially famous for all the beer barons that are buried at Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill," Hoskins said.

Hoskins says the ball is based off an old tradition from the 1800s in which people from the cemetarian community would get together.

"We've taken that, and created a fundraiser for the Laurel Hill Cemetery," Hoskins said.

10th Annual Gravediggers' Ball
(credit: Dan Wing/KYW)

The event has grown with each year and already brought in nearly half a million dollars and organizers were hoping to raise up to $80,000 at this year's event. Those funds help with upkeep, and public programs at the cemetery according to Wilson Smith, the cemetery's chairman.

"Back 175 years ago when Laurel Hill was started, it was a place for the public to come. They came and they visited with their families, and they remembered their families, and we're trying to get back to people coming into the cemetery because it can be a beautiful place," Smith said.

More information on the programs and classes offered at Laurel Hill Cemetery can be found online at TheLaurelHillCemetery.org.
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