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Family day at Oakwood Cemetery

by jmaloni

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Thu, Sep 19th 2013 03:30 pm

Oakwood Cemetery, 763 Portage Road, Niagara Falls, will be the site of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission's "Cross Borders Project 2013," "Family Day at Oakwood," from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.

"Family Day" at Oakwood features a children's picture book launch, "The Kite that Bridged Two Nations: Homan Walsh and the First Niagara Suspension Bridge," written by Alexis O'Neill and illustrated by Terry Widener. It is published by Calkins Creek, Boyds Mills Press, and Highlights. Adults and children are invited to meet the author and purchase this book about a local boy's adventure in the early 1800s.

Homan Walsh was a teenager when he entered a kite-flying contest and flew his kite over the Niagara River at the Whirlpool Rapids. Eventually, his kite tail pulled the cord that was connected to the cable that was the beginning of the suspension bridge - the first bridge to link the U.S. and Canada. When Homan Walsh died, he was laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery.

Books will be available for individual purchase and autographing. Those books purchased for donation to local schools and children's organizations will carry a bookplate with your name or your company's name placed inside.

Meg Albers, the "Kite Maven," will be on hand with kite-making displays and flying tips.

The event is free and open to the public and there will be free refreshments and free parking.

Oakwood Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in Western New York and the only cemetery in the world to designate a section to stunters who dared the mighty Niagara River, is honoring one of its most important residents with a children's book launch.

The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission sponsors the "Cross Borders Project" each year. Oakwood Cemetery is an annual partner with a designated site in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

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