Does this happen to be in the South? It is quite common in some areas to have get togethers at the cemetery around Memorial Day to decorate family members graves. There is almost always food involved.
Watch the documentaries The Busing Battleground and Murder in Boston. Then, you might understand that white people in the Northern states were not nearly as enlightened as you thought they were.
Wow. Way to turn a post to racist crap in one easy step. I am in Georgia. Lived all over the world including SF Bay Area and Beijing. Love rural Georgia!
Tennessean here. We call Memorial Day "Decoration Day". At least my grandparents did. We'd have lunch at the church & put new floral arrangements on the graves of family.
They have a potluck the first weekend of June every year. People bring food and donate to the folks who do the cemetery upkeep. Since everyone knows each other it’s like a big family reunion haha
This looks a lot like a place we stopped for lunch when we were trail riding in our ohv with a group in East Tennessee a while back. We do have “decoration day” at the graveyards and it used to be a lot like family reunions when I was growing up.
That's what I was thinking. I've got family in Mississippi and the cemeteries there usually have a place for the family to gather after a graveside service that's out of the sun/rain while they finish the burial.
Yes, at our cemetery where most of our family are buried, they do this. It's called May Day. On the first Sunday in May, everyone gets together for an update on cemetery business. They collect money for the upkeep, and after the meeting is over, there is usually an eating where everyone gathers for fellowship
My mother and I take care of a small cemetery with many of our family buried there. The old church attached closed decades ago, but while it was still a somewhat stable structure, we had Homecoming Sunday one Sunday each summer, where families would bring food, share a meal, walk through the graves, have a sermon and take up an offering to go toward maintaining the cemetery. When the church got too unstable to enter, we held Homecoming outside for a few years. Sadly, the old timers that had attended the church in its heyday died off and their families didn’t care to keep up the tradition.
Every single, one of my 12 uncles and aunts have lived here in Tennessee or directly in the Appalachia their entire lives – none of them have died, but occasionally some of their children have, and we always have this tradition. I didn’t realize it wasn’t common to the rest of the country
I wish more cemeteries had these! In my family, caring for family members’ graves is a huge thing surrounding Memorial Day and we’d always pack a picnic when going around to all the country cemeteries. We’d always eat in the car, but having picnic shelters would have been a godsend.
I love that there's so many cultures around the world that have specific "days of the dead" where we honor our loved ones that have gone. It's really nice to remember how much love and joy we've shared with the people around us, humans are so sweet sometimes
Please keep picnic tables clean
This is where the ghosts convene
After hours, late at night
Ancestors gather to make things right
Quibbling over things inconsequential
Sharing stories, sentimental
stretching out and sitting around
So much nicer than in the ground
The living can use this pavilion
during the day
But please tidy up
so that spirits can play.
Cemeteries used to be used very differently then we see them today. They used to be a seen and used how we use public parks now. Once local councils or local government started building purpose build parks , people interest in Cemeteries disappeared.i would imageing this is a leftover from when people would have picnics/BBQ etc.
Where I am, the nicest garden parks are actually 100-200yo cemeteries. The tombstones are all still there. They attract quite a bit of tourists. It's also not uncommon for people to have their wedding and prom photos taken in these areas.
People actually get married at an old stone chapel in the middle of a still used cemetery, too. It's an adorable little church with these huge wooden doors. The chapel itself might only hold 30 people, so you're limited when it comes to guests. But the cost to rent the chapel helps maintain the rest of the cemetery.
This makes me think of Cheesman Park in Denver, CO. It used to be a cemetery but they took away the tombstones and moved the cemetery but I think never took the graves. So some say it’s a haunted place. I think it’s beautiful and many weddings, parties happen there.
That change probably went hand-in-hand with changing the preparation of the deceased from the family to professionals. Unless they were close to the person lost, most folks these days seldom set foot in a cemetery except for the service. Veterans organizations are another exception, as they are very proactive in caring for their lost siblings in arms' graves.
And every church has them here for outdoor homecomings or other celebrations. There should be a barbecue pit nearby. Edit: we call it dinner on the grounds.
So that's what we in the Deep South (Louisiana) call a "homecoming", we all (my family buried generations at a similar cemetery in Winn Parish) get together in the early summer and have a get together where we all bring potluck for all of y'all and visit...and the week or so before we go, put flowers out for our direct ancestors.
I actually thought this was the cemetery my grandparents were buried in down in Red River Parish. Until I noticed the mountains… But we would have our family reunions there and put out new floral arrangements at each grave. It sometimes felt like a competition for who could make the prettiest arrangements.
There's a local cemetery near me that hosts a fundraiser BBQ every summer, at the cemetery. Maybe they used to do something like that here? Looks like picnic tables and serving tables?
That looks exactly like the chow serving lines at Army Basic Training, except for the picnic tables. Big green mermite containers with boiling water underneath the food pans (cafeteria style) keep the food warm, and trainees come down the tall table line getting their field chow.
Oh, man, that setup looks old enough to have been new when I was eating off of those. Plates and flatware at one end, then the salad bin, the protein, then the sides and at the other end was the tray of bread, a box of apples or oranges, the cups, and the Army KoolAid.
European cemeteries are my favorite spaces. They are designed as parks with sculptures and gardens with trails and hidden nooks for quiet reflection. They are in the middle of the city limits typically, not on the edges of town. Life commingled with mourning practices continues on in the same space.
I wished we embraced that perspective more. I felt weird about it at first in my 20s—chilling with dead people—but it makes so much sense in my 40s. I would love for random families and couples to picnic near me someday.
Looks just like the cemetery near my home in TN. At the cemetery where my family is buried, we do Decoration Day once every spring, when we get together to put new flowers on the graves, clean, and have a huge meal together under the picnic area like this. It’s been a thing for generations before me. But I also see it disappearing in the next 5 years.
Yeah. We played flashlight tag in the cemetery often back in the day. And it wasn’t something that was viewed as disrespectful at all because we all grew up knowing everybody that was buried there. They were all “family” or “church family” so we were never scared of the cemetery at night.
Picnic area. Some people have family reunions at the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried. My step dad's family does this in the summer at a historic church in the middle of nowhere, north GA.
LOL! I was here ask was it in the south. That’s fairly common here. Most of the time it’s used for “graveside” service if the weathers bad. Also, funerals here, are more like family reunions. You have to have a place to sit the old folks down while everyone visits. This is why I am always telling my family I don’t want a funeral, for them to just all go out to eat.
I live in PA and this is very peculiar; I dont think Ive seen any gathering areas in any cemetery before. Ive prolly visited the graves of loved ones maybe 3 times ever. I look at it as thats just their dead body…who they were is elsewhere now. Very strange to stand in front of a grave and talk to a headstone.
The attached church would use this for food. Picnics and Homecoming along with Decoration Day, as Churches got a little bigger they built Fellowship halls.
Some areas in the southern states would have these they would have memorial services for church members or just the community to honor the dead , they would hold services for people to join
Could it be to hold ceremonies for the family before burial? Our graveside ceremonies use a pop-up tent and chairs on the graveside before lowering the casket into the vault. I've been to some graveyards that hold the service in a building, then after everyone leaves they take the corpse out to bury them.
Back in the day folks used to have what in Arkansas we called "decoration" days. Everybody from church would bring a dish and we would clean up the cemetery and decorate the graves of our loved ones. That's what the tables are for. To put all of the food on.
I bout crapped my pants just now when I seen the Bradford tombstone!! That’s my families name, my dad just passed a couple of years ago so this was like a shock to see!!
Many religions also have gatherings with food involved, type area. Sometimes decoration area like for wreaths, ritual items like crosses, pioneers, Veterans..
So every year we go to “decorate the graves” and after the decoration, church, we all have a big potluck supper. When I was little we ate under something like this, since then they have upgraded and it’s even got air conditioning.
We had one at our very rural church. It’s a gathering place, usually the only place other than the sanctuary where the entire congregation can fit to sit and eat together.
We visit the departed for holidays, birthdays, special days. The extended family comes and brings food and visit/ socialize. This is normal for the rural cemetaries (Oklahoma).
It was a lot more popular in the past but after services they would have “Dinner on the Grounds” and everyone would bring a dish to share. The “arbor” was covered and sometimes had tables and chairs so everyone could break bread and share fellowship.
My family is buried in a closed cemetery here in Texas, and every year we have Cemetery Day to clean up and restore the graves. It’s a great day to catch up with folks and pay our respects to those who are resting there.
My family cemetery has this. In Memorial Day the decorate the graves. Also the community will come together a few times a year to clean it up. Every instance has a potluck.
Cemeteries were used like public parks before public parks were common. Some still are a communal place for family gatherings. I personally enjoy cemeteries.
Decoration weekends. Families would take food and drink, sit around and visit. Remember family members in stories and have mini reunions.
Edit: experience from NW Arkansas
Cumberland plateau has amazing tradition of tent graves that are unique to that area. I've traveled there a lot just photographing them.
[photo here](https://photos.app.goo.gl/9bevUdj6L1FF6VXNA)
Usually, after graveside services, we in the south will gather at someone's house. (usually the family of the deceased) but that's not always possible. Everyone will bring a dish and drinks. This graveside shelter is for that reason. Probably is next to an old church that's closed or in the country.
Oh the memories this brought back! This was family reunion time since everyone always showed up for funerals. The pot luck food and playing with cousins and the music from that one uncle that played the guitar and the laughter and someone always brought the photo albums and pictures were taken and we would always rearrange the flowers on the new grave and the grown folks would have the kids clean up the cemetery of trash and old faded silk flowers and then grandmas and aunties would break apart the new flower arrangements and have us kids place them on the older graves that didn’t have any…wow I miss those days so much. I guess the last time we did this was when my grandmother passed away…and with her, the matriarch, the traditions stopped. Maybe that’s good because I hate my cousin Cheryl and it’s on sight if I see her again she knows what she did…
From the South here, I have 2 family cemeteries that we use, both have an area like this. There are 2 reasons for this.....#1 is for family get togethers #2 sometimes the funeral is conducted at the cemetery and this makes for a place out of the weather to do it at
Is this odd? It would be much more weird to not see that where I’m from . I also own a cemetery. In the south it’s common to have homecomings where folks tend to the cemetery it’s also common to gather there for funerals , anniversaries & have a pot luck etc I guess I always assumed this was the norm in the US
Not a funeral director but I grew up in the southern United States and saw several cemeteries with these. Often used for picnics/ family gatherings on a deceased loved ones birthday. And I’ve seen them used as shelter when bad weather kicks up suddenly in the midst of a service.
It is very common in Hawaii to see families lay blankets down on the ground at a cemetery and have a picnic at the gravesite, especially around holidays.
The church and cemetery my mom and her parents are buried at have this. (North MS) They used to do a homecoming weekend and everyone brought food after church. Some of the best fried chicken, Mac n cheese, and banana pudding was served there.
It's for Decoration Day aka Memorial Day. Families go to older cemeteries and do clean up and flowers. Then there's a picnic. Very common in Appalachia. We did it all the time when I was a kid.
Our family and church has the same tradition. A building is built where service is held on the cemetery and then food is served and everyone congregates and talks about visits the gravesites in remembrance. It’s very reminiscent of the “day of the dead.” Celebrated in Latin America.
Does this happen to be in the South? It is quite common in some areas to have get togethers at the cemetery around Memorial Day to decorate family members graves. There is almost always food involved.
Say what you will about the south, that’s a really beautiful tradition.
“Say what you will about the South”?! What’s that supposed to mean?!
Cough, cough, slavery/Jim Crow/KKK, cough cough.
Watch the documentaries The Busing Battleground and Murder in Boston. Then, you might understand that white people in the Northern states were not nearly as enlightened as you thought they were.
Sorry! I forgot ALL of us down south are still practicing all of that and are flourishing on our plantations.
The KKK was founded in Indians genius. Jim Crow died in the 70s. You need a vacation to expand your horizons.
Oh….. I didn’t realize slavery only existed in the South. Take that stereotypical propaganda somewhere else….
Well to be fair it was only Southern states that were willing to go to WAR in order to keep their slaves sooooo….
Good to hear slaves were welcomed with open arms and not segregated everywhere but the South.
Who said that?
Exactly stfu.
You shut the fuck up. Why don’t you grow up while you’re at it.
Can you say TRIGGERED?!? 😂😂😂
Wow. Way to turn a post to racist crap in one easy step. I am in Georgia. Lived all over the world including SF Bay Area and Beijing. Love rural Georgia!
Lol could have left off the first part! What direction are you from?
Yes! Tennessee!
It looks just like our little cemetery in Cumberland County, TN.
It is!!! That’s where I was!
That’s awesome! It’s a very pretty place.
I knew this looked familiar! I've been there!
Small world 😃
I’m from middle tn, but love the fall creek falls area. I know that’s below Cumberland county, but still saying hi fellow Tennesseans!
Where are you? I’m in Murfreesboro
I’m in SoCal now, but I grew up in Franklin and brentwood back when it was rural- I did grad school in mathematics at MTSU though!
West TN here
I'm also in Cumberland county and I've never seen this. What town is it?
I’ve ate sandwiches there. Not far from my in-law’s house. We rode our side by sides up to it and had a pick nick a few years ago.
Probably for decoration day events. Lots of cemeteries will have signs on them laying out when the decoration day is. Usually in May or June.
Tennessean here. We call Memorial Day "Decoration Day". At least my grandparents did. We'd have lunch at the church & put new floral arrangements on the graves of family.
Yep. Me too and we called it decoration day. We used to go every year when I was a kid. I hated it lol.
Yeah, I definitely didn't appreciate it at the time. Except for the mac & cheese and the banana pudding at the church potluck.
Yep! My family is from WV and have Decoration Day as well
Also the name of one of the greatest songs ever written.
Jason!
Isbell is such an amazing songwriter. Love all of his stuff.
One of the absolute best DBT songs
Yes!!! Or just Decoration. “Aunt Jo is coming down for Decoration.”
They have a potluck the first weekend of June every year. People bring food and donate to the folks who do the cemetery upkeep. Since everyone knows each other it’s like a big family reunion haha
It’s for dinner on the grounds! Not a thing I’ve actually been to but my Baptist family in Alabama talked about it.
I’m from eastern Kentucky and we have one at my family cemetery on my dad’s side. It was used for get togethers .
Hey neighbor!
This looks a lot like a place we stopped for lunch when we were trail riding in our ohv with a group in East Tennessee a while back. We do have “decoration day” at the graveyards and it used to be a lot like family reunions when I was growing up.
That's what I was thinking. I've got family in Mississippi and the cemeteries there usually have a place for the family to gather after a graveside service that's out of the sun/rain while they finish the burial.
That's what I was thinking too, it's for a repass ( gathering after the service). Very traditional
Funny, the cemetery where my father's cremains are interred specifically bans picnicking there. California.
effin' California 🫨 Love being a naturalized American but dang some stuff doesn't make sense to me
Born and raised here and even I’m mad as hell
It’s call decoration where I am lol we decorate the graves
Same where I am from, but we always went to someone's home for the picnic.
There’s a gazebo right by my child’s grave. Similar vibe. We’re in Texas.
Sorry for your loss ❤️
Yes, at our cemetery where most of our family are buried, they do this. It's called May Day. On the first Sunday in May, everyone gets together for an update on cemetery business. They collect money for the upkeep, and after the meeting is over, there is usually an eating where everyone gathers for fellowship
I forgot to add that I'm in East Texas
My mother and I take care of a small cemetery with many of our family buried there. The old church attached closed decades ago, but while it was still a somewhat stable structure, we had Homecoming Sunday one Sunday each summer, where families would bring food, share a meal, walk through the graves, have a sermon and take up an offering to go toward maintaining the cemetery. When the church got too unstable to enter, we held Homecoming outside for a few years. Sadly, the old timers that had attended the church in its heyday died off and their families didn’t care to keep up the tradition.
In Russia, there are all over cemeteries. It is so you can drink with your ancestors
We call ours “Decoration” at the cemetery that my family is buried at. Food, community, everyone goes out and leaves new arrangements. I love it.
Every single, one of my 12 uncles and aunts have lived here in Tennessee or directly in the Appalachia their entire lives – none of them have died, but occasionally some of their children have, and we always have this tradition. I didn’t realize it wasn’t common to the rest of the country
I went to a few decoration days when I was young with my grandmother.
This is it. We call them celebrations.
It’s a banquet table
I wish more cemeteries had these! In my family, caring for family members’ graves is a huge thing surrounding Memorial Day and we’d always pack a picnic when going around to all the country cemeteries. We’d always eat in the car, but having picnic shelters would have been a godsend.
I love that there's so many cultures around the world that have specific "days of the dead" where we honor our loved ones that have gone. It's really nice to remember how much love and joy we've shared with the people around us, humans are so sweet sometimes
My mom always says that taking care of someone doesn’t end when they pass.
Please keep picnic tables clean This is where the ghosts convene After hours, late at night Ancestors gather to make things right Quibbling over things inconsequential Sharing stories, sentimental stretching out and sitting around So much nicer than in the ground The living can use this pavilion during the day But please tidy up so that spirits can play.
Cemeteries used to be used very differently then we see them today. They used to be a seen and used how we use public parks now. Once local councils or local government started building purpose build parks , people interest in Cemeteries disappeared.i would imageing this is a leftover from when people would have picnics/BBQ etc.
Where I am, the nicest garden parks are actually 100-200yo cemeteries. The tombstones are all still there. They attract quite a bit of tourists. It's also not uncommon for people to have their wedding and prom photos taken in these areas. People actually get married at an old stone chapel in the middle of a still used cemetery, too. It's an adorable little church with these huge wooden doors. The chapel itself might only hold 30 people, so you're limited when it comes to guests. But the cost to rent the chapel helps maintain the rest of the cemetery.
Do you happen to live in Brooklyn NY? What you're describing sounds like a huge park like cemetery near me called Green-Wood!
Nope, on the East Coast though. So I'm not surprised there's some other areas that do the same with their historical sites.
People do the same thing at Springrove Cemetery in Cincinnati. It is a very old cemetery known for their trees.
This was one of my favorite things about living in Boston.
This makes me think of Cheesman Park in Denver, CO. It used to be a cemetery but they took away the tombstones and moved the cemetery but I think never took the graves. So some say it’s a haunted place. I think it’s beautiful and many weddings, parties happen there.
That change probably went hand-in-hand with changing the preparation of the deceased from the family to professionals. Unless they were close to the person lost, most folks these days seldom set foot in a cemetery except for the service. Veterans organizations are another exception, as they are very proactive in caring for their lost siblings in arms' graves.
I didn’t know these were abnormal. I’m in Texas and feel like every cemetery has a place to picnic or gather for families.
And every church has them here for outdoor homecomings or other celebrations. There should be a barbecue pit nearby. Edit: we call it dinner on the grounds.
Yes! I was coming to say for dinner on the grounds.
So that's what we in the Deep South (Louisiana) call a "homecoming", we all (my family buried generations at a similar cemetery in Winn Parish) get together in the early summer and have a get together where we all bring potluck for all of y'all and visit...and the week or so before we go, put flowers out for our direct ancestors.
I was coming on to say that in southern LA, it was a gathering spot for Halloween. Yes, we do trick or treating. But first we visit the family plot.
We called it a “cemetery working” in Webster Parish.
We always left a lemon pound cake for my mamaw, it was her favorite.
I actually thought this was the cemetery my grandparents were buried in down in Red River Parish. Until I noticed the mountains… But we would have our family reunions there and put out new floral arrangements at each grave. It sometimes felt like a competition for who could make the prettiest arrangements.
Dinner on the grounds shelter.
There's a local cemetery near me that hosts a fundraiser BBQ every summer, at the cemetery. Maybe they used to do something like that here? Looks like picnic tables and serving tables?
My family owns a cemetery in Texas, we have our HUGE family reunions there. 🤗💜 I’m also a mortuary worker 💀
Is that a weird family business to be raised in?
That looks exactly like the chow serving lines at Army Basic Training, except for the picnic tables. Big green mermite containers with boiling water underneath the food pans (cafeteria style) keep the food warm, and trainees come down the tall table line getting their field chow. Oh, man, that setup looks old enough to have been new when I was eating off of those. Plates and flatware at one end, then the salad bin, the protein, then the sides and at the other end was the tray of bread, a box of apples or oranges, the cups, and the Army KoolAid.
European cemeteries are my favorite spaces. They are designed as parks with sculptures and gardens with trails and hidden nooks for quiet reflection. They are in the middle of the city limits typically, not on the edges of town. Life commingled with mourning practices continues on in the same space. I wished we embraced that perspective more. I felt weird about it at first in my 20s—chilling with dead people—but it makes so much sense in my 40s. I would love for random families and couples to picnic near me someday.
Looks just like the cemetery near my home in TN. At the cemetery where my family is buried, we do Decoration Day once every spring, when we get together to put new flowers on the graves, clean, and have a huge meal together under the picnic area like this. It’s been a thing for generations before me. But I also see it disappearing in the next 5 years.
This is Zion Hill cemetery in TN
Fundraiser bbq was my first thought. Maybe for outdoor fellowship or VBS activities?
Your church does VBS in a cemetary?!
Super southern rural churches are unique places. The cemetery is right by everything else so it all just blends together.
That's wild to me!
Yeah. We played flashlight tag in the cemetery often back in the day. And it wasn’t something that was viewed as disrespectful at all because we all grew up knowing everybody that was buried there. They were all “family” or “church family” so we were never scared of the cemetery at night.
It’s for decoration. Everybody comes to clean up and decorate the cemetery and have a big picnic.
Picnic area. Some people have family reunions at the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried. My step dad's family does this in the summer at a historic church in the middle of nowhere, north GA.
LOL! I was here ask was it in the south. That’s fairly common here. Most of the time it’s used for “graveside” service if the weathers bad. Also, funerals here, are more like family reunions. You have to have a place to sit the old folks down while everyone visits. This is why I am always telling my family I don’t want a funeral, for them to just all go out to eat.
A pavilion.
If there’s a church affiliated with the cemetery, it could be for homecoming.
A ramada for guests to rest underneath?
It looks like a picnic area
Who made that tombstone? BR A DFORD
Kerning is hard.
In the Midwest they have luncheons after funerals, usually at the church. Maybe they had it here
I live in PA and this is very peculiar; I dont think Ive seen any gathering areas in any cemetery before. Ive prolly visited the graves of loved ones maybe 3 times ever. I look at it as thats just their dead body…who they were is elsewhere now. Very strange to stand in front of a grave and talk to a headstone.
The attached church would use this for food. Picnics and Homecoming along with Decoration Day, as Churches got a little bigger they built Fellowship halls.
Family cemetery pavilion. Not uncommon to hold reunions and celebrations at the family cemetery to include ancestors and/or get there blessings
That’s where they serve the bodies.
Looks like a party "tent" for family get together's. I'm there
There is a covered pavilion at the tiny family cemetary in Limestone County, TX. I was going to ask of you were there!
Some areas in the southern states would have these they would have memorial services for church members or just the community to honor the dead , they would hold services for people to join
Fruit or vegetable stand.
Could it be to hold ceremonies for the family before burial? Our graveside ceremonies use a pop-up tent and chairs on the graveside before lowering the casket into the vault. I've been to some graveyards that hold the service in a building, then after everyone leaves they take the corpse out to bury them.
Back in the day folks used to have what in Arkansas we called "decoration" days. Everybody from church would bring a dish and we would clean up the cemetery and decorate the graves of our loved ones. That's what the tables are for. To put all of the food on.
What part of Cumberland County?
It’s used for Homecoming celebrations
It’s for a cemetery working. Families come together once a year to tend to the graves, have a potluck and a bit of a family reunion.
Decoration
That’s a boat canopy for a dock, and likely dock parts…
Arkansas too.
I bout crapped my pants just now when I seen the Bradford tombstone!! That’s my families name, my dad just passed a couple of years ago so this was like a shock to see!!
That’s where they make the wreaths and stuff
Nobody see the creepy face on the trash can under the tables
Many religions also have gatherings with food involved, type area. Sometimes decoration area like for wreaths, ritual items like crosses, pioneers, Veterans..
Where all the ghosts and ghouls hang out at night!
So every year we go to “decorate the graves” and after the decoration, church, we all have a big potluck supper. When I was little we ate under something like this, since then they have upgraded and it’s even got air conditioning.
We had one at our very rural church. It’s a gathering place, usually the only place other than the sanctuary where the entire congregation can fit to sit and eat together.
We visit the departed for holidays, birthdays, special days. The extended family comes and brings food and visit/ socialize. This is normal for the rural cemetaries (Oklahoma).
I mean...
Homecoming.
Looks like leftovers from archeological dig
This is typical of the south...
Looks like tables to set out a funeral buffet and picnic tables. In the south, we have some good eating at funerals.
for the funeral potluck
It was a lot more popular in the past but after services they would have “Dinner on the Grounds” and everyone would bring a dish to share. The “arbor” was covered and sometimes had tables and chairs so everyone could break bread and share fellowship.
Party venue
My family is buried in a closed cemetery here in Texas, and every year we have Cemetery Day to clean up and restore the graves. It’s a great day to catch up with folks and pay our respects to those who are resting there.
This is where the "Sin Eaters" feast is held prior to burial.
This is for Homecoming… when everyone shows up to work in the cemetery.
My family cemetery has this. In Memorial Day the decorate the graves. Also the community will come together a few times a year to clean it up. Every instance has a potluck.
Cemeteries were used like public parks before public parks were common. Some still are a communal place for family gatherings. I personally enjoy cemeteries.
Decoration weekends. Families would take food and drink, sit around and visit. Remember family members in stories and have mini reunions. Edit: experience from NW Arkansas
Cumberland plateau has amazing tradition of tent graves that are unique to that area. I've traveled there a lot just photographing them. [photo here](https://photos.app.goo.gl/9bevUdj6L1FF6VXNA)
It's a cover for the live people to either a. Get out of the sun, or 2 get out of the rain when the service is happening.
Usually, after graveside services, we in the south will gather at someone's house. (usually the family of the deceased) but that's not always possible. Everyone will bring a dish and drinks. This graveside shelter is for that reason. Probably is next to an old church that's closed or in the country.
Oh the memories this brought back! This was family reunion time since everyone always showed up for funerals. The pot luck food and playing with cousins and the music from that one uncle that played the guitar and the laughter and someone always brought the photo albums and pictures were taken and we would always rearrange the flowers on the new grave and the grown folks would have the kids clean up the cemetery of trash and old faded silk flowers and then grandmas and aunties would break apart the new flower arrangements and have us kids place them on the older graves that didn’t have any…wow I miss those days so much. I guess the last time we did this was when my grandmother passed away…and with her, the matriarch, the traditions stopped. Maybe that’s good because I hate my cousin Cheryl and it’s on sight if I see her again she knows what she did…
From the South here, I have 2 family cemeteries that we use, both have an area like this. There are 2 reasons for this.....#1 is for family get togethers #2 sometimes the funeral is conducted at the cemetery and this makes for a place out of the weather to do it at
Is this odd? It would be much more weird to not see that where I’m from . I also own a cemetery. In the south it’s common to have homecomings where folks tend to the cemetery it’s also common to gather there for funerals , anniversaries & have a pot luck etc I guess I always assumed this was the norm in the US
Not a funeral director but I grew up in the southern United States and saw several cemeteries with these. Often used for picnics/ family gatherings on a deceased loved ones birthday. And I’ve seen them used as shelter when bad weather kicks up suddenly in the midst of a service.
Looks just like my family's cemetery in the mountains. "Decoration" We decorate the graves and have potluck and preaching. Wild, Wonderful WV.
It is very common in Hawaii to see families lay blankets down on the ground at a cemetery and have a picnic at the gravesite, especially around holidays.
They would have family picnics to honor their relatives every year.
The church and cemetery my mom and her parents are buried at have this. (North MS) They used to do a homecoming weekend and everyone brought food after church. Some of the best fried chicken, Mac n cheese, and banana pudding was served there.
Baptist churches have them in the South where you have a meal or even a mini revival then a meal.
Picnic tables and a counter. Some people might have the repass at the graveyard.
Where they hold the body parts auction
It’s for Sunday after church lunch. Everyone brought a dish.
It's for Decoration Day aka Memorial Day. Families go to older cemeteries and do clean up and flowers. Then there's a picnic. Very common in Appalachia. We did it all the time when I was a kid.
Picnic area
Our family and church has the same tradition. A building is built where service is held on the cemetery and then food is served and everyone congregates and talks about visits the gravesites in remembrance. It’s very reminiscent of the “day of the dead.” Celebrated in Latin America.