Having been to the Green Lawn Cemetery several times for public events, we decided to attend one of the movie nights at the Green Lawn Abbey. It was a great event on a nice evening, and it was well attended. We sat on the lawn at the foot of the hill in front of the Abbey where the screen was set up, and a food truck was available for those who wanted food. I'll definitely go back for one of these events if the weather is pleasant enough to do so.
The Abbey -- a mausoleum, not an actual abbey with nuns or monks -- is a nice building that obviously needs a bit of upkeep. The evening movies are an attempt to make money for just that purpose. Apparently, some wealthy families, such as the J.C. Penney family, have crypts in the abbey, though one would never know unless told. All the crypts look alike, so this one shows that death pretty much makes everyone equal -- at least if you have enough money for a crypt in the Green Lawn Abbey. One thing that I did not like about the abbey is that it seemed to be full of random stuff stacked up in front of the tombs -- a wooden bed headboard and footboard, a weight lifting bench, broken down chairs and ladders, and an array of other items that, in my opinion, have no real place in a mausoleum. It just seemed somewhat disrespectful for the type of place that it is. I guess the dead who populate the walls of the abbey don't actually know it, but I just didn't like it that things were just stacked up next to the tombs as if they were shelves in a garage.
We heard that the organization charged with upkeep is in the midst of a fundraiser to replace stained-glass windows that have broken or disappeared. I hope they make up the money that they need because the building will be much nicer with the original window openings redecorated as they should be. read more