It’s that time a year when leaves are starting to fall, temperatures are growing cooler, pumpkins are waiting to be plucked from a patch, and an evening stroll through a local graveyard may be on many people’s To-Do List.

This Saturday, Sept. 30, the Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour will give Meridian residents the chance to mark that last item off of their list when the annual tour is held from 6-8 p.m. at Rose Hill Cemetery, located at the intersection of Seventh Street and 40th Avenue across from Calvary Baptist Church.

The costumed tour, a one-day-a-year event, is not a haunted tour so don’t expect any spirits or tales from the crypt. Rather, it is an informative tour that offers interesting histories of the cemetery, people who are buried there and the Queen City herself, said Anne McKee, a local storyteller and director of the Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour.

“It is an exciting event every year,” she said. “It’s a community event, and it is a free tour. Our volunteers are the most fantastic people, and we are teaching local history about Meridian, about people who lived here and about Rose Hill cemetery.”

This year will mark the 15th anniversary for the costumed tour, McKee said, adding the first organized tour was held in 2010 with a grassroots effort started a couple of years before that.

The Rose Hill tour is free, open to the public and suitable for all ages. It is offered as a public service for the community, she said. This year, the Red Hot Diner Food Truck will be on site to provide concessions.

During the tour, the Rose Hill players speak in first person, recounting the time period in which they lived and the story about their lives, family and contribution to Meridian history.

“We do change some of the stories around each year and try to add a new one so we can keep our tour fresh,” McKee said.

Among the stories told on this year’s tour include a stop by the grave of Mrs. Smith, who passed away in 1906 and requested to be buried in her wedding dress. Meridian resident Tom Fair will play the role of the minister, and actors from the youth acting troupe Stage 2 will play the other characters.

Rose Hill players Keith Jachoby and Brad Hampton will play John T. Ball and Lewis A. Ragsdale, respectively, the founders of Meridian who are both buried in the cemetery. The two men allegedly argued not only over the name of the city but also the layout out of the original streets.

Player Brenda Stewart will tell the story of Nebraska Read, who is the only woman listed in the cemetery’s Confederate mound section, where her husband Charles William “Savez” Read, nicknamed the “Seawolf of the Confederacy” is buried.

Visitors can also plan to hear brief histories on Charles M. Rubush, a contractor credited with building the Grand Opera House and the Lauderdale County Courthouse; Virginia Shackleford, whose husband, Dr. Lee Shackleford, died in 1878 during the yellow fever epidemic; Walton Moore Sr., one of the earliest railroad workers to come to Meridian; Emil and Kelly Mitchell, a former king and queen of the Romani, wandering travelers more commonly referred to gypsies; among others.

While tours will begin at 6 p.m. and run until 8 p.m., McKee suggests visitors arrive by 7 p.m. because the tour can last up to an hour. Tours are given on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tour officials recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes and bringing a flashlight.