F or more than 20 years, on the day after the costumed merriment of Halloween, a more reflective community event takes place in the environs of the historic Langley Woodmen Cemetery.

As evening falls and the sky darkens, the road into the cemetery is lined with glowing luminaries commemorating All Soul’s Eve, in remembrance of those who have died. Those who take part are also given their own luminaries for placement on individual graves of a loved one, or in an area set aside for those who are not buried here.

Volunteers prepare the luminaries by filling white bags partway with sand, then setting a votive candle inside and placing them along the road.

“The cemetery begins to be filled with light,” said Cary Peterson, a member of the Friends of the Langley Woodmen Cemetery. “It’s a quiet and contemplative way of remembrance.”

The group have been of invaluable assistance to the cemetery and to the City of Langley. The members came to its aid after Peterson, who lives across the road, noticed a “for sale” sign on the property. She was concerned that it would be purchased by a corporate entity that would transform the historic pioneer-era cemetery into a bland, soulless tract without the landscaping and mature trees that had grown since its founding in 1903.

Peterson and others were inspired to help the city with the financial difficulties of maintaining the cemetery, she said. The Friends of the Langley Woodmen Cemetery began a campaign of fundraising and work parties, purchasing new trees and plants and a mower for the grounds, clearing an adjacent plot of Scotch broom and other nuisance vegetation, and generally working to keep the cemetery groomed and in good order.

They were also able to expand the cemetery to include the new area.

“The original pioneer cemetery is almost sold out, with plots purchased sometimes years ago,” Peterson said.

The new acreage also includes places for green burials, which are natural burials without caskets or coffins.

“There are mounds there, not vaults,” Peterson said.

In another section there is an ash garden, a natural area marked with standing stones on which names are engraved.

“The community came together to save a valued part of Langley and create a very special place,” Peterson said.

Through the years, hundreds of participants have come to the All Soul’s Day event.

“Last year when we were cleaning up just after 8 o’clock, a woman arrived and breathlessly asked if there was still time,” recalled Meg Peterson, one of the Friends volunteers. “She had come all the way from Seattle.”

Anyone wishing to be a part of the event can arrive at any time between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1 at the Langley Woodmen Cemetery at the end of Al Anderson Road in Langley.

More information is available at langleywoodmencemetery.wordpress.com

A luminary will light a memorial statue in the Langley Woodmen Cemetery on All Soul’s eve.