First, an open house of the newly renovated and rededicated chapel will take place on Friday, July 31. The chapel will remain open on Sunday August 2 for visitors during the Oakland Picnic and Cemetery Tour.

The Oakland Cemetery, located at 37 Mohawk Ave., Warren, is rich with burial sites of prominent figures in Warren’s history. Six community volunteers from the chapel restoration group have been working for the past year and a half on restoring the chapel at Oakland Cemetery. The Open House will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, July 31. Visitors to this informal open house can view the newly restored and rededicated “Sally Metzgar Memorial Chapel” any time during those hours.

Oakland Cemetery was created in 1863 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), through purchase of the land from Thomas Struthers. Just before WWI began, the construction of the chapel followed in 1908.

The chapel restoration workgroup has been respectful of the tremendous history both with the chapel and within the cemetery. Project manager Lisa To shared the purpose and heart behind it. “The restoration of the chapel is a gift not only to the cemetery but to our community. The triskelion, round, front stained-glass window is indicative of “birth, life, and death”; the continuity that binds us across time. New life has been breathed into this beautiful little gem of a chapel on a hill in the historic cemetery overlooking our town of Warren, PA.”

Tourists will be able to view the inside of the receiving vault and the mausoleum.

The Oakland Picnic and Cemetery Tour was last held in 2019 and is returning this year on August 2. The day begins with picnicking anywhere on the cemetery grounds, as many did in past times after church. Hosted by the Warren County Historical Society, please bring your own picnic lunch beginning at 1 p.m. Opening remarks will start at 2:15 p.m. at the Odd Fellows Circle with the option to explore the grounds on your own from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

A brochure with a map will be distributed with the marked locations where guides as well as reenactors will be positioned. No guided tours are available, however, there will be guides on hand at the following locations to discuss notable individuals connected to Warren’s history: the newly renovated Sally Metzgar Memorial Chapel, the mausoleum, Judge Allison Wade, GAR Circle, General George Ashworth Cobham, Jr, Potters Field / Pioneer Cemetery, Struthers Mausoleum, and Captain William Alexander. Marty Meddock will be in full character as Archibald Tanner. The burial sites of George Welch Olmsted, William Harrison Allen, Frank Morrison, and Abram Jones Hazeltine are within close proximity of each other, and one guide will be provided for all four sites.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Warren County Historical Society at 814-723-1795, visit warrenhistory.org, or find the Warren County Historical Society on Facebook.

The community is invited to tour Warren’s Oakland Cemetery on Sunday, August 2.

Pictured from left are Bob Crowley, Mary Weiss, and Lisa To of the chapel restoration workgroup, Robert Metzgar, the lead donor and Marty Meddock, the Oakland Cemetery Board President.

Photo by Jessica N. Rex Local contractors have gone above and beyond with using their skills with the project team to resurrect brighter versions of the past, restoring the chapel to its original state.