By Ed Shannon, staff writer

Re-enactors portraying former county residents now buried in Graceland Cemetery will be presenting the seventh annual &8220;Echoes From the Past: A Journey Into History&8221; on Wednesday.

This year&8217;s program starts at 6:30 p.m. Those attending are asked to use the Clark Street (north) entrance to Graceland Cemetery, which is to the west of State Highway 13.

The Freeborn County Historical Museum and Graceland Cemetery Association are again co-sponsoring this year&8217;s program.

A news release from the museum states, &8220;&8216;Echoes From the Past&8217; will present the lives of six people who helped form our county history. Their stories will be told by re-enactors who have developed their story lines from data collected on each individual. Each presentation is about eight to 10 minutes. Again this year there will be two presentation areas. Seating is provided, but you may want to bring your own chair for more comfort. The program should be about an hour. You will have a chance to meet with each re-enactor at his or her burial site and a representative of Graceland following the presentations.&8221;

&8220;This is a chance for you to meet people who lived in Freeborn County and contributed to our history,&8221; was the comment of Pat Mulso, executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

Pat Waters has accepted the challenge to portray Sarah Emogene Massee (1843-1932). Sarah came to Freeborn County with her parents in 1859. She grew up in Carlston Township, taught country school in Manchester County and married Amos Massee in 1887. At the time of her death a Tribune obituary said she was &8220;the oldest school teacher in the county.&8221;

Assuming the role of Daisy Day (1881-1957) will be Kelly Schultz. Daisy might have been a nickname or her middle name for Marguerita Dwight who was born in Albert Lea. She attended Albert Lea College for Women and married Charles H. Day in 1897. Her husband was the Albert Lea postmaster from 1916 to 1925.

Dr. J. Will Gamble (1891-1947) will be portrayed by Rory Mattson. The doctor&8217;s full name was Joseph William Gamble and he was born in St. Cloud. He obtained his medical degrees and training from the University of Minnesota and the Harvard Graduate School of Medicine. The doctor came to Albert Lea in 1922 and soon established the Gamble Clinic on East William Street with two brothers, Dr. Ross Gamble and Dr. Paul Gamble.

Steve Cunningham will become one of the city&8217;s leading merchants of the past, William George Chamberlain (1867-1935) for a short time on Wednesday evening. The man better known as Will was born near Manchester. He came to Albert Lea and became an employee of several clothing stores. In 1902 he and his brother-in-law, Bert Skinner, organized Skinner, Chamberlain and Co. Their large building on South Broadway Avenue became one of the major department stores in the region. Chamberlain was also a strong advocate of better roads, especially the Jefferson Highway (now U.S. Highway 65).

Rod Johnson will assume the character of Edgar L. Hayek (1885-1954) who was born in Medford, Wis., and came to Albert Lea in 1916. He was a co-founder of Trades Publishing Co. and the Community Magazine. Hayek owned Radio Station KATE which started broadcasting in the fall of 1937. He also served as the city&8217;s mayor from 1932 to 1942. Hayek is credited with the creation of

Fountain Lake Park, the original West Main Street Viaduct, and a baseball park on West Clark Street which now named in his honor.

Olive (Shattuck) Olson (1891-1962) will be re-enacted by Kathy Muilenburg. Olive was born in Stillwater and married Bert Olson in 1934. She operated millinery (hat) shops in several communities before coming to Albert Lea. Her local business was known as the Shattuck Hat Shop and located at the corner of South Broadway Avenue and West College Street and was a part of the Broadway Theater building.

This year&8217;s program is again being coordinated by David Pashka, retired School District 241 principal.

The admission price is $5 for adults and children age 11 and under will be admitted free of charge.

Mulso reminds those attending this program to park on Clark Street, north of the Graceland Cemetery.

In case of adverse weather, the re-enactment will be held at the nearby Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home on State Highway 13.