BALTIMORE — A decades-long Baltimore tradition was on display Wednesday night at Westminster Presbyterian Church: an esoteric tribute to Baltimore's most famous laureate.
An unnamed man, as in years past, paid tribute to Edgar Allan Poe at Poe's gravesite, with flowers, words in Latin, and a toast.
Tracey Mathias also calls Baltimore home, she grew up a few blocks from here and has been seeing this display in some form, for years.
"We used to hide out here at 3:00 in the morning and wait for the toaster to arrive," Mathias recounted.
"This is nice, that they’re continuing the tradition," Mathias added.
Back then, an anonymous man paid a yearly tribute to Poe early in the morning. That original homage ended a while back, but in recent years, dedicated local historians decided to bring back the tradition.
“For several years, nobody was doing it, and it was decided to resurrect him," said Jeff Jerome with the Westminster Preservation Trust.
"This is just so Baltimore," Jerome added. "And I hope it continues for many many years."
January 19 will be Poe’s 214th birthday.
The Westminster Hall and Burying Ground is hosting a virtual birthday celebration for Poe on Saturday January 21. For more information, click here.
