As it has for the past 11 years, the Mount Holly Cemetery Picnic on April 24 took place around the historic cemetery's charming white Bell House and among the many historic grave markers.
This year, there was something different, however.
On the side of the Bell House, the Basham family plot, where picnickers often spread blankets and enjoy the evening, two life-size sculptures of Basham sisters Pearl and Martha, and another that overlooked the grave of their parents, were missing -- broken off by vandals on April 20 (and subsequently removed and stored by administrators).
The damage has been estimated at $290,000.
Despite the conspicuous damage, the picnic was still a spirited event with lively music by Lark in the Morning, silent auctions and wine and appetizers. Tours of the graveyard, given by Annaleise Anderson and Dalton Carroll, included notable grave markers, the City Mausoleum and Victoria Fountain.
After a boxed dinner, picnickers enjoyed Parkview Magnet High School students portraying cemetery residents Juliet Neill Peay and Sallie and Dr. Isaac Folsom.
Stephanie Smittle debuted her original song "Mount Holly," accompanied on the guitar by Wythe Walker.
It was a record turnout at the picnic, said Mount Holly Cemetery Association member Susan Borne. About 150 helped raise almost $21,000 before expenses.
This money is entirely given over to the cemetery's maintenance, says Borne, but this year "of course we are also accepting contributions for the restoration of the vandalism damage."
Mount Holly was founded in 1843 and is the resting place of Arkansas governors, senators, veterans and other notable Arkansans.
High Profile on 05/01/2016