V23|NO41
VALERIEEMERICK
Colorful Characters
Spirits guide cemetery tours at Magnolia this weekend Spiritual Encounters
Here are some of the otherworldly guides participants in Walk with the Spirits will encounter this weekend. Ann Clanton Vason, 1830-1905 (portrayed by Sallie Metzel): Vason was wife of Colonel William J. Vason, attorney, a participant in the California gold rush and Confederate veteran. Whatley Bush, as Dr. William West Bussey, runs through his lines for Historic Augusta’s Walk with the Spirits cemetery tour. Bussey, 18381928, was a wholesale grocer, banker, physician and Confederate veteran whose home now serves as Augusta’s Ronald McDonald House.
Augusta is a city rich in history, and as such has been home to some very interesting and colorful characters over the years. What better way to learn about the figures who helped shape the city and who had a lasting impact than by taking a leisurely stroll past their final resting places and hearing the spirits themselves tell you their stories? This year will be Historic Augusta’s sixth annual Walk with the Spirits tour, and after all that time they have just scratched the surface of interesting people from Augusta’s past to cover on these walks. “We do it [Walk with the Spirits] every year in October,� says Julia Jackson, the programs and marketing director for Historic Augusta. “Sometimes we go to the Summerville Cemetery and sometimes we’re in Magnolia. This year we’re down in Magnolia.� To keep the tours interesting and new, every year they pick a different route so they can introduce different “spirits� from Augusta’s past. “With the different routes, especially in Magnolia with it being so large,� explains Jackson, “we could pick a different route and highlight different interesting spirits every year for many, many years into the future.� All the participating spirits on the walk are volunteers with Historic Augusta and come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Dressing up in period costumes and standing in front of groups of strangers to tell a story might appeal to those who have a theatrical background, but surprisingly, very few of the volunteers come from the stage. “Some do, some don’t,� says Jackson. “Sometimes we try to get people who are descendants of the character, or have some sort of connection, like Jack Long (who is playing the role of Thomas N. Hopkins). He owns the
office building that was once the home of his character. So, sometimes there is a connection like that and that’s why we choose the person.� Other times, there are volunteers who tried it once and got hooked and who come back year after year. Danny Craig (who portrays Charles A. Platt) participated in the first spirit walk six years ago and has been back ever since. “My daughter and son-in-law have been involved with Historic Augusta for years and years and six years ago they asked me would I play a character and I agreed to do it, and actually, I’m the only one of us that’s done it every year for six years. I’ve enjoyed it very much and have played some interesting characters over the years.� Craig says. “I actually played my own great-grandfather three years ago in the Summerville Cemetery.� For those of you who may be easily spooked don’t worry. The goal of these walks is to entertain and inform, rather than to scare (although Historic Augusta does recommend not bringing children under the age of 5). During a 45-minute tour led by a spirit guide in period costume, participants will hear about the history of the cemetery and iconography of the headstones. As the group progresses along the route they will get to meet additional Augusta residents buried in the cemetery, also in period costume, who will enlighten them with details of their lives and accomplishments. Walk with the Spirits Magnolia Cemetery | Saturday-Sunday, October 13-14 3-6 p.m. | $15; $10, children and groups of 10 or more Pre-registration recommended 706-724-0436 | historicaugusta.org
William Shivers Morris, 1869-1921 (portrayed by Mark Albertin): Morris was treasurer for the Georgia Railroad and a popular state senator. Charles A. Platt, 1814-1887 (portrayed by Danny Craig): Platt was proprietor of C.A. Platt & Co., a furniture and undertaking establishment. Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1834-1907 (portrayed by Laurie Montgomery): Thomas was a Southern belle whose Civil War diaries catalogued the devastation that followed her family throughout the war and Reconstruction. Jacob Henry Lowrey, 1824-1909 (portrayed by Cobbs Nixon): Lowrey was founder of a wagon factory on the corner of 9th and Ellis streets which was confiscated by the Confederate Army for use as a shoe factory. Thomas N. Hopkins, 1839-1893 (portrayed by Jack R.B. Long): Hopkins was a Confederate veteran who taught at Houghton Institute. Sarah Eugenia Twiggs, 1836-1893 (portrayed by Missy Hargrove): Twiggs was the daughter of an Aiken plantation family. She raised her nine children alone after the death of her husband, Lieutenant Colonel John David Twiggs, who was killed by his overseer. John Jay Cohen, 1806-1884 (portray by Bob Rollins): Cohen was a stockbroker, as well as the first president of the Congregation B’nai Isreal (Children of Israel). Amelia Winter Hack, 1824-1881 (portrayed by April King): Hack was the wife of Daniel de Bruce Hack, owner of Georgia’s first cotton and wool mill, the Richmond Factory, on Spirit Creek.
73(@)(*2 ;OL )HUK Come Chill-Ax to the smooth sounds of Playback “The Band� featuring Tutu D’Vyne
Sunday Soul -n- Jazz Sessions Every Sunday starting Oct 14 -05+ -(*,)662 -90,5+
7SH`IHJR ;OL )HUK (\N\Z[H .( MLH[\YPUN ;\[\ + =`UL
231 Furys Ferry Roads ‡ Augusta ‡ (706) 364-9175 40 METROSPIRITAUGUSTA’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1989
11OCTOBER2012