April 20, 2008 11:39 pm
—
from staff reports
A crowd of people gathered Sunday at Enterprise Confederate Cemetery in Clarke County to attend a Confederate Memorial Day program put on by the Enterprise Woman's Club and the Constantine Rea Historical Society.
The program was held in a pretty cemetery, with participants scattering themselves among the shady spots to avoid the heat. It featured a detailed speech on Civil War History, especially what took place in East Central Mississipi, by Lauderdale County Department of Archives Director and Civil War Historian S.W. Calhoun.
"The Confederate didn't look like much," said Calhoun, "but he could do one thing well, and that was fight."
Calhoun went on to explain some of the purpose of having a Confederate Memorial Day, saying of the Confederate soldiers, "As their descendants...it is our responsibility to keep their memory alive."
The program also featured men dressed in Confederate uniforms who performed a rifle salute, and women dressed in large hoop skirts. Small Confederate flags were placed next to each of the white gravestones of the fallen Confederate soldiers.
Additionally, Kasey Stockman played taps on the bugle; Ken Turner sang Amazing Grace and Dixie to the banjo accompaniment of Pat Howse. Mary Margaret Mallard, the Rev. Don Harrison, and John A. Brown performed "Lord, I'm Coming
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Photos
Jennifer Stockman and Jonathan Poe, both with the 46th Mississippi Infantry, place a flag in front of one of the headstones during the laying of the wreath ceremony in remembrance of the Confederate dead Sunday at the Enterprise Confederate Cemetery. PAULA MERRITT
Kasey Stockman plays taps to conclude the Confederate Memorial Day
ceremony honoring the soldiers that gave their lives. PAULA MERRITT
Jeremy Rutherford, 8, listens as S. W. Calhoun speaks of the nfederate dead PAULA MERRITT