Cara Madison (left), Diane Blevins and Shaylea White
(right) prepare food for this weekend’s
gathering of black families who grew up in Farmington, Missouri. As of Thursday, August 5,
2010,
120 people had contacted Blevins to say they would be at the reunion.
~~ Reunion to raise awareness, bring people together ~~
Paying tribute to black families in Farmington
By P.Barr, Daily Journal Staff Writer / Friday, August 6, 2010
Diane Blevins is expecting company this weekend – at last count at least
120 guests from all over the country – who will return to their childhood home
in a reunion of all members of black families who grew up in Farmington.
On hand will be students of Miss Dayse Baker, a well-loved teacher in the
Farmington school for black students before desegregation. The Kennedy and Matthews men
who once played football for the high school plan to attend. Friends are invited as well.
Elementary principal Opal Wright will be at the reunion, along with Blevin’s
childhood doctor, Dr. Charles Chastain.
“I’ll head into the kitchen Thursday and won’t come out until
the weekend is over,” Blevins said, half-jokingly. “I like home cooking.”
The reunion begins Friday when guests will head to Blevin’s house for a
get together. On Saturday morning, they will all gather at the Negro Masonic Cemetery on
Old Colony Church Road to pay tribute to their ancestors. Bill Matthews will talk about
the cemetery, its history, and its future care.
The rest of the day is free for people to sight see, go to the water park,
rest, or whatever,” Blevins said. “Saturday night, we will have a fish fry at my
house.”
After the group goes to church in Festus Sunday morning, they will have lunch
at the VFW on Karsch Boulevard in Farmington. That night, the reunion will end with
another gathering at Blevin’s home.
During the weekend, the families will recognize Bill Matthews and Irene
Henderson, the two people who have continued to live in Farmington the longest, Blevins
said.
Matthews, who takes care of the 1-acre Negro Masonic Cemetery, said the event
is part of an effort to raise awareness of black families in Farmington’s history.
Matthews, Vonne Phillips and other members of the Farmington Cemetery Preservation
Association are working on a project to identify graves in the cemetery and give them
headstones.
The cemetery dates from the 1800s, when blacks could not be buried in most
white cemeteries. Among the people buried there are well-known residents such as Baker and
members of the Cayce and Kennedy families. |
