Cemetery showcases famous, humble in annual celebration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, October 03, 2008
She didn’t live a long life. She was not famous. Her plot at Oakland Cemetery is one among thousands.
Yet people will seek her remains Sunday, when Atlanta’s oldest park opens for its 19th annual Sunday in the Park celebration.
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
Richard Waterhouse will lead tours and tell stories at the upcoming Sunday in the Park festival at Oakland Cemetery.
Visit www.oaklandcemetery.com.
Her name — you won’t get it here — is part of a 48-riddle scavenger hunt that will lure participants all over the 48-acre tract. The hint reads:
On the steps of the Sage
To the left you should go
And walk to the clock of the sun.
At the 5 o’clock hour
It points to this flower.
The daughter of Turners’ the one.
You think that’s tough? How about finding a certain “D.S.” whose monument makes the sign of the “Star Trek” Vulcan?
“It’s really fun,” said Mary Woodlan, director of volunteers and special events at Oakland, founded in 1850. “But it’s not easy.”
It is an easy way to spend an afternoon. The noon to 6 p.m. event is free, but visitors are encouraged to make a $2 donation.
Last year’s open house drew about 4,000 people. Oakland officials want to exceed that this year.
“We’re hoping a lot of people will come back,” Woodlan said. “We want them to see what good shape the park is in.”
Until recently, it was a tangle of wood and marble. The March 14 tornado that hit downtown also struck the historical cemetery, toppling trees and smashing monuments. Oakland is clean now, its walkways cleared, but downed obelisks and angels face-down in the dirt are reminders that restoring the cemetery will take years. Damage at the cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, exceeded $3 million.
This year’s stroll, in which people are encouraged to wear Victorian garb, features some old standby attractions — food, storytellers, artwork, carriage tours and authors signing books. New musical acts include Hicks With Picks, The Uncle Mike Band and Mike Rogers. The Atlanta History Center will have an exhibit featuring one of Oakland’s renowned residents, golfing great Bobby Jones. If the kids get bored, relax: The cemetery has a scavenger hunt for them, too.
That brings us back to the mystery woman from the Turner family. Her name?
Well, it’s … it’s in the park. Go find it.
