Annual Spring Picnic – Mount Holly Cemetery

* * * IN CASE OF RAIN * * *

The Mount Holly Cemetery Association is closely monitoring the weather forecast for this year’s Spring Picnic. If we must implement a rain plan, the picnic will pivot to a “drive-through” event.

Please check the website and our Facebook page for updates. We will make the call on implementing the rain plan by noon on Sunday, April 28, 2024.

In the event of rain, guests will drive through the cemetery’s back gate on Gaines Street, pick up their box dinners at the Sexton’s Cottage, and exit at the front gate on Broadway. Staff will be on hand to guide cars through the route. Cookbooks will be available for $50, payable by cash, check, or card.

Directions:

If heading south on Broadway, turn right on 13th past the Broadway entrance. (If heading north on Broadway, turn left onto 13th Street.) Proceed two blocks west to Gaines Street. Turn right (north) on Gaines and go to the cemetery entrance near the I-630 access road. Turn into the cemetery.

* * *

On the last Sunday of every April, the supporters and friends of Mount Holly gather in the cemetery from 5-7 p.m. for a picnic and entertainment. Funds raised at the picnic help maintain the cemetery as a beautiful historic landmark.

Because of concerns about the coronavirus, the 2020 Spring Picnic was canceled and the 2021 Spring Picnic was limited to a drive-through experience. Since 2022, we have hosted the picnic without the silent auction on the grounds with a fall-back option of a drive-through picnic in case of rain or another deadly surge of Covid-19 cases.

We thank our sponsors for fundraising success!

The festivities include:

Appetizers
Dinner
Wine
Turn of the century picnic “delicacies”
Live music

Guests will have the opportunity to have self-guided tours of the cemetery.

2024’s Annual Spring Picnic is Sunday, April 28, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Thank you to our sponsors, ticket holders, and donations. Hope to see you Sunday.

Gallery of the Spring Picnic over the years

Spring Picnic 2018

Spring Picnic 2018 with board member Ellison Poe (right)

Past Association president Frances Cranford arrives with other guests at the 13th Street gate. Mount Holly’s New Dawn roses provide a showy entrance.

Picnickers check in at the 13th street gate

Guests are transported by golf cart to the center of the cemetery.

Costumed Parkview drama students prepare to reprise their roles from the 2016 Tales of the Crypt at the 2017 picnic.

Association members Janis Thibault (standing) and Allison Pickell (seated)

George West and Starr Mitchell of Lark in the Morning provide musical background

Costumed Parkview drama students wait to reprise their roles from the 2016 Tales of the Crypt at the 2017 picnic.

The now-repaired Basham statues, which were nearly destroyed by vandals in the spring of 2016.

Association member and picnic co-organizer Judy Goss announces entertainment.

Association member and picnic co-organizer Sarah Hopkins (in apron) reviews the auction bids with other guests

Parkview students help lead a tour at the 2017 picnic

Auction items at the 2017 picnic

Picnic co-organizer and Association member Judy Goss stands next to the silk Mount Holly quilt, created from tombstone iconography and motifs in the cemetery. The quilt was designed and made by Lavern Schaap and donated for the 2017 auction.

Furry friends are welcome at Mount Holly!

Tour guide and Association member Marianne Ligon confers with guests

Tour guides and Association members Matilda Buchanan and Marianne Ligon announce the tours at the 2015 picnic

Mount Holly welcomes a new generation to enjoy the cemetery

Association member Gladys Whitney and Bill Worthen

Association member Susan Borné at the 2015 Spring picnic

Association members MAry Fletcher Worthen and Kay Tatum confer at the 2012 Spring Picnic

Entertainment at the 2012 Spring Picnic was a brass band

Guests at the 2012 Spring Picnic

Association members Kay Tatum and Marjem Gill sell books at the 2012 Spring Picnic

Guests at the 2012 Spring Picnic

Spring Picnic 2018 with board member and Mount Holly Grounds Committee Chair Nancy Phillips (far right)

Guests at the 2012 Spring Picnic

2017 Association president Sybil Jordan Hampton and her husband Albert Hampton

Guests at the 2012 Spring Picnic

Guests enjoy the 2010 Spring Picnic

Association member Mary Fletcher Worthen framed by the statues of the Basham girls at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Brass musicians at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Guests survey the auction tables at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Long-time Association member Mary Fletcher Worthen autographs a copy of Mount Holly’s cookbook, Recipes in Perpetuity at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Guests enjoy the 2010 Spring Picnic

Association Members Sue Campbell and Trudie Cromwell help at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Association member Marjem Gill helps at the 2010 Spring Picnic

Mount Holly patrons Breezy, Mitzi, and Jennings Osborne pose with Association member Mary Fletcher Worthen at the 2010 Spring Picnic