History Whole 



The pendulum swings heavy and 

 hard. After the first homecoming of 

 slave descendants in 1986, some 

 whites felt alienated from Somerset 

 Place. But Dot Redford 

 had a tonic. 



Take a healthy 

 dose of Christmas 

 cheer, simmer up 8 

 pounds of beans, throw 

 in hoards of homemade 

 cookies, smother it in 

 song, and you've got 

 some fine community 

 relations. 



It's called the 

 Christmas Open House, 

 and it happens every 

 year at Somerset. Every 

 church in the area is 

 invited to decorate one 

 room of the Collins 

 House to honor a 

 church member, living or dead. And 

 in the process, people mingle. They 

 sing together. They laugh, they eat 

 and they eat some more. 



"Our house is decorated to 

 pieces," says Redford. 



Pine and holly wreaths are 

 sprinkled with pods of cotton. Dried 



okra, gourds and other natural decora- 

 tions adorn the 14-room house. 



"All the church choirs come to- 

 gether and sing together," says 



Scon D. Taylor 



Trey Boyce and A.C. Robinson fetch 

 water for cooking and dishwashing. 



Somerset employee and Creswell na- 

 tive Betty Pledger. "It's not white 

 churches. It's not black churches. It's 

 both. You'd think they had been prac- 



ticing and singing together for years. 



"There's a nip in the air. They 

 have hot apple cider," she says. "Ev- 

 ery church has to bring homemade 



cookies — you cannot 

 bring them in cello- 

 phane. We cook a big 

 pot of beans, and that 

 is sopped out by the 

 end of the day." 



And when Open 

 House is over, there 

 are a dozen or more 

 stories to weave into 

 the history of this 

 coastal county. Each 

 church puts together a 

 short biography of its 

 honoree. The write- 

 ups are published each 

 year as Reflections: A 

 Somerset Christmas. 

 "I'm an advocate of 

 seeing history whole," says Redford. 



And no one wants to miss out on 

 the celebration. 



"A lot of people say, 'I'm going 

 to go because that's my mother being 

 honored," says Pledger. "It just 

 brings so many people from far and 

 away." E 



HOMECOMING 1993 



The 1993 Somerset Place Home- 

 coming will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 

 Saturday, Sept. 4. The theme of the 

 program and activities is "Our Chil- 

 dren." 



Entertainment will include the 

 Somerset Children's Choir and the 

 Marie Brooks Dance Theatre, an 

 international troupe from New York 

 specializing in African and Carib- 

 bean dance. Both groups range in 



age from 3 to 18. 



Storytellers Lloyd Wilson and 

 Gloria Lowery Tyrrell will tell tales. 

 Children will make broomsedge 

 brooms, small kitchen baskets, split 

 oak baskets and pincushions. Group 

 photographs of descendants are 

 scheduled throughout the day. An 

 hour of open mike sharing for people 

 more than 80 years old is also slated. 

 And of course there'll be games and 

 lots of food. 



For information about local 

 lodging and activities, call 919/797- 

 4560. 



Somerset Place Visiting Hours 



April 1 — Oct. 31 : Monday 

 through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 

 Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 



Nov. 1 — March 31: Closed on 

 Monday. Tuesday through Saturday, 

 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to 

 4 p.m. 



COASTWATCH 15 



