The 69th Red River Meetinghouse Association Annual Meeting will be Sept. 9. Please mark your calendars, bring a dish and a friend. The annual potluck dinner has the best food and the speaker is always interesting.
Our speaker this year will be Scott Harp, minister of the Crittenden Drive Church of Christ in Russellville. Steve Vann will be leading the music accompanied by his wife, Joyce. They will be playing zitters.
Your presence makes you a member of the association and gives you the right to vote during the business meeting. There is always something that comes up during the business meeting that is educational and interesting. Please stay for the whole thing so you won't miss the fun. Potluck will be at 1 p.m. and the service/meeting will be at 2:00.
The 23rd annual Primitive Campmeeting and Rendezvous will be October 12-14. Plans and lining up speakers are already underway. Coy's BBQ will be our food vendor and his camp food is always delicious. Camp or visit at our Living History event. Details are on the website: www.rrmh.org or call Tom Ruley at 270-586-7632.
Last year's campmeeting was very busy with time travelers from the frontier and special music. The whole weekend was very special with people coming from many places to enjoy a special time with God. Please read more about this on our website under the heading NEWS.
The 29TH annual Schcohoh Christmas Parade and 10th annual Candlelight Service will be Dec. 2. The parade begins at 2 p.m. and the RRMH candlelight service will be at 4 p.m. Robert Operia will be our speaker. Come join us as we participate in the parade and then worship together at RRMH.
The Ewing Family Reunion was August 17-19. Those attending reconnected with family and friends of the Ewings. Darlynn Moore did a presentation that included Finis Ewing. For more information: chancellor@EwingFamilyAssociation.org or https://www.facebook.com/ewing.family.association
The Col. Benjamin Logan Sons of the American Revolution Grave Marking Service will be on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 3 p.m. The service will be on the lawn of RRMH. There will be a program that will last approximately 1 hour. SAR Members will be in colonial militia and military uniforms. There will be a posting of colors and also a flintlock salute.
The Red River Fiddlers youth group from Bowling Green will play bluegrass, period, folk and gospel music. There will also be a church service in the meetinghouse with Geoff Baggett speaking on the Great Awakening. The new SAR Chapter will also be dedicated in a brief separate service.
The patriots that will be honored are: Peter Fitzhugh, Robert Paisley, and Robert Ewing Jr. We would like to invite descendants of these brave men to attend, and request that living historians to please come dressed in 1800's attire. For more information, please contact: Event Contact Person Pete Lehman (270) 221-0014 or Program Director Richard Holloman (270) 772-0119.
NEWSLETTER NEWS:
10th annual Blanket Trade Days was the coldest yet and the last of its kind. The crowd was very small considering the frigid temperatures. Of course, the totally devoted die-hard living historians were there camping, enjoying the fellowship and braving the weather even though waking up to snow and sleet was adventurous. Hearing about the role of a Resurrectionist in the 19th century was fascinating. Thank you, Maggie Delaney (Carol Jarboe). Our service on Sunday was led by Parson John (Frank Jarboe), who always does a great job.
Next year Laura Blankenship Gove will be in charge of a cemetery tour. The date and more details will be announced later. We have openings for participants. If you are interested please contact Laura at lab972@gmail.comor 615-720-8829.
The pews that were donated many years ago to the meetinghouse are available for display or to donate to a museum. Many of you have recommended various museums and places that may possibly be willing to display a pew with a plaque telling about RRMH. This would be a great way to give RRMH publicity. If you know of a museum, please contact the museum to see if they are interested, then call President Richard Moore with the details and arrange with him when you will be transporting the pew. You can reach him at 270-539-6528.
Books for Sale: Camping Memories at the Red River Meetinghouse is now for sale. The book is centered on how the fall campmeeting began and how God has worked in many situations with the meetinghouse and the campers throughout the twenty plus years. You can contact Dreama Ruley at 270-586-7632 for a copy. Books with black and white photos are $15. Books with color photos are $25. All proceeds will go to the pavilion fund.
Melanie Meadow's book The Waking Up is available through Melanie or Darlynn Moore (270-539-6528). It is a historical fiction with the setting of the great revival that occurred at RRMH in 1800. It is a very exciting and wonderful book that you will enjoy.
If you live close by you can purchase these books and other RRMH memorabilia, Wednesday through Saturday at The Grapevine in Adairville.
Groups have been enjoying the facilities. There have been two weddings this year, a family reunion, prayer services and an event by Crossroads Christian Fellowship. This is a busy place and is a beautiful setting for a wedding. It is also a favorite destination for prom and graduation photos.
If your group or church would like to use the restroom facilities, the policy is $100 to rent and a $100.00 cleaning deposit, which you will get back if facilities are clean upon inspection. Please write two separate checks to Red River Meeting House. Contact Richard Moore at 270-539-6528 for more information.
Donations in memory of Rev. Jack M. Harris can be made to the RRMH. He was the father of Dreama Ruley and a big supporter of the living history camps. When he was able, he would enjoy visiting with the campers and attend the services. He passed on to Glory on June 7, 2018 after a long fight with Parkinsons and dementia.
Monthly church services are held every first Sunday of the month with various speakers. This is an informal gathering of all faiths, everyone is welcome. Please join us at 3 p.m.
Presidents Corner:
One of the special things about the Red River Meeting House is the beauty of the grounds and
cemetery. There are approximately 400 plus graves, most with markers and some without stones, but here lie those individuals that once walked this earth. I encourage you if you are able to come and walk the cemetery to use the self-guided cemetery tour pamphlet that is in the back of the kiosk at the walking gate to get a glimpse of 25 individuals that are buried in the cemetery. These 25 are no more special than the others that are buried here but we have been told their story to pass on for future generations.
If you have relatives buried here, please consider becoming involved with the Red River Meeting House and Cemetery Association to help keep your ancestor's memory alive and the grounds maintained through your donations. Let us not forget those that have gone before us. Also I encourage you to let me know and share any interesting stories you may know on anyone that is buried in the cemetery.
Plans are to have a cemetery tour sometime in May of next year with people in costume portraying some of the notable people buried in the cemetery. Oh, how I wish these stones could talk, but just reading the words on these old tombstones says a lot.
Such as Evan McPherson's stone (listed as no. 3 on the self-guided cemetery tour pamphlet):
Stop, mortal as you are passing by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so must you be,
Remember that you too must die.
Let us make a difference with our life so our time on earth has not been in vain.