City of Bainbridge Living History Tours of Oak City Cemetery are always interesting, but this year was more enjoyable for me than previous ones for some reason.

Maybe because some of the characters portrayed were “more recent,” and I related to them.

For instance, I learned from the lives of Edwin J. Perry Jr. and Mary Celia Perry, told by Chip and Linda Perry, that Decatur County used to be a “dry” county—meaning they had to drive to the state line of Florida to purchase alcoholic beverages, which, apparently were consumed by the men folk with a good deal of regularity. The interaction between Chip and Linda was well done and quite convincing.

On my next stop, I heard from Kier Klepzig who told that John M. Brown was the editor and owner of a newspaper titled, “The Democrat.”  He was committed to seeing that Prohibition continued in Decatur County, thereby keeping it “dry.”

Joe Livingston acted out the life of Prescott L. Forsyth, who was married to Jane Forsyth, founder of Friendship House. Prescott was quite the football fan and coach of several people whose names I actually recognized as being current citizens of Bainbridge. Joe is always a lively, convincing actor.

The last two stops for my group were Chris Davis, who told the life of William S. Townsend, and Clayton Penhallegon who gave the history of Charles J. Munnerlyn and the Munnerlyn Plantation.

I much prefer the spring walks, as it is still daylight and I can get better photos, plus see where I am walking. The ones after daylight savings time changes are not as enjoyable for me.

My congratulations to the City for putting these tours together and special thanks to the persons who so accurately portray the subjects. As you all know, I am not a Bainbridge native, so it is interesting to me to learn more about the people who lived, worked and died in Bainbridge through the years.