Questers hold successful ‘Stories in the Stones’ event

On June 28, the Questers returned to Red Oak’s Evergreen Cemetery for the second year to host “Stories in the Stones,” which gave local residents a history lesson about significant historical figures who built the community from the ground up.
Sharon Bradley and Diane Brower, the main organizers of the event, are both members of the Questers. Bradley said this is an international organization that is best known for the restoration and preservation of history.
“We really try to go out to the community and find projects that we can work on that will enhance the community,” she said.
Bradley stated that one benefit of this event is that it informs the community about the importance of historical preservation. She said it also enhances the community’s appreciation and understanding of Red Oak’s history.
According to Bradley, the first step in organizing this event was to select the historical figures who would be represented.
“Every year, we have a list that we take back to our Questers group,” she said. “This year, we decided to try to keep them all within the Red Oak Junction part of the cemetery. The reason we did that was to shorten the walking distance for the attendees.”
Once the historical figures were chosen, the next step in the event planning process was to enlist individuals as actors to portray those characters.
Kathy Davis was one of many actors chosen by the Questers to participate in this year’s event. She said that the organization’s method of finding actors was to “typecast,” or find people who embodied the spirit and personality of the historical figure.
This year, Davis played the role of Cornelia Kennedy Packard, who was the well-educated wife of Jason Packard. As she told the story of the Packard family and their many adventures, Davis fell right into her role and brought Cornelia’s enthusiasm to life once more.
In order to prepare for her role, Davis first needed to write up a script. Over the course of three days, she analyzed county history books, newspaper articles and loose pieces of information to construct her script.
Davis’ enthusiasm about her role only grew as she began to practice for her performance. Therefore, when the time for dress rehearsal arrived, she jumped at the opportunity to practice in full costume.
“We (the actors) met at the library, and we were supposed to have dress rehearsal with our scripts, and I was the only one that came dressed and with my script in hand,” she said as she chuckled at the memory.
Overall, Bradley, Brower and Davis said they were all satisfied with the turnout and outcome of this year’s Stories in the Stones event. Bradley said color-coding specific sites on the map and having guides were a helpful addition made this year.
“I wish more people could come and hear this, and we might possibly do this at another venue a little bit later,” Davis said. “I mean, we put so much work into this, and I’m always willing to go somewhere and do it.”
Once the cemetery walk concluded, a luncheon was offered for all attendees. There was an area for attendees to offer goodwill donations as well, which Brower said will all go toward fixing up the brick pillars surrounding the cemetery’s entrance.
“One of them (the pillars) needs to be taken down completely and redone,” she said.
Brower also said that she and Bradley are hoping to repair all 13 of the pillars in the future.
Bradley said, “We just appreciate the people that do attend and all the donations that we got, because I think it’s important to recognize the history of Red Oak … I think we just need to explore more of our history and let residents know what is important in this town as far as history.”