The Rose Hill Company once again brings storytelling to new heights with some interesting new additions for this year’s Tenth Annual Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour, which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.

To celebrate 10 years, the company applied and was awarded a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission to build a replica gypsy wagon depicting the early 1900 era. This year, the wagon will be displayed in a special Living History area. Stories about Romani history will also be presented by Stage 2 students.

The wagon was designed and built by local artist Dan Talley and helps tell the story of Kelly Mitchell, queen of the gypsy nation, said Meridian High School art teacher Scott Farmer, who has participated in the Rose Hill Company production for nine years.

“The main areas of our presentation for Rose Hill Cemetery is the gypsy queen – that alone is a very large draw for us,” Farmer said. “It was decided upon a couple of years ago maybe we needed to create something large and visual to have something else that will draw people in. So we decided on creating a gypsy wagon. Visually, it is fairly accurate to what the gypsies actually lived in, just a smaller representation of it.”

To get the wagon ready for the production, it had to be painted. That’s when students with the National Art Honor Society at MHS volunteered to help.

Senior Serenity Hollomon said she already had an interest in the tour after seeing it on stage at the Meridian Little Theatre.

IF YOU GO

The Tenth Annual Rose Hill Cemetery Costumed Tour is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. The event is free, open to the public and suitable for all ages. It is not a haunted tour. Parking is available at Calvary Baptist Church across from cemetery for $2 per car, to benefit the youth of the church. NTTC, Naval Air Station Shipmates will serve as tour guides. Wear sturdy shoes and bring a flashlight for sure-footing; however the pathway is an easy walk. Only stay on the pathway, do not wander through the cemetery. Stay with your tour guide at all times. Security will be on duty the entire time. Gates close at 9 p.m. For more information, call 601-479-2483 or 601-482-9752

“I was a light director at MLT when they had the play there, and thought then it would be interesting to be involved,” Hollomon said. “I think the wagon will give people a visual idea of how it felt back then while portraying the history and background of Meridian.”

Farmer said the wagon is one of many new things featured in this year’s production.

“We have really put in a lot of effort this year to mix things up to give new experiences,” Farmer said. “If you have seen it before, I advise you to come to see it again, because you will have some new experiences this year that you did not have in previous years.”

Tour Director Anne McKee said the Rose Hill Company has made great advancements this year in addition to the students who painted the wagon.

“Since the beginning in 2010, the hope of Rose Hill Company has been to include as many youth and children as possible and as well to encourage more diversity numbers among the attendees,” McKee said. “With the help of three agencies, Meridian Council for the Arts, Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi Humanities Counsel, Rose Hill Company has moved forward with these goals mainly by the grants awarded.”

No doubt, the Romani family buried in Rose Hill is of great interest, McKee said. But the queens’s burial story has never been told.

“This year in the newly added Living History section, the complete story, which has been researched, will be revealed,” McKee said. “Meridian’s Stage 2 Theatrical students will portray lives of the Mitchell gypsy clan, telling their history from 450 AD as researched in the book “Romani Royalty of Rose Hill Cemetery.”

The book, published by Lauderdale County Archives and researched and written by Leslie Joyner, is available at the archives department located at the second floor of the Lauderdale County Annex. 

McKee said the event will also feature Lisa Mercer, who portrays the role of an African American assistant nurse who worked for King’s Daughters Consumption (Tuberculosis) Hospital in the early 1900s.

“Although we do not know her name, we have proof of her employment because of a letter written by a doctor of the time,” McKee said. “In addition, a great-great nephew of well-known Meridianite, Greg Hatcher, who’s uncle was the police chief, William R. Nelson, who died during the 1906 tornado that destroyed Meridian’s business district located on Front Street, will tell the story of that great disaster.” 

“Come step into history with the Rose Hill Company,” Mckee said. “They will be expecting you.”

Cast members include Lisa Mercer as the kings’ daughter’s nurse; Stacey Hutcheson as Mrs. Augustus P. Wagner;  Brad Hampton as Rev. Joseph Bozeman, Theresa Gonzales as Julia Bozeman; Carolyn Starnes as Marjorie Woods Austin, the founder of Meridian Little Theatre; Michael Edwards as John Ball, the founder of Meridian; Ward Calhoun III as Charles Rubush, the only Yankee buried in Rose Hill; Brandon Harper as Sheriff N.E. Cannady; Brenda Stewart as Nebraska Read, the  only woman buried in Confederate Mound; Greg Hatcher as Police Chief William R. Nelson; Donna P. Colburn as Virginia Shackelford; Carol Sue Wiggins as Mary Wynn Shackelford; Patrick & Charity Harper as the gypsy king and queen; The Henningtons as gypsy tribe members; Ava and Gabby Parker and Kinsley Wilson as gypsy children; Rob Wilkerson as Lewis Ragsdale and Scott Farmer as Anthony Frank Cochlbecker.

The story of the Confederate Mound will be told by Ward Calhoun, Jr. and the burning of Meridian in 1864 will be reenacted by the Stage 2 Players.