Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1914-04-04
entertainments
GALORE FOR VETS
FLORIDA CITY is PREPARING To
ENTERTAIN SOUTHERN HEROES
IN STYLE.
Whole South Will Be Repre-
scented at Meeting


interest i'll the great social, military
and sentimental annual meeting that
brings together a crowd Of from IS :
COO to 10000 people to do honor to
the ex-Confederate soldier-the reun-
ion of the survivors of the Confeder
ate armies.
The reunion is to be held this year
at Jacksonville, Fla, May 6, Z, s, in
elusive 1t is the first time that the
ex-Confederates have selected Florida
as the reunion state, and uncommon
interest attaches to the meeting hero
and throughout the South. Owing to
the comparatively early date OF the
reunion, the divisions, brigades ami
camps made their appointments Of
sponsors and maids early, and these
ladies compose the social side Of the
reunion. They are nown as the official
ladies of the meeting, entertainer as
such, and courted by the entire social
fabric of the South.
The origin of the sponsors and maids
custom at Confederate reunions il
familiar. Twenty-odd years ago Il
Mississippi camp of Confederate; vet
Grams appointed Miss Winnie Davis,
daughter of Jefferson Davis, sponso
at a reunion. Miss Davis, in turn, ap
pointed a couple of her young friends
to be her maids of honor. This Incl
dent, intended at the time az a ten3-
porary honor for the family of Jeffer-
son Davis, became a custom, and now
every organization in the United Con-
federal Veterans Association, appoints
sponsors and maids of honor The
young ladies must have an older
female head along with them, and each
organization appoints chaperon anG
matron Of hcnor
The Sons of Confederate Veterans
following in the footsteps Of their
fathers, maintain organizations in ev-
cry Southern state, and hold their rc'
unions on the same dates. rhey an
point sponsors and maids of honor
The two organizations, closely allied
therefore, send to each Confederate re-
union several hundred official ladies,
selected from the best families of the
South, that stand high in the sociaI
scale in their communities. No NEE :
ing anywhere in the world brings t.
gether at one time so large / numbee
or handsome and accomplished ladies'
to be entertained by the city IN which
the reunion is held. The entertain
ment of these ladies is one of the difH-
calf but pleasant duties of a reunion
city A committee is appointed b."
every reunion city to entertain the
maids and sponsors, and upon this
committee falls the duty of seeing that
the ladies are provided with every
thing necessary to their pleasure and
comfort.
Mapping out a social program, there
fore, for a Confederate reunion is o
task that demands the best of talent il
the entertainment line. There must be
dinners, receptions, balls, trips to
points OF interest around the reunicr
cities and anything else in the line Of
social entertainment the committee
may devise. The growing event Of trG
week in society, however, is the an
nual hall for maids and sponsors. T..
the reunion is held in a city where a
hall large enough to accommodate sew
eral hundred dancing couples at once
can not be secured, a dancing pavilion
is constructed for the occasion. This
pavilion consists of a large canvas
tent, we'll foored and lighted; it is al
so supplied with comfortable seats or
the grandstand order, where several
thousand spectators may witness the
ball If a reader has not seen one OF
these annual balls at Confederate
reunion he has but limited idea Of its