MEMORIAL DAY EVENT AT PINE RIDGE CEMETERY, PICNIC, MUSIC FEST SLATED
Monument to Capt. Birney, Civil War hero, to be dedicated
April 10, 2003
By: Dave Rogers
Re-enator Ken Martin admires Grand Army of the Republic monument erected in 1885 at Pine Ridge
A special Memorial Day Tour of Historic Pine Ridge Cemetery will feature dedication of a monument to Capt. James Birney IV, Civil War hero from Bay City, and an outdoor picnic celebration and old time music festival.
The monument is sponsored bythe Penzien-Steele Funeral Home. The Old Tyme Picnic and Music Hoedown, sponsored by First American Title Co., will be held in the parking lot of the title company at Jefferson and Sixth streets, for ticket holders.
The tour and events are part of a series of benefit fundraisers for acquisition of the sword of Capt. Birney, discovered recently in a basement in Philadelphia, and for Pine Ridge Cemetery.
A committee headed by Tony Dearing, editor of The Bay City Times, has conducted a movie showing at the State Theatre and a dinner to raise funds toward a $25,000 goal for acquisition of the sword and production of an appropriate display at the Historical Museum of Bay County.
The Memorial Day monument dedication will be conducted by veterans headed by Col. Devere D. Woods, and officers of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Essexville-Hampton Post, members of the Grand Army of the Republic Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, representatives of the Bay County Historical Society, and local governmental officials.
Events will get underway at 3 p.m. Monday, May 26, at the cemetery with a walking tour featuring a narrator and Civil War re-enactors making short presentations at the graves of veterans, pioneers and others. The monument dedication to Capt. Birney will take place at 3:45 p.m. and the picnic and music festival at 4:30 p.m. at First American Title Co.
Tickets for the event are $12.50 per person and are available at the Historical Museum, the Museum Store, Bay City Democrat Press, Penzien-Steele Funeral Home, First American Title and the Bay Area Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Parking at the cemetery will be directed and will be located in a vacant lot off Tuscola Road and along Park Avenueextended behind the Hebrew Cemetery, just a short walk from Pine Ridge Cemetery.
Contact: Historical Museum of Bay County, 893-5733; Dave or Dolores Rogers, 686-5544; Rich Steele, Penzien-Steele Funeral Home, 892-8531, Barb Dinauer, First American Title Co., 895-8501.