How many of you know a couple who will open their house to complete strangers for a huge family reunion? That’s exactly what Paul and Delise Knight of Taylor’s Mill Road in Fort Valley did Memorial Day weekend when they invited all the descendants of Stephen Elisha Bassett (old­timers will remember the late brothers Ralph and Noble Bassett and sister Lucy) to meet at the old Bassett homeplace, Pineola Farm.

The Knights estimate that more than 100 Bassetts and community friends attended the event that Paul Knight called “a big success”

It’s the most memorable thing we’ve ever done. It was great!” agreed Delise Knight, who together with a number of friends provided a variety of mouth-watering dishes in abundance for Saturday’s noon meal. Folks brought pot-luck items; if they brought no food, they were given an opportunity to make a financial contribution. to help pay for the food.

Mrs. Marie Anderson, whose mother was French (as was Ralph Bassett’s wife Henriette), made 150 rolls for the occasion, Mrs. Evelyn Webb, who attended her first garden club meet­ing with Henriette, con­tributed two pecan pies. Edgar and Lena Belle Duke churned a massive amount of peach ice cream Friday afternoon for the Saturday crowd. Deli se’s friends, Terri and Marty Greathouse, assumed command of the kitchen so that everything would run smoothly.

“We could not have done it without all of them.’’ insisted Delise. “I have never seen such a kind, caring community.’

Simone Bassett Robbins of .Bloomington . Indiana, was in charge of contacting all the relatives, She and some others came down Wed., May 24, and stayed through Tues., May 30.

Thursday the Bassetts who were in Peach County had lunch in Fort Valley, viewed the Bassett bricks in the Fincher Park gazebo and toured Lane Packing Co. Friday they visited the Shiloh and Oaklawn cemeteries in Centerville and Fort Valley, respectively. That night all gathered at the New Perry Hotel for supper.

And, of course, “the Big Day” was Saturday. Visiting Pineola Farm was a trip into the past as everyone hugged and kissed, caught up on all the family news, shared precious memories of family members no longer present, renewed old friendships and met newer family members. Photos, letters and other family documents were on display for all to see and help in preserving the history of the house. That magnificent house furnished with handsome antiques in every room was the perfect spot for a family reunion-- and the house and porches are so commodious that there was room for all to enjoy a seated meal. (Maybe a few did have to eat in shifts.)

Sunday those who were still in middle Georgia attended the Fort Valley Presbyterian Church to end a memorable weekend.

In honor of the “once-In-a­lifetime” event Patsy Bassett Hilliard’s husband read this poem before Saturday dinner was served.

I Love You, Pineola!

by Russell B. Hilliard, Sr.

Pineola, I love you for the Bassetts who first gave life

to you and renewed

it from generation to gen­eration: for Stephen Elisha

who framed you in his

heart and formed you in the field from tall Georgia pines.

Pineola, I love you for your hall so wide and long,

with your inner depths

for memories and your outer doors for welcomes.

Pineola. I love you for

your ceilings, built high for coolness in your

antebellum summers, but

well lighted with crystal chandeliers to call all eyes upwards in recent years.

Pineola, I love you for your porches that, breathing honeysuckle’s sweetness,

not only opened out to your birds, your flowers, your peaches, and your pines,

but also to the love­ly neighbors of Fort Valley and to the larger

community of the world.

Pineola, I love you for

your children, among

America’s sturdy stock.

You protected them to play in the softness of your cotton

and to grow with your

fields of grain.

I love you for one of your girls who has meant more than life to me.

Pineola, I love you for Paul and Delise Knight, not

only for having brought you back to life again, but also, with Simone,

for having brought us back to you, simply to tell you:

“Pineola. we love you!”

From The Byron Gazzette