Dinner on the Grounds

Dinner on the ground at Enon Primitive Baptist Church, about 1970,
before the kitchen and fellowship hall were built

Having visited several of Itawamba County's cemeteries in the past couple of years, I've collected quite a few photographs of the tables that were once used, or perhaps still rarely used, for "dinner on the grounds" following church services. In earlier times, church used to be an all-day event, typically with preaching in the morning followed by a noon-day meal, then more preaching or perhaps singing, but always with lots of fellowship in between. This was in the days before churches built kitchens and fellowship halls. Now, the use of outdoor tables has diminished or altogether stopped. Itawamba County still has quite a collection of tables, although I wonder how many of them are still being put to good use.

Some of the tables are in cemeteries without an accompanying church, such as Bourland's Cemetery, and those tables would be used following Decoration Day services. Following a sermon or some hymns, it was time to pull weeds, replace flowers, and in some cemeteries, scrape the ground of every blade of grass. The meal usually preceded the sermon, and this was the perfect occasion for women to show off their latest recipes and best dishes.

Liberty Cemetery, typical construction, wooden frame
covered with chicken wire

Sturdy concrete table at Burnt Fields Church and Cemetery

Covered table at Benefield Cemetery

Kennedy Chapel, wood top

Mt. Carmel Cemetery

Bourland Cemetery, table to rear of covered meeting