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    Deaconess Henderson Hospital Advisory Board gives $70,000 to local nonprofits

    Chill out at the Friends of the Library membership meeting July 12

    Two new honorees added to Juneteenth’s impact sign display

    Two new honorees added to Juneteenth’s impact sign display

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    Wind turbine ordinance, which would be the first in Kentucky, is key to what ultimately occurs in Cordelio project

    Macy talks socks,1978 UK champs and more during author visit to promote his book

    Macy talks socks,1978 UK champs and more during author visit to promote his book

    Alliance dedicates new Henderson County Mine

    Alliance dedicates new Henderson County Mine

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    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

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    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

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    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

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    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    Stanley hopes his exhibition is a reminder ‘to be open to joyfulness…from whatever ridiculous source it may come’

    Stanley hopes his exhibition is a reminder ‘to be open to joyfulness…from whatever ridiculous source it may come’

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    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

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    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

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    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

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    Deaconess Henderson Hospital Advisory Board gives $70,000 to local nonprofits

    Chill out at the Friends of the Library membership meeting July 12

    Two new honorees added to Juneteenth’s impact sign display

    Two new honorees added to Juneteenth’s impact sign display

    Wind turbine ordinance, which would be the first in Kentucky, is key to what ultimately occurs in Cordelio project

    Wind turbine ordinance, which would be the first in Kentucky, is key to what ultimately occurs in Cordelio project

    Macy talks socks,1978 UK champs and more during author visit to promote his book

    Macy talks socks,1978 UK champs and more during author visit to promote his book

    Alliance dedicates new Henderson County Mine

    Alliance dedicates new Henderson County Mine

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    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

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    2025 Handy Fest photo gallery

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    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Gritty Lady Cols advance to Final 4

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    Summer blockbusters finally arrive in June

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    A former Japanese tennis star champions Henderson County athletes

    Stanley hopes his exhibition is a reminder ‘to be open to joyfulness…from whatever ridiculous source it may come’

    Stanley hopes his exhibition is a reminder ‘to be open to joyfulness…from whatever ridiculous source it may come’

    Henderson joins West Kentucky Film Commission with hopes of luring movie makers here

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    Grants available from Deaconess Henderson Hospital Community Program Fund

    Hospital CAO: Deaconess Henderson will not close

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Enjoy the fresh taste of summer

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Regional collaborative assists those suffering from mental health challenges with online resources

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Plenty of baseball to watch without stepping into a big league stadium

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    Matthew 25 cuts the ribbon on new mobile sexual health unit

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

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Reader finds 90-year photo of mother in recently borrowed book

Donna B Stinnett by Donna B Stinnett
September 10, 2024
in Local
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Reader finds 90-year photo of mother in recently borrowed book

Martha Ann (Pruitt) Otey holds a photo of a Tom Thumb Wedding that took place at Center Street School in the mid-1930s when she was an elementary student and took part in the event. She's the little girl standing between the "groom" and the "clergyman" playing the part of a flower girl (though she would have preferred to be a "bridesmaid" wearing a hat.) (Photo courtesy of Jeanne Marie Gadient)

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The book had just been lying around Jeanne Marie Gadient’s house unnoticed and nearly forgotten for a few weeks.

It was a large-format picture book—sometimes referred to as a coffee table book—with photos of landscapes, mountains and natural wonders.

The book had come her way one day when neighbors with shelves and shelves and shelves of books, enough to start a used book store, invited her to take something home from their vast collection to read or look at.

A book lover herself, she said she didn’t really need another, but she randomly selected the large-format photo book because she thought it would look good on her coffee table.

It also reminded her of something that local nature photographer Chuck Summers and former minister at First Christian Church might have published, and that was appealing to her.

She remembers thinking that the next time she needed a few minutes of relaxation she’d sit down, put up her feet and look at the beautiful scenes.

Except, when she finally did open the forgotten book, she couldn’t sit still at all because of what she found tucked inside it.

It was a vintage black-and-white photograph, approximately 8 by 10 inches, with about 40 schoolchildren posing for the photographer.

The children are dressed in formal attire, the boys in black tie and the girls in long dresses and hats. Some of the young ladies are carrying large floral bouquets. One boy at the front of the group is dressed as a clergyman, and “the couple” elevated at center stage on some steps are attired as a bride and groom.

And “within two seconds” of seeing this surprise bit of forgotten history that was tucked inside the book, something was very familiar.

There, on the front row, wearing a short dress and carrying a basket, was her own mother, standing between the groom and the clergyman as one of two flower girls.

Jeanne Marie knew it was her mother right away because she has a framed photo of her at about the same age.

She couldn’t wait to show her what she’d found.

Henderson native Martha Ann Pruitt Otey, now 96, recalls that the photo is of first- and second-graders at Center Street School participating in a Tom Thumb Wedding in the mid-1930s.

According to sources on the web, including a 2014 story that aired on National Public Radio, Tom Thumb Weddings became a fad more than a century ago.

The event is a mock marriage with children as the participants. A little boy puts on a tuxedo and a little girl dons a bridal gown. They walk down the aisle together and exchange “vows.” And the event can be a way to raise money for a good cause, to teach young people about formal fashion and wedding etiquette or just for celebration’s sake.

The roots of the Tom Thumb Wedding go back to the marriage of a real-life couple one of whom was the ultra-diminutive 19th-century actor Charles Stratton, whose stage name was Gen. Tom Thumb. Under the management of sideshow impresario P.T. Barnum, Stratton became a national celebrity and a wealthy man.

When he married equally super-tiny Lavinia Warren in New York in 1863, the little couple received wedding presents from wealthy Americans, including a miniature horse-drawn carriage fashioned by Tiffany & Co. Barnum sold tickets to the wedding reception and the newlyweds were invited to the White House by President Abraham Lincoln.

When Martha Ann saw the old photo of her grade school’s Tom Thumb Wedding, the memory took her down memory lane.

She noted that she didn’t look happy in the photo because she had wanted to “be a bridesmaid and wear a hat.”

But the appearance of the old photo certainly was uplifting for her, Jeanne Marie said.

“Mother was over the moon, she was just touched. She couldn’t believe the photo existed,” she said, noting that her mother still knows the names of many in the photo and wanted to telephone a couple of them to report the discovery. “She got a tear or two in her eyes.”

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Donna B Stinnett

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