Blessing Of The River -6/14/14

Local man's wreaths help bless Mullica River

By MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST
Staff Writer

MULLICA TOWNSHIP —

For about a decade, Thomas Southard has been making exquisite wreaths with Pinelands plant materials just to see them thrown into the Mullica River.

And he couldn't be happier about it.

His wreaths are part of the nondenominational Blessing of the River held annually at the historic St. Mary in the Pines Cemetery in Mullica Township, which is led by locals with long roots in the region. This year's blessing will be held 11 a.m. Saturday.

"It's extremely spiritual for me," said Southard, of Hammonton, who has made a career out of his artistry with natural materials. "My family is from the Pine Barrens ... and dates back to before the Revolution."

The ceremony is designed to pay tribute to the early settlers of the region as well as to memorialize those who have died on and around the river over the centuries, said a founder and retired banker, Albert Kuehner, of Mullica Township. He said the church was built in the 1820s and burned down in 1906.

Bricks outline the church's footprint in the middle of 19th century gravestones.

The ceremony includes a Civil War color guard from the New Jersey Civil War History Association, since there is a Civil War veteran buried there: Cpl. Daniel Dellett of Company I of the 5th Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers. He died at age 76 in 1899.

Civil War re-enactor Roger Muessig, of Mullica Township, will talk about flag lore, since the event falls on Flag Day this year. He, too, feels a connection to early settlers.

"Think of all the early fishermen, trappers and hunters," said Meussig, who added that graves dating to the 1600s have been found close by, predating the church cemetery.

Anna Walker, 80, of Green Bank, is one of the organizers.

"We all walk down to the river and a special person throws the wreath in the river," Walker said. "I could almost cry — this beautiful wreath. Then we go and have refreshments."

A Catholic priest and a Protestant pastor participate, she said.
Walker was one of the volunteers who rescued the cemetery more than a decade ago, she said. The church was long gone, and the graves were overgrown with briars and other vegetation.

Southard uses all biodegradable materials in the wreath, he said, and no wires to hold things together.

"It's woven with vines. I use wild sweet peas you can eat, with a base of honeysuckle, and cut blueberries from my farm where they are organically grown, and a few garden roses," Southard said.

His Thomas G. Southard Co. provided the design and plant material - mostly tall grasses from South Jersey - to make New York City look like it had been abandoned for years in the 2007 Will Smith movie "I Am Legend." He also has created outdoor scenes with plants for daytime soap operas and television commercials.

Southard gets up about 5 a.m. the day of the blessing to collect the plant materials and make the wreath fresh for the ceremony, he said.

"I make it buoyant enough to float," he said, so people can watch it float away.

Contact Michelle Brunetti Post:

609-272-7219MPost@pressofac.com

If you go

Blessing of the River, 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary in the Pines Cemetery, Jackson & Pleasant Mills Road, Mullica Township. Music by members of St. Mary of the Pines Choir, and Color Guard by New Jersey Civil War History Association. Call 561 -4595 or 965-2413.

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