Thursday night’s heavy rain didn’t deter a crowd of guests from congregating at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center for the Cotton Ball, Historic Augusta’s traditional members’ social.
Stephanie Abdon, Historic Augusta’s programs manager, estimates at least 300 members and potential members attended the event.
“It’s usually outdoors,” said Abdon. “The idea is to have a kind of garden party outside of a historic home, which it was scheduled to be this year, but it has rained several of the years.”
The party kicked off at 6 p.m., and not long after, plenty of visitors rested their umbrellas and began mingling in Sacred Heart’s Great Hall, buying drinks at the cash bar, waiting as the food—catered by Outback Steakhouse, with desserts by Two Moms Kitchen.
The Cotton Ball started in 1988 as, essentially, a Historic Augusta membership party, held near the Cotton Exchange, explained executive director Erick Montgomery.
“It first opened the Eighth Street Plaza,” Montgomery said. “The idea is that if you’re a member of Historic Augusta, you can come at no additional charge. And that’s the way it still is. And if you’re not a member, you’re welcome to join.”
The spring soiree has since evolved to highlight Augusta’s history. Montgomery moved to Augusta in 1989. Inspired by seeing picnics hosted at historic sites in another town, Montgomery suggested doing the same in Augusta.
“We started moving it to historic homes, because they had big yards,” he said. “So that’s what we’ve been doing pretty much ever since. Occasionally we’ve done it in other odd places, but generally it’s in a historic home.”
Before inclement weather drove changing the venue to Sacred Heart, this casual social gathering had been booked for the Overton, a neo-classical home in Summerville, originally built around 1799 by Gov. John Milledge. This year brought the annual festivities out of a hiatus due to COVID. The last Cotton Ball was hosted in 2019, at Salubrity Hall, also in Summerville.
“You don’t have to go to a lecture to absorb history,” said Montgomery. “It’s another way to educate people about our history, what’s important about it.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
