On a lovely fall afternoon in the middle of October, 2024, folks packed into the MLK Jr Center at 209 East Franklin Street, smiling as they greeted each other inside. They spoke fondly about their lives, but inevitably the topic of conversation returned to the same woman: Bessie Harvey.
“It’s a little emotional, with it being 30 years since she passed,” said event organizer and daughter of Bessie Harvey, Faye Harvey. “Still, if you have something you want to do, that’s fine, we’re not here to do anything in any kind of order,” “We’re doing this Bessie Harvey style. Like I said, she was unique in her own way. She was like the Bentley; she didn’t need any advertising.”
When her mother passed, Faye knew she had to keep her mother’s memory alive. She’s hosted annual Bessie Harvey Day celebrations through the years, but this one, she said, might be the last.
“It’s getting hard, and I’m not so young anymore,” Faye told The Daily Times. “I love doing this and seeing all the family and community come together to remember her, but I can’t keep this up. This will probably be the last one, at least the last one I organize.”