While Memorial Day observances usually include flag presentations, patriotic music, veterans groups and solemn speeches, an event Saturday in historic Rockford offered something extra: a trip back in time.

The 22nd-annual Memorial Day observance in the southern Surry village that once served as the county seat did feature plenty of the usual activities to honor sacrifices of military personnel.

But there also were appearances by Civil War re-enactors, a teacher posing as the youngest daughter of Gen. Robert E. Lee and even a man who could play patriotic and other tunes on a saw.

Rockford Methodist Church, built in 1914, was packed for the afternoon program sponsored by the Rockford Preservation Society Inc. It is a non-profit organization that has led efforts to restore historic buildings there and promote the history of the village and its inhabitants.

The annual Memorial Day service was the brainchild of Evelyn Holyfield, the founder of the Rockford Preservation Society. And even though she died in 1996, the event has continued each year since.

“Evelyn started this program, and we just wanted to continue it after she passed away,” said Hannah Holyfield, the president of the Rockford organization’s board of directors and a niece of Evelyn Holyfield. “We never considered not doing it.”

Each year, the program has a different theme aimed at fulfilling the traditional goal of honoring deceased military personnel while also presenting a colorful slice of history. In 2008, the focus was on the Revolutionary War, but this year the Civil War was the theme.

One of the highlights of the service was a presentation by Nora Brooks, a history teacher at Sun Valley High School in Union County, who appeared as Mildred Childe Lee, the youngest of the Confederate commander’s seven children.

Brooks explained in an interview that she caught the Civil War bug when her father took her to Appomattox in the 1970s. That led to visits to similar historic sites. “I love to travel with my kids, too,” the teacher said of the high school students enrolled in her classes.

She said that transforming herself into a 19th-century character can make studies more appealing to the youths than simply lecturing from a textbook. Brooks has been making personal appearances as Lee’s daughter since 1996 and as the wife of Gen. Stonewall Jackson since 2001.

“Between the two ladies, they really keep me busy,” the teacher joked.

But while in character during her presentation inside the old church, Brooks waved a vintage fan while recounting tales of Gen. Lee that might have avoided most history buffs.

Based on her extensive studies of the subject, Brooks (as Mildred Lee, who was born in 1846) told how the general managed to maintain a sense of humor while faced with the rigors of a war between the states.

For example, she related the tale of a pet squirrel that she kept in a birdcage — until it escaped one day. Gen. Lee remarked that the animal must have been a Yankee spy that simply fled after gaining valuable information.

Brooks’ presentation also included stories about the Lees’ daily lives around the house, such as tricks Gen. and Mrs. Lee used in order to get time alone with each other. “With seven children, poor Papa didn’t even have time for a cup of tea,” she said as the audience laughed.

Her character also detailed less-humorous events, such as the chaos accompanying the fall of Richmond and the family’s struggles as a result.

Saturday’s program further included re-enactors from Company “I” and Company “F” of the 28th N.C. Infantry based in Yadkin County. After Brooks’ presentation and the singing of hymns and other songs by the congregation, the re-enactors led a rifle-volley salute at the cemetery of the nearby Rockford Baptist Church, which contains graves of many war dead from the historic community.

Another highlight was an appearance by Dave Dobson of Deer River, Minn. — a descendant of William Polk Dobson, a prominent Rockford resident of yesteryear. Dobson performed a selection of patriotic music with a saw and fiddle bow, to the audience’s delight.

“We’re proud to be here to support Rockford,” Holyfield said in discussing the overall goal of the event.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.