THE STORY OF LULU BELLE

For many years, on a black, heavily carved old high-backed chair in the front hall of Ossabaw's Main House sits a stately lady. She either welcomes you with amazing grace or scares your shirt off. Her name is Lulu Belle. She wears my mother's flowery white shoes and silk stockings, a handsome green gown from Ghana and a magic bead necklace from Africa. Her delicately tinted wax face is beautiful in spite of her seventy years. Her black hair is now a bit frowsy and held in place by real hairpins.

Here is her story...

My father, ages ago, joined a trout fishing club in Michigan. Upon joining, new members were allotted a stretch of the trout stream and told to fish gradually upstream to the Club House. As he fished, my father was surprised by a small island blocking his way. Sitting on the bank of the small island was a very young lady naked as a jay bird.

In hopes to avoid the young lady, my father, gentleman that he was, left the stream and circled the island through heavy woods and thickets, brambles and thorns. At the end of the day, new members returned to the Club House. The old members were standing on the porch to see who was scratched and bleeding and who wasn't. Those that were bleeding were deemed
gentlemen because they had gone to such lengths to avoid the naked lady. The old members informed the gentlemen that the young lady was actually made of wax. My father, who loved practical jokes, thought this a bit of the all right and promptly bought his own glamorous wax lady, Lulu Belle, and had her shipped to Ossabaw.

Here follows two of Lulu Belle's Ossabaw adventures...

One time she was placed on the toilet of a guest bathroom. The various reactions of the guests gave my father huge joy and satisfaction.

I remember one wonderful time when the visitor was a handsome bachelor who was the first to agree about that. Lulu Belle had been tucked into the twin bed next to the bachelor's turned down bed. When he said goodnight and went into his room there was a moment of silence. We all spied from the living room and saw his door open stealthily. The bachelor just as stealthily peered up and down the hall and just as stealthily closed the door.

Lulu Belle has had her picture taken on the laps of five Georgia Governors.

By Sandy West, July, 2009

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