“When Marty Stuart, Betty Seward and Linda Jenkins tell you they are planning a little reunion, watch out!” said an appreciative and overwhelmed Dickie Day as he stood on the steps in the Carousel addressing a store filled with friends who had come to pay tribute to his dad, the late George Day.

George and his work were memorialized Sunday afternoon at a reception with George’s family and the former employees of George Day Portrait Studios as special guests. The worthiness of such a tribute was conceived by Marty Stuart some five years ago when upon admiring a portrait in New York City, he discovered it was the work of George Day.

George’s career as a commercial photographer began in Neshoba County decades ago and “has transcended into the realm of classic American art.” Further quoting Marty, “George Day’s genius was the art of people. He was a master portraitist. He had the gift of going beyond the surface to the point of magic that each of us possesses, unlocking it, then capturing it for the ages.”

George was represented by his son, Dickie, and his wife, Barbara Day of Jackson, Tenn. and his grandson, Greg Day of Brandon, and former, still devoted employees, who included Doris Ray, Hilda Stuart, John Stuart, Mary Eldridge, Imogene Boatner, Louise Herring, Farris Wood Kemp, Carl Vowell, Jimmy Nowell, Pat Harrison, Katherine Algood, Cressie Atkinson, Myrtle Richardson and Edwina Breazeale Kish.

Hostesses for the afternoon were Betty Seward, Linda Jenkins, president Vicky Argoe and members of the Philadelphia Women’s Club and guest hosts Marty Stuart and Connie Smith.

By Rachel Evans