Longtime volunteer lauded
History buff Ann Culpepper has led hundreds of tours of Myrtle Hill and Rome’s Clock Tower.
Ann Culpepper is probably the one person in Rome that you do want to take you to the cemetery — she’ll never be the one to let you down.
The Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors honored Culpeper on Wednesday for 25 years of service to the community — specifically the promotion of Rome’s historic cemeteries.
“I started my romp around Rome in 1992,” Culpepper said.
She started her volunteer career with the CVB about the time the Olympic flag was being transferred to Atlanta. She then moved on to various roles including tours of the Rome Clock Tower, trolley tours of the Between the Rivers District and
specialized tours of Rome’s historic sites for school groups.
“I moved to Myrtle Hill and that probably has brought me the most joy in my career with
the City of Rome,” Culpepper said. “I think the thing I get the most pleasure out of is the private tours of the cemetery and the garden clubs.”
She’ll be celebrating a momentous birthday next month and is at a point in her career where she wants to turn over her volunteer duties to a younger history buff.
Up until just a couple of weeks ago, Culpepper would still take an occasional group up the 107 steps to the observation deck on the iconic clock tower.
“I would like to devote myself to an easier life,” Culpepper said. “I think I have given my entire life to volunteering. I have never had a job that paid.”
Culpepper sat back and watched a brief video of a brick being placed in her name in the decorative sidewalk at the base of the clock tower, and then received a gift and floral arrangement from CVB Director Lisa Smith to a standing ovation from the CVB board.