Delta Magazine January/February 2020 Complimentary Issue

Delta

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

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Annual Tourism Issue

• Delta Detours • Ghost Signs of Greenwood • Organize with Blue Pencil Home • American Hero Joe Barnes

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Publisher: j. Scott Coopwood Editor: Cindy Coopwood Managing Editor: Pam Parker Contributing Editors: Hank burdine, Maude Schuyler Clay, noel Workman, roger Stolle Digital Editor: Phil Schank Consultant: Samir Husni, Ph.D. Graphic Designers: Sandra Goff, Maggi Mosco, Isabella Horn Contributing Writers: Travis Coopwood, Dawn Davis, Liza jones, Clint Kimberling, Sherry Lucas, Susan Marquez, aimee robinette, angela rogalski, brantley Snipes, Laura beth Strickland, Katie Tims Photography: austin britt, blake Crocker, rory Doyle, randall Haley, johnny jennings, bill Powell Account Executives: joy bateman, janice fullen, Leathe Greenly, Cristen Hemmins, Kristy Kitchings, Wendy Mize, ann nestler, Cadey True Circulation: Holly Tharp Accounting Manager: emma jean Thompson POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to Delta Magazine, PO box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732

ADVERTISING: for advertising information, please call (662) 843-2700 or email Delta Magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials or photos and in general does not return them to sender. Photography obtained for editorial usage is owned by Delta Magazine and may not be released for commercial use such as in advertisements and may not be purchased from the magazine for any reason. all editorial and advertising information is taken from sources considered to be authoritative, but the publication cannot guarantee their accuracy. neither that information nor any opinion expressed on the pages of Delta Magazine in any way constitutes a solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities mentioned. no material in Delta Magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publication. Delta Magazine is published bimonthly by Coopwood Magazines, Inc., 125 South Court St., Cleveland, MS 38732-2626. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, MS and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Delta Magazine, PO box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732-0117. Delta Magazine (uSPS#022-954)

Delta Magazine is published six times a year by Coopwood Magazines, Inc. EDITORIAL & BUSINESS OFFICE ADDRESSES: Mailing Address: PO box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732 Shipping Address: 125 South Court Street, Cleveland, MS 38732 E-mail: publisher@deltamagazine.com editor@deltamagazine.com

deltamagazine.com Subscriptions: $28 per year 6 | january/february 2020

from the editor

This gift-wrapping cart is an example of there being a place for everything and everything in its place. For more organizing tips by Blue Pencil Home, turn to page 101.

Making Plans, Being Present t’s the beginning of not only a new year but a new decade, a fact that seems to lend more importance to this annual milestone. The year 2020 has always sounded so far-off in the future, and, yet, here it is. This is the year my youngest child graduates from high school. During the past year between our two sons, have moved three times, another graduation, and two new jobs.

Scott and I just celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary…what?!?

It’s been a year of many blessings and some trials as well—and it’s all been a blink.

My primary resolution for this year is to simply “be present” for each moment. This is a broad statement and may sound cliché, but it is so important. being present—or fully engaged—with the people I love in all the special moments and events that lie ahead actually requires reaching some smaller, more specific goals on the front end. One goal is actually the combination of making plans/decisions. This is something I struggle with because I often get too caught up in the details of who, what, when, and where and in trying to please all parties. So, when it gets complicated, which it invariably does, it stops me. not this year. What I fully know is that when no plans/decisions are made, special events become last minute, chaotic, unnecessarily stressful, and, therefore, not as enjoyable as they should be. another goal is becoming more organized in my surroundings. I believe being organized greatly enhances planning and decision making, as we now know that living amidst disorganized, cluttered spaces causes additional stress and hinders focus. So, planning+making decisions+getting organized=being more present.

With that said, in this issue we bring you tips for decluttering and getting organized after the holidays and for the new year from brooke Levy and Katie Savage of blue Pencil Home, page 101. follow them on Instagram for daily inspiration for streamlining almost every area of your home. and with the focus on the annual passage of time, you will be in awe as you read the amazing story of joe barnes, a World War II hero, living in rosedale, who is celebrating his hundredth trip around the sun, page 80.

Liza jones’s city tour of the ghost signs of Greenwood, page 68 provides a glimpse into the Photographer Rory Doyle getting detail past of this still-vibrant Delta town. and we hope our favorite Things bucket List will inspire shots at the Ely home in Shaw. you to make plans this year to explore this unique place we call home.

In closing, I encourage you to make plans, be present, and come see us in 2020! DM

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Cindy Coopwood Editor @cindycoopwood cindy@deltamagazine.com

A true American hero: Joe Barnes, who earned a Purple Heart during World War II recently celebrated his 100th birthday.

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This could be you!

Don’t miss your chance to be part of the Most Southern Wedding event of the year—AND to be considered to be the Delta Magazine cover bride!

March/April 2020 We are now accepting submissions for our

2020 Wedding Showcase Don’t wait—submit your announcements today!

For more information visit: deltamagazine.com and select weddings or, email submissions to weddings@deltamagazine.com

DEADLINE: January 17, 2020

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contents january/february Volume 17 No. 4

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departments

28 Reviews BOOKS of new releases and 30 ART Amie Oliver: Exploring the ebb

AUSTIN BRITT

what Deltans are reading

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and flow of water and the illusion of permanence

34 MUSIC Gramm Phillips: After playing music around the globe this Delta native is back in the home of the blues

88 HOME Collected, Curated, and Comfortable RORY DOYLE

The Ely family home in Shaw is well-loved and lived-in

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101

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108 FOOD

Southern. American. Exploring.

Alabama Chef Crystal McKone shares her unique recipes

114 GARDEN A continuous palette of color: It’s the time of year to plan your landscape

features

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82 101 117

2020 Annual Tourism

AUSTIN BRITT

RORY DOYLE

130 HISTORY Remembering the Black and White

DELTA URS DETO

Favorite Things Bucket List, page 40 Delta Detours and Tourism advertising section, page 42 The Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum in Leland, page 56 Jimmy Duck Holmes’s Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, page 62 Exploring the Ghost Signs of Greenwood, page 68

An American Hero turns 100

Stored, Stacked, and Streamlined The amazing life of Joe Barnes

department store in Yazoo City

in every issue 12 Letters 16 On the Road Where we’ve been, where we’re going next

20 Off the Beaten Path Roaming the Real and Rustic Delta

24 Hot Topics 134 Events A listing of events including concerts, festivals, and book signings

Memphis duo gives tips for organizing the after-holiday chaos and a checklist to kick off the New Year

138 Delta Seen

Start the new year off right with these health care providers

144 The Final Word

Health, Beauty, and Wellness

Pages of snapshots from area fundraisers, art openings and social events

by Liza Jones

ON THE COVER: The well-appointed, comfortable living room of Cay and Lars Ely, is warm and inviting on a cold winter afternoon in Shaw. Photo by Rory Doyle.

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LETTERS D

How we look forward to receiving our Delta Magazine in the mail! We think that Delta Magazine can unequivocally compete with nationally distributed magazines in quality of presentation and content. The production put into the smart looking ads, editorials, photography, and articles represents excellence in your staff and standards. your broad coverage includes articles which are eclectic, informative, and so very interesting whether focusing on the region’s history, personalities, promoting the blues, or waiting for the mallards to drop into the hole.

Elizabeth and Don Scott Memphis, Tennessee

HOME

A ONCE and FUTURE HOUSE Designed with an eye toward the past, and toward generations to come, this charm-filled cottage is already packed with memories, and ready for plenty more.

BY BRENDA WARE JONES • B. FLINT PHOTOGRAPHY

A mix of sleek and rustic, calm neutrals with pops of blue, and texture everywhere define this charm-packed cottage.

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How thankful I am for Delta Magazine and all of the blessings it has brought to my interior design business this year. because of the feature of our Panther burn home in the March/april issue, I have completed my largest renovation project to date in jackson.

I am also working with a Delta Magazine subscriber and now client in the San francisco bay area. although I have only lived here for four years, the Delta is truly one of the most special places because of its people. I’m grateful for the opportunity that the people in the Delta have given me to launch Cumbaa Design Co. by believing in me and trusting me with their homes.

Thank you Delta Magazine for believing in small business owners like me and for promoting the Delta in such a beautiful and inspiring way to subscribers all over Mississippi and beyond!

I just wanted to thank you for reviewing my book, My Dog, My Love, My Best Friend in your last issue. I have received many wonderful compliments and even several sales. It’s always a pleasure to read Delta Magazine. Thanks again, and keep up the good work of featuring interesting subjects from the Delta region!

Norman Adcox Memphis, Tennessee D

Mary Claire Cumbaa Panther Burn, Mississippi

Delta

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

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The

Holiday issue

I just wanted to let you guys know how much I love the five bean Chili recipe that you guys put out in the november/ December 2016 edition of Delta Magazine.

We had it last night, and I was reminded how much I love it. We also loved the Simple Vinaigrette Salad published alongside the chili recipe. Thank you for some great recipes!

Kristen Shelton Collins Boston, Massachusetts

SEND COMMENTS AND LETTERS TO: editor@deltamagazine.com or Delta Magazine, PO Box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732

We’re “buzzed” about our exclusive linen hand towels, $22 each

Cocktail Chic

Find nostalgia in every item of the

Delta Magazine Gift Collection Call or come by our office to shop our gift collection at 125 South Court Street, Cleveland, 662.843.2700.

Like our official Delta Magazine Page Twitter @Delta_Mag

Instagram @deltamagazine

To subscribe, call (662) 843-2700 or visit deltamagazine.com 12 | january/february 2020

Y’all Said SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS @deltamagazine

We Asked...

If you were helping a friend plan a trip to the Delta, what’s on your must-do list? Where and what to eat? What to see? Where to stay? Where to get the best cocktail?

Where and what to eat? Crawdad’s Restaurant, and if in season, crawfish! If not, always best steak. What to see? Hopson’s and the first mechanical cotton picker. Where to stay? Shack Up Inn. Where to get the best cocktail? Bar Fontaine! – Laura Giaccaglia I would plan a day of shopping in downtown Cleveland, lunch at The Gallery with more shopping at McCartys pottery, a show at the Bologna Performing Arts Center, and a post-concert cocktail on the rooftop at the Bar Fontaine! – Laura Howell As food lovers, we always go to The Crystal Grill in Greenwood and Doe’s Eat Place and Jim’s Cafe in Greenville. Also, back in Greenwood, we always go to the Alluvian, Viking Cooking school and Turnrow Bookstore. – Sim Davenport

Spa

AT THE ALLUVIAN

What are your favorite traditions for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? We usually plan a trip of some sort for our family of three to get away after the hustle and bustle of Christmas. The last few years we’ve gone to Santa Rosa to stay with our friends, Brooks and Jenny Roberts, owners of Lost Pizza, we always have a great time just being together! – Georgia Tindall The last two years we have all gathered with friends and family at our house, while the kids played and we sat around playing music. – Clare Adams Moore Not very exciting, but we lay low on purpose waiting on our children. And then watch football games on New Year’s Day! – Carolyn Dent I have always cooked a big traditional New Year’s Day lunch for our family. We have cabbage cooked with a coin, black eye peas, roasted pork loin, baked sweet potatoes, and cornbread muffins. All served before the guys go for their afternoon deer hunt! Of course, everyone watches football games in between deer hunting. – Mikelle Perry

32 5D Howa rd St reet G reenwood, M S 662- 4 51- 670 0 t hea l l uvian.com/t he-a l l uv ian-spa

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In A Flurry In Mississippi, turkeys are plentiful, but snowflakes are rare. Photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick captured this group of gobblers sheltering beneath the hardwoods during an uncommon southern snowfall. While the falling flurries are lovely, the turkeys are more focused on their search for food. DM

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ON THE ROAD

where we’ve been, where to go next

er

Winter Wond

LAFAYETTE COUNTY OXFORD

ers

t n u o c n E e s Clo The downtown square in Oxford. – JIM HENDRIX

Quail hunt at Little “q” Ranch. – RORY DOYLE

MEMPHIS

PHOTO OPS & YAZOO CITY Exhibit at the Memphis International Airport commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King’s last speech and visit to the Bluff City. – DELTA MAGAZINE

GUNNISON

t First Ligh Sunrise on Old River, an oxbow of the Mississippi River.

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– DELTA MAGAZINE

The Bank of Yazoo City, one of the town’s signature landmarks. – BOB BAILEY

All Aboard!

GREENWOOD

RAYMOND Aerial view of the Delta from a 1929 Travel Air 4000 by Vintage Air Tours. – ALLAN HAMMONS

k c a B k o o AL

CLARKSDALE An old Illinois Central Gulf wooden caboose in its final resting place. – STEPHEN OAKES

FUNKY STOPS Roaming the real and rustic Delta

PORT GIBSON

A busy traffic day decades ago on Yazoo Avenue despite a powdering of snow. – FROM THE BLOG, CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI MY HOMETOWN

GREENWOOD

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One Directio

A salute to one of the Delta’s iconic musicians.

Golden Hand in Port Gibson pointing the way. – MARTY KITTRELL Instagram users, follow @deltamagazine and see #DMphotoops

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH roaming the real and rustic Delta

HALL OF FAME RESTAURANT AND THE STRAND THEATER From Top Notch Burgers to an Old School Movie Experience

BY DAWN DAVIS

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ALL OF FAME RESTAURANT, in the

Little yazoo area of bentonia, is owned by David brown, the brother of nfL Hall of famer and yazoo City native, Willie brown. brown knew the restaurant’s hamburgers would be worthy of the “Hall of fame” moniker, thus resulting in the restaurant’s name. The walls of the dining area are covered in memorabilia from Willie brown and other nfL greats.

The menu is filled with specialty burgers named after some of the most noted football players from around the state.

Hazel Davis, who has headed up the kitchen in the restaurant since it opened in 2008, says her secret ingredient for making a Hall of fame restaurant burger, is “Love!”

54 Dover Road, Bentonia 662.755.8330

BY LAURA BETH STRICKLAND

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HE STRAND THEATRE, in Vicksburg, has become an iconic part of the downtown culture and brings in movie and theater enthusiasts from the community and beyond. The theater operated from 1932-1963 and afterwards in the late 80s started showings of The Vanishing Glory until 2005. jack burns with the Westside Theatre foundation had the idea to reopen the theatre. With the help of local coffeehouse owner, Daniel boone, they decided to bring the theater back to its former glory. after two years of cleaning and painting, the Strand was reborn.

“It’s so cool to see unique films shown in Vicksburg that are normally only shown in places like new york, Houston, and atlanta,” said boone.

717 Clay Street,Vicksburg 601.529.7252 or visit strandvicksburg.com

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The Hall of Fame restaurant in Bentonia has drawn sports commentators and burger enthusiasts from around the nation. Below, the newly renovated Strand Theater in Vicksburg offers more than just a movie experience.

BREAD AND BUTTER BISTRO A Mouthwatering Stop For Breakfast and Lunch

BY ANGELA ROGALSKI

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READ AND BUTTER BISTRO, LOCATED IN BATESVILLE is a gourmet restaurant in

the heart of the downtown district.

Owner, Lisa Taylor, opened the restaurant a little over a year ago and says their menu has already won the hearts of everyone who comes in.

“We serve breakfast and lunch,” says Taylor. “everything on our menu is homemade. We have beignets, cinnamon rolls, homemade pop tarts, omelets, waffles, and many other breakfast choices, plus we have fresh pastries all day. and then for lunch, we always have a daily special which consists of a soup and a grilled cheese or you can choose from a sandwich special that we offer every day.”

Taylor says some of the special things that are on the menu will make your mouth water.

“We have a crab cake bLT that has a fantastic comeback sauce on it; we offer a special hamburger that’s presented on an english muffin with a homemade bacon jam spread that’s unique and delicious. We also serve homemade onion rings, fries, both original and sweet potato, a great pasta salad, and a variety of cold sandwiches, such as our homemade chicken salad sandwich. and our array of fresh garden salads that we offer every day.” and while the entire menu is worth a drive to batesville from wherever you are, Taylor says their signature item that everyone clamors for would have to be their homemade chocolate chess pie.

“It has the homemade crème whipped topping that is amazing,” she adds. “bread and butter bistro is just a great gourmet stop for your breakfast and lunch that you won’t want to miss.”

129 Public Square, Batesville 662.267.1497 If traveling through Batesville, don’t miss the opportunity to sample either the breakfast or lunch menu served up by owner Lisa Taylor at the Bread and Butter Bistro.

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WITH A MILLSAPS DEGREE, YOUR DREAM JOB IS WITHIN REACH. TEN YEARS AFTER ENTERING SCHOOL, MILLSAPS GRADUATES HAVE THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY OF GRADUATES FROM ANY COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY IN MISSISSIPPI.*

WE TAKE YOU HIGHER. MILLSAPS.EDU * SOURCE: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION COLLEGE SCORECARD WWW.COLLEGESCORECARD.ED.GOV

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GRAMMY Museum ® Mississippi presents

VISIT US 800 W. Sunflower Rd. Cleveland, MS 38732 www.grammymuseumms.org @GRAMMYMuseumMS

HOT TOPICS WOOD-ACRE One of the Delta’s Newest Airbnbs

BY AIMEE ROBINETTE

Today’s savvy travelers are expecting more out of their excursions when visiting, small towns and bustling cities across the South. They want to experience history firsthand and what better way to accomplish that than by staying in a home that is steeped in local history and lore. To that end, Wood-acre bed and breakfast, in Cleveland, is meeting that demand with a 3,600-square-foot home nestled in a charming wooded plot right off Highway 8, also known as Sunflower road not far from the downtown area. Perfectly situated next door to GraMMy Museum® Mississippi and Delta State university, Wood-acre offers the comfort of home with a location that is second to none.

Opened in October, Cleveland native Clint Wood, along with his brothers, Walt, Dave, and Will are partners in the b&b. Wood says their father, W. frank Wood, chose the name in 1960 when their parents purchased the cotton field on the then two-lane Sunflower road.

Wood-acre boasts four acres of yard and is offered for rent as a whole house and not by individual rooms. Guests can enjoy a large family room, sun porch, kitchen, dining room, and a living room with

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fireplace. There are also five bedrooms with three and a half bathrooms, a shady patio, and a three-car garage.

“We hope families experience the rich dynamics we did growing up at Wood-acre in Cleveland,” says Wood. “and we hope guests grow closer, make memories, and experience some of the mystic of Cleveland and the Mississippi Delta. We know that a pleasant residence can provide the setting for a memorable experience with family and friends.”

710 West Sunflower Road, Cleveland 769.241.6112, Wood-Acre on airbnb.com

LYNYRD SKYNYRD MEMORIAL A Place to Pay Homage in Gillsburg

BY AIMEE ROBINETTE

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, so does a 15,000-pound black granite monument erected at the site where quintessential Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd lost six of its original band members in a tour plane crash in Gillsburg, Mississippi back in 1977. Lead singer ronnie Van zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and both pilots, Walter McCreary and William Gray, all died in the crash, spurred on by a lack of fuel. The remaining passengers were spared due their seating arrangements, located toward the back of the Conair CV-240, and the swift action of locals, who battled waist-deep muddy and reptile-filled waters to reach the wreckage.

October 20, 1977 marked a day marred by tragedy and left fans bewildered and heart broken. Over the years, countless fans have made their way across the private property to visit the site and leave tokens of admiration and respect for those who lost their lives, including carving their initials on an old tree which is also marked with over forty years-worth of messages. On that same October day, forty-two years later, with what has been called the largest, one-day

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fan pilgrimage, the eight-foot tall, fourteen-foot wide monument was unveiled several hundred yards away from the actual crash site.

The marker features steps leading up to the monument that allows fans to pay proper homage to a band whose music has seeped into the Southern psyche.

7364 Easley Road, Gillsburg

BROOKE ATWOOD New shop in Clarksdale is a Study in Contrasts

BY TRAVIS COOPWOOD

Introducing her edgy, yet Southern, fashion presence to the “birthplace of the blues,” brooke atwood debuted her self-named brick and mortar store in downtown Clarksdale this past October. The Mississippi native is known for her bluesheavy fashion sense, expressing her style through a unique clothing line featuring denim jackets, the signature brooke atwood leather t-shirts, and other blues-inspired t-shirts, including one of her best-sellers which was inspired by blues legend, r.L. burnside. atwood found inspiration for her current collection while visiting Clarksdale in 2018 and simply knew it was time to come home.

“My whole family is from Mississippi, and I feel at home here,” she says.

Within a few short weeks, brooke atwood is already an established stop for local shoppers and blues enthusiasts alike. “We have had an overwhelming response to our first month in Clarksdale. We are happy to be in the heart of Clarksdale’s historic downtown and to witness all of the local happenings and meet tourists from all over the world.” atwood earned her masters in fashion at the Savannah College of art and Design in Georgia and worked in new york where she built her name and brand in the fashion world. However, her distinctive Southern vision brought the designer back to her Mississippi roots.

The brooke atwood retail space was designed by Oxford native Taylor Hall. Hall studied art at Ole Miss and proceeded post grad at Pratt in new york and Otis in Los angeles. Hall and his design team added many distinguishing details to balance the modern aspects of atwood’s line with the traditional elements of the space.

The stacked line of ’70s televisions is a trademark detail for the store, capitalizing on the significant media history of the blues in Clarksdale. Hall describes it as sort of “new york meets Mississippi,” which suits the space perfectly located downtown, surrounded by historic blues venues, including Morgan freeman’s Ground zero blues Club.

“It was a true testament to the love and support we have from the packed house at our Grand Opening in October,” says atwood. and with plans to expand her line and to offer a variety in brands,

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products and price points, atwood is excited about the future. “We also have a couple of guest designer pop-ups and other collaborations planned in the new year,” she adds.

“We are looking forward to growing with Clarksdale and planting some long-term seeds here. as any new business, we will be evolving over time.”

247 Delta Avenue, Clarksdale 662.832.9789, brookeatwood.com DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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BOOKS

Buzzworthy Comments

The Oliver Family, Mississippi Delta Legacy by James Oliver (Fundcraft Publishing) The Oliver Family, Mississippi Delta Legacy provides an illuminating and entertaining look at the Mississippi Delta and one of its families for five generations, ranging from the Civil War to today. The book’s central figure, james Samuel Oliver, entered the vast wilderness known as the Mississippi Delta in the 1870s under questionable circumstances. This regional pioneer cleared timberland and farmed the cut land, establishing a plantation near Indianola, Mississippi. This epic story follows james Samuel’s descendants through several convulsions that changed the region, including the Great flood of 1927, the Great Depression, and the Mechanization and modern technology of agriculture, and the Influx of Immigrants that included Italians and Irish. Meticulously researched and written by james allen Oliver, a long-time Mississippi Delta resident and James Oliver the great grandson of james Samuel Oliver, this fascinating book provides an intimate look at the Mississippi Delta, and the region’s people. (Special/DM Staff) The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom (Grove Press) The Yellow House was the best memoir of 2019. It tells the story of Sarah broom’s large family living in a shotgun house in new Orleans east and the Water, as broom calls Hurricane Katrina. far from the eyes of tourists, the yellow house was home to Ivory broom and her twelve children—the author is her youngest. but the house was home not only to the family, but also to relationships, memories, shared family history, community, and belonging. In 2005, when Katrina flooded new Orleans, the home was destroyed, and lives were scattered. This is an emotional story of place and what it means to a life. It’s also an eye-opening, straightforward revelation of systematic racism, corruption, and injustice. at the time of this writing, it’s a finalist for the national book award. (Liza jones)

St. Andrews United Methodist Church Oxford, Mississippi

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. a very different and unexpected plot and setting; riveting characters and action. o Kevin Tharp, PhD candidate and Music Educator Cleveland, Mississippi

Sarah M. Broom

Faces

by Joann Kingsley

o Lisa Noe

Nothing to See Here

by Kevin Wilson

o Whitney Kelly-Jones The Yellow House

by Sarah M. Broom

Director Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce Greenwood, Mississippi

Kevin Wilson

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o Ramona Brewer Adams

Trials of the Earth

by Mary Mann Hamilton

o Beverly C. Tindall

Playing for Overtime

by Al Ainsworth

o Catti Case Beals

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow

by Olivia Hawker

o Anna Tyner

Lilac Girls

by Martha Hall Kelly

Southern Mountain Folksongs: Folk Songs from the Appalachians and the Ozarks by Dr. W.K. Mcneil. This is one of several books by the late former folklorist at the Ozark folk Center State Park in Mountain View, arkansas. The book is an exploration of ballads and folk songs from the appalachian and the Ozark folk record. o Beth Henderson Stevens, Executive

For the Record Books Delta Magazine fans are currently reading

o Lydia Norwood

Prattville, Alabama

o Renelda Pharr Owen, Manager,

(Liza jones)

The Right Sort of Man

by Allison Monclair

o Carroll Mabry Thorn, Retired

The Bluest Eye by the late Toni Morrison. It is incredibly written, traumatically haunting. It is not a feel good book, but it is unforgettable.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (Ecco) reading Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson is like walking around an extremely formal, but bizarre party with the most casual person whose humble humor and hysterical comments about everything make it hard to leave. Lillian and Madison were best friends at boarding school, and after Lillian was kicked out, they kept in touch. now Madison has asked Lillian, whose life hasn’t turned out so well, to take care of her twin stepchildren while her husband is vetted for Secretary of State. There is a big catch: the children, when upset in any way, catch on fire. This heartkindling piece of speculative fiction is about the hard truths of parental love and the lack thereof. What really shines is the easy and intimate narratorial style of this novel—a moving, hilarious, first-person account of Lillian’s experience dealing with Madison’s world and the combustible children.

o Amy Davidson

We asked Facebook friends and Delta Magazine Fan Page Group members to share with us their favorite book of 2019.

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. a beautiful story of love, coming of age, growing up and being bullied during school, and then turning the unfortunate circumstances into good to help people who really need it. It was a truly moving story that impacted me in a profound way.

o Tracie Lowery Williams The German Girl

by Armando Lucas Correa

o Susannah McCafferty Sanders Mrs. Mary’s Monkeys

by Edward T. Haslam

o Beth Henderson Stevens The Dutch House

by Ann Patchett

o Alyson Bright Jones Hackney Lost Roses

by D.K. Wall

On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Publishing Group) Dreamlike and also explicit, On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous is just that: striking. Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is understandably lyrical since he’s an acclaimed poet, and there are moments when the reader would feel inclined not only to reread a sentence and underline it, but also to write that sentence down and do something beautiful with it. Little Dog is a gay, Vietnamese american man writing to his illiterate mother. He seems to be turning himself inside out, and perhaps this is because she will most likely never read it. It’s an epistolary stream of consciousness into very private moments, the Vietnam war, the history of his family and their immigration, and everywhere, a splattering of both tenderness and raw brutality. fair warning: This book has a number of moments when different readers may feel uncomfortable for different reasons. but for the right reader, it’s worth the discomfort. It was longlisted for the national book award. (Liza jones)

New Madrid by Malcolm Bailey (Self Published) When the chief of a native american tribe and his grandson discover an ancient cave on their reservation in Missouri, they have no idea that it’s linked to the mysterious jar recently unearthed by an archaeologist from Memphis. but the excitement over their discovery is short-lived when they learn that a construction company is determined to build a casino on their reservation.

Determined to preserve their home, the members of the tribe band together to stop the construction company at any cost―but it’s the land itself that might have the final say. New Madrid: The Certainty of Uncertainty combines elements of history, spirituality, science and nature to form an exciting tale that readers won’t be able to put down! (Special/DM Staff )

The Life and Legacy of B.B. King by Diane Williams (Arcadia Publishing SC) blues legend b.b. King spent his life sharing the music of his soul, which shone relentlessly through hardship and triumph alike. He never wavered from his vocation, even as he gathered up other musicians in his wake and melded them into the harmony of his animating passion. In this intimate portrait of King, author Diane Williams offers a brief account of the monumental bluesman’s life before settling in for a series of interviews with his bandmates and beloved family members, offering readers an invaluable opportunity to feel like they know King too. (Special/DM Staff ) DM DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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ART

The ArT of

Amie Oliver exploring the ebb and flow of water and the illusion of permanence

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ • PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM POWELL

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rowing up in Cleveland, artist Amie Oliver says she never thought of doing anything else but make art. “My mother and my teachers encouraged me, and I had the great fortune to grow up near Delta State university where I took art classes throughout my years in high school.”

G

Thinking she may be able to pursue art as a career, Oliver visited McCartys Pottery.

“I went to Lee and Pup McCarty’s studio and saw the possibilities for my own career in art. They had such a respect and passion for the natural properties of the materials with which they worked, and that made a huge impression on me early on.” as she explored her own art, Oliver didn’t feel compelled to alter material into something it was not. “If it looks like clay, then I wanted to celebrate the very best aspects of that material.”

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Water and textures are primary themes in Oliver’s work.

after spending summers at Delta State, Oliver attended to Mississippi State university to study art. “I had to fly the coop, so to speak, and leave Cleveland in order to find my people.” almost immediately after graduating from MSu, Oliver began a life of travel and exploration that has defined her life. She went to Santa barbara, California where she spent the summer reading and going to movies and concerts. “It was my first road trip as an adult, and I loved every minute of it.”

Her next stop was graduate school at bowling Green State university in Ohio, and she completed post-graduate course work at the Tyler School of art at Temple university and at the Visual Studies Workshop through the State university of new york. She traveled to new Orleans for the World’s fair in 1984; the theme that year was music and art. “I saw the new Orleans Triennial, an art show that was spread across several different venues. I had 32 | january/february 2020

friends in new Orleans and got a few jobs before heading to europe for a while.” feeling it was time to settle down, Oliver returned to the States with very little money in her pocket. “I decided to apply

This body of work is a long and winding river for me. It has a momentum which takes everything in its path and returns it to the sea: truth, beauty, pain and decay. for teaching jobs. but I only had enough money to go to Kinko’s and print and send one resume, so instead of researching different colleges and universities, I picked out one school—Longwood College.”

The administrators at Longwood liked what they read on the resume and flew Oliver to Virginia for an interview before

offering her a position. In august 1986, She packed her bags and headed to richmond where she still lives. “I went to a studio show and some of the alumnae of the college convinced me to get a studio of my own. I fell in love with richmond and decided to stay.”

Water is a primary theme in Oliver’s work, for various reasons. “In graduate school, we focused on many different practices and materials and I developed a sensitivity to the solvents. because of that, I had to focus exclusively on water-based mediums.”

During an artist residency in Salzburg, austria, she participated in a tour of the riverwalk. “The water in Salzburg comes from glaciers,” Oliver says. “There must be something to the quality of that water, because the people there are amazingly creative. Then I learned that the water in Vienna is even better!”

Oliver’s “Heaven, earth and Sea” series

explores drawing and painting with permanent ink on archival water-resistant paper. “as I scratch, scrub, draw and pour these shapes onto a smooth surface it becomes evident that permanence is an illusion and the ink records every movement. This body of work is a long and winding river for me. It has a momentum which takes everything in its path and returns it to the sea: truth, beauty, pain and decay. It floods, ebbs, dwindles and flows as it makes its way to wherever it is going.”

The series began in 2009 while Oliver was working on a project in Tibet. “as small as the world seems, the elements are vast. These paintings straddle the great divide between east, west, north, south, light and dark as they are inspired by our water table, its residue and the patterns of its floods and tides.”

Oliver has also been awarded artist residencies in Paris and in amherst, Virginia. She was the 2013 alumni fellow for the College of architecture, art and Design at Mississippi State university where she has served as an associate Professor. She has been a lecturer at john Tyler Community College, and currently offers art workshops and short courses for adults and teens at the Visual arts Center of richmond.

She is married to actor and writer Harry Kollatz, jr., a richmond native who writes for Richmond Magazine. Kollatz has recently published his first novel, Carlisle Montgomery.

In the “art Lab,” a studio space located in an old biology science lab in richmond, Oliver creates her ethereal art which incorporates water from rivers and other bodies of water from around the world. a collection of her work was featured in an exhibit at the Delta art alliance in Cleveland during the month of October.

“It was wonderful to be back in my hometown, particularly in that space,” she says. “My dad used to take me to the movies in that building when I was a young girl. It brought back sweet memories for me of growing up in Cleveland.”

While pondering her next series, Oliver seems hopeful for her future as a working artist.

“I’ll be doing this for as long as I can,” she muses. “It hasn’t always been easy, but artists never retire.” DM DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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MUSIC

GRAMM PHILLIPS After playing music around the globe this Delta native is back in the home of the Blues

BY CLINT KIMBERLING

GRAMM PHILLIPS IS A TRUE DELTAN.

AUSTIN BRITT

Born in Clarksdale, he attended Lee Academy and has both an undergraduate and master’s degree from Delta State.

While music was his passion from an early age, he chose to focus in business, which seemed more sensible to him. “I never planned to pursue a career as a musician,” he says.

But along in his journey Phillips discovered an unusual way to turn his love of music into a well-paying job. Rather than try to break into the cutthroat music industry, Phillips carved out his own niche playing cover versions with a unique acoustic style. And when he was given the chance to see the world from a deck of a cruise ship while getting paid to play music, he jumped at the opportunity.

Phillips first began playing guitar and singing for money about midway through college—just small gigs that were paid mostly in tips and food. But eventually he landed a regular Friday night gig at Papa Roc’s in Cleveland that helped get him through graduate school. Those early experiences of performing and being in front of an audience became invaluable.

The turning point for Phillips came when he took a cruise with two friends on Labor Day Weekend in 2013. On the last night of the trip, walking through the atrium, he heard the song “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits being played by what sounded to him like a live band. So he followed the music but was disappointed to find not a band but just one guy playing guitar with a backing track. He remembers thinking, “That is so lame. I could do better.”

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A festive scene from the upper deck of a Carnival Cruise ship.

Phillips’s cruise line performances have taken him on exciting journeys and introduced him to many unique musical experiences.

He stayed and listened and even chatted with the guitar player for a while. “He was actually very friendly, and he even let me play a few songs while he was on a break,” Phillips remembers.

He advised Phillips he would be good at performing on cruise ships. “He told me, ‘you’re young and talented, you’ll love doing this.’

I thought to myself, I’m getting ready to graduate. and I don’t have a job lined up. I really could do this.”

He recorded and submitted a demo tape to Carnival Cruise Lines. and then three weeks after finishing his degree, he was on a plane headed to rehearse with the show band of Carnival fantasy ship. He signed on for three contracts over the next couple of years and eventually made the switch from show band to a solo act where he played out several more contracts on eight ships.

“I never dreamed of being a professional musician, but I enjoyed it, and found it rewarding to play for people who really appreciated it. Plus, the pay was pretty good.”

He credits his love and appreciation of music to his parents. His father was a guitar player in a band called The Dirt Merchants, and he got to witness live music from an early age. “I would see him play gigs with different bands as I was growing up. He was definitely a musical influence on me,” says Phillips.

The guitar was not the first instrument Phillips learned to play.

He started his musical education on the piano. but piano lessons just couldn’t hold the attention of a third-grade Phillips, so he dropped 36 | january/february 2020

Gramm performing with his father, Jack, who is also a musician. Jack played with the well-known 1960s band, The Dirt Merchants, which produced rock drummer Tommy Aldridge.

that in favor of sports. However, he did show an aptitude for it. “I could hear music really well and was able to pick out parts of movie themes and scores. I wish now that I had stuck with it,” he says. but it was when he was around ten years old when he first heard “Smooth” by rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty and Carlos Santana.

Santana’s iconic guitar riffs on the song jumped out at Gramm and made him want to learn guitar. He also remembers being enamored with “black Dog” by Led zeppelin, a song he refers to as a game changer.

Phillips, who just turned thirty a few months ago, spent his adolescence with a serious interest in guitar. His musical education involved all types and genres of music ranging from the hits of the 1990s to classic rock, hip hop and rap, and blues records. He counts The beatles as a top influence that he came to know not just through albums but also movies like Help and A Hard Day’s Night.

Phillips recalls being amazed that some of his favorite bands like Led zeppelin and The rolling Stones were influenced by blues

RENEE WOFFORD

Phillips inside of Bluestown Music in Clarksdale owned by his musician-uncle, Ronnie Drew.

musicians like Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf that came from “That song makes me think about her, so it holds a lot of special his hometown. “I got really interested in my hometown and significance,” he says. championing the rebirth of Clarksdale,” he says.

On the flip side, Phillips would be just fine if he never again had Performing on cruise ships has taken Phillips all over the globe to play “Sweet Home alabama,” “brown eyed Girl,” or “Mustang from domestic ports like Charleston, South Carolina, and fort Sally.” nothing against the songs, however he’s just played them too Lauderdale, florida, to beaches in the many times. He also turns down all Caribbean, Puerto rico, aruba, and the audience requests for “freebird.” It just bahamas. In 2016 he landed what’s doesn’t work as an acoustic performance,” considered to be a dream gig for the he says. cruise members—he signed a contract altogether, he has fond memories of to perform on Carnival Spirit, which is his time on the cruise ship. Phillips always stationed in Sydney, australia. looked forward to learning about the Phillips has some interesting history of the ports and exploring the observations about life as a musician on architecture in places like San juan, the ship. He feels he got a very small Puerto rico. and being able to hone his glimpse of what fame would be like. skills as a musician and performer while People were constantly stopping him traveling the world was a great experience around the ship to say. “Hey, you’re the for him. “I’ve got friends all over the guitar player.” He explains, “as a world now. I could plan a vacation in any performer, you’re highly recognizable on corner of the globe without needing a ship, and it became difficult to walk hotel,” Phillips laughs. around in ports without getting Phillips performing at Ground Zero Blues Club in One of the toughest parts of the job recognized. It was nice every once in a Clarksdale. was being away from home for five to six while, but it can be too much.” months at a time. and he can’t imagine There are also the hours musicians have to keep. Performances are doing it now that he has a wife and son. but Phillips does miss the late at night, and it can be difficult trying to rest and recover during connections he made with passengers. “I miss knowing that I made the day in the state room. “There was always some kind of hammering someone’s vacation. The best takeaway was knowing that I made a or maintenance being done that makes it hard to sleep in.” passenger’s trip vacation.”

When it comes to singing, he’s got a few favorite songs he likes These days you don’t have to take a cruise to see Gramm Phillips to play, and that includes any music by The beatles or the Traveling play. you can catch him at various places around Clarksdale and at Wilburys. but at the top of the list is “Celluloid Heroes” by The events and festivals throughout the Delta. “I very much enjoy being Kinks, which holds some sentimental value because he was a part of the music scene in Clarksdale. I take pride in being a part introduced to it by his mother who passed in September of last year. of that rich musical tradition.” DM DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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WHERE TOPSOIL MAKES YOUR BOTTOM LINE. PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF WHAT WE DO.

FA R M L A N D FI N A N C I N G

P R OUD LY S E R V I NG NORT H MI S S I S S I P P I I MS L A N D BA N K.CO M

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TOURISM

Our under-the-radar

Delta Bucket List A few of our FAVORITE THINGS

When Delta Magazine readers and contributors shared some of their favorite things to do and see in this unique land we call home we were blown away by their responses. These don’t miss, under-the-radar, lazy Saturday afternoon experiences, thrown in with our festivals, iconic restaurants and Debutante Balls, help piece together the puzzle that is the Mississippi Delta. We hope you’ll round out your next Delta road trip itinerary by adding a few of our favorite things to the list!

Catch the sunset while riding on the levee.

Dance at Lillo’s dancing night in Leland.

GREENWOOD CHATHAM

Fishing on Lake Washington and a visit to Roy’s store.

Visit Skeeter’s House from “The Help.”

boating Canoeing or o River. zo down the Ya

A show at the Bologna Performing Arts Center, and a post-concert cocktail on the rooftop at the Bar Fontaine!

Sunday concerts at Turnrow Books—musicians come play at the store with a keg!

VICKSBURG

Eating the fritters and watching the sun set from the rooftop at 10 South.

Live music and free food on Monday nights at Hopson Commissary. Great place to cure a case of the Mondays.

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Have a locally roasted coffee or espresso at the non-profit Meraki Coffee shop—a great way to support community kids.

Fish one of the five top rated Crappie lakes in the USA; Grenada Lake, Lake Washington, Enid Lake, Sardis Lake or Arkabutla Lake.

BELZONI

Kayak Matthew’s Brake during the Lotus bloom in August in Cruger.

Visit Sky Lake Board Walk.

he sunset t g in h c t a W ower on at the fire t Tchula. ve the hill abo

Take a drive down Highway 1 between Greenville and Helena.

Go to Hopson’s in Clarksdale to see the first mechanical cotton picker.

Grab a beer or get some work done on your laptop while sitting around the fireplace at the Traveler’s Hotel lobby.

Museum e c r o F ir Visit the A nville Airport. e at the Gre Order the crawfish at Crawdad’s in Merigold, they are the best!

Pick up some fried chicken from the Dodge Store

Spend the day arrowhead hunting.

Lunch at The Gallery in Merigold and shopping at McCartys—is a great Saturday excursion.

Pick up a box of fried chicken gizzards and a couple cold quarts of Miller High Life at the Double Quick in Rosedale and go to Terrene Landing across the levee to watch the tow boats round Victoria Bend.

See the monkeys riding dogs at the Juke Joint festival in Clarksdale.

Check out Mammoth bones at Museum of Mississippi Delta in Greenwood.

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CLEVELAND

Downtown Shopping Long ago, farmers scattered across the Delta would congregate on Cotton Row in downtown Cleveland to bring their finest harvest to market. Today this Historic Crosstie Shopping District offers a diverse array of specialty shops, antique stores, boutiques and café s within the area, as well as the new Cotton House Hotel located right in the middle of it all!

GRAMMY ® Museum Mississippi The Museum features permanent and traveling exhibits, contentrich interactives, and films that educate and inspire music lovers of all ages. The Museum covers the history of recorded music of all genres while showcasing Mississippi’s impact on American music.

DEELTTOAURS D

Pottery Destination Many folks make the trek to Bolivar County to visit world-famous pottery establishments McCartys Pottery of Merigold and Peter’s Pottery in Mound Bayou. While you are shopping at McCartys, visit the incredible Gardens of McCartys, as well as The Gallery lunch spot. Both Peter’s and McCartys are a must-visit to peruse the coveted pieces made from Delta clay.

Entertainment Cleveland is a hotbed of activity for live music and entertainment.

On any given night of the week, both local and touring artists can be found in the restaurants in the area. With venues such as the Bologna Performing Arts Center, that presents national touring productions, and the Delta Music Institute’s recording program at Delta State University, Cleveland is the place to be to get immersed in the sounds of great entertainment.

The Spirit of the Blues The early 1900s saw an influx of migrant workers in the Delta.

Aspiring musicians gravitated to the Cleveland area because Charley Patton called it home. More specifically, he called Will Dockery’s Plantation home. Dockery Plantation is a fabulous place to feel the spirit of the Blues. As B.B. King famously said of Dockery, “…You might say it all started right here.” There are 18 blues markers that stretch from the Mississippi River Road Highway 1, to the Blues Highway 61. Be sure and stop by the office of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning and see the Cast of Masks featuring plaster castings of famous bluesmen and women by artist Sharon McConnell.

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www.visitclevelandms.com • (662) 843-2712

COAHOMA COUNTY

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GREENWOOD

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YAZOO

Main Street Yazoo City

Glenwood Cemetery

Yazoo City’s historic Main Street was once on the verge of becoming a ghost town. Today, we are glad to say that historic Main Street is not only surviving but thriving! Come Shop, Eat, & Stay on historic Main Street in Yazoo City.

Author and Editor Willie Morris is buried 13 paces to the South of the grave of the "Witch of Yazoo" whose Legend he made famous in his novel Good Old Boy. Willie, who grew up in Yazoo City, wrote two novels about his boyhood that have been made into movies. Glenwood is the second “Spookiest Cemetery in the US” according to a 2012 Huffington Post poll.

DELTA U RS DETO

Blue Front Cafe Owned and operated by blues man Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, this is the authentic Mississippi Delta “juke joint” where the world-famous original Bentonia Blues was born and can still be heard. The Blue Front Cafe, located in the town of Bentonia in southern Yazoo County, is considered the oldest active juke joint in Mississippi.

Yazoo Restaurants The culinary culture of Yazoo County is as varied and as notable as her land and people. Yazoo County is home to producers of fine foods and treats found and recognized worldwide. With over 30 locally-owned restaurants and eateries, you are sure to find something to satisfy every craving.

Historic Yazoo Known as the “largest single area” to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, comprising both residential and commercial areas, the Yazoo City Town Center Historic District can be viewed on a self-guided Walking or Driving Tour of homes or churches. This Old House Magazine selected the area as one of their “Best Old House Neighborhoods” in 2012 for its many 19th- and 20th-century examples of Queen Anne cottages, Greek Revivals, and Colonial Revivals.

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NATCHEZ

800-647-6724 • www.visitnatchez.org Join us for presentations by: The 31st Annual

NATCHEZ LITERARY AND CINEMA CELEBRATION

Visits, Vittles & Vines

Robert St. John • Wyatt Waters • Larry Wells Andrew Haley • Annemarie Anderson • Ebony Lumumba Ashli Quesinberry Stokes • Wendy Atkins-Sayre • Liz Williams Adrian E. Miller • Megan Kassabaum • Felder Rushing Regina Charboneau • Jarita Frazier King • John Grady Burns

March 28-29: For thirty years, the Natchez Powwow has attracted some of the best singers, dancers and vendors to the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians to celebrate Native American culture at one of the country’s most storied mound sites. Visit www.natchezpowwow.com to learn more about this unique cultural event in Natchez.

The Natchez Literary

The Culture of Southern Hospitality February 27-29, 2020

The Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration in conjunction with

Natchez Festival of Music and Mississippi School of Folk Arts presents

DINNER WITH

GRAND VILLAGE OF THE NATCHEZ INDIANS

HAMILTON and other

FEB. 29, 2020 6 - 10 P.M.

Art Auction and Sale with Dinner and Entertainment

BROADWAY HITS Featuring

GREAT AMERICAN ART MASTERS

NATCHEZ CONVENTION CENTER NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI

For information call 601.446.1104 or email nlcc@colin.edu

TICKETS: NatchezFestivalofMusic.com

Or visit Co-Lin Natchez Campus, Miss. School of Folk Arts, Arts Natchez, or Soiree

& Cinema Celebration February 27–29: The 31st Annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration will explore the heritage of the food, gardens, and entertaining for which the south is so well known through the theme, “Visits, Vittles, & Vines: The Culture of Southern Hospitality.” All presentations are free and open to the public and take place at the Natchez Convention Center. Additional ticketed events and tours are also available. Contact nlcc@colin.edu or 601-446-1104 for more information.

NATCHEZ FESTIVAL OF MUSIC

May 2–30: Natchez Festival of Music presents musical programs for every musical taste throughout the month of May. The 2020 presents “Spring of Pearls,” celebrating the 30th anniversary season. Opening with Romeo Et Juliette, the festival features events from Luckenbach Willie Nelson Tribute Band, to Disco 54. For a full list of events and tickets visit natchezfestivalofmusic.com or call 601.807.4442

DELTA URS DETO

Spring Pilgrimage March 14–April 14: Natchez, established in 1716, high on the bluffs of the Mississippi River has a rich history. With over 1,000 structures on the National Register of Historic places Natchez is a blend of old and new.

During our Pilgrimage seasons more privately owned homes open their doors for tours. Natchez is treasured worldwide as a living museum of southern history and a hallmark of hospitality.

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The Natchez Museum of African American History & Culture The Natchez Museum of African American History & Culture was established in 1990 as a venue in which the rich History & Culture of the African diaspora could be examined and presented in Southwest Mississippi. Exhibitory from 15th century Africa to present day accomplishments are offered. The Museum has been recognized by the Association of African American Museums to be among the best in the nation. For additional information call 601-445-0728.

TUNICA

Begin your blues journey at Tunica’s Gateway to the Blues Museum located on Highway 61—the Blues Highway. See the story of the blues come to life in all its tormented and anguished glory. You’ll experience interactive exhibits, artwork and more—including a recording studio where you’ll learn the basics of blues music with a chance to record your very own blues song. So, before you trek through blues country, get in a blues state-of-mind at the Gateway to the Blues Museum.

VISIT tunicatravel.com/blues

CALL 888.4TUNICA

TWITTER @TunicaMS | @TunicaBlues

FACEBOOK facebook.com/TunicaMS

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HARDIN COUNTY

Shiloh National Military Park Over 5000 acres of Civil War history, 150 monuments, 200 cannons, 650 historic tablets plus Shiloh Indian Mounds, a National Historic Landmark itself, are located within park boundaries. Visitors Center includes museum, bookstore and orientation film. nps.gov/shil 1055 Pittsburg Landing Road, Shiloh, TN 38376

Tennessee River Museum This historical museum is a tribute to the Tennessee River and its influence on the land, people and the heritage of the Valley. Beginning with the Moundbuilders, visitors can explore Pioneer life, the Trail of Tears, Ironclad ships, Steamboats and life today on the water. tennesseerivermuseum.org 495 Main Street, Savannah, TN 38372

DEELTTOAURS D

Tennessee Street Park Pickwick Landing State Park

Gated five-acre park that boasts two splash pads, two playgrounds (ages 5 & under and 12 & under), walking trail, outdoor exercise equipment, pavilions, and a 20-foot tall fountain as the focal point. cityofsavannah.org/parks-recreation 200 Tennessee Street, Savannah, TN 38372

Noted for its excellent water recreation the lake and river offer fishing, boating, swimming and a marina. Accommodations on the park include a newly remodeled Lodge and restaurant, cabins and camping. Guests can also enjoy golfing, birding, kayaking, disc golf, nature walks and yearround events. tnstateparks.com/parks/pickwick-landing 120 Playground Loop, Counce, TN 38326

www.TourHardinCounty.org 495 Main Street, Savannah, Tennessee 38372.

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Cherry Mansion/ Generals Breakfast Antebellum mansion & former headquarters of General Ulysses S. Grant's during the Civil War Battle of Shiloh. Join us April 4, 2020, for the annual Generals Breakfast with Grant and Beauregard. This outdoor gathering is filled with storytelling, biscuits and a tour! tourhardincounty.org 265 Main Street, Savannah, TN 38372

JACKSON

CATS February 13-14: CATS, the record-breaking musical spectacular by Andrew Lloyd Webber that has captivated audiences in over 30 countries and 15 languages, is now on tour across North America! Audiences and critics alike are rediscovering this beloved musical with breathtaking music, including one of the most treasured songs in musical theater— "Memory”. Winner of 7 Tony Awards® including BEST MUSICAL, CATS tells the story of one magical night when an extraordinary tribe of cats gathers for its annual ball to rejoice and decide which cat will be reborn. www.jacksonbroadway.com

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Mississippi Blues Marathon February 29: With live music before, after and throughout the course, the Mississippi Blues Marathon proves to be one-of-a-kind. This event is a huge street party filled with enthusiastic supporters encouraging runners from all over the country all the way to the finish line. www.msbluesmarathon.events

March 11: Long before she was Carole King, chart-topping music legend, she was Carol Klein, Brooklyn girl with passion and chutzpah.

She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. But it wasn’t until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice. Beautiful – The Carole King Musical tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom. www.jacksonbroadway.com

DEELTTOA URS D

Mississippi Distilled: Prohibition, Piety, and Politics March - October: In March 2020, the Two Mississippi Museums—the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—will open Mississippi Distilled: Prohibition, Piety, and Politics. This immersive exhibition will explore our state’s tumultuous relationship with alcohol throughout history.

Visitors to Mississippi Distilled will discover stories ranging from European colonialism to women’s suffrage to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

Fascinating artifacts, vivid oral histories, and surprising images from prehistory to Prohibition will enrich the experience. www.mdah.ms.gov

Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade & Festival March 28: Central Mississippi’s annual celebration of Spring has been described as a “green Mardi Gras” and as a “lighthearted homecoming where everyone is king-and-queen-for a-day.” It is also a celebration of the rebirth of Mississippi’s capital city, a joyous observance of what is “good and encouraging” about the heart of our state. It is a day where sense of humor and sense of place rule the day. www.halsstpaddysparade.com

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CARROLLTON

Pioneer Day Festival Pioneer Day Festival honors the founding of Carroll County in 1833 with this annual arts and crafts festival as well as educational opportunities.

Held the first Saturday in October, it is part of the Pilgrimage.

For information email CarrolltonMsPioneerDay@gmail.com or go to VisitCarrolltonMs.com

Visit Carrollton Visit Carrollton, Mississippi, where the past is present.

Organized after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the town became a bustling community that is thriving in the 21st Century. Today it is a part of the Mississippi Heritage Highway 82 which runs from Greenville to Columbus. Download the free Walking Tour of Carrollton, MS app from The App Store or Google Play. www.VisitCarrolltonMS.com or email CarrolltonMsTours@gmail.com

DELTA URS DETO

Merrill Museum

The Carrollton\ Community House

The Merrill Museum tells the story of Carroll County, from Indian days to the present. Exhibits include antique bottles, arrowheads, Joy’s Toys and family items from the John S. McCain family and author Elizabeth Spencer. Built in 1834, the Merrill Building has served as a mercantile, bank, furniture and casket factory, temporary courthouse, dry cleaners and residence.

Open by appointment – 662-237-6910.

The Carrollton Community House was born out of the Great Depression and the WPA. The design of the log structure is similar to many built during that time. Unlike many of those structures, the Carrollton Community House has continued to be used and appreciated.

For information about renting call Carrollton Town Hall at 662-237-4600.

Historic Churches Carrollton is home of five historic churches – Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Missionary Baptist. They are open for tours during the annual Pilgrimage, the first week in October, and for group tours by appointment.

Annual Tour of Historic Homes Historic homes in Carrollton range in date from 1828 to 1936. These family dwellings are open for tours during the annual Pilgrimage the first week in October and for group tours by appointment. www.VisitCarrolltonMS.com or 662-392-4810 email: CarrolltonMsTours@gmail.com 50 | january/february 2020

PANOLA PARTNERSHIP

Batesville Mounds A journey of time & nature: Step into the Past - Take a Tour • View Native American Mounds from the Woodland Period • Trek wilderness trails in the historic Mississippi Delta region • Watch for birds, butterflies, deer, and all of nature’s creatures • Watch for trains on the Grenada Railway • Take photos, learn, exercise, write, rest, reflect, & create memories

Panola Playhouse The Panola Playhouse, founded in 1962, is one of the longest, continually-running, live theatres in the state of Mississippi.

This unique, 120 seat theatre has been host to hundreds of wonderful performances over the last fifty-two years. The Panola Playhouse season includes comedies, dramas, musicals, and children’s shows.

DELTA URS DETO

Como Safari Wild Animal Park The Train to Christmas Town

Drive through the 5 miles of African Safari Roads in your own car and interact and feed animals as you make your way through the wilds of Africa. After your journey return to the Foot Safari.

An experience you will never forget, Africa at your back door.

The Train to Christmas Town captures the spirit of the season with its warmth and charm. Feel the holiday magic in the air the moment you arrive! Enjoy singing & dancing elves, a visit with Santa, Hot chocolate and cookies, and a ride to Christmas Town. Your family is sure to love it!

Crowder Duck Hunting

McIvor Shooting Facility

Golfers have Augusta. Duck hunters have Crowder. If you're lucky, you might know somebody that knows somebody, and we hope you do!

Hone your shotgun skills, become more proficient with your bow, or site in your new rifle at this 300- acre state of the art shooting sports facility. Located near Sardis, MS on the Charles Ray Nix Wildlife Management area, it is a hidden gem for any shooting enthusiast.

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HELENA

Fort Curtis Pillow-Thompson House Fabulous First Thursday Lunch at the Pillow-Thompson House c1896. Plan your tour to enjoy a delicious lunch, on the first Thursday of each month, prepared by a local caterer in one of the most elegant homes in the Arkansas Delta! Reservations required.

870-338-8535

Mississippi River Helena is the only downtown on the Mississippi River for the 300 miles between Memphis and Vicksburg. Helena’s River Park features a 60 foot boat ramp, one of the largest public access ramps on the lower Mississippi, and a boardwalk offering beautiful views of the river.

The original fort was built soon after the Union army occupied Helena in 1862. The new replica allows visitors to experience an earthen fort firsthand, including its huge 24-pounder guns.

High on the ridge above the fort is Battery C, the newest Civil War Helena site to open.

Elaine Massacre Memorial ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ James Baldwin. This Memorial honors those who died in the Massacre of 1919 in Phillips County, AR.

Delta Cultural Center and King Biscuit Time The Delta Cultural Center museum features exhibits on the Civil War, the settlement of the Delta region, and a live radio studio where King Biscuit Time is broadcast every weekday at 12:15pm. King Biscuit Time is the longest running blues radio show in the country.

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www.VisitHelenaAR.com

VICKSBURG

Vicksburg National Military Park

McRaven Tour Home

Established on February 21, 1899 to commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg, the 16-mile tour road of the park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of historic trenches and earthworks, a 12.5-mile walking trail, 144 emplaced cannons, a national cemetery, an ironclad Union gunboat, and two antebellum homes.

Named the “most haunted house in Mississippi” and the “third most haunted house in the United States,” McRaven has a haunted history of over 160 years. Popular for being built in three different periods, National Geographic called it the “Time Capsule of the South.”

DELTA URS DETO

Downtown Vicksburg Catfish Row

Stroll the brick-paved streets of our historic downtown and visit our boutique and antique gift shops, art galleries and fantastic dining. Experience one of the Great American Main Street Association’s Top 10 Main Streets in the USA in downtown Vicksburg—Simply. Uniquely. Southern.

David Cohn wrote that “the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg.” Today’s Catfish Row features a children’s art park and splash fountain, riverfront murals, museums, the Levee Street Marketplace and LD’s Kitchen—Vicksburg’s home to great catfish and Tuesday night blues.

10 South Rooftop Bar and Grill www.VisitVicksburg.com

Vicksburg’s newest restaurant, 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill, overlooks our beautiful historic downtown with spectacular views of the Mississippi River, Yazoo Diversion Canal and Centennial Lake.

The area’s only “open air” grill with a full bar features specialty burgers, barbecue, seafood and other Southern specialties.

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CLEVELAND

54 | january/february 2020

CORINTH

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MISSISSIPPI WILDLIFE HERITAGE MUSEUM featuring local wildlife and curated collections of hunting and outdoor memorabilia, the Leland museum is a must-see for outdoor enthusiasts

BY HANK BURDINE • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY MEEKS

illy Johnson has always been a collector and a sportsman. He grew up in Leland hunting and fishing all over the Delta and in the hills and even out West for elk and mule deer. But his main love is the woods and streams of Mississippi. as a young boy he would pick up pecans and catch turtles in Deer Creek to sell so he could buy fishing lures. Some of his prized possessions are his great grandfather’s tackle box and split bamboo fishing rods and boat oars. “I love to go plunder old bait shops and hardware stores for antique lures. I also love going to estate sales looking for old paddles and fishing equipment. and I have always been fascinated by old hunting and fishing pictures. The older generation didn’t take a lot of pictures.” However, billy has taken it upon himself to collect and showcase as

B

56 | january/february 2020

much of the hunting and fishing heritage of Mississippi as he possibly can and as much as Mississippians are willing to donate. after a successful career in real estate, timber, and vegetable farming, billy was the outdoor writer for local newspapers, the Delta Democrat Times and the Leland Progress. for a decade, while writing these articles, he was given many photographs to go with the story lines. billy has written two books, Jus Fo Day and Treasures of the Delta. Photographs continued to be sent to him of hunting and fishing in the old days. It wasn’t long before his wife decided she wanted to have the space back, in their spacious home, that was being taken up with photographs, mementos, animal mounts, and hunting and fishing memorabilia.

“She told me I needed to do something with all this, maybe put it in a museum.”

billy had been very successful in founding the Highway 61 blues Museum in the old Montgomery Hotel on broad Street in Leland. as director and curator, he has housed quite a collection of blues memorabilia from local blues musicians, the great blues artists of days gone by and the greats that are with us still today, playing in local venues and festivals all over the country and the world. billy knows how to make things happen and how to collect and curate artifacts that would otherwise be lost in attics or thrown away in trash piles.

Knowing the ins and outs of non-profit entities and getting grants for historical preservation, billy set his eyes on the old joe Turner Hardware Store, across the street and a little down from the blues Museum. joe Turner’s was always known by local

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Take a kid fishing, teach them how to hunt and bring ‘em by the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum to show them what it used to be like and what is in store for them as they continue to enjoy and be a part of our Mississippi outdoor legacy.

A special heritage “I had acquired a collection of several hundred old Mississippi hunting and fishing photographs from my years of writing outdoor articles. My wife, Cindy, thought I needed to do something with them. So we came up with the idea of putting them in a museum that honored the outdoor legacy of our state. Much recognition has been given to our state’s athletes and entertainers, but our state is also home to many world-class outdoorsmen. Jack Dudley won the world turkey calling contest with his natural voice as did Herman J. Caillouet at the world champion duck calling contest. Our state’s outdoorsmen have been honored all over the country but not at home.

So we formed the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Foundation to put together a museum to honor our outdoor heritage and the people who have been a part of it. We founded the Mississippi Outdoor Hall of Fame and made it a part of the museum. It took seven years to make it a reality. God blessed Mississippi with vast natural resources, and these outdoor opportunities have created a culture of outdoor loving people. Over seven hundred thousand Mississippians hunt and fish. Our museum tells the story of the evolution of hunting and fishing in our state, from the time of the Native Americans until now.”

Billy Johnson, Founder of the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

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sportsmen and just about everyone else as THe place to go to get just about anything you needed: fishing tackle, shotgun shells, plow lines, saddles and bridles, hardware, electrical supplies, plumbing fixtures, rope, and wax lined wooden water barrels–-even after the ubiquitous plastic IGLOO water coolers came out. If you wanted it, joe Turner had it, or could get it. but joe Turner Hardware went the way of many locally owned and operated businesses as malls and chain stores took over. The South Delta regional Housing authority bought the building and all the inventory, much of which could be used in the many houses and apartments it had (built??) across the Delta. The building eventually became vacant, leaving an ideal location for a hunting heritage museum. There was no place in the state of Mississippi dedicated to the hunting and fishing culture which so prevalently abounds in the woods and waters of Mississippi. It was time to get busy, so billy pulled together a dozen or so like-minded enthusiasts, and in 2012 the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage foundation was created with its mission to “preserve the history, heritage, and traditions of hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors in the state of Mississippi; to honor its people who have been a part of it; and educate the public about the vast natural resources of the state.” billy johnson was elected as its president with an able and capable board of directors to lead the way.

South Delta donated the twenty thousand square foot building with all its display cases and spacious rooms, not to mention the large and cavernous second floor where much inventory had once been stored, and artifacts came pouring in from all over the state. funds from the city of Leland were acquired, and the State of Mississippi gave a grant for rehabilitation of the historic building. The word got out, and Mississippi sportsmen and women decided that instead of just giving Grandpa’s prized turkey calls and long beard collection away, or throwing them out, what better place for his heritage to be donated and put on display for all visitors to see and to understand the renowned legacy that

Mississippi harbors in its woods and waters.

Taxidermy was donated, including deer mounts, a full-size alligator, turkey and black bear mounts, an albino deer, raccoons, and huge fish to hang on the walls. a room full of antique boats and motors and dugout canoes from the native american days was collected. Prehistoric arrowhead collections were donated showing the tools of ancient hunting and survival. So much came in to the museum that the upstairs floor was getting crowded as renovation of the downstairs display area began and the walls lined with cypress.

In june of 2017, the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum opened its doors. anyone from anywhere in our country, or abroad, who has an interest in hunting and fishing needs to come by and see this outstanding display of outdoor collectables from one of the most ecologically and wildlife enriched areas in america. Worldclass exhibits of turkey and duck calls, nationally awarded trap shooters’ memorabilia, fishing lures and commercial fishing displays, boats from dugout canoes used by native americans to sneak boats, stick steered fiberglass bass boats, flood boats, duck hunting mummy boats, and sturdy, stable hunting canoes built by Grumman aircraft Corporation are on display with a dazzling exhibition of antique boat motors and oars. Old carbide powered coon hunters’ helmet lights and frog gigs, fish traps, and monstrous alligator snapping turtles are presented along with huge diamondback rattlesnakes, alligators, trophy deer, and bass, crappie, bream, and catfish mounts. The Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum is truly a gem, right here in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. DM

Preserving History. Reliving Memories.

CD Simpson and Henry Milner show off a 42-lb flathead catfish caught in the Big Black River near Vaiden (1949)

The mission of the Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Museum is to preserve the history, heritage, and traditions of hunting, fishing, and the Great Outdoors in Mississippi; to honor the people that have been a part of it; and to educate the public of the vast natural resources of the great state of Mississippi. Exhibits include:

29 Members of the Mississippi Outdoor Hall of Fame Vintage Hunting and Fishing Memorabilia Largest Collection of Mississippi-made Turkey and Duck Calls Mississippi’s No.1 Deer Bowhunter Collection on Display OUTDOOR HALL

OF

FAME

Wildlife Heritage M U S E U M

Monday thru Saturday - 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Closed Sundays and Major Holidays 302 North Broad Street • Leland, MS • (662) 686-7085 • mswildlifeheritagemuseum.com funded in part with a grant from Convention & Visitors Bureau

WINTERVILLE MOUNDS

DISCOVER AN ANCIENT WORLD IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. Plan your visit today. wintervillemounds.com | 662-334-4684

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FUN FILLED EXCURSION

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“Duck is my favorite living blues musician,” says Richard Grant the author of Dispatches from Pluto. “His music casts a hypnotic trance. And not much beats a good night at the Blue Front. That place is a Mississippi treasure.”

Jimmy Duck holmes and the

BLUE FRONT CAFÉ The Sound of the Bentonia Blues

BY HANK BURDINE

62 | january/february 2020

LOU BOPP RICHARD ROSENTHAL

LOU BOPP

JIMMy “Duck” HoLMes ain’t got the blues…he sings the blues, and he brings the blues to folks from all over the world.

His blue front Café in bentonia, Mississippi, is known worldwide as possibly the oldest operating juke house in Mississippi, or anywhere else for that matter. just this last november, the blue front celebrated its seventy-first anniversary with a rollicking good time. blues enthusiasts from Sweden, australia, japan, england, the netherlands, and elsewhere have been in attendance at the blue front whenever the doors are open, and those doors rarely close.

The blue front Café IS jimmy Holmes, and jimmy Holmes is the blue front Café! rarely a day goes by that jimmy Duck is not there. He lives just a few blocks from the blue front Café. jimmy Duck was born in 1947, one of ten children and four cousins that grew up in his parents’ home. Carey and Mary Holmes had a small farm and raised cotton and kids. and they did a damned good job of it, sending most of the children to college. To help ends meet, they opened the blue

front Café in downtown bentonia right next to a cotton gin and adjacent to the railroad track. The children mostly grew up in the blue front, which served hot meals consisting of buffalo fish and catfish, and they sold groceries and bootlegged corn liquor and even had a barber shop. back in those days, the blue front closed around 10:00 p.m. each night, but during cotton picking time, the café stayed open twentyfour hours a day serving the farmers and gin workers. all the children were raised up knowing how to work and how to respect a dollar. jimmy Duck stayed close to his mama, and by age twelve he was chauffeuring her around after she had a wreck and became afraid of driving. He helped her in the blue front, often being left alone to run it as a teenager. When his father died in 1970, jimmy Duck took it over, and he has been running it ever since. an article by billy Watkins in The Clarion-Ledger and published in february of 2017 talks about the relationship jimmy Duck had with his mama. “I lived with my mom, just me and her, and by the time I decided to get married (he has four children and five grandchildren), I didn’t feel like it would be fair to bring a wife into my mama’s house. either my wife was going to have to change her ways, or my mama would. It wouldn’t have been fair to either one. So I just stayed single.” jimmy Duck DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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HANK BURDINE

ASHLEY HEUS

Left, Jimmy Duck having a moment with Estella, daughter of Gyasi Heus, an upcoming blues singer from the mountains of West Virginia. Right, a French film crew produces a documentary on Jimmy Duck that was later shown in Europe with French and German editions.

respect for one another. Mississippi Delta blues lady extraordinaire Libby rae Watson from Pascagoula says, “The thing I love about the blue front and the whole jimmy Duck Holmes family is that everybody, and I mean eVerybODy, is welcomed there.

Prejudice has no place. Love abounds. jimmy Duck is a treasure to the blues. bentonia is a small place with a most unique sound of music, and jimmy Duck now holds that key for the next generation. I love to watch jimmy Duck at the blue front! He absolutely loves seeing people have fun! He gets a satisfied sparkle in his eyes watching the crowd. He is a giving, caring, and sharing person. That’s how he was raised. He gets enjoyment teaching young people the bentonia tradition. I take every opportunity I can to go visit him when I travel.”

LIBBY RAE WATSON

used to wonder if he could survive after his mama died.

“Hers was the first face I saw every morning and the last face I saw every night.

I’m thankful she never had to suffer. She was eighty-six when God blew the whistle on her (she died suddenly of a heart attack). When she left here, I asked the good Lord to not let me grieve. and, so far, I haven’t. I still miss her. I think about her sittin’ here in the blue front every day. but I’ve never cried about it. I just think the good Lord took that off me when I asked Him to.”

It’s my belief the relationship jimmy Duck had with his mama and his daddy and the way all of the kids were raised are what make him possibly one of the most unique bluesmen I have ever met and gotten to know. jimmy Duck is all about love and

“Boy, you got to learn this.” Jimmy Duck teaches his grandson the Bentonia style of blues.

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In june of this year, I attended the forty-Seventh annual bentonia blues festival on the Holmes family farm right off Highway 49 south of yazoo City. It was a unique down-home style festival that had an aura about it unlike other big events.

There was an air of togetherness and comradery amongst people that had never met but were there together to share a uniqueness of tradition and be a part of the bentonia culture. In certain ways it reminded me of the hippie festival days when flower petals and peace signs were in abundance. but it was the blues, the bentonia school of blues, that emanated from the stage. Guitars are tuned differently to an e minor or D minor key. robert Gordon, a blues historian and biographer of Mississippi blues icon Muddy Waters, wrote after hearing one of jimmy Duck’s early albums, “I’ve never been to bentonia, but whatever’s in the water there, whatever’s haunting the ground at night, whatever gives the place its historical power, clearly lives on in these recordings.” according to jimmy Duck, “I play for myself, and I sing from here,” pointing to his heart. “I am here to tell a story. The words have always been the most important thing to me. blues lyrics are like life. Sometimes things are good; sometimes things are bad.” Life goes on.

The bentonia tradition, the bentonia school, is a way of playing a guitar unlike any other region in Mississippi. The deep rotgut Delta blues with its wailing twelvebar sound or the northeast Mississippi Hill Country style with its percussion-led, harddriving blues is totally different than the bentonia blues. but it’s all still the blues. and it talks about lost love, money woes, and broken hearts and homes. It’s of the dirt, of the heart, and it all comes off strong.

If you have the blues, there is nothing better to get rid of those blues than blues music. and there was a lot of blues in bentonia in the early days.

Legendary nehemiah “Skip” james (1902-1969) was taught the bentonia style

by Henry Stuckey, playing both the piano and guitar. Skip was instrumental in the music of robert johnson, most notable for his supposed pact with the Devil at a lonesome crossroads at midnight. johnson later recorded his 32-20 blues based on a song by Skip james called 22-20 Blues. jack Owens (1904-1997) learned the bentonia style from james and would often stop by the blue front and visit and play the blues with jimmy Duck. Owens couldn’t read nor

write and had a hard time explaining to jimmy Duck the bentonia style but was determined to pass that distinctive sound on to him, often telling him, “boy, you got to learn this.” according to an article in Country Roads Magazine by john Wirt, “bentonia blues musicians tune the open strings of their guitar to a minor chord. The custom tuning gives the music a mournful, otherworldly quality.” “right, it can be mournful,” says Holmes. “Sometimes it can be happy. Sometimes you sound like you’re way down in the swamp. That’s what makes it so unique.” jack Owens wasn’t the only bluesmen to stop by the blue front back in the day.

Sonny boy Williamson no. 2 (rice Miller) and james “Son” Thomas stopped by to play the blues as they traveled up and down Highway 49. Son Thomas often would bump his voice up an octave and sing in the “falsetto” style which could lend quite an eerie quality to his music, reminiscent of the bentonia style. Today, blues musicians and guitarists come by and ask jimmy Duck if they can hook up and play, and they are always welcome to, often times being joined by jimmy Duck himself. The blues is a communal music, a lyric here, a straining

Jimmy Duck Holmes and Hank Burdine.

guitar rift there, an ethereal wail or a mournful plea for a lost lover…it’s the blues, baby.

So what is it that makes the blue front so special? Of course, its jimmy Duck, but it’s the entire scene: the family folks that are always there, the foreign blues travelers that have as part of their itinerary a stop and a visit along with a picture in front of the blue front, the local worker that stops by for a

beer on the way home and sits to talk. I have been consoled and advised by jimmy Duck himself regarding the pull of heartstrings by a lost love (“at our age, my friend, it ain’t about the women; forget ‘em.

It’s about the grand chillen’!” yeah, right!!?) and one afternoon recently, while waiting on jimmy Duck to show up, I spent an hour or so leaned up against the back bed of his brother’s truck. as we shared the same bottle, I listened to sage advice about family, and I learned well-taught and received business lessons. I felt at home. jimmy Duck Holmes is never happier than when he is in the blue front. “I pretty much grew up in here. I sleep at my house, but I live here. Seriously. I always knew the blue front was going to be a part of whatever I do.” returning home from one of his trips overseas, where he spread the bentonia blues, jimmy Duck stated, “I feel at home just about anywhere I go. I love playing music for the folks, and they’re all real nice…but I like to stay common. I like to keep my music that way too. So I don’t mind telling you, it feels awful good when I get on that airplane and I know I’m heading back to Mississippi.” DM

Touching lives.

Powering the future.

At Entergy Mississippi, the communities we serve are the communities we call home. That’s why we stay active and involved – because we know our responsibility reaches beyond the power grid.

So, we invest in education and industry, while developing new solutions to power tomorrow.

As a community, our successes fuel each other.

We’re all on a circuit. And together, we power life. entergybrightfuture.com

A message from Entergy Mississippi, LLC ©2018 Entergy Services, LLC All Rights Reserved.

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SAVE THE DATES

4th ANN UA

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4th Annual Pop Up Oxford

January 18-26, 2020 Art • Food • Cocktails • Lectures Musical PerformanceS • Ole Miss Basketball and more!

17th annual oxford

film festival 5-day celebration of independant cinema featuring screenings of over 200 films from around the world

A week long celebration of Oxford’s ricH cultural scene

MARCH 18-22, 2020

For schedule of events, visit PopUpOxfordMS.com.

For more information, visit Oxfordfilmfest.com.

1 0 1 3 J a c k s o n Av e . E a s t | O x f o r d , M S | 8 0 0 . 7 5 8 . 9 1 7 7 | v i s i t o x f o r d m s . c o m

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Must be 21 to enter casino. ©2020 Harlow’s Casino Resort & Spa. All rights reserved. Gambling problem? Call 888.777.9696.

Rescued Leflore Dry Cleaners sign sits in courtyard behind the old city hall.

68 | january/february 2020

Exploring the

GHOST SIGNS Of GreenWOOD

BY LIZA JONES • PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Before the construction of the Highway 82 bypass, downtown Greenwood was an important route into and out of the Delta.

The businesses there were in a prime position to make the best of it, so it was a bustling, thriving hub of marketing, commerce, entertainment, hospitality, and transportation.

The Dahmer Block was home to a number of hotels and the Bon Ton Cafe. Left, horseshoes cemented into the road outside of the old Juchheim Wagon Works. Below, ghost lettering is still visible and the wagon doors of the old Juchheim Wagon Works are still standing.

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Delta Feed Company facing Johnson Street.

Today, if you look closely enough while walking along its charming, brick-laid streets, you might be able to see pieces of this antiquated version of downtown Greenwood. but you have to know where to look. Old Greenwood lives on in the form of its antique buildings and ghost signs, which are advertisements painted, carved, cemented, or tiled directly onto buildings, floors, or sidewalks. ese advertisements are considered ghosts because the businesses are long gone, but the signage remains. just a glance at some of this old marketing might transport you back to the early twentieth century. Suddenly, you may hear the clipclop of horses, the rolling wheels of wagons along the brick roads, and the incessant commotion of honking old-timey cars and buses.

It wouldn’t take too much imagination, as downtown Greenwood still thrives with wonderful shops, businesses, banks, government buildings, and tourism, and at the same time, it preserves—frozen

Advertisement for RC Cola and the Super Soul Lounge.

70 | january/february 2020

in time, almost. and always, friendly chatter, church bells, and train whistles remain. e train tracks of the Illinois Central railroad and the C&G railroad along Carrollton avenue and johnson Street brought prosperity to the merchants of downtown Greenwood. One such of those merchants was Mr. Dahmer, a German immigrant who owned the whole block from George Street to Lamar Street on Carrollton, and the lovely tile that claims his block in green and gold still remains. according to Mary Carol Miller—an author, historian, and Greenwood native—the Dahmer block was occupied by a series of hotels and the bon Ton Café, where the Crystal Grill now stands. On the George Street end of this block was Dahmer’s general merchandise store, the words still visible over a century later. across Lamar Street from the Crystal Grill is some true ghost

Metal post in the front of the old Delta Feed with animal statuettes.

sign excitement: the juchheim Wagon Works. not only were wagons built there, it also served as a livery stable for horses, conveniently situated next to the train tracks. Doors made for the wagons to enter and exit still stand. When cars began to replace horses and wagons, Miller says it turned into a business for automobile upkeep. is transition is evident by the ghost sign on the side of the building, advertising “Windshield Glass, Seat Covers, and Curtains.” but the best remnant of the juchheim Wagon Works would have to be the horseshoes, cemented into the sidewalk in front of the building on Lamar—still as clear as day, stubbornly representing not only a longago business but also a long-ago form of transportation. across the tracks, on east johnson, is the sign for Kornfield’s Department Store, and though the business is an old one, their sign is not a ghost because, as Miller points out, “Kornfield’s is still a wonderful store.” On this side of the tracks, you might be able to feel the lively Saturday nights of the early to mid-twentieth century. is is where the Dixie eatre, which hosted musicians as big-time as bessie Smith, had lines that snaked all the way back to the tracks. e side of one of these east johnson buildings reads, “Super Soul Lounge,” next to a large advertisement for rC Cola, the rC huge. Down the block is a sign with an arrow that points to “Malouf record Shop—One block.” not far from here, facing johnson, is a fading façade on the side of a corner building, the word “Groceries” barely visible. Miller points out that this little store may have been the beginning of what became the world-famous Lusco’s restaurant.

Opposite from what is now rail Spike Park, the painted rear of a building advertises Delta feed Co. and their wares: insecticides, fertilizer, feed, and seed. e front of this edifice on Carrollton has a metal sign with a cow, a chicken, and a pig still standing atop the posts. across Main Street from the old Delta feed Co. is a long antique building with the faint words “Steele furniture,” still visible in large letters against a white background. is building, Miller says, was first built as Quinn Drug Company; it later housed Mallette furniture Company before becoming Steele furniture Company.

On the corner of Main and Church Streets stands a gorgeous blue and white Greyhound Station, as bright as ever, the lettering pristine. Inside, you won’t be able to buy a ticket for a Greyhound ride, but you can order a daiquiri and a snack at Tasty Sipz, the business that has just recently moved into this unique structure.

Whittington Dry Goods, in the three-story building on fulton

Sign pointing to the old Malouf Record Shop.

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A Viking-restored Coca-Cola advertisement.

Old Coca-Cola signs are ubiquitous due to saturation advertisement.

Wilson Banking Co. street view with columns: Wilson Banking Co. has been closed since the Depression, but the name charmingly remains over the door into Guaranty Bank on Howard Street.

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Street where Smith & Company now sells its goods, not only advertised the business name but also a product they sold inside the store, barely readable now. along Market and Howard Streets, banks clustered together. e banks moved around, merged, were bought, and were closed, but many times, they put their stamp on a building anyway. On the corner of West Market and Howard, Guaranty bank has just moved into a building with “Wilson banking Co.” carved above the doors with white Ionic columns on either side. after applauding Guaranty bank’s restoration of the building, Miller talks about the day that Mr. Wilson died. “anytime the principal officer of a bank died, the state bank examiners had to close the bank to look over the books. In 1931, distrust of banks during the Depression was common,” Miller says.

“When people saw the bank examiners closing the bank, they panicked and pulled their money out of banks all over town. Most of the banks closed and were never reopened, including Wilson banking Company.” a few steps down West Market, another bank remnant is carved

Klein & Blumenthal Building: Klein & Blumenthal Department Store script engraved into the building that houses Beard + Riser Architects and Delta Design Build Workshop.

above the doors of what is now Staplcotn. above one door is carved “Offices,” and over the next door, “bank.” is building was home to Henderson & baird, in addition to the bank of Commerce, which was the only bank to survive the Depression. Henderson & baird was the largest retail store in the state, Miller says, and it even featured a skating rink on the top floor. While standing there, Miller detects more ghost lettering. barely readable, it looks to be the beginning of the word “Henderson,” and the sign is so faded that it’s impressive she even notices it.

On the corner of Howard and West Washington, above what is now fincher’s, a faded sign advertises the “Security bank & Trust Co., a State bank, 4% Paid on Savings accounts.” Due to the fact that rates fluctuate, it seems bizarre to paint a rate or a product, as with Whittington Dry Goods, on a building in such permanence.

Miller explains that painting buildings was like putting up billboards back then. along the yazoo river on West front Street, a large Coca-Cola advertisement reads, “Drink Coca-Cola 5¢ Delicious and refreshing,” which Viking range restored. Its brightness and contrast of red and white are so suddenly striking in comparison to the many fading, and sometimes overlapping, ghost signs found elsewhere. “back then and even now, everything on a Coca-Cola sign has to be just right by their standards. e red has to be a certain red. It has to be that particular, iconic script. It cannot vary, and the proportions have to be just right,” Miller says. a few steps down the street is another faded Coca-Cola ghost sign. “ere were Coca-Cola signs everywhere. It was saturation advertisement. ey would paint on anyone’s building who would let them do it.” around the corner on Main Street, the old ford dealership is

Bank and Offices carved over the doors into Staplcotn.

The iconic Ford script tiled above what used to be the Ford dealership on Main Street.

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Repainted ghost sign of the New Deal Tobacco & Candy Co., restored by Gary Woody.

designated by beautiful blue and white ceramic tiles, again in the iconic ford script. across the street, the Swayze Cotton Company’s lettering has faded in the last few years, Miller says. after a few strides down Main, white and black tiles on the sidewalk spell out, “Smith. Gro. Co.,” a remnant of a grocery store

The old Leflore Dry Cleaners was the perfect backdrop for a scene from The Help.

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that had once done business in a structure on this site, which was demolished last year due to lack of preservation.

Turn around and on the corner of Market and Main Streets, the “Leflore Dry Cleaners” sign stands strong over the now Howard & Marsh exchange. is sign is so clear and perfectly aged that it was the chosen background of a scene in e Help. around the back of the wonderfully restored old city hall, the Leflore Dry Cleaners neon sign hangs in privacy in a peaceful courtyard. “ey were going to knock down the building, ten or so years ago, and so some enterprising person came and took this sign. en when it was decided that they weren’t going to knock it down, the neon sign magically reappeared,” Miller says. all along Main and Market Streets, right and left, are ghost signs for clothing, hardware, and automotive stores, remaining due to a loving nod to the past by present business owners. In the building where beard + riser architects and Delta Design build Workshop reside, “Klein & blumenthal Department Store” is engraved in script at the top of the building. In the alley behind is a surprising treat: the “new Deal Tobacco & Candy Co.,” which was a wholesale store that used to sell “King edwards Cigars” and “Tampa nuggets” to convenience stores, has been vibrantly repainted thanks to Gary Woody who had it restored after the property changed to his hands.

Inside what is now amelia Grace bridal, hexagonal tiles spell out “Kantrovitz,” which is the last name of the russian-jewish brothers who bought this site for one of their gentlemen’s stores in 1897. ey changed their name to Kantor for brevity’s sake in 1915 and consolidated into one building on Howard Street, naming the structure “adeline,” after one of their daughters.

It was common for banks and stores to paint rates and products directly onto the building, as seen here with “4% Paid on Savings Accounts” by the Security Bank & Trust Co.

“notice the names of the buildings carved or tiled into them,” Miller says. “naming buildings is a lost art.” and Greenwood has so many named buildings: the fountain, the bright building, the adeline, the Whittington, and, recently, the Durden and the Lorraine, which fred Carl named after his mother. “e bright building was Woolworth’s, which was the Walmart of its day but much better,” Miller says. Looking at the entrance to russell-omas antiques on Howard Street, Miller points out the trademark blue and white Woolworth’s tile preserved there.

Miller says there is one sign that is truly ghostlike. In the edifice on Howard Street where the new bank of Commerce operates, she claims that the words “first national bank” are carved there between the other ornamental carvings at the top of the building. but it’s not clear what she’s talking about, at first, because nothing is there. “you can only see the words for about ten minutes or less,” Miller says, “after the sun comes up behind these buildings and shines directly on the words.” a few mornings later, grabbing coffee downtown at an early hour, I happen to catch it, and just as soon as I do, the words are gone.

Vanished. a chill runs through me, and a train’s whistle echoes through downtown Greenwood. It’s obvious that this downtown is an interactive, live museum of Delta commerce, past and present, and it tells the story of how these businesses relate to each other through the centuries. as of now, it seems up to the present to rescue what remains of the past, while the past lends its charm to the present. DM The trademark Woolworth’s tile design on Howard Street, outside of Russell Thomas Antiques.

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RENAISSANCE AT COLONY PARK

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Featuring approximately 100 artists from across America, live music and children’s art activities WEEKEND ALSO INCLUDES Friday Evening, April 3 RUN NOW WINE LATER 5K

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All Weekend, April 3-5

CHEERS & GEARS BICYCLE RIDE

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by AAA’s Southern Traveler

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Play. Stay. Repeat.

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A Churchill Downs property. All rights reserved.

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EXPERIENCE THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA through prehistoric fossils, Native American pottery, Civil War history, cotton farming and regional art.

• 12,000-year-old Mastodon • 14th Century Pottery • Spanish Colonial Beads • World War II • Civil War • Swamp Room • Art Gallery • and more 1608 Highway 82 West Greenwood, Mississippi Mon - Sat 9a.m. - 5p.m.

Phone: 662-453-0925 museumofthemississippidelta.com

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THE POWER

of PLACE. MORE THAN A MUSEUM, A PUBLIC SQUARE. There is power in experience.

MORE THAN EXHIBITS, LESSONS. There is power in knowledge.

MORE THAN EVENTS, OPPORTUNITIES. There is power in connection.

MORE THAN HISTORY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. There is power in moving forward.

MORE THAN A DESTINATION, A JOURNEY. There is power in purpose.

S E E . L E A R N . E N G A G E . A C T.

450 Mulberry Street | Memphis, TN 38103 | civilrightsmuseum.org

A HERO

TURNS 100 The Amazing Life of Joe Barnes

BY KATIE TIMS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

oe Barnes was a farmer’s kid from the Mississippi Delta. He wanted to teach children, build a family, and make a decent wage on the outskirts of the Great Depression. But World War II intervened. Barnes shipped off to basic training and joined the 36th Combat Infantry. He fought deadly battles in Italy, earned the bronze Star

J

and Purple Heart, received a battlefield commission, took a sniper’s bullet in france, and then found true love in battle Creek, Michigan. joe barns is an american hero.

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Barnes shares a moment with his good friend, Senator Bob Dole, when Dole announced his candidacy for President.

On a Dirt Road The Great Depression raged, and few Leake County students barnes was born in Leake County, Mississippi, a rural area made it to college. There was barely money to survive, let alone fund northeast of jackson. It was 1919 and Highway 25, now a four-lane an advanced education. but barnes was determined. In 1937 he highway, was still a dirt road. Times were tough and the people started at east Central Community College in tougher. On 120 acres near Carthage, Press Decatur, Mississippi, taking general studies with barnes grew cotton and raised cattle. His wife, the goal of becoming a teacher. He and three Myrtle, ran the household and kept track of their friends lived in a little two-room house and three sons: barnes and his younger brothers, supported themselves by working on a local farm bernell and norman. for ten cents an hour.

“It was a hard life,” recalls barnes about his In 1939, he got his first job teaching at an upbringing. “Mom cooked on a wood stove, and elementary school in Kosciusko, making $57.50 we didn’t have electricity until I was a little older.” per month. He took summer classes at barnes was barely seven when he started Mississippi State university and then went back working alongside his father. The milked a dozen to teaching the next year, making $2 more per cows before breakfast, and they plowed the fields month. He was educated, making a decent wage with a mule, one row at a time. Long days for a on his way. little guy. but sometimes a man’s way doesn’t go as expected.

“That’s the way it was. back in those days, about twenty acres was all you could grow because you had to do everything by hand,” GoArmy! barnes says. “My dad had two sharecroppers, and In September 1939, Germany invaded all of us kids picked cotton.”

Poland and World War II began. america’s Barnes’s first wife, Dottie. at the time, Merrydale School in Leake County military machine revved to life, and barnes served all grades. Its 1937 senior class had three students—two girls registered for the draft. In May 1941 he left for basic training at and barnes.

Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg and then transferred to Camp Wolters “I always said I was the smartest boy!” he quips with a laugh. “Six in Mineral Wells, Texas. He joined the 36th Infantry Division, which started our senior year, and three dropped out for one reason or trained for over a year and then shipped out in april 1943. another. It was harder to stay in school in those days because “We were awfully crowded,” barnes recalls about that fourteeneveryone was so poor.” day journey from new york City to Oran, africa. “We were stacked 84 | january/february 2020

Barnes was awarded several medals during his service in World War II. Below, Barnes during active duty.

up four or five deep in a room with bunk beds. They fed us just enough to survive.”

In africa, the 36th Infantry Division—also known as the “fighting 36th”—trained and performed maneuvers. assignments were made. “every battalion had three rifle platoons and one weapons platoon. I was in a weapons platoon,” says barnes. “My platoon had two machine guns and three mortar squads. I started off as a gunner in the mortar squad.”

This is how the five-man squad worked: The gunner set up the mortar, and then his assistant dropped the shell into the end of the barrel. The explosive was fired, exploding the instant it came into contact with anything solid. Three ammunition carriers rounded out the squad. barnes was promoted to squad leader as a corporal; then he became a sergeant and section leader in charge of three squads.

(No) Simple Landing On September 5, 1943, the 36th Infantry Division shipped out. They were headed to Italy—the first americans to enter combat on the european continent.

“On the boat the afternoon before we were supposed to land near Salerno, Italy, they called all of us together. They told us that Italy had surrendered. They didn’t think landing would be too much of a job,” barnes recalls.

as a result, fewer preemptive measures were taken to soften the enemy’s coastal line. no shelling. no bombing. early the next morning when barnes and his three squads—two machine guns and one mortar—made what was supposed to be a “simple” landing. They were dumped into waist-deep ocean water near Paestum (a town about thirty miles south of Salerno), about one hundred yards from shore. but there had been a mix-up. according to barnes, he and his men were sent to the wrong beach at the wrong time. and the Germans were waiting. They could not see the americans, but they could hear water sloshing and the soldiers coming. Gunfire sprayed the beach and into the pre-dawn darkness. barnes and his men ran ashore and ducked behind the sand dunes. The firing continued.

“There wasn’t another soul around,” he recalls.

“There we were—twenty men trying to invade Italy all by ourselves.” from his vantage point, the Germans were firing guns from behind a clump of bushes.

“I told my boys, ‘Let’s set up that mortar and knock out that machine gun nest,’” barnes recalls. “but before we fired, that clump of bushes started moving off. It was actually a tank camouflaged as bushes!”

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firing stopped, and the tank rumbled off in the opposite direction.

“I told my platoon, ‘just fold that little mortar up and stay quiet as we can.’ Those next ten or fifteen minutes seemed like eternity.” at last, the other american troops landed, and the shelling began. barnes’s platoon rejoined its battalion a few days later.

“Our outfit was surprised to see us,” hes says.

“They thought we’d all been killed. Somebody had reported that he’d ‘seen Sergeant barnes laying on the beach, dead.’ Well, that was not true, thankfully.”

Tough Beyond Measure Italy may have surrendered, but the Germans didn’t agree.

They fought hard, and the results were deadly. Many men were killed in this “simple” landing. Once the americans gained a foothold at Salerno and the fighting paused, barnes’s platoon was ordered to retrieve dead soldiers along the beach.

“They had us pick up people who were not in our outfit to make it not quite as bad,” he says. “every solider had a mattress cover, and we used those as caskets, which was hard because it was hot, and the bodies had been there for a week. It was terrible.” (In total, the 36th Infantry Division suffered 19,466 battle casualties—the third highest among the divisions that fought in the european Theater.)

During the winter months of 1943-44, barnes and his fellow troops battled their way through the enemy-infested Italian mountains. The going was so rough, rocky, and steep that supplies, ammunition, and water had to be transported by men lugging heavily loaded backpacks. The going was painful, wet, muddy, and ungodly cold.

“We didn’t have the right clothes to keep us dry,” recalls barnes. “We nearly froze. We had a lot of casualties due to the weather. It was real tough.”

The fight went from one mountaintop to the next, never letting up. One night, barnes and his platoon leader, a lieutenant, hunkered in one foxhole as a constant barrage of shellfire blasted overhead. The platoon’s gunner and assistant gunner hid in another a few yards away. Suddenly, a shell screamed across the black sky and straight down that gunner’s foxhole.

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“I jumped out and ran to see if I could help,” barnes says about his immediate reaction.

Was there a moment’s hesitation? “no,” barnes answers plainly. “I heard them scream and thought they needed me. Of course, they didn’t— they were blown all to pieces. Those were two real good men we lost. We had a lot of good men killed.” barnes received the bronze Star medal for his courageous action.

Officer Joe Barnes It was june 1944 and into rome the 36th Infantry Division marched, its troops buoyed by the news of the D-Day invasion in normandy. americans flooded into rome and then north toward france. On the way, one afternoon barnes received orders to report to the company commander’s tent.

The commander was recommending barnes for a battlefield commission. normally, an enlisted man becomes an officer only after officer training or a specialized college education. In extenuating circumstances, however, exceptions are made for soldiers who exhibit extraordinary leadership skills in the field.

“The officers that came to us right out of school didn’t last long—they got killed or wounded,” says barnes. “They hadn’t seen a day of combat, and they didn’t know what to do. So even though I was platoon sergeant, I did the job of the platoon leader. I led the platoon—thirty or forty men— through a lot of combat in Italy. They all respected me.”

The company commander said he’d rather have an experienced solider than one more educated lieutenant. He offered the promotion to barnes, who promptly turned it down.

“I thanked him and said I wanted to stay right where I was,” he recalls. barnes believed a promotion would change the dynamic between him and his men.

“Officers and enlisted men don’t associate with each other,” he explains. “Officers have to be saluted by the enlisted men and served—it’s all business. My men and I had been through a lot together, and I wanted to stay with them.”

The commander insisted, however. He promised barnes that he could continue with the same platoon. a few days later, the uS army discharged joe barnes the enlisted soldier and then re-enlisted Second Lieutenant joe barnes.

Circuitous Route Home The fighting 36th advanced through northern Italy and into france, wiping out German strongholds along the way. The going was especially bad in one heavily wooded area near the Moselle river in the Vosges Mountains.

“We were trying to take an area, and the Germans had snipers in the trees picking off our soldiers,” barnes recalls.

“The only opening was a little road.”

The only way to advance was to shoot mortar shells ahead, which created a sniperfree tree tunnel through which the americans progressed. However, the weapon had to be positioned in the open, far from tree branches and undergrowth. It was there, in the middle of that little dirt road, that a sniper’s bullet ripped through barnes’s right leg.

He was rescued and transported to a field hospital. from there, he went to a bigger hospital in Italy, where he stayed for a couple of weeks.

One day, an orderly came by to ask barnes some questions. “How much do you weigh? How much luggage do you have?”

“What’s this all about?” barnes asked.

“Well, sir, you’re fixin’ to go home,” the orderly answered. barnes was ecstatic. He remembers, “I couldn’t eat another bite—I was so excited!”

Happenstance It was October 1944, and barnes was home—well, almost. The bullet severed a sensory nerve in his leg, which required multiple surgeries and advanced care. barnes stayed for months at health care facilities in Tuscaloosa, alabama, and battle Creek, Michigan. It was at the latter that barnes formed a life-long friendship with fellow World War II veteran,

united States Senator, and vice presidential candidate bob Dole. battle Creek is also where barnes met Dottie Kern, a military officer from Illinois. barnes was going in for yet another operation, and Dottie happened to be the admitting nurse. She asked questions, filled out paperwork, and kept the conversation going perhaps a little longer than needed. Then, later that evening, she came back to administer barnes’s penicillin shot and give the patient a back rub.

“That was a good back rub!” barnes remembers with a laugh. following that surgery, barnes asked Dottie for a date. They were married five weeks later—one day before her transfer to england.

Dottie’s father, a Methodist minister, conducted the wedding ceremony in the family’s living room in Peoria, Illinois.

Home is Mississippi World War II ended, and barnes’s leg healed. He and Dottie moved to Mississippi, and barnes finished his studies at MSu. The couple moved to Kilmichael, and they had two girls, Linda and julie. barnes worked first as an ag teacher and then took a job managing a farm owned by the Purina company.

In 1962, barnes returned to academics and took an ag teacher job in rosedale. He eventually became the school district’s superintendent. as for Dottie, she worked the whole time as secretary in the superintendent’s office.

They both retired in 1982. “after that, we took a walk every day,” he says. “We would talk a lot about how lucky we were.” and they were—for a little while. Shortly thereafter, Dottie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and she passed sixteen months later. They were married for forty-two years. eventually, barnes found love again with fellow rosedale resident Gladys Welshans, whose husband had also succumbed to cancer. Today, at one hundred and eighty-five, the two are still going strong. next year will be their thirtieth anniversary.

“It’s been a good life,” barnes says, in reference to his one hundredth birthday last july. “I’ve seen a lot. I’ve done a lot. I have family, friends, and so much to be thankful for.” DM

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HOME

Collected, Curated, and Comfortable Filled with antiques, art, and found treasures, the Ely family home in Shaw is well-loved and lived-in

BY SHERRY LUCAS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

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From the vaulted ceiling and cypress walls to the Oriental rugs on brick floors, the Ely home in Shaw combines warm comfort and elegant ease.

Memphis artist John Robinette’s painting of a church in a cotton field is a perfect accent in the family room filled with earth tones.

One of the many idyllic vistas surrounding the Ely home.

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C

ay Ely was just a teenager the first time she crossed the threshold at Peacock and got wrapped in the warm embrace of a house that subtly celebrates its nature and seamlessly suits its space.

Years down the road, she’d return that hug when it became her own.

Cay and Lars ely, working with her style and his spatial design skills and building on his late mother betty Lou’s aesthetics, have kept the family home a vital, inviting retreat.

It maintains a nod to its working farm surroundings and an appreciation of the fine Delta countryside just the other side of abundant windows.

The land has been in ely family hands since its purchase

by Lars’s grandfather james andrew ely in 1932 from the Cheek family (Maxwell House Coffee). The connection dates back even further; it was among the Delta plantations the ely ancestor managed before purchasing it several years after the 1929 stock market crash.

A prized painting by Mississippi artist Bill Dunlap is prominently hung over the windows in the living room.

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Elegantly set with Chanticleer by Herend, the informal farmhouse table anchors the dining room, located between the family room and the living room.

Lars’s attachment to the family home is lifelong, and then some. The far end of the house was originally a pair of shotgun houses on the family farm that his parents moved from down the road to this site. “The story is, my mother was pregnant with me when they moved those houses up here,” Lars says, “and she rode in the house as they moved it.” expansions gradually followed, as well as a rebuild by his parents after the house burned in the early 1980s. Lars and Cay wed in 1988 and, aside from a fifteen-year stint in Chattanooga, have lived onsite since—first in the 1936 home his grandparents built (known as the White House) and later in the main house. They moved back to Mississippi about a decade ago when Lars’s late father’s health was 92 | january/february 2020

failing; they purchased the farm from him in 2009.

On a recent crisp fall day, a crackling fire signaled a toasty welcome, echoed in the caramel leather club chair and creamy linen cushions of a comfortable sofa. The golden blonds, rich browns, and earthy reds of an emerging autumn seem to have followed inside, in the natural hues of brick floors and fireplace, Oriental rugs, wood surfaces, and cypress walls. The harmonious effect conveys an easy elegance with a slightly rustic riff. art and decor feel right at home—in every sense. Largescale audubon prints of a sandhill crane, great egret, and other wading birds naturally connect to the small and scenic swamp out front. Paintings by bill Dunlap, Gerald Deloach, and

A veranda on the front of the home is the perfect spot for open-air relaxation. Whether approaching the front or rear of the home, guests are greeted with comfortably appointed covered porches.

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Screened porches maximize the living space with casual elegance.

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A suite of windows in the kitchen opens up the room and invites the outdoors in.

ellen Langford and the atmospheric photography of eudora Welty, Tom rankin, and jack Spencer all carry a distinctive Mississippi stamp. a painting by Memphis artist john robinette, of a tiny church in a cotton field under a full moon, looks like it could be an onsite memory. The house lends itself to such, Cay says, and the art, in turn, enhances its surroundings. folk art finds a good fit, tucked in spots on walls, mantels, and more. “I don’t want to take any of it too seriously. I like to have a little bit of whimsy,” she says.

Lars credits Cay with the decor. “My input, mostly, is kind of keeping it the way it was and balancing it out,” he says.

Cypress beams in the vaulted ceiling came out of a barn that was on the farm. “They were cut off this place,” Lars notes. and the original house had wood recycled from the shotgun houses they’d moved.

“My mother—she was kind of ahead of her time, as far as restoring and preservation,” he says. Straight from the land, too, are arrowheads and old Indian marbles and pottery shards in a tabletop collection and the wren’s nest that finds shelf space on the back porch. a few framed photos span five generations in the ely family, from his grandfather’s wedding to a snapshot of his granddaughter—another reminder of the elys’ long-term stake here.

Cay recalls her first impression of the house, back when she and Lars dated in high school. “I came to the house when I was fifteen, and I was just amazed because it was so unique

A kitchen renovation in the last five years turned the room into a breezy galley kitchen with a view that connects seamlessly with the breakfast nook and dining room.

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design details

ACHIEVE THE LOOK

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The abundant windows provide natural light in the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

Stenciled magnolia leaves and blossoms by Will Gray Edwards trail across the powder room walls.

and so wonderful. His mom was just brilliant, always loved american antiques. … She didn’t want anything pretentious.

She was almost like frank Lloyd Wright as far as making the house fit the environment.

“She was very instrumental in imprinting on me, at fifteen, what I liked, so I give her a lot of credit.”

When Cay picked up a book on architect a. Hays Town decades later, she spotted a kinship in betty Lou’s use of onsite materials, brick floors, and more. “I was just blown away, and I really don’t think she had any exposure to him. She might’ve been pre-a. Hays Town…everything he did, she did.

“She knew what she wanted,” with such a purist view that, if people came over, she’d hide the telephone because she didn’t think it fit with the decor, Cay says, chuckling as she adds, “We don’t do that.

The driveway to the main house sets the tone for a home inextricably connected to the land.

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didn’t.” The more natural light “She was really before her time. streamed in, the more she wanted She didn’t follow trends at all. She to work with the cypress walls, not set trends.” fight them, and she selected colors Cay insists there’s “no rhyme or to complement and soften, not reason” to her decor, dubbing it “a compete. smorgasbord.” but there is a They flipped the kitchen five comfortable rhythm to the mix of years back, turning a dark room textures, warm wood surfaces, and into a breezy, open galley kitchen, windows that assure the landscape is where cream-colored cabinetry never far from sight; it’s the subtle stays below the counter and a suite touches that tie it together. “you’ve of windows welcomes in the view. got to stay true to what works in A brick chimney that survived the fire, once anchored your house, and I think I’ve done a formal living room but is now an outdoor feature on “Several people who’d been in before said, ‘y’all raised the ceiling.’ that. I’m not distracted by trends or the brick patio located off the family room. but we just changed the door whatever. Or at least, not very often. height,” Cay says, making doors taller to add the appearance “I don’t really like for things to look too decorated,” she of more loft to the room. says, “or too like somebody else has done it. It’s just eclectic.” even a windowless powder room boasts a nod to nature in Lars says the post-fire rebuild had left the house out of the stenciled, trailing magnolia branches and leaves on the balance. “He is really, really good at spatial design,” Cay says. walls, done by friend and artist Will Gray edwards.

“He knew the house and knew what to do with it,” and their Out back, a brick chimney that, pre-fire, anchored a formal renovations opened up the interior and added windows and living room is now an outdoor feature with a cypress mantel outside porches. and a garden set on the brick patio before it.

“It’s funny because when we first moved in, I felt like the beyond, a charming airbnb cottage tucks into a clump of house was too dark. I wanted to lighten it up, and some people shade trees between the tennis court and swimming pool. It’s suggested, ‘you need to paint the cypress.’ Thank God I

The guest room is filled with art and antiques providing a welcome respite.

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Exquisite bedding, framed antique prints and an inviting fireplace add interest and seasonal warmth in the master bedroom.

a first step in a venture to rehab the farm’s existing structures and position Peacock as an event venue for weddings, receptions, and concerts with a chapel, juke joint, another larger spot for overnight stays, and more.

“We’ve made a lot of progress and certainly have a lot more work to do,” says Cay, foreseeing a major push on the project this year.

“Lars just wants to share the farm because it really is unique.… and that’s due in large part to the conservation that his grandfather and his father and Lars have done.” DM

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extend your Stay

There is always more than you can do in a weekend in El Dorado.

We’ve always known how to show our guests a good time and with the addition of the multi-venue Murphy Arts District adjacent to one of the Best Downtowns in America, you are sure to encounter more than you ever imagined. Download our latest online community guide for all the upcoming festivals and events at ElDoradoInsider.com or call for your free copy.

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ELDORADOINSIDER.COM

Brooke Levy and Katie Savage of Blue Pencil Home have turned their passion for organizing into a business.

Stored, Stacked and

Memphis duo gives tips for organizing the after-holiday chaos and a checklist to kick off the New Year

Streamlined

The best business ideas almost always involve solving a problem. and better yet, some of them are born while having wine by the pool. That’s exactly what happened when brooke Levy and Katie Savage, two busy Memphis moms, discovered they shared a mutual obsession with organizing. Katie was in the middle of moving and brooke offered to help, and the rest as they say is history. as their friendship and business plan grew, they realized they were on to something and blue Pencil Home, an organization and consultation service was born. “When we realized that other people hate organizing and we loved it so much we knew we could really help people,” said brooke. It is a winwin all the way around—they are doing something they both enjoy while providing a much needed service. Their tips for this time of year revolve around un-decorating and repacking after the holidays and getting organized for the new year. - CC DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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Handling Holiday Chaos

Use clear containers and attach labels or photos identifying what’s inside, and where it is to be used.

Streamlining and storing decorations

• If you didn’t use it or decorate with it this year then get rid of it. Self explanatory.

• If it’s broken—it must go. Ornaments that may be broken, but are significant (vintage or passed down by a family member) that you can’t bear to part with, can always displayed in a lucite shadow box.

If you keep your holiday cards we recommend this card organizer by The Home Sanctuary.

Cont ai n you r lig ht

• The big dilemma—Christmas cards. We suggest that you don’t hang on to Christmas cards, but if you’re going to keep them we recommend using a card organizer that is broken out by year.

• Purchase something (such as a reel or spool that winds up) to contain your lights. And no matter how tired you are from the holidays, use it when you put them away.

• Invest in matching ornament containers that are easy to use. This will simplify your life. We like the ornament baskets from The Container Store.

Don’t neglect steps such as this or you’ll end up tossing things into a pile and will have to deal with the mess next year. containerstore.com

Take pictures of how each area was decorated. You may think you’ll remember how you decorated—but you rarely do. When you put items away, pack them according to where they were used, not by like items. For example keep mantle decorations separate from the Christmas tree—or guest bathroom decor separate from kitchen decor.

Attach the picture on the outside of the storage bin, so you know exactly what’s in each box and what room it goes to.

For wreaths and bows, keep storage simple. Hang them on a nail in the attic, so they don’t get crushed or lose their shape.

Take a photo of each area of your home to remember how it was decorated and pack items according to where they were used.

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s!

Need help getting organized? For more information about their services, contact Brooke and Katie at bluepencilhome.com

Ways to reorganize after the holiday toy explosion

Oh, the joys of Christmas and all the presents that come along with it. As fun as it is to watch children open their gifts on Christmas morning, eventually all those toys and trinkets have to go somewhere. Even if your house was pretty organized before the holidays, the Christmas toy explosion can often get things off track.

Tips to make room for the influx of new stuff. First start the decluttering process. This means pulling absolutely everything out and separating the toys into categories. If you have toys in multiple places, plan to go room by room to avoid getting overwhelmed—and tackle the room that stresses you out the most first, in order to get it out of the way.

Keep these questions in mind to help you decide what to keep or throw away • Does your child still play with this?

• Does it still work?

• Are any of the pieces missing, broken, or need batteries?

• Are there items in this room that should be somewhere else?

If most of your answers are no, then get rid of the item.

Other tips to decide what stays or goes

• We’ve found that the bottom of unlabeled bins and baskets are where all little and random toy pieces land. These odds and ends immediately go into the trash.

• If a toy needs batteries, this is an indication that your child has not played with it in a while and is no longer interested in it—so it’s time for it to go.

• Games that don’t have all of the pieces don’t make the cut either.

• If there is a random toy that doesn’t fit into one of the categories you separated all the other toys into, that should go too. The outliers are rarely things that your children want to continue playing with.

• Pack up toys that may have sentimental value one day. If your children have outgrown toys that you want to keep for their children like an old train set or American Girl dolls. It’s time to box them up, and put them away for later.

Before When organizing kids’ toys start with the room that stresses you out the most—and let the decluttering begin!

After

Once you have decided on what to let go of and what to keep, gather up the items that can be donated and get rid of the rest.

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We love using pegboards to help organize toys.

New Year Closet Declutter

If something is damaged, stained, doesn’t fit, or hasn’t been worn in a long time, let it go. Throw it away or donate it and be finished.

Just because you paid a lot of money for it years ago does not mean it remains valuable—if you aren’t using it, then it’s just taking up space. If you find yourself saying, “I might use this sometime in the future,” that’s a quick indication it needs to go.

Now that you’ve purged old toys, here’s how to organize what’s left

• Keep like things together. For instance all Shopkins items, American Girl dolls and their clothes, nerf guns and their bullets, and lego sets stay together!

• Keep board games out of reach. This helps keep them intact, because you’ll be more aware of when they are being played and can keep an eye out for any pieces that may go astray before putting the game away.

• Make sure you have a place for everything. Seems obvious, but when toys have a “home” children put their toys away. As much as we may be overwhelmed with the mess and chaos of a child’s room, so are our little ones. Help them, and help yourself, by getting organized! Having the right organization tools will be a big help during the process. We love using pegboards to organize kids toys—mostly nerf guns—but they’re also extremely useful in craft rooms. We’ve found that if the toys are in sight they’re more likely to be used and put back when the kids are finished playing with them.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

Touch every single piece of clothing that you own. Start with one or two pieces you love so you can remember that feeling when going through the rest of your items. This feeling is important because it means that piece of clothing sets the bar as you compare other pieces to the ones you really love. It sounds simple, but it works. Items that you get this feeling about? Keep them.

Things that you know immediately you do not want go in one of two places—a black trash bag or a donation pile. The black trash bag is for items you plan to toss—this is key because the bag prevents you from seeing them later and changing your mind. Items you want to get rid of, but not throw away completely go in the donation pile.

• Take advantage of vertical storage space. Ikea Kubbis hooks with Klunka laundry bag or Plumsa storage bags are great options that allows you to use vertical space without using a lot of depth.

We use these in play rooms to organize small toys. Kids can easily grab a bag off the hook and return it when they are done.

Don’t worry too much about your kids getting upset about a missing toy or two. Our children have never been sad that we’ve gotten rid of something; they are always so excited to be able to see all the toys they actually have!

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Behind the scenes: The mess always gets worse before it gets better during an organizing job.

The next step of the closet purge is deciding about the items you are unsure if you want to keep or toss. A lot of people stop at this point because the work gets a bit more tricky and can be time consuming. Don’t give up here—you will be so thankful you stayed the course!

For these items, use the following questions to guide your decisions • Does it fit today? (Skip this question if you are currently pregnant or postpartum!)

• Is it stained, torn, damaged, or worn out? (If yes, toss) • Do I try it on but never wear it? (If yes, donate) • Does it cause me to have negative emotions? (If yes, donate) Made it through all the questions and still not sure?

Invite a friend over who will be honest with you and try these pieces in front of her—she’ll veto what doesn’t look good and tell you what needs to be tossed immediately.

Now that you’ve decluttered you need to decide what exactly to do with everything. It’s one thing to purge and edit; but it can be daunting to know what to do with everything left over. If you have some solid pieces, in amazing condition, and believe you can make money at a price point that works for you, selling your clothes might be your best option. Use apps like Poshmark or eBay to sell on your own, or consign at a local consignment shop.

Not sure what your item might be worth? When pricing items for resale, research similar items online to see how much they sell for and how long they take to sell. Consider the following factors when pricing pieces for resale.

• Brands are important • Quality of the item is key • Style and trend will indicate if your item is still in demand

Before

Clothes that aren’t in the best condition should be donated to a good cause or tossed out. We know it can be hard to get rid of something you spent good money on, but remember to tell yourself the money is gone whether you keep it or not. Finding a charity with a mission you feel strongly about will make this decision easier.

General Home Organization Tips

Start the new year off more organized

Identify your problem areas • Trouble getting ready in the morning?

• How can you streamline your morning routine?

• Struggling to open your sock drawer?

• What space drives you the most crazy or where are you losing time?

If there’s an area that slows you down, or you find that every day you’re struggling to find something—that’s the area you should focus on fixing in the new year.

After

Resolutions Checklist TASKS TO CHECK OFF IN THE COMING MONTHS

✓ Organize your junk drawers

✓ Clean out your pantry and spice drawer—check for expiration dates

✓ Deep clean your fridge and freezer ✓ Organize linen closets—Keep only two sets of sheets for each bedone spare ✓ Purge cabinets of serving pieces you keep for holidays if they weren’t used

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FOOD

Southern. American. Exploring.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AUSTIN BRITT

hat’s how crystal Mckone describes her style and that of her restaurant, old Town stock House in Guntersville, Alabama,

T

where she enjoys sourcing local and seasonal ingredients. McKone was the guest chef at a recent Delta Supper Club, and her eclectic menu—which ran the gamut from short rib po’ boys to duck roulade with a port reduction—certainly confirms her self-described style. “Being asked to cook for the Delta Supper Club was an honor. Stewart, David and their team are amazing. The entire experience was so much fun and top notch,” said McKone. “Their execution of these events is truly remarkable.” We hope you’ll try some of the following recipes McKone has shared with us from the event! – CC 108 | january/february 2020

Beet Cured Salmon

Rice Consommé

Squash and Chorizo Gratin

Mud Cake with Swiss Meringue

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SQUASH AND CHORIZO GRATIN 2 1 1 2 2 1 ½ 4 1 ¼ 2 2 ½

tablespoons butter medium onion, chopped tablespoon fresh thyme, picked and chopped small fall squash, cut in ½ inch cubes cloves garlic, minced salt and pepper cup chicken stock cup heavy cream tablespoons chipotle pepper in adobo, puree pound mexican chorizo, cooked cup panko crumbs tablespoons grated parmesan tablespoons freshly chopped parsley cup gruyere cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a large cast iron pan, and sweat onion and thyme.

In a separate pot, boil squash until tender, but still with a bite to it.

Strain. In the cast iron pan, with the butter, onion and thyme, add the cooked squash, garlic, salt, pepper, cream, stock and chipotle. reduce by approximately half, until sauce thickens. Mix in chorizo and gruyere, and top with buttered panko and parmesan. bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

BEET CURED SALMON 1½ 3¾ 1 ¼

pounds salmon cups red beets, shredded cup salt cup sugar fresh dill

Line 2-inch pan with plastic wrap, place one side of salmon on plastic, skin side down. Mix shredded beets, salt and sugar. Top salmon flesh with fresh dill, then top with beet mixture. Wrap side of salmon with plastic, as tight as you can. Then wrap entire side with another piece, also very tightly. Place an additional 2-inch pan on top of the salmon, pressing on the salmon. Tie with twine, or put 2 number-10 cans in the pan to weight it down. Cure for 3 days. remove from plastic wrap, rinse off cure, and dry. Slice thin. be sure to cut out the blood line.

RICE CONSOMMÉ ½ 2 1 5 2½ ⅓

medium onion, diced cups jasmine rice cup sliced mushrooms, sautéed cups veal stock teaspoons salt pound butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sweat onion and mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter, add rice and lightly toast. Transfer to baking pan, and cover with stock, salt and the rest of the butter (in cubes) Cover and bake for 30 minutes. uncover and cook another 30 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed.

Delta Supper Club’s David Crews and Stewart Robinson with McKone.

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Beef Tartare

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Mini Short Rib Po’Boys

Smoked Chicken Drummettes

SHORT RIB PO’ BOY 1 ½ 1 1 2

pound boneless short ribs cup red wine quart veal stock or beef clove garlic, smashed sprigs thyme Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Season both sides of short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat saucepan. Sear both sides of short rib. Deglaze pan with red wine. Pour in stock, add garlic and thyme. Cover pan with lid or foil, and place in 250 degree oven for 4 hours. remove ribs from pan and shred meat and set aside. Skim fat off the remaining braising liquid, strain, and reduce to sauce consistency—if using beef stock, you may want to add a roux or slurry in order to thicken. Place meat in sauce.

To assemble, spoon meat over a toasted french baguette, a crusty po’ boy or a hoagie style bun. Top with pickled green tomato slices.

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PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES 2 1½ 1¼ 2½ ¼ 1 1 1 1

large green tomatoes cups white vinegar cups apple cider vinegar cups sugar cup salt teaspoon mustard seeds teaspoon red pepper flakes teaspoon coriander seeds tablespoon black peppercorn

Thinly slice tomatoes, and place in a container with a lid.

Put spices into a dry sauce pot. Toast over medium heat, until fragrant. add liquids and sugar, and allow to boil, until sugar dissolves. allow to cool, to luke warm, and pour over tomatoes.

Pickle for at least 3 days.

PAN SEARED SCALLOPS WITH BROWN BUTTER EMULSION (served over sautéed kale with red pepper jelly) scallops (allow 3 per person) canola oil salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Season scallops with salt, heat pan, when pan is screaming hot, before it starts to smoke, put canola oil in pan, and place scallops in pan. Sear until golden brown, flip, and put in oven for 1 minute. remove from oven and serve.

SAUTEÉD KALE 2 1 ¼ ¼

tablespoon butter pound kale, de-stemmed white onion, finely diced cup red pepper jelly, thinned with a tablespoon warm water

Heat a sauté pan, sweat onion in butter until translucent, add kale and sauté until slightly tender. Stir in pepper jelly, finish with salt and pepper.

BROWN BUTTER EMULSION 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 ½

pound butter, cut in cubes tablespoon dijon tablespoons champagne vinegar tablespoons lemon juice tablespoons soy sauce cup mushroom stock cup brown butter, made from the 1 pound of butter cup blended oil salt and pepper

Melt the butter, whisking occasionally so that the milk solids do not burn. Continue cooking until the butter reaches the brown butter stage and remove from the heat to stop cooking. Set aside.

Put the mushroom stock, soy, vinegar, lemon and mustard into a blender. While the blender is running, slowly add the brown butter and blended oil then season to taste. Serve immediately.

To plate the dish, top sauteéd kale with scallops then drizzle brown butter emulsion over and add a dollop of red pepper jelly if desired.

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⤴

GARDEN

Arum Leaf

Mahonia Berries

Pyracantha Berries

A Continuous Palette of Color It’s the time of year to plan your landscape

BY BRANTLEY SNIPES PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRANTLEY SNIPES

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F

or lack of a better, or more perfect, analogy, my roots in landscape design began with floral design. Throughout my high school and college years, I worked for a variety of floral designers, all of whom taught me much of what I incorporate into landscape designs today. one of these designers was my mother, who could make the most beautiful arrangement out of the most random of assortments of greenery and blooms from our backyard, or should I say, our neighbors’ yards or empty lots throughout town. her philosophy would be why destroy one’s own floral and greenery palette for arrangements when you could simply borrow from others. I vividly recall ducking in the backseat as we would do a “ride by snipping” from some of her hidden vegetation supplies throughout town. Luckily, we have yet to bail her out of jail for landscape larceny.

Over time, I outgrew my embarrassment and learned to recognize this activity as a true talent...utilizing your landscape resources in your floral arrangements. not only was this a time and budget saving activity, but utilizing plant material found in your own landscape threads your exterior design with your interior design for a beautiful cohesion of colors, textures, and vibrancy. I carefully craft each landscape design to ensure there is interest throughout the entire year. This way you always have something beautiful to look at, and unexpected house guests can be greeted with a creation from your own landscape palette.

Creating your palette is not as overwhelming as you may think. The first thing to note is that not every plant makes a great staple in a floral design. for example, azaleas provide both amazing color and evergreen structure in your yard

Aucuba

Seasonal arrangements with yard cuttings.

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Seasonal blooms and foliage to cut for yearround arrangements Evergreen foliage • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Aspidistra (Cast Iron Plant) Boxwood fatsia eleagnus Pittosporum Aucuba holly fern Magnolia Cleyera Chindo Viburnum Papyrus Assorted holly Waxleaf Ligustrum

Winter

• Camellia • Arum • Assorted holly and Ligustrum Berries

Spring • • • • • • • • •

Daffodil hyacinth Quince forsythia Japanese Magnolias redbud Dogwood Snowball Viburnum Spiraea (Baby’s Breath & Bridal Wreath)

Summer

• hydrangea • roses • Vitex

Fall

• ornamental Grasses • Vitex Seed Pods • Blooming Ginger

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Limelight Hydrangea but do not cooperate in a floral arrangement. To get started with your own palette, simply create a list of seasons and take notes if you notice anything blooming; if nothing is blooming, then your work begins here.

The winter season is ideal for berry production within our landscape, and berries make a beautiful addition to arrangements. In addition, don’t overlook the underlying structure of your deciduous plant material. Often, bark can be one of the most visually interesting additions to any arrangement. Winter is also a showcase of camellias here in the South. Starting in September and continuing through february, camellias are an amazing pop of color in a gray winter landscape. an absolute favorite winter plant of mine that I use in the landscape and arrangements is the arum leaf. The winter counterpart of a hosta, the arum comes up during the winter instead of the summer and offers variegation in our winter landscapes.

Spring is an exciting time as our landscapes are coming back to life after a winter’s hibernation. early bloomers that work well in arrangements are flowering quince and forsythia. These blooming stems can be brought inside as just buds and explode into bright colors on your dining room table. Spring bulbs, such as hyacinths and daffodils, are a great way to have some early flowers inside and then

transfer them into your landscape for next year’s bloom. for dramatic effect in your arrangements, consider bringing in a japanese magnolia, dogwood, or redbud branch. These can even be beautiful standalone floral features.

Summer offers an abundance of blooming perennials, flowers, and shrubs, such as hydrangeas, coneflowers, lilies, and daisies. yet in the South, summer is associated with the vibrant color of green offered by our evergreen landscape plants. just as it is important to have blooms in your landscape, it is just as important to balance the blooms with evergreen structure. Summer is just the time to ensure you’ve got this balance. evergreen plants create our foundation plantings, hedges, and screens. boxwood, rosemary, elaeagnus, pittosporum, aspidistra, fatsia and cleyera all make exceptional evergreen additions to a landscape and translate into a vase very well. Don’t underestimate your vegetable garden when it comes to arrangements. Vegetables make unique additions to floral arrangements in the summer months. fall in the Delta is just summer part 2, so we don’t always get the beautiful array of fall foliage, with which to work. What we do get in September/October are ornamental grasses whose plumes dance in the harvest breezes. Ornamental grasses offer a layer of softness and movement to our landscapes and the same in our arrangements. fall also offers pods, dried blooms, and different textures to add to floral designs that cannot be found during any other season. now if you’re unsure of if a plant in your landscape will work in an arrangement, simply do a test run. Snip it and put it in water before you intend on using it. Some very common landscape plants, such as nandina, would seem to be ideal floral arrangement candidates but wither after several hours in water. as a new year has begun here in the Mississippi Delta, begin to take inventory of your landscape. Do you have a void? bare spot? area that needs to be screened?

Simply start with your list and begin to develop your game plan. remember to check light, moisture, and size conditions for the location you intend to plant, and always choose the right plant for the right place! DM

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Covering the Most Southern Place on Earth!

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HISTORY

BLACK & WHITE Department Store Remembering a Yazoo City landmark

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ

130 | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

immy Chisholm never dreamed as a child needing shoes that he’d someday own a store where he could have all the shoes he wanted.

DAWN R. DAVIS

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for fifty-six years, Chisholm worked in the iconic black and White Department Store in downtown yazoo City, but as a boy of ten, new shoes were a luxury to a child who grew up in poverty. “My father was killed in a logging accident when I was little, and my mother had to raise five children in a one-room house. There was no bedroom, no running water and no telephone.

Momma didn’t even have a car.” Chisholm recalls folks from the church taking the kids into town to buy shoes at the black and White store. “My sisters got shoes, but they must have thought mine would be OK for a while longer, so I didn’t get any. I remember crying to myself, going home with my old shoes still on my feet.” but years later, Chisholm got a job at the store, working in the shoe department. “I had been working here a few days before I remembered that day as a child when I didn’t get any new shoes. I knew then that I had come full circle and that God had a plan for me.”

The store opened in 1939 as Shainbergs, and was part of a chain of department stores that were located in Greenwood, Philadelphia, Canton and yazoo City.

“There were actually three stores here in yazoo City,” Chisholm said. “That was before Walmart came onto the landscape.”

The stores worked together to form a buying group, so they could get goods at a cheaper price. When Chisholm began working in the store in 1961, the black and White store was owned by a jewish businessman, bernard fink, and his father-in-law, Louie Price. “I was 20 years old when I began working there,” recalled Chisholm. “Mr. fink put me to work in the shoe department, and after three weeks, he took me to market with him up to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. He taught me how to buy.” fink asked Chisholm to go with him to new york to market and Chisholm balked. “I really didn’t know much about big cities, and I told him I would stay here and look after the store while he was gone.”

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THE YAZOO HERALD

The first article published on the store in June, 1939 and a newspaper advertisement from 1960.

Chisholm went into the army reserves for a spell, then returned to the black and White store as a manager. He went on to become the operations manager before Mr. fink sold the Philadelphia store and approached Chisholm and two others who worked in the store to buy the yazoo City location. Chisholm bought out one of the buyers and the other partner died, and by the mid-1980s Chisholm was the sole owner of the store.

Those who shopped in the store up until its closing this year may have thought they were walking back in time. “not much changed since I started working at the store,” laughed Chisholm. at one time the store carried luggage, rugs, and some housewares.

The store also had a large fabric department in the front of the store. “That’s one thing I remember vividly,” said ann Turner 132 | january/february 2020

Williams, who grew up shopping in the black and White store. “I loved looking at all the beautiful fabrics when I walked into the store. I guess they had fabric because so many people made their own clothes at that time.” The store continued to offer sheets and towels in addition to men’s, women’s and children’s apparel and accessories. The shoe department remained in the same place it had always been, in the back of the store.

“In the 1980s, shoes were fifty percent of our business,” Chisholm said.

Whit Geary, a yazoo City native who lives in Madison said that she shopped at the black and White store since she was a small child. “I shopped there all through school, and I vividly remember the swimsuit I bought there for our senior party in high school.” Geary said she was always fascinated by the stairs in the back of the store. “I was

mesmerized by them,” she laughed. “I thought upstairs was a never-never land and I wanted to be up there all the time.” Turner also recalled the black wrought iron stairs that led to the second story of the store.

“That used to be part of the sales floor. as a child, that iron staircase seemed larger than life to me. I loved going upstairs, and I loved playing in the dressing rooms!” eventually, the upstairs area was no longer open to customers. It was used for storage and office space.

Chisholm said that he remembers when the store was always full, especially during the holidays. “Saturdays were always busy.

People would come to town and they were ready to shop. Surprisingly, the biggest day we ever had was just before father’s Day, in the late 1970s. We still can’t figure out where all the money came from. People really

THE YAZOO HERALD

bought a lot for their fathers that day!” as the longest-running department store in yazoo City, the store saw plenty of history over the years. It weathered the civil rights movement and continued to serve all citizens of yazoo City. “Mr. fink was a jewish man, and he believed in treating all customers equally and fairly,” said Chisholm.

“That was always the way we ran the business. everyone was welcomed to shop at the store. There was never a problem for us in this town.”

Chisholm said he learned many other lessons from fink over the years, including buying low and selling low. “We tried to give our customers a good deal every day.” While the store once had over 40 employees, there were eight employees when the store closed, despite plenty of steady repeat customers who are very loyal, and folks returning to yazoo City who loved to visit and reminisce.

“I hadn’t been back in several years,” said Turner, who runs a florist shop in jackson.

“I came to yazoo City for the jerry Clower festival and my mother, who still lives in yazoo City, and I went to the store. I was so happy to see that little had changed. It even smelled the same as I remembered it! The Chisholms are such wonderful people. It was like going down memory lane. The store will be missed, because shopping there was such a joy.”

Turner said that her 92-year-old mother worked with the Chisholms for years on a mission through the Christian Service Center at her church in yazoo City. “Part of that ministry is providing one new school uniform for children in need each year. My mother worked with the Chisholms to order the uniforms and get them to the children.” belinda Stevens, a criminal defense attorney who practices in yazoo City said her parents always shopped at the black and White store. “Mama bought lots of things there for our family,” Stevens recalled. “I guess everyone in town shopped there. up until they closed, my friend Carolyn was a devoted customer—she had to stop in at the black and White store every time she visited yazoo City. She always found so many things for her grandchildren. The Chisholms were always so good to their customers.” until the store closed, Chisholm and his wife, nelda, worked in the store every day, along with their son, john. “john grew up in the store. He started working there in the eighth grade and he knew it better than anyone,” said Chisholm. DM

A newspaper advertisement from 1957, introducing employees.

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EVENTS The musical Cats will perform at Thalia Mara Hall.

FESTIVALS, MUSIC & FUN THINGS TO DO January 10-February 7

Greenville

January 28-February 1

Memphis

William Dunlap Art Exhibit

36th International Blues Challenge

EE Bass Cultural Arts Center Opening reception Jan. 10, 5:30-7:30 pm

Beale Street

January 31-February 1 January 10

Tunica Resorts

Criss Angel RAW: The Minkfreak Unplugged Horseshoe Casino

Jackson

A Night in Vienna with Mississipi Symphony Orchestra

Expo Center, 1040 S. Raceway Road brprodeo.com

Memphis

Tool in Concert FedEx Forum

February 8, 7:30 pm February 1, 11 am-12:30 pm

Thalia Mara Hall

Carrollton

A Taste of Soup and Art Exhibit

January 15-16

Cleveland

Delta Ag Expo Delta Expo Building

Cleveland

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

February 9, 7:30 pm Jackson

Star Wars with Mississippi Symphony Orchestra

FedEx Forum

Jackson

The Glenn Miller Orchestra Thalia Mara Hall

February 4, 7:30 pm

January 16, 7:30 pm

Jackson

Ron White Thalia Mara Hall

Tunica Resorts

Cleveland

Finding Neverland

February 11

Bologna Performing Arts Center bolognapac.com

The Beach Boys

February 6, 6-8 pm

Greenville

February 13-14, 8 pm

Habitat for Humanity Wine Tasting

Cats

Gold Strike Casino

Washington County Convention Center

Thalia Mara Hall

February 6

February 15

Tunica Resorts

Tunica Resorts

Three Dog Night

Jo Koy: Just Kidding World Tour

Suzy Bogguss

Fitz Casino

Gold Strike Casino

The Orpheum Theater

January 24-26

Clarksdale

February 8

Greenville

February 15

10th Annual Clarksdale Film Festival

8th Annual Mississippi River Marathon

Patti Labelle

clarksdalefilmfestival.com

Downtown Greenville

Horseshoe Casino

134 | january/february 2020

Memphis

The Orpheum Theater

Engelbert Humperdink January 18

Memphis

Celine Dion: Courage World Tour February 10, 7 pm

Thalia Mara Hall

Bologna Performing Arts Center bolognapac.com

Oxford

Righteous Brothers Ford Center

Carrollton Community House visitcarrolltonms.com

February 1, 7:30 pm

January 15, 7:30 pm

January 17

Greenville

6th Annual Greenville Heritage Rodeo

January 31, 7:30 pm

January 11, 7:30 pm

Disney’s Aladdin

Jackson

Memphis

Tunica Resorts

Celine Dion

The Simon & Garfunkel Story

February 16-17

Greenville

Annual Gun Show Washington County Convention Center

February 21

Cleveland

Junior Auxiliary Charity Ball Willard Samuel Gymnasium 700 N. Chrisman Avenue

February 21

Grenada

An Evening with Elizabeth Heiskell Corey Forum Holmes Community College Grenada Garden Club serves hors d’oeuvres while Elizabeth Heiskell delights with farm to table tips For tickets: 662-809-0753, grenadagardenclub@gmail.com

February 26-March 8

Memphis

Disney’s Aladdin The Orpheum Theater

February 27-March 1

Greenville

Little Shop of Horrors Delta Center Stage deltastage.com

February 27-29

Starkville

Charles H. Templeton Ragtime & Jazz Festival Mississippi State University festival.library.msstate.edu

February 29

Tunica Resorts

The O’Jays Horseshoe Casino

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HEATON PECANS is a family business that began as a fruit stand selling peaches and pecans from our family orchard.

We are still family owned today!

With the holidays fast approaching, our customized gift packs make the perfect treat for your clients, friends and families. Drop by today to see our expanded selection of gifts for the whole family.

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Hwy 161 N • Clarksdale, MS www.heatonpecans.com 1.800.451.6081 136 | january/february 2020

BOOK SIGNINGS

R. J. Lee

Jenn Shapland

Playing the Devil

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers

Will Jacks

January 29, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

February 10, 5:15 pm: Square Books, Oxford

Po’ Monkey’s: Portrait of a Juke Joint

Michael Zapata

Gish Jen

January 15, 5:30 pm: EE Bass Cultural Arts Center, Greenville

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

The Registers

Alex HItz

January 30, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford February 1, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

The Art of the Host: And Rules for Flawless Entertaining

February 10, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford Ashley Elston

10 Blind Dates February 12, 5 pm: Square Books, Oxford

January 10, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

Jerry Mitchell

Jeanine Cummins

Melissa Albert

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved

American Dirt

The Night Country January 13, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

February 4, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson February 5, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

Deborah E. Barker and Theresa Starkey

Luke Geddes

Detecting the South in Fiction, Film and Television January 16. 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

February 18, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford Cynthia Newberry Martin

Tidal Flats Heart of Junk

February 19, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

February 6, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford

Trent A. Brown

Murder in McComb Ryan Starrett and Josh Foreman

February 20, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

January 9, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

Hidden History of New Orleans

Pam Houston

Nic Stone

February 8, 2 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

Deep Creek

Kenneth & Sarah Jane Wright

Lee Durkee

Lola Dutch, I Love You So Much

The Last Taxi Driver

February 10, 4 pm: Square Books, Oxford

February 26, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

Peggy Wallace

The Broken Road

Clean Getaway January 10, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson Ashley Wurzbacher

Happy Like This

February 19, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford

January 23, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford

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DELTA SEEN

Kay Long and Neysa Yeager

Girls, Guitars, and Rocktail Bars Annual Gala at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi in Cleveland on November 1 Photos by Bill Powell

Laken and Ashton Johnston Lynn and Angel Hardin

Leigh Anne Gant, Debra Yawn, Stephanie Lusk and Presley Lee Gainspoletti

Mary Neff Steward, Kelli Stainback and Stella Britt

Nick Mclain and Jes Martinson

Sean and Susannah Wessel and Tammy and Danny Whalen 138 | january/february 2020

Shelia and Bill Grogan

Mary Helen and Rogers Varner

Paige Suares and Beth Mansour

Wilma and Bob Wilbanks

DELTA SEEN

Alinda and Nevin Sledge

Danny and Mary Kay Griffith

Amber and Shannon Myers

Debbie and Robert Heslep

Elizabeth Veasey, Jamie Murrell and Mary Elizabeth Jeffreys

Hilda Povall and Walton Gresham

JoDonna Watson and A B Cox

Billy and Becky Nowell, Julia Baird and Roger Keys

Candace and Lance Dalton

Debbie Hutchison, Debbie Powell and Randy Hutchison

Jamey and Gary Gainspoletti

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DELTA SEEN

Art Place Mississippi Garden Party in Greenwood on October 25

Mary Taylor Killabrew, Pryer Hackman and Megan Litton

Portia and Mikhail Collins

Mary Lucia Smith and Katie Tommey

Rachel Goldberg and Shawn Hodges

Derek and Elizabeth Hinckley

Wade Litton and Marko Lovrinovic

Brittney-Davis Green, Kathie Golden, Abigail Newsom and Portia Collins

Karyn Burrus and Ashley Farmer

Megan Skelton and Powell Litton

Marcus Banks and Abigail Newsome

Joseph and Shelby Gorden

Ashley Scott and Wendy Hausner

Spence and Julia Townsend 140 | january/february 2020

Robert Earl and Terry Grantham, David and Alicia Dallas with John and Marsha Lucas

DELTA SEEN

Catfish Row Museum Showcase on December 3 and Jingle Bells and Cocktails on December 10 in Vicksburg Photos by Claiborne Cooksey

Cissy Anklam and David Day

Laura Beth Strickland and Sam Andrews Frank and Ellaine James

Will Jacks, Linda Fondren and Dr. Timla Washington

Buddy Dees and Jimmy Venson

Elyce Curry and Leigh Hyland

Gwen Edris and Peggy Teller

Pablo Diaz and Bob Morrison

Blake and Stacey Teller

Marcus and Kierstan Dufour

Patty and Rick Stone

Ed and Anita Schilling

Karen and Mike Calnan with Reatha Creary

Jeanne and Brother Blackburn

Debbie Haworth and Mary Jane Wooten Elizabeth Nelson and Ashley Gatain

Laura Beth Strickland, Stacey Mahoney, and Annette Kirklin

Norma Massey, Corin Morrison, and Peggy Teller

Reatha and Brigadier General Robert Creary

Nick and Bridget Jones DeLTa MaGazIne 2020

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DELTA SEEN

Holiday Art Show at Cassidy Bayou Art and Cultural Center in Sumner on November 23 Photos by Blake Crocker Book Signing at Turnrow Bookstore in Greenwood on October 31 Photos by Johnny Jennings

Traciy Meridith, Kyd Clark and Ellen Tubbs

Henri and Charlie Messelwhite

Mike Wagner with Harriet and BoBo Catoe

Sherry Fernandez, Erin Lee and Leslie Banard

Randy and Margaret Jefferson with Machelle Williams

Shelby Gorman, Donald Miller and Elizabeth Hinckley

Donald Miller and June Evans 142 | january/february 2020

Erica Hall, Carolyn Norris and Hayden Hall

Brandi Pillow, Chris Winter, Sr. and Donald Miller

Jac Cooper, Coby Van and Christopher Winter

Donald Miller and Donna Newell

DELTA SEEN

A selection of photos by Delta Magazine readers.

Libby Rae Watson, Alden, Hank and Norman Adcox and Jon Hornyak at a Matt Burdine at the Blues and Greens Festival Memphis Grizzlies basketball game

Susan Fulton, Jami Laws, Caroline McIntosh, Lea Margaret Hamilton and Cindy Coopwood at bid day at Ole Miss

Governor Elect Tate Reeves, Elee Reeves with Jamey Johnson Laura Howell and Rori Herbison at Dale Pillow, Christie Beattie, Mike Sturdivant and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast the State Arts Conference Johnning Jennings

Members of the Bayou Academy Class of 1980 at The Peabody. Seated left to right, Tonya Price Brekher, Keith Wood, Lauran Casten, Georgia Tindall and Marie Ware Lisa Reginelli, Makenzie Swiatkowski, Avery Grace Boshers, Ned Mitchell and Don Barrett visiting enjoying a performance at Bologna Performing Rob Malone; standing left to right, Gay Reginelli, Ground Zero Blues Club Greg Mangialardi, Luther Bailey, Bobbie Fay Moore Lea, Nancy Arts Center Armstrong, Harry Tarsi, Kim Tarsi and Terri Mangialardi

Frank and Prentiss Howell, Drew Holcomb of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors with Erik and Laura Howell at Bologna Performing Arts Center

Becky Nowell, Nan Sanders, Alinda Sledge and Kitty Kossman at the Charlie Pride Grammy Museum Concert

Erica Eason Hall, Hank Burdine and Cindy Coopwood at Mistletoe Marketplace in Jackson

KA fraternity brothers, Brad Kilgore, William Douglas, Cal Mayo, John Rodgers Brashier, Randy Ivy, Scott Coopwood, Mike McGee, Don Kilgore,Terry Roberson and Ricky Hentz at the Grove on game day

Sammy Hagar and Derek St. Holmes at the James Burton Guitar Festival

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Thefinalword

In tribute to the flying things of the Delta

BY LIZA JONES

eople were awestruck when they found out I was moving from nashville to a farm outside of Tchula, Mississippi, in 2011. I was twenty-four years old and was going to marry a farmer with whom I’d been in a long-distance relationship for three years. but for me, it was a lovely feeling to put my mattress and clothes—which were the only things I owned at that point—some place final. e final resting place of my mattress and clothes came in the form of a little ranch house in the middle of bee Lake, or in the middle of nowhere as my mother would say. Whenever people asked me about my life, they’d either get this romantic look in their eyes about my life on the farm, or they’d give me a horrified look of pity.

It all depended on the person.

To me, it was just my crazy life as usual, and in those first months and years as a transplant from a big city, I noticed a lot of eccentricities about the Delta that I had never seen or experienced.

During my first fall here, I was intrigued with the blackbirds around my house at first. “Oh, how cool. Look how they fly in unison like a school of fish in the air. Look at the pretty red on their wings.” I wistfully listened to “blackbird” by the beatles, watched as they flew as one around our yard, and thought of myself as a nature girl. en after a couple of weeks of listening to their deafening screeches, I ran into the yard, screaming my own heavy-metal version of the famous beatles song. “blackbirds, fly! Seriously get the hell out of my yard!” I was in my own Hitchcock movie. e birds were everywhere—multiple flocks— and it seemed to me that there were rival flocks battling it out over the territory of my home like some kind of avian West Side Story.

So I complained about this to a Delta-native friend. “yeah, my aunt just shoots her cannon,” she said. I asked her how a camera would scare blackbirds. Turns out she did not mean a Canon.

Her aunt was shooting actual cannonballs.

I said, “What is this? 1863? Who has an actual cannon these days?” but it turns out that, yes, this is a thing. People have cannons on their farms here.

P

Liza Jones is a freelance writer who’s been living in the Mississippi Delta since 2011. She resides in Greenwood with her husband and two sons.

144 | january/february 2020

My friend looked at me like she pitied my lack of a cannon.

It occurred to me that the blackbirds had come for the plague of ladybugs that had arrived the month prior. is was my own scientific hypothesis. I had been charmed by the ladybugs too, at first. I’d been guessing at that time that lots of ladybugs were a good omen. until they flew into my eyeballs and hair while I was trying to get into my car. until I inhaled them while trying to do yard work. until they grew to such a swarming number that they blotted out the sun. until they got into my house and crawled around on me while I was trying to relax. It’s not like you can slap a ladybug dead like a mosquito. at some point, you have to accept the ladybugs crawling all over you; just take them on as millions of tiny pets that die really quickly. en came the ducks and with them the fanatical look in my husband’s eyes and also—if I may say—a blissful, peaceful glow on his face, like he was with child. e obsession and intensity with which he chased these birds was staggering, and I mean that I was literally staggering around the whole duck season. e snow geese were a nice surprise. It wasn’t like the infinite amount of geese in the fields outside our house arrived one little group at a time. One day the fields were empty, and the next day, they were covered in white birds from one end to the other.

On the first chilly day, there they were, as if out of thin air—which is actually true.

I asked my husband about the multitude of geese covering the fields, right as we turned on the TV. Planet Earth was on, and that guy in his british voice was explaining the migration of snow geese to the american South from the arctic. “never mind,” I said.

I could have sworn the Planet Earth cameras did a bird’s eye panorama of the Delta, and I felt proud to live here. is wild place. ey should do a whole episode about this habitat, my new home I couldn’t help but love. DM

JOIN THE FAMILY Experience what our Members say are the benefits of flying with NICHOLAS AIR.

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