Delta Magazine July/August 2021

Delta

JULY/AUGUST 2021

m

a

g

a

z

i

n

e

the

BLACK KEYS

Bentonia, the Blue Front Café and Delta Kream

Canning 101 Preserving Summer’s Bounty

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys

At home in Chatham

On the banks of Lake Washington

2

Peach Recipes to make right NOW

5G Fast. Fiber Fast.

C Spire Fast.

At C Spire, we only have one speed: Fast. Over the next three years, we’re investing $1 billion to expand 5G in Mississippi and bring gigabit fiber internet across Mississippi and Alabama.

That means faster phones. Better connected homes. Smarter schools. More competitive companies. And the infrastructure to fuel growth for years to come.

That’s how C Spire does fast.

©2021 C Spire. All rights reserved.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 1

2 | july/august 2021

Advanced Technology.

Premier Doctors.

baptistonline.org/northmiss

Oxford, MS

Get Better.

Bariatric • Cancer • Cardiology • Cardiovascular Surgery Neurology • Ob/Gyn • Wound Care

Delta Magazine 2021

| 3

4 | july/august 2021

Delta m

a

g

a

z

i

n

e

Publisher: j. scott Coopwood Editor: Cindy Coopwood Managing Editor: Pam Parker Contributing Editors: Hank Burdine, Maude schuyler Clay, jim “Fish” Michie, Brantley snipes Roger stolle, noel Workman Digital Editor: Phil schank Consultant: samir Husni, Ph.D. Graphic Designers: sandra goff, Maggi Mosco Contributing Writers: jim Beaugez, jack Criss, Karen Focht, liza jones, sherry lucas, susan Marquez, angela Rogalski, anne Martin Photography: Drew Bennett, aaron Blower, andy Collier, Blake Crocker, Rory Doyle, Karen Focht, timothy ivy, Will jacks, gunner sizemore, anne Martin Vertrano, joshua Black Wilkins, Matthew Wood Account Executives: joy Bateman, 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 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 ©2021 Coopwood Magazines, inc.

6 | july/august 2021

YOUR LIFE...STYLED

F U R N I T U R E Inside Miskelly Pearl & Miskelly Madison | 601.939.6288 | Miskellys.com

Delta Magazine 2021

| 7

from the publisher

Music That Changed the World his edition of Delta Magazine could easily have been called the “Music Edition” not only because of our cover story featuring grammy-winning rock band the Black Keys, but we’ve included several other print-worthy music articles in this issues as well—including the incredible expansion of the B.B. King Museum in indianola, and musician and greenwood native anne Freeman. toward that end, we are honored to feature the Black Keys and bring you the story of their journey, which most recently includes the release of their tenth studio album, Delta Kream, that celebrates the Hill Country blues of Mississippi. the band, which consists of Dan auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) are originally from akron, Ohio, but now live in nashville. they began recording music in their basement and self-producing their records in their teens long before they reached worldwide popularity as a blues-rock band. the blues of the Mississippi Delta and of our neighboring Hill region lit a spark early in their lives that led them down the path so many other musicians have taken—listening to and studying our blues musicians. Holly springs area musicians junior Kimbrough, R.l.

Burnside and Delta greats Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Robert johnson, Charley Patton and others were significant inspirations to auerbach and Carney. early in their journey as a fledgling band, they ran across Fat Possum Records in Oxford, a record label that had released blues records auerbach and Carney both liked. With high hopes, they approached Fat Possum Records, but were turned away. auerbach and Carney wouldn’t take no for an answer, so they got in their car and drove all the way down to Oxford from Ohio and convinced the owners of Fat Possum to give them a record deal. this was the beginning.

Fast forward to today and many record sales, concert tickets and several grammy awards later, the Black Keys have become one of the top rock (and bluesrock) bands in the u.s. and, they don’t hesitate to attribute their incredible success to Mississippi—as their inspiration, and to Fat Possum Records—for giving them a chance.

However, doesn’t this sound familiar? Many other well-known bands have followed a similar path and were significantly inspired by our blues greats. Bands such as led zeppelin, eric Clapton, and the Rolling stones just to name a few. as i have shouted from the mountain top many times, including in my column published in the very first edition of this magazine in july 2003, the blues music created here in the Mississippi Delta changed the music of the Western hemisphere, and the world, by giving birth to rock and roll. Without Delta bluesmen Charley Patton, Robert johnson, Muddy Waters and many others, the world would have never heard of a guy named elvis, a group from liverpool, england called the Beatles, the Rolling stones—or a band called...the Black Keys. the impact of blues music can never be underestimated. in fact, the Mississippi Delta in general is the source of much of american popular culture. in closing, i’d like to thank the Black Keys for allowing us to feature their incredible story in this edition of Delta Magazine. as always, we appreciate your letters and comments. DM

T

Scott Coopwood Publisher The contribution to the world of music by our state’s iconic Blues musicians knows no end. It is a gift that keeps on inspiring and giving to new generations.

8 | july/august 2021

@scottcoopwood1

MISSISSIPPI’S MAIN COURSE SEPT. 27 – OCT. 3, 2021 THE COUNTRY CLUB OF JACKSON | JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

sandersonfarmschampionship.com | 601.898.golf Bene ting Children’s of Mississippi © 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship

|

from the editor

Deceptive Simplicity mall town living. a step back from the hustle and bustle. a simple life. it’s what living in a small town is all about. at’s what people think, right? especially in Mississippi. especially in the Mississippi Delta. i beg to differ. and if you’re reading this, and know and love Our most special event in recent the Delta, you know what i mean. weeks was celebrating Scott’s 60th in the past few weeks, i can’t count the events we’ve attended, birthday with family and friends! wished we could have gone to, unknowingly double-booked, left one early to catch the tail end of another—or just stayed home and cranked up netflix because we were flat exhausted. it’s tempting to say the surge of activities and events is due to COViD restrictions being lifted or some such excuse. But i know better. it’s always been this way. ere’s a huge misconception about small town life. in fact, iMO, when comparing small-town life to urban life, most people have it backward. it’s the small towns that can run you ragged. ere are several reasons for this which i’ll explain. no anonymity: it is noted if you miss anytHing. if you are involved on any level in your small town, and it’s hard not to be, people know it and are taking names. i mean, we live in a land where people still have “their spot” in church. you might occasionally miss one sunday, but more than that, and you’ll receive the call—or at least upon your return, several comments from all those who sit in their respective spots near your spot and wondered where you’ve been and how your mama’s doing. so when it’s time for your next Rotary Club, garden club, junior auxiliary, tennis team, arts council, or fill-in-the-blank meeting—miss it at your own risk. stuff needs to get done: living in a small town means that lots of folks are working hard to make it fun and interesting because, you know, it’s nOt a big city. Makes sense, right? ink of all those art festivals, music festivals, goat festivals (thank you, Hank Burdine), outdoor concerts, summer camps, and farmers’ markets we love. e events we jot down on our calendars every year. Behind every one of them is a team of people who formed committees, planned, organized, devoted their time, and raised funds to make it happen. e upside here is that fundraisers are A full social calendar: Scott, Travis, and me really just parties in disguise. at the MTV Grammy event with Linda Just being southern: it’s no secret that southerners are quite social. and most of us live in Manning and Roger and Michael Fisher, small towns, so you may as well resign yourself to being over-scheduled. We like to cook, eat, and founders of Heart. drink with our friends. even if we’re booked every night of the week, we think of extra reasons to get together. “Hey, our neighborhood should resurrect progressive suppers like they had in the nineties” was the topic of a conversation that recently took place in my kitchen—when i already had the neighbors over. We like to plan parties. We especially love that visitors here, almost to a man, are shocked at how much we have going on. Plus we do it with style. My sister-in-law and i have a running joke that the only time they have to pull out their formal attire is when they visit the Delta—and they live near Palm Beach! People love the “rich” lifestyle we enjoy. and i mean rich in the best way—rich in friends, experiences, and community. suffice it to say that if you live in a small town, your calendar will be impossibly full—which brings me to the current issue. ings are hopping around the Delta right now, you’ll see this in our Delta seen pages. We could have tripled the pages in this section, which is saying something after a year of almost no events! ere are photos from all manner of events, from the opening of the MtV turns Forty exhibit at the grammy Museum (with founder Bob Pittman), to Delta Council to the celebration for Friday night at a Delta Deep Roots concert with the expansion of the B.B. King Museum, and more. Oh—and how family friend, Bill Dossett. about that cover? apparently e Black Keys think it’s pretty cool around here too. in closing, here’s to busy days, full calendars, and great music in the Delta. DM

S

Cindy Coopwood With Mississippi State Treasurer, David McRae, at the annual Delta Council meeting.

10 | july/august 2021

Editor @cindycoopwood | cindy@deltamagazine.com

Delta Magazine 2021

| 11

contents july/august Volume 19 No. 1

KAREN PULFER FOCHT

40

62

TIMOTHY IVY

54

departments

30 Reviews BOOKS and what Deltans are reading 36 ART EUPHUS RUTH: Using antiquated photography techniques to capture modern day images

JOSHUA BLACK WILKINS

RORY DOYLE

78

40 MUSIC ANNE FREEMAN:

Pursuing pop music perfection on her new album, Keep It Close

44 SHOP SHOPPING LOCAL ADVERTISING SECTION 78 HOME This traditional home in Chatham is Retailers’ and Editor’s favorite picks

96

70 124

filled with gorgeous collections, heirlooms, and objets d’art—all with a stunning view of Lake Washington

features

54 62 70

What’s New at the Zoo?

Animal babies, updated exhibits, and more await you at the Memphis Zoo

The Black Keys: Back to Bentonia

The Grammy-winning blues-rock band returns to their roots with Delta Kream, a tribute to their Mississippi Delta and Hill Country heroes

The B.B. King Museum in Indianola

New expansion tells story of the blues icon’s life on the road ON THE COVER: Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys.

Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins.

12 | july/august 2021

Preserve summer’s bounty with the art of canning, page 100

WILL JACKS

RORY DOYLE

96 FOOD Two fresh peach dessert recipes 110 HISTORY Parchman and the

Midnight Special Train

in every issue 14 Letters 18 On the Road Where we’ve been, where we’re going next

22 Off the Beaten Path Roaming the real and rustic Delta

26 118 120 128

Hot Topics Events Delta Seen The Final Word

by Jim Crews

Delta Magazine 2021

| 13

LETTERS

Delta

MAY/JUNE 2021

m

a

g

a

z

i

n

also made the no-Knead Dough recipe. it’s so easy and delicious. and these pizzas are a perfect combination with the Prosecco Pops! We can’t wait to invite our friends for pizza on the patio.

Bernadette Messina Helena, Arkansas

e

Patios, Pizza, and Prosecco Pops

i have no doubt that it was not a coincidence your March/april issue of Delta Magazine arrived the exact weekend our daughter got engaged. We immediately went into planning mode. as this is her first time planning a Delta wedding, i handed our jackson area wedding planner a package of Cary’s Confections chocolates, a “Delta” scented soDelta candle, and a copy of Delta Magazine, the Wedding issue, telling her that this is what we want! thanks for the beautiful issue full of ideas, vendors, and advice.

Paige Chandler Swindle Pearl, Mississippi

Spend a weekend in the Capital City Award-winning Tutwiler Quilters

the day your May/June issue came— it was, as usual, my first read. in your “Photo Ops & Funky stops” there were two photos of lepanto, arkansas. jotted off decades of dust and cobwebs to my youth growing up all around Mississippi— except in the Delta. i wonder if lepanto still has their annual turtle derby? in my grade school years we were going to visit and detoured to go through lepanto just to watch that year’s derby taking place. the nitta yuma article also shook off lots of cloudy memories of people i knew fifty-plus years ago. Keep up the topnotch job you’re doing with Delta Magazine!

Paul C. Keller St. Augustine, Florida

Yesterday, i pulled out an issue of Delta Magazine from my pile of old magazines. it was the March/april 2017 issue and although i read every issue from cover to cover, thumbing through this one was as much fun as the initial reading. the piece on stan topol was pure gold. i went to Delta state when it was Delta state College and stan taught art there. it was evident back then that he was destined for greatness. the accompanying photos in that piece illustrate just how great he is.

i really enjoyed reading the pizza creations in the May/june 2021 issue and i have now tried almost all of the recipes— the spinach artichoke was our favorite! i

after reading that article, i turned the page and Hank Burdine’s article on Muddy Waters reminded me of why i love this magazine so much. i love to meander through old issues from my “magazine pile” and i’ve found that lately, Delta Magazine has proven to be my favorite to wander through. i think it’s because it brings me back briefly to savor the time when i Was there, oh so many years ago. thanks for producing such a top level magazine.

J. R.T. Risenour III New Orleans, Lousiana Hank Burdine has done it again. i had a constant smile on my face and laughed out loud several times as i read his article “Delta Mules and the illinois Central Railroad” in the last issue of Delta Magazine. i have a copy of Hank’s book, Dust in The Road and i know that i’m always in for a treat when i see Hank as a contributor to Delta Magazine. the photo of johnny Fletcher on the white mule about to race the much maligned (schedule-wise) illinois Central train is priceless. thank you for producing such a gem of a magazine. i am a confessed “mailbox watcher” as i get excited about the time each new issue of Delta Magazine is to arrive.

L. Thomas Ridgeway Alexandria, Virginia

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

$

28

Delta JULY/AUGUST

m

a

g

a

z

Delta

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

AR FOR ONE YE

i

n

2020

m

a

Lake Living

• 4th of July houses • 3 Family Lake ant • Kathryn’s Restaur

& Batches Boards erie r inspired charcut

ls Summe batch cocktai boards and large

HAUTE COUTURE AT EVERHOPE

a

z

i

n

2021

e

Bringing you the food, music, art, history, and lifestyle of the Mississippi Delta. Celebrate the “South’s South” with us!

e

at MoonatLake Pier 332

g

Annual Tourism Issue Public Art in the Delta

FAVORITE COOKBOOKS and RECIPES

Subscribe to Delta Magazine and The Edit newsletter on our website, deltamagazine.com, or call our office 662.843.2700

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! DeltaMagazine

14 | july/august 2021

@Delta_Mag

@deltamagazine

Y’all Said SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS @deltamagazine

We Asked...

Gardens and farmer’s markets are overflowing this time of year. We want to know—what’s your favorite fruit and fruit recipe?

Cantaloupe! – @tpeel2580 Blueberries and blueberry poundcake! – @bowlin_amy Homemade peach ice cream.

We make it every Fourth of July! – Katherine Bradford Watermelon! I love it in a watermelon feta mint salad. – Stella Lindsey Blackberry cobbler by far. – Rogers Varner Strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream.

– Ray Callahan

READER RESPONSE May-June Issue deltamagazine.com

The Tutwiler Quilters by Sarah Fowler ~ What a lovely story! Such beauty produced by these women who have a story inside them being shared in fabric and hand-wrought stitches! I’d love to hear their conversations when they work together!

– Vicki Dennis

Cook

AT TH E VI K I NG COOKI NG SCH OOL

What a wonderful article. I pray that they can get younger women to take up the art of quilting.

– Margaret Sims Gilmer These women are amazing, especially Mary Mackey.

As a Tutwiler resident I am truly proud of the wonderfully talented women! – Stephanie Kassem D

D

HOME

A Stan Street painting of a blues musician kept the Clarksdale vibe strong in the eclectic kitchen.

COOL

DIGS Orange Bertoia barstools add a colorful punch to the kitchen which was added during the renovation.

From ice factory to ice cream parlor to hip downtown residence, THE BIG PINK gets cooler by the year

BY SHERRY LUCAS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY NOLAN DEAN

90 | MAY/JUNE 2021

DELTA MAGAZINE 2021 | 91

Cool Digs by Sherry Lucas ~ Great to see this! We stayed in the former commissary building, thanks to Pal Foster, in 2011. Great place and deserves some love. – Mike Lucas

32 5 Howa rd St reet • G reenwood, M S Tues-Sa t: 10 am - 5:3 0 pm 866. 4 51.675 0 o r 662 . 4 51.675 0 t hea l l uvian.com/vcs

Delta Magazine 2021

| 15

More than Fishing

PHOTO BY DWAYNE BRATCHER

“fishing is about catching fish, yes. But it’s mostly about unwinding, spending time with loved ones, problem solving. there’s perhaps nothing more contemplative than a body of water,” wrote Cal trout, an avid sportsman and Delta Magazine contributor. trout has vivid childhood memories of fishing with his brother and father on the watershed lakes in tallahatchie County, including Hubbard-Murphree, lowery, and Poor House lakes, which provide some of the best fishing in the state. DM

ON THE ROAD

where we’ve been, where to go next

GUNNISON MEMPHIS

Blues City Guitars galore line the ceiling at the infamous Rum Boogie Café. – MATT TUTOR Late afternoon bovine convention on the Mississippi River levee. – DELTA MAGAZINE

ROSEDALE

PHOTO OPS & DREW Water and the Mississippi Delta: a complicated relationship. – DELTA MAGAZINE

OXFORD

des

i R s c i s s a l C “Red, Gold, Blue” Destination Oxford Car Show. – JIMI HENDRIX

18 | july/august 2021

Art Deco columns still standing at the old high school in Drew. – LARRY HENDERSON

ELIZABETH

Golden Horizon BOLIVAR COUNTY Classic sight of a Delta sunset over a turnrow. – GAILA OLIVER

CHATHAM Evidence of beavers busy at work. – WILL JACKS

FUNKY STOPS CLARKSDALE Sixteen pie-shaped rooms were built to store cotton in this unusual early 20th-century round barn in Chatham. – DELTA MAGAZINE

MARKED TREE, AR

Hee-Haw

Head to iconic Walker’s Dairy Freeze at Marked Tree, Arkansas, for the best pizza burgers. – LARRY HENDERSON

Whistle, the friendly Donkey. – FRANCIS LUCKET Instagram users, follow @deltamagazine

Delta Magazine 2021

| 19

20 | july/august 2021

YOU WANT A BETTER COMMERCIAL BANKER. REGIONS IS WHERE YOU’LL FIND ONE. EXPECT BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE THAT GOES BEYOND THE BALANCE SHEET. There will come a moment when you realize your Regions Commercial Relationship Manager is someone who will bring you a lot more than just ways to raise capital. You’ll see we’re here to demonstrate our value to you as local, knowledgeable business consultants. You’ll find we ask smart questions, listen to your answers and deliver smart solutions for your business. You’ll know we’re true partners. In that moment, you’ll realize you made the right choice.

LET’S START THE CONVERSATION TODAY. Walt Stephens | Commercial Banking 662.433.6685 | walt.stephens@regions.com

Commercial Banking | Treasury Management | Capital Markets | Wealth Management © 2020 Regions Bank. All loans and lines subject to credit approval, terms and conditions. | Regions and the Regions logo are registered trademarks of Regions Bank. The LifeGreen color is a trademark of Regions Bank.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 21

OFF THE BEATEN PATH roaming the real and rustic Delta

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB A cool experience for the music aficionado

O

VER THE COURSE OF HIS LIFETIME AND A DECADES-LONG CAREER, Memphis

music promoter and co-founder of ardent Records, john King, accumulated an immense music collection. the impressive assortment boasts approximately thirty thousand 45 rpm singles, ten thousand lPs, twenty thousand CDs, and one thousand unique pieces of musical memorabilia. and now, that collection is publicly accessible at the new Memphis listening lab (Mll) located on the second floor of Crosstown Concourse, Memphis’s mixed-use complex development located in the former sears distribution center. the lab’s collection includes everything from rare Memphis music to top 40 hits from across the globe. the collection also includes photo albums filled with mysterious band promo photos. Besides the music collection, King also donated memorabilia that includes books on Memphis music and vintage music magazines. During his career, King had a connection with music journalism and was responsible for bringing the rock writers convention to Memphis in the 1970s, with the hopes of introducing Memphisbased Big star, which King was promoting, to rock writers from across the country. there are seven listening stations with turntables, as well as three library carrels for people doing journalistic work—and although guests can’t take records or CDs home with them, they’re invited to request music or memorabilia to enjoy inside the lab. it is part library, part interactive museum experience and part music venue. the modern sound room has amazing acoustic panels and shelving that towers throughout the space. it will function similarly as a reading library would, but for music fans, and will eventually have an online database.

Memphis listening lab is one of only a handful of such music libraries in the world and most such spaces require membership, but Mll will be completely open to the public.

1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 269 Memphis, Tennessee memphislisteninglab.org Facebook: Memphis Listening Lab Instagram: @memphislisteninglab 22 | july/august 2021

CARTER LOUISE ANTIQUES There’s nothing quite like this unique store in Madison

BY JACK CRISS

F

INE ANTIQUES AND UNIQUE ACCESSORIES

for an elegant, beautiful home can be found at one of the most interesting and well-curated stores not only in Mississippi, but in the entire south. Carter louise antiques is named for the towns where sisters, Hollandale natives, and store owners eloise smith and susan jordan currently live. they started the store twenty years ago as a labor of love.

“Our collection is our passion—that’s why we opened this business,” says smith. “each hand-selected item we offer is a piece we would proudly call our own. the majority of what is in stock we personally have handpicked from europe including oriental rugs, original artwork, lamps, mirrors, and bedding, as well as our selection of gift items ideal for wedding or birthday presents. everything we have in terms of our furnishings is at least 100-plus years old, with some items nearly 200 years old. true antiques, in other words, most of which are, again, from europe.”

Carter louise antiques allows the customer to browse in a relaxed atmosphere.

“When we are out at market and looking for product to sell, we buy what we like,” says smith. “that’s always been our method and it translates over to our customer’s tastes. additionally, i think it’s important to note that we’re really a ‘green’ business. the furniture we sell was made 150 or 200 years ago: think about all the trees that were harvested for the furniture that have grown fifty times over by now.”

Carter louise antiques also offers interior design consulting.

“We can assist customers in the process from selecting the right room layout in a new build or remodel to choosing the perfect wallpaper or paint color,” says smith. the ladies say they are happy to ship items anywhere in the country as well. “We certainly welcome online or phoned-in orders,” says jordan.

100 Mannsdale Park Drive, Madison 601.607.7999 carterlouiseantiques.com Facebook: Carter Louise Antiques Delta Magazine 2021

| 23

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

and

YOUR FINANCES We offer a wide variety of choices for your personal banking needs.

MEMBER FDIC | EQUAL HOUSING LENDER

AUGUST IS NATIONAL CATFISH MONTH WE HOPE YOU’LL CELEBRATE WITH US heartlandcatfish.com/catfish-recipes

H E A R T L A N D C AT A FISH.COM 55001 Highway 82 West, Itta Bena, Mississippi 38941

24 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 25

HOT TOPICS THE OLIVE TREE One-of-a-kind store in Starkville Home décor at its finest, that’s what the Olive tree in starkville offers its customers according to interior designer and owner, Mary Clair Cumbaa. “as an interior designer, i want to bring the same upscale, quality home décor products to the public as i do to my design clients,” Cumbaa says. “Mid-july is our opening date and i’m very excited to offer our products and services to starkville and the surrounding areas.” the Olive tree is located in the Cotton District on university Drive, near downtown starkville. the opening coincides with the event unWine Downtown, where starkville Main street members open their doors for a night of wine tasting and after-hours shopping. “the Olive tree features furniture, art, home accessories, a wide variety of candles, lighting, and i also offer some loungewear and gifts for women,” Cumbaa adds.

Cumbaa says that there was a definite need for a shop like the Olive tree in the area. “i have several design clients there and they were always telling me they couldn’t find the accessories they needed for their homes anywhere nearby. so, i thought if no one else is

1

doing this, i might as well give it a try.”

Cumbaa is a Delta native, from the Hollandale area, but will soon be a resident of indianola. she says the significance of the name the Olive Branch comes from her own interior design company’s branding.

“My logo for Cumbaa Design Co., includes an olive tree in the center of it, so i just spun off from that with the name of the store. i’m just really excited about the store because it’s one-of-a-kind in starkville. and i’m so happy to bring these upscale, quality home décor products that no one else carries to the area.” (angela Rogalski) 517 University Drive, Suite 1, Starkville, 601.405.5241 theolivetreestarkville.com; Instagram: @theolivetreestarkville

KAY’S KUTE FRUIT Stylish edible arrangements and more Kay’s Kute Fruit, which opened in april, is a new family-owned business in greenville. this unique shop offers edible arrangements, homemade all natural smoothies, dipped strawberries, fruit trays, and more. “i started doing edible arrangements because i wanted to make people smile,” Kenesha lewis says. “i wanted to put a happy look on their faces for any event that they might be having or if they had a family member who was ill and maybe in the hospital. We wanted to create bouquets of fruit for them instead of always giving flowers. and with the fruit, it’s edible and healthy at the same time.” lewis says she had a sugar addiction for a long time and her husband suggested the smoothies as a way to get away from the sweet granules.

“My husband began to make smoothie blends to help curb my

2

26 | july/august 2021

appetite for sugar. and it did exactly that; i’m no longer addicted to sugar. We then began to research and study our city and state. Mississippi has one of the highest rates of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes around. so we incorporated the smoothies into our business to help people in our city have a healthier choice when it came to a sweet drink or snack. jason and i are both natives of greenville, so we wanted to give something back to our city, something new and healthy.” lewis adds that in 2020, they connected with Higher Purpose Co., which is a nonprofit that helps businesses grow.

“We connected with them to help grow our business, then found and purchased a building and brought Kay’s Kute Fruit to brick and mortar for the Delta,” she says. “it’s healthy and delicious and just a lot of fun for us.” (angela Rogalski) 631 South Washington, Avenue, Greenville, 662.394.0506 kayskutefruit.com; Facebook: Kay's Kute Fruit; Instagram: @kayskutefruit

NEW MUSEUMS IN VICKSBURG Two new venues featuring the rich history and culture of the area there are two new museums in Vicksburg that should be on your radar for a visit as soon as possible. the new Vicksburg Civil War Museum focuses on all aspects of the Civil War, but with a different perspective. the stories told here are from an african american viewpoint. Founder, owner, and curator Charles Pendleton says this museum offers historic memorabilia and a fascinating look at the effects the war and the issue of slavery had on the people who experienced it. the Vicksburg Civil War Museum opened in May. “the museum is all about the Civil War and slavery, but it features everything from a Black perspective,” Pendleton adds. “it’s very race-friendly; we don’t support either side, one way or the other. We present the facts as they were. We have the largest artifact collection of any museum in this area and the largest gun collection as well. everything in the museum is authentic. if you enjoy history, especially Civil War history and that era, this is the place to be.”

Pendleton is a history enthusiast and felt there was a definite need for this type of Civil War Museum. “i go to a lot of shows and visit many museums and to me there was never enough told about the Black soldiers and the slavery issue, so i just wanted to look at it from a different perspective. i’ve been told that currently we’re the most visited site in Vicksburg. the museum is filled with fantastic history. and the feedback we’re getting from visitors has been phenomenal. they love it and have said it’s very tastefully done and that they’ve learned a lot. and that it tells the truth.” another popular museum recently opened that brings to life the cultural heritage of Vicksburg. it was author David Cohn who wrote, “the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg.” so it is fitting the town would have a Catfish Row Museum and interpretive Center which brings to life the cultural heritage of Vicksburg, covering all aspects of its diverse and dynamic history. linda Fondren, executive director of the museum, says that Vicksburg is a unique city in Mississippi.

“We consider it not to be the typical Mississippi city,” she adds. “the museum tells the full story and provides a broader context for other area museums, which we have located all over the Delta. and much like the Delta, we’re known as a city of immigrants, so this museum highlights the distinctive contributions of african americans, as well as the lebanese, jewish, greek, italian, and Chinese communities. Vicksburg is rich in diversity with all the different ethnic groups that settled here as merchants and we like to tell that story.”

Fondren says that the museum is about Vicksburg, Warren County, and its relationship to the Mississippi Delta. she also explains that the name Catfish Row is important.

“Catfish Row is a place,” she explains. “it’s on Highway 61, which is the Blues Highway. and along the river, we have a Catfish Row Park and we have the Catfish Row Mural, so all of that is what we call Catfish Row. the museum’s building was constructed in 1905 and is listed on the national Register of Historic Places. it’s also a Mississippi landmark. the building itself tells the story of Vicksburg as the site of carriage manufacturing, blacksmithing, and as an early automobile dealership for Packards and studebakers. it was also the Monte Carlo Club, where many famous bands and artists played.”

3

The Vicksburg Civil War Museum is filled with history and an extensive artifact collection that helps tell the story of the war from a different perspective.

Catfish Row Museum and Vicksburg Interpretive Center features items representative of the rich ethnic diversity of the area and the relationship to the Mississippi Delta.

Vicksburg Civil War Museum 1123 Washington Street, Vicksburg, 601.218.5526 Catfish Row Museum/Vicksburg Interpretive Center 913 Washington Street, Vicksburg catfishrowmuseum.org

Delta Magazine 2021

| 27

8.21.21

THE PARTY’S ON! You’re invited to our free Literary Lawn Party in and around the State Capitol Building

AUGUST 21, 2021 MEET ACCLAIMED AUTHORS national, regional and local!

LONNIE BUNCH

ENJOY LIVELY CONVERSATIONS over 40 panel discussions!

CATHERINE PIERCE

BUY BOOKS BY THE TOTE-LOAD from independent booksellers!

WALTER ISAACSON

GET BOOKS SIGNED

BY FAVORITES all in one book-filled day!

JERICHO BROWN

RICHARD GRANT

MISSISSIPPI HUMANITIES COUNCIL | TRUSTMARK | MIKE MCREE | MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC BROADCASTING | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI | MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

28 | july/august 2021

BOOKS

Buzzworthy Comments

Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown and Company) it’s hard to believe Who is Maud Dixon? is alexandra andrews’ debut novel. Full of twists and turns, the suspense will leave you reeling. andrews sets the tone for the story when wannabe writer Florence Darrow gets fired from her job as an editorial assistant at a prominent publishing house. it seems her dreams couldn’t be farther away until she gets a job offer she can’t refuse. a famous novelist, under the pseudonym of Maud Dixon, needs an assistant. “Maud” wrote a bestselling novel called Mississippi Foxtrot about a girl who murders a man in a Mississippi town. no one except her agent knows the writer’s true identity. But now, Florence knows. at first, the job is a dream come true. until the author takes Florence to Morocco for a research trip. is novel is unputdownable and so well-written. What a delight. it’s the Alexandra Andrews best suspense book of the year. (liza jones) Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (Penguin Random House) stacey swann’s novel, Olympus, Texas, is a rich and vivid debut. ere is a lot of human complexity to enjoy in this novel, with the added bonus of allusion to greek mythology. in the small town of Olympus, the Briscoes have no shortage of family drama. When March Briscoe returns to his hometown after two years away, it makes more than a splash. March left town because he had an affair with his brother’s wife, and as soon as he comes home, everyone is up in arms. Chaos ensues amidst failing marriages, old grievances, and broken ties.

For those who enjoy greek mythology and southern noir with a texas twang, this book is fun to wander through with all its multidimensional characters who love and hate each other so much.

Greenville, Mississippi

o Dominic Zametto, Owner of Two Rivers Fly Shop Norfork, Arkansas

Stacey Swann

The Sympathizer

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

o Peggy B. Bennett

Where the Crawdads Sing

by Delia Owens

o Beverly Mayo Browning The Arrangement

by Kiersten Modglin

o Ann Marie Zito

Killing the Mob

by Bill O’Reilly

Cleveland, Mississippi

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings because the writing is excellent and the story is incredible. i love fantasy/science fiction genres. o Todd Besselievre, Anesthesiologist Greenwood, Mississippi

Anthony Horowitz

30 | july/august 2021

o Beverly C. Tindall Sooley

by John Grisham

o Pat Dill Love

In a Sunburned Country

by Bill Bryson

o Tom Xerri

The Pioneers

by James Fenimore Cooper

o Bethanne Graves

Night Road

by Kristin Hannah

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1984 Orwell, several louis lamour books. and just because i like them! o Craig E. Johnson, Retired

For the Record Books Delta Magazine fans are currently reading

o Lin Turner

o Carol Tutor, Retired

Gone With The Wind because...well, we all know why on that one! the Bible, because we should, and The Miracle of The Bells by Russell janney because it touches my heart anew every time i read it. i try to read it every year between thanksgiving and Christmas... a Must ReaD...if you have never read it, i hope you do.

(liza jones)

The Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Harper Collins) anthony Horowitz knows how to do suspense and really showcases his talent in The Moonflower Murders. just as you would expect from a Horowitz novel, there are lots of clues and trails to intrigue you throughout this brilliant murder mystery. susan Ryeland has retired from the publishing business and has started a hotel in greece with her boyfriend. When a couple from england comes to her hotel and tells of their daughter’s disappearance after reading the book she edited some years ago, she is moved to go back to london and figure out what happened. What did the couple’s daughter read in the book that led to her disappearance? then we get to read the novel within the novel, and this puts the reader right in the action of solving the case. this is a fun story to keep you on your toes. (liza jones)

We asked Facebook friends and Delta Magazine Fan Page Group members to share with us—What book(s) have you read more than once?

Replay by Ken grimwood. it is such a fun read, especially for people who have ever wished they could start over. and, who hasn’t?

o Joey Murphey Ink On My Hands

by Clayton Rand

o Ellouise Fair S. Bell All Over But the Shoutin’

by Rick Bragg

o Jerry Ferguson

Paul and Virginia

by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

o Leslie Smith Shellman Tending Roses

by Lisa Wingate

Clouds Above by Michael Hicks Thompson (Sheered King Publishing, LLC) as the world faces a water shortage like no other in history, will Dr. grayson Fields’ science skills and determination make it possible for her to bring rain to a parched world?

Readers quickly become involved in a realistic scenario that traverses the planet from D.C. to india and the Himalayas with hidden experiments, security secrets, and dangers that affect the world’s water supply. thompson brings to life this plausible world in such a way that readers will not only be engrossed in the outcome of an elaborate situation but will find the science of climate manipulation thoroughly intriguing—even vital to our survival. (special/DM staff)

Flights from Fassberg by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel (University Press) Wolfgang W. e. samuel, Colonel, us air Force (Ret. ), interweaves his story and that of his family with the larger history of World War ii and the postwar world through a moving recollection and exploration of Fassberg, a small town in germany few have heard of and fewer remember. Created in 1933 by the Hitler regime to train german aircrews, Fassberg hosted samuel’s father in 1944-45 as an officer in the german air force. as fate and germany’s collapse chased young Wolfgang, Fassberg later became his home as a postwar refugee, frightened, traumatized, hungry, and cold.

Built for war, Fassberg made its next mark as a harbinger of the new Cold War, serving as one of the operating bases for allied aircraft during the Berlin airlift in 1948. With the end of the Berlin Crisis, the airbase and town faced a dire future. When the Royal air Force declared the airbase surplus to its needs, it also signed the place’s death warrant, yet increasing Cold War tensions salvaged both base and town. Fassberg transformed again, this time into a forward operating base for natO aircraft, including a fighter flown by samuel’s son.

Both personal revelation and world history, replete with tales from pilots, mechanics, and all those whose lives intersected there, Flights from Fassberg provides context to the Berlin airlift and its strategic impact, the development of natO, and the establishment of the West german nation. the little town built for war survived to serve as a refuge for a lasting peace. (special/DM staff )

They Called Us River Rats by Macon Fry (University Press) the new Orleans batture lies on the banks of the Mississippi River, outside of the city’s levee system, not a place just anyone would want to live, as Macon Fry has done for decades. They Called Us River Rats is a captivating recounting of that time, but also a history of the community, who for centuries, has chosen to call the batture home. His exhaustive knowledge of the river and its denizens is enhanced by his narrative mastery and elegant prose. Fry’s book is an exceptional and very necessary addition to the new Orleans literary and historical canon. (special/DM staff ) Delta Magazine 2021

| 31

CLARKSDALE

32 | july/august 2021

“e heart of the Mississippi Delta”

Delta Magazine 2021

| 33

34 | july/august 2021

ART

EUPHUS RUTH

Photographer uses antiquated photography techniques to capture images of obscure subjects and modern-day ruins

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

36 | july/august 2021

ince he was a young teen, Euphus Ruth (“Butch” to his friends) has been interested in photography. “I used to play with my Brownie camera under the living room couch,” he recalls. later he got a Polaroid swinger instamatic camera, and that opened another world for the budding photographer. But when he was introduced to his friend’s thirty-fivemillimeter single-lens reflex camera in high school, he began to see the bigger picture. “the high school journalism department had a darkroom, and that’s where i really learned to love photography.”

Born in 1957 in Beaumont, texas, Ruth has lived most of his life in greenville, Mississippi. He began tinkering with photography in the late 1980s and early 1990s, shooting black-and-white photographs. He taught himself how to develop film in a darkroom, and he built one in his home. “i shot five-by-seven-inch up to eight-by-ten-inch negative film and did contact printing. i wanted to get the look of black-and-white photography from the late 1800s.”

Ruth continued developing his photography skills throughout his life. He spent thirty-two and a half years working at the entergy power plant in greenville, calibrating and maintaining controls for the plant. “towards the end i got really burned out, and all i wanted to do was photography,” he says. He retired in 2012.

Ruth took a three-day workshop in 2005 with john Coffer in Dundee, new york, where he learned to do the wetcollodion technique, which was the main type of photography used during the Civil War. “When i got home, i realized the humidity here is much different.” the technique was very rare, with only about a hundred photographers in the united states doing wet-plate photography. “now it’s in vogue, so to speak,” he says. Ruth started following Civil War reenactment forums.

From the early 1990s, he shot large format film. “i had always been interested in the process, and i like to be hands-on.”

While most photographers today use digital cameras, Ruth says he doesn’t own one. “the closest i’ve come to that is my iPhone. i’m just an old analog guy.” He uses antique view cameras and vintage lenses, and he appreciates the slow, labor-intensive work that is required by his chosen type of

S

Delta Magazine 2021

| 37

Ruth’s wet collodion photography technique is a throwback to the photography of the 1800s.

photography. the collodion process involves coating the plate, exposing the image, and developing it, all of which must be completed while the plate is still wet.

Because of that, Ruth has created a portable darkroom in the back of his vehicle. that old soul is revealed in his work, with a focus on rural ruin, urban decay, and earth reclamation, particularly areas with overgrown trees and vines. “i grew up going to cemeteries with my parents. they were from the country and often cleaned headstones. i was a pallbearer at the age of nine, and i shot my first thirty-five38 | july/august 2021

millimeter photographs in a cemetery. i have always been interested in that.”

Ruth is fascinated with cemeteries, landscapes, and old architecture. “i rarely photograph people unless it’s family or people i’m close to. i’ve done a few portrait commissions, but that’s not what i’m drawn to shoot.” His work is along the southern gothic vein. “i’m more attracted to old, obscure stuff, the things and places that are forgotten, or half-remembered.” new Orleans is a favorite place for Ruth to photograph. the historical buildings and cemeteries of the city provide the perfect

subject matter for him. “i love the unique cemeteries in new Orleans, with their crowded, mostly aboveground tombstones and mausoleums.” His work can be found in a gallery for Fine Photography on Chartres in new Orleans, and he often does pop-up shows on Piety street in the Bywater. “i show a little around Mississippi. i used to do juried shows but don’t really do that anymore.” Ruth is a member of Photo nOla and the new Orleans Photo alliance. His work is part of a traveling show called Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, which Ruth says is

now in its second or third year. “We just opened in north Carolina,” he says. “Before that, the exhibition was in Baton Rouge, on the campus of lsu, and last fall it was at Hendricks College in Conway, arkansas.”

Ruth’s work in the exhibition features scenes that are familiar to southerners, yet they are portrayed in an eerie way: foggy cypress swamps, the remains of a bridge that no longer connects two bodies of land, winter scenes of trees with no leaves, and timeworn mausoleums. it’s as if Ruth is straining to find the beauty in the most desolate of places, and his haunting images have a surprisingly soothing effect. through the years, Ruth has studied the work of many photographers. “i have been greatly influenced by the work of Clarence john laughlin of new Orleans,” he says. laughlin was dubbed the “Father of american surrealism.” Ruth was mesmerized by laughlin’s book, Ghosts Along the Mississippi (published in 1948). “the photographs in that book, to me, were like edgar allen Poe with a camera.”

Baptism is also a subject Ruth finds powerful, especially full immersion in a lake. the sacred experience is filled with the

intangible and spiritual powers of conversion and transformation. He has also studied with Quinn jacobson, and two years ago he went to a workshop at the george eastman Museum in Rochester, new york, to study with Mark Osterman. unlike the crisp, clear photography many are used to seeing, Ruth’s work is more alternative—his handmade images produce unusual visual effects. Blurring patterns often trick the eye into seeing

something that may—or may not—have been in the image he captured. the long exposures required to create his images often result in surprises.

Outside photography, another creative outlet Ruth enjoys is music, a passion he shares with his son Cody. “He has two houses here in greenville, and uses one of them for house concerts. it’s fun to hear music in such an intimate setting—and i don’t have to go far to do it.” DM

Delta Magazine 2021

| 39

TIMOTHY IVY

MUSIC

40 | july/august 2021

Great EXPECTATIONS Greenwood native Anne Freeman pursues pop-music perfection on her new album, Keep It Close

BY JIM BEAUGEZ

rowing up in a household so musical the family living room looked like a band rehearsal space, Anne Freeman always assumed she would play music too. “i’ve always

G

joked and said it was a matter of when my family said that i was old enough to touch the guitars,” the Greenwood native laughs.

But as her twenties inched forward, she found herself in a holding pattern while her friends moved on to careers, marriages, and parenthood. on “City Watched Me Burn,” from freeman’s new album, Keep It Close, released June 25 by oxford-based Muscle Beach records, she encapsulates how it felt to hang onto a dream while life continued to roll by her.

“i was at a crossroads,” she says. “it seemed like things were about to happen [with music] but nothing had really happened yet, and then i saw my friends moving on with their lives and it seemed like they all had everything figured out. that’s what was on my mind all the time, comparing myself to my peers: ‘Why can’t i seem to get my life figured out?’” it all came to a head after one indulgent night in nashville when she woke up with a wicked hangover and anxiety she couldn’t shake. instead of going to oxford, where she and her husband live, they drove on to her family’s home in Greenwood. she picked up a guitar and hit on a melody and with her father on bass and her husband on drums began to shape what became the

opening song on Keep It Close. “that was the first thing that popped out: ‘last night the city watched me burn,’” she says. “i was like, ‘oh, okay, so that’s where this is going.’ so i shaped the song about what i’d been going through at the time and watching people seem to have things figured out, and how i was responding to that.”

“City Watched Me Burn” kicks off the album with chiming guitar picking that echoes tom Petty and Peter Buck [r.E.M.] and melodies that recall nineties power pop like the lemonheads and Gin Blossoms—a thread freeman also mines later in the album on songs like “i’ve Got a Knife.” freeman has a knack for packing rollercoasters of emotion into her confection-sweet garage pop tunes.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 41

IVO KAMPS

Anne performing at Proud Larry’s in Oxford.

Freeman’s first project with Muscle Beach Records, which has also released music from Mississippi artists Kate teague and Bass Drum of Death, was a remix of an earlier song, “Days go By,” from her self-released debut of the same name. Matt Ross-spang, whose credits include elvis Presley, john Prine, and jason isbell, helmed the project at sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, which its namesake opened in 1960 after outgrowing the legendary sun studios. “that was a really fun experience that i carry with me all the time,” she says, “being at sam Phillips, first of all, and then getting to watch this incredible producer work. i learned more in that one day with him than with all of my [prior] recording experiences combined. it was such an awesome day.”

By then, Freeman had come a long way from woodshedding in the family living room. she had also eclipsed the jamoriented music she had explored when she first linked up with musicians in Oxford while attending the university of Mississippi—the kind of music where musicians would spend “ten minutes playing two chords [with] people shredding,” as she puts it.

“We grew up listening to the Beatles, a lot of led zeppelin,” she says. “i would listen to whatever my older siblings were blaring from their rooms. i really liked jewel when i was younger. she was sort of my idol.” On the night that inspired her to write “City Watched Me Burn,” she had a chance meeting with another of her idols, singer-songwriter Michelle Branch.

Freeman played around on the piano

as a kid and wrote “really cheesy songs” she would play to friends in her neighborhood. When she was twelve, her brother taught her how to play a few chords on the guitar, and she would sneak into his room to practice them whenever he wasn’t around. Before long, she was using those chords to come up with her own songs. “i learned very quickly that covering other people’s songs just wasn’t for me,” she says. “Constantly throughout my day, i’m thinking of melodies and lyrics. i was like that from a young age. so when i really started playing guitar and learning chords, that gave me my outlet.”

But it wasn’t until she began playing with Kell Kellum, an itta Bena native who has lent his guitar and songwriting chops to artists like jimbo Mathus of squirrel

Clips from the first song released from Keep It Close. Over 22,000 people have viewed the video on YouTube.

42 | july/august 2021

nut zippers and young Valley, that her songs came to resemble traditional pop songs with verse, chorus, and bridge sections. “everyone who listens to my music classifies it as a different genre,” she says, “but my focus was for the album to be a pop-rock record. i wanted it to be poppier than anything anybody in Oxford has been doing, any of my peers, i guess. and that’s just because pop music is what i love. that’s what would pop up in my head as i was walking home from the bars late at night, singing melodies.” there’s a strong undercurrent of lithe, dreamy indie guitar-pop influences such as Kerri Maclellan of alvvays and tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura underneath the garage-rock production. and Freeman’s smooth vocal delivery is front and center on the second half of Keep It Close, particularly on “loose Connection” and the introspective “easy on Me.” “i really had this intention of it being this pop record, but then this hymn came out with ‘easy on Me,’” she says. “i remember the night i wrote ‘easy on Me,’ i texted my guitar player Kell and said, ‘Well, i guess we’ll just call this record Identity Crisis,’ [laughs] because it’s hard to get away from that part of me, too.”

Freeman, whose first album references growing up in greenwood and driving up and down Money Road, went back to greenwood to film the promotional video for “City Watched Me Burn,” which had racked up more than twenty thousand views on youtube by word of mouth before the album even came out. in the clip, she and her friends take over the shuttered leflore lanes bowling alley for a night of beer and bowling. the timecapsule piece has the nostalgic vibe of films like The Big Lebowski. as for where the exposure of Keep It Close may take her, Freeman is working to steady her optimism with realism. “i’m trying to understand the difference between goals and expectations,” she adds with a laugh. “i think my goal is to get this record out into the world and give it the best possible chance of being heard. as far as expectations, i’m trying not to really have any.” DM

CLASSIC AMERICAN QUALITY.

Spicy Cornmeal Crusted Simmons Catfish

By Chef Steven Goff at the Delta Supper Club at Hopson Plantation - Clarksdale, MS.

FRESH FROM THE POND TO YOUR PLATE. SIM M ONSCATF ISH.COM

Delta Magazine 2021

| 43

Sarah George, Jane Cross, and Jennifer Gross at market in Dallas earlier this summer.

Fresh throw pillows can instantly update a room from season to season.

The Olive Tree

The Olive Tree, Starkville Filled with soaps, moss, or ornaments, this brushed gold clam shell bowl is a classic accessory for any space in your home.

601.405.5241 @theolivetreestarkville

Jane, Oxford

seeks out unique, transitional pieces from both “localJANE and international sources to compliment her more

traditional and classic selections for the store. These handmade wedges from Columbia are a fun find that will add function and interest to your wardrobe.”

– Jane Cross, Owner

janeoxfordms.com; 662.281.8711 @jane_oxfordms

Your late summer wardrobe needs these stunning neutral wedges— they’ll transition easily to fall!

Malouf Furniture Co., Greenwood With beautiful details and a convenient storage drawer, this cocktail table is both stylish and functional. malouffurniture.net; 662.453.1694 @malouffurnituregreenwood

Shop SMALL | Shop LOCAL A day spent shopping and dining in your own town is a day well spent

T

here’s nothing like the sight of a bustling downtown with shoppers in and out of stores and

enjoying lunch or coffee at their favorite spot. We all feel the vibe, the world is re-opening; restaurants are open, shops are filled with inventory, and live music is playing. They all need our support. On these pages we’ve highlighted some of our advertisers—small business owners—and hope it will inspire you to shop in your town before you order online! Remember, when you shop small and local you help preserve the personality of your town and help build its unique vibe and character. Plus it keeps tax revenues local, which is vital. Time to get shopping!

44 | july/august 2021

SHOP SMALL

Mod + Proper, Cleveland Kut Works Boutique, Cleveland

A fun sweatshirt plus the smiley face trend is the best combo! Kut Works Boutique

We love these Matisse slides! They are the “perfect color that will transition so well into fall. We are so excited about the new season and love seeing people out shopping again!”

|

– Morgan Wheeler, Owner

SHOP LOCAL

shopmodandproper.com; 662.400.3111 @modandproper kutworksboutique.com; 662.545.8004 @kutworksboutique

•

Morgan Wheeler and Mary Beth Smith at market in Atlanta.

SHOP SMALL

I’m so excited about the trends for this fall!

“White booties and the combat boot trends are still here, lots of new square toe styles coming around and I’m so pumped to say tall boots are finally on a comeback so be ready!”

– Mary Beth Smith, Matisse Footwear Mod + Proper and Kut Works Boutique

| Vito’s, Leland Keep plenty of Vito’s salad dressing on hand or take as a hostess gift—it’s a local favorite! vitosfood.com; 662.686.8486

SHOP LOCAL

Young Ideas, Indianola POP IT Fidget toys are a great way to keep kids busy on long summer days! youngideasms.com; 662.887.5539 @young_ideas

• I think accessories are a very “important part of a man’s wardrobe, but

often an afterthought. They really shouldn’t be overlooked—they can easily elevate or update existing pieces.”

– Wright Scott, Owner

|

SHOP LOCAL

greatscott.net; 601.984.3500 @greatscottgents

Davis Feed & Farm Supply, Yazoo City Year-round supplies and accessories for your home and garden!

662.746.9322 @davisfeedandfarmsupply Delta Magazine 2021

SHOP SMALL

Great Scott, Jackson

| 45

SHOP LOCAL

Catch a glamorous vibe with these Anne & Valentin sunglasses.

Fine eyes, Ridgeland

it is my job to search the world to “findI believe the very best eyewear for my customers.

SHOP SMALL

|

Fine Eyes offers the top lines from Germany, Paris, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark and the United States.”

– Owner, Cleve Barham

fineeyes.com; 601.853.1695 @fineeyeswear

Good Hope General Merchandise, Yazoo City A beaded clutch adds a pop of color and is the perfect finishing touch for every occasion.

662.746.7776 @good_hope_gm Miskelly Furniture, Pearl and Madison Add an understated modern touch to your decor with sleek accent chair. miskellys.com; 601.939.6288 @miskellyfurniture

SHOP SMALL

|

SHOP LOCAL

•

Jewlers’ Choice, Memphis Take it up a notch and add a little sparkle with these dazzling blue topaz earrings. jewelerschoiceinc.com 901.763.0195

SHOP LOCAL

•

Cleveland Fresh, Cleveland Silicone wine glasses with Mississippi spirit!

662.441.0500 @clevelandfresh

Sporting trendy logos, these versatile pouches can be used as a makeup bag, purse, or pool bag!

Lavendar Lane, Indianola

Lavender Lane has “beenOwning such a journey and we

|

SHOP SMALL

Keep It Casual, Tupelo Summer or fall, weather-safe pillows are perfect for your porch, patio, or poolside all year.

Keepitcasual.com; 662.840.6145 @keepitcasualstore

ace Hardware, Cleveland Every patio needs a Weber Genesis grill!

662.843.8200 @cleveland_ace_hardware

46 | july/august 2021

really appreciate all of our supporters. We love bringing the latest accessories and styles right here in our small town!”

– Corri Zepponi, Owner

662.452.5131 @lavenderlaneindianola

Delta Magazine 2021

| 47

48 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 49

SHOP LOCAL |

Olive Juice Gifts, Oxford Guests will feel welcome to come right in when greeted with cheery door hangers!

662.259.2696 @OliveJuiceGifts Sanctuary antiques, Corinth This beautiful antique English linen press provides storage and adds impact and weight in the home. sanctuaryantiquesms.com; 662.287.3770 @sanctuary_antiques

The Mississippi Gift Company, Greenwood These Oyster canvases have us dreaming of a beach vacation! themississippigiftcompany.com; 800.467.7763 @themississippigiftcompany Yazoo Drug Co., Yazoo City Add a special touch to your Friday night happy hour with gorgeous gold-rimmed martini glasses. yazoodrugs.com; 662.746.7423 @yazoodrugco

SHOP SMALL

|

SHOP LOCAL

•

SHOP SMALL

|

SHOP LOCAL

•

SHOP SMALL

The Lily Pad, Oxford Freshen up your makeup bag with this camo lovely by Jon Hart. lilypadoxford.com; 662.238.2900 @thelilypadoxford

Hang on to the scent of summer as long as possible with the Beaches of 30A candle.

Mimi’s on Main, Senatobia Get ready for barbecues, vacations, and tailgates with the newest KANGA coolers!

662.562.8261 @mimisonmain

Magnolia House Gifts, Southaven

I moved Magnolia House from its original “location in Grayton Beach to Mississippi—bringing all the same fabulous gifts and home accessories, but with a fresh flavor to the new location at Silo Square Town Center in Southhaven.”

– Nancy Veldman, Owner

shopmagnoliahouse.com; 662.469.9825 @magnoliahousestore 50 | july/august 2021

Sav-Mor Drugs and Gifts, Grenada Colorful statement earrings by Caroline Hill make the best summer accessory or gift!

662.226.6741 @savmordrugsandgifts

MAGNOLIA HOUSE Gifts and Home Accessories 2903 May Boulevard Suite 103 | Southaven, MS 38672 | 662.469.9825 | nancy@magnoliahouse.com Delta Magazine 2021

| 51

52 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 53

What’s NEW at the ZOO? With an impressive variety of animals from around the globe, including rare giant pandas—one of only three zoos in America that have them—a visit to the Memphis Zoo is the perfect day trip for young and old alike.

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MEMPHIS PHOTOJOURNALIST KAREN PULFER FOCHT

54 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 55

Mother orangutan, Jahe with baby Rowan, who is a crowd favorite at the zoo.

ome residents that live here have wrinkly skin with chubby bottoms, big ears, and long tongues. Some are tiny and hairy and creepy and crawly. Some slide, some hop, some slither, and some waddle.

S

Many are rare; some are common. But you can be sure if you haven’t been to the Memphis zoo recently, you will see something new. “i have discovered that the Memphis zoo has one of the most extensive collections of animals that i know of and the proximity that our guests can get to our animals is closer than most any other facility. that makes Memphis zoo unique,” said jim Dean, president and CeO of the Memphis zoo. “We have a one-of-a-kind animal collection.”

Dean, who joined the Memphis zoo in 2019, has Delta roots. His father is from Cleveland, and his mother is from tupelo.

Before returning home to what he calls a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Memphis, Dean was president of two of the most successful theme parks in the country: sea World Orlando and Busch gardens.

“We are striving to be the ‘must-see’ Memphis destination and the best zoo in the world!” the award-winning zoo, which opened in Overton Park in 56 | july/august 2021

1906, has thirty-five hundred animals representing over five hundred different species. it is one of three zoos in america with giant pandas. the pandas, le le and ya ya, are on loan from China with a lease through 2023. the zoo has a working relationship with Chinese researchers, and they have made strides in panda reproduction studies. the zoo has been hoping for a panda cub from the pair since the female, ya ya, arrived in 2003. Pandas are endangered and losing their natural habitat in western China. you can follow the pandas and watch them eat up to forty pounds of bamboo a day at memphiszoo.org/panda-cam. if you live within fifty miles of the zoo, they may be interested in harvesting your bamboo plants for the pandas.

When visiting the zoo, be sure to download their app and plan your visit around certain keeper chats and animal feedings, which can both be great fun. this year they have a “mob” of new visitors jumping around from down under. after a twenty-seven-year hiatus, the zoo once again will have red kangaroos, native to australia, on exhibit. a kangaroo can travel up to thirty-five miles per hour, and they can jump twenty-five feet high. they are left-handed. guests stroll around a path as the kangaroos roam free. not too far from the “roos” is one of the zoo’s most popular activities, the giraffe Feeding adventure. guests can come face-to-

Delta Magazine 2021

| 57

The Zambezi River Hippo Camp is a favorite attraction.

58 | july/august 2021

face with these gentle giants as they grasp a piece of lettuce from your hand. standing on the deck, you will be eye-to-eye with a mother, father, or an adorable baby giraffe. Wait for them to saunter over as they come to you for their daily greens. it is estimated there are only about fifteen thousand reticulated giraffes left in the world. their population is declining drastically. the Memphis zoo has had many baby giraffes in the past several years, and the odds of seeing a baby are pretty good. inspired by yellowstone national Park, teton trek is a beautiful four-acre exhibit with a twenty-foot-high waterfall. this exhibit is home to the grizzly bears, timberwolves, elk, and some smaller waterfowl. the beautiful lodge, which is also a wonderful venue, will make you feel transported. Be sure to time your visit to this exhibit to watch the bears feed. the well-trained sea lions love to show off for guests during their show in their amphitheater. One of them, andre, washed up after Hurricane Katrina and needed a home. He has been at the Memphis zoo ever since. you can see elephants, rhinos, zebras, and ostriches as you wind your way back to see the hippos in the zambezi River Hippo Camp. Memphis was once known as the hippo capital of the world when it had a male hippo that sired approximately twenty-five offspring in his lifetime. the zoo’s most recent mother, Binti, gave birth a few years ago to Winnie, the baby hippo. the two are still together on exhibit and often can be seen cuddling under water.

Winnie is growing fast. Female hippos can weigh up to 3,300 pounds. this exhibit also has a fun venue space for special parties and events. another crowd favorite is Rowan, the baby orangutan who is also still with his mother. He does not get too far from jahe; the two enjoy swinging in the hammock and prancing around in their play yard.

The Giraffe Feeding Adventure is one of the zoo’s most popular activities.

Mighty lions, tigers, jaguars, cougars, and meerkats live in beautiful Cat Country. the famous lion roar heard at the beginning of the classic MgM movies was recorded at the Memphis zoo in the 1940s.

Behind the scenes, while you are meeting and learning about these animal ambassadors, the zoo is working on conservation projects and research. their goal is to improve and stabilize the animal populations, both in captivity and in the wild, worldwide.

We all have our favorite animal friends at the zoo, but, occasionally, at the recommendation of the association of zoos and aquariums species survival Program, animals are moved around to ensure genetically healthy, diverse populations of certain threatened and endangered species.

From Cat Country, as you wind around toward the Once upon a Farm exhibit, watch for birds soaring overhead from the Flock together Bird Teton Trek, inspired by Yellowstone National Park, is a 4-acre exhibit and is home to grizzly bears, timberwolves, and elk. show, a new seasonal exhibit this year. the Memphis zoo draws visitors and employees If you can’t make it this summer, hit the zoo during from all over the Mid-south. twenty-two Mississippians currently the holidays for their annual Zoo Lights! work at the zoo.

Over $115 million in renovations and expansions have been made since the early 1990s, which has made this zoo one of Memphis’s top attractions.

“We are currently working on the future of the zoo as we develop a new master plan that will transform one of the oldest and most celebrated zoos into one of the best and most progressive zoos with regard to conservation, education, and research in the world,” Dean said. an adventure awaits young and old visitors to the Memphis zoo. there is something for everyone. DM Delta Magazine 2021

| 59

UNBELIEVABLE CONDO

#6 604 Tyler Place 5 BR / 5.5 BA / 4,916 sq. ft. $1,525,000

Broker Associate

662-816-9194 (c) 662-234-9868 (o)

tim.phillips@crye-leike.com 1310 University Ave. Oxford, MS 38655 An independently owned & operated office of Crye-Leike Franchises, Inc.

All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.

60 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 61

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys

62 | july/august 2021

JOSHUA BLACK WILKINS

Back to Bentonia

THE BLACK KEYS RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS WITH DELTA KREAM, A TRIBUTE TO THEIR MISSISSIPPI DELTA AND HILL COUNTRY HEROES

BY JIM BEAUGEZ

ot long after his marathon thirteen-hour drive from Akron, Ohio, ended in Greenville, Mississippi, in the late 1990s, Dan Auerbach ran out of a downtown café without even touching the plate of crawfish placed in front of him just moments earlier.

N

it was no fault of the cuisine, though. no matter how good those mudbugs may have been, auerbach didn’t come all that way to pinch a few redtails. it happened that at the same moment, the man he did come to find—Delta bluesman t-Model Ford—had just arrived.

“He pulled up in a lincoln, and he was pulling his plywood trailer that had ‘t-Model Ford, the taildragger’ hand painted on it,” remembers auerbach, frontman and guitarist of grammywinning, bluesy rock duo the Black Keys. “the back of that trailer is what we saw the rest of our time there. We were just following that trailer all over.” auerbach had come under the spell of the Mississippi blues music created by Ford (james lewis Carter Ford by birth), junior Kimbrough, and R.l. Burnside and released by Oxford’s Fat Possum Records in the 1990s. the previous year, he and his father had traveled to the northern Mississippi Hill Country to chase that regional strain of blues to its home turf, Kimbrough’s juke joint in Chulahoma. it was no big deal, then, for auerbach to recruit a buddy, throw a couple of sleeping bags in the back, and hit the road on a new adventure to the Mississippi Delta.

Plus, he didn’t think he was coming in cold with Ford. auerbach had met him at the Cleveland, Ohio, stop of the juke joint Caravan tour organized by Fat Possum, which released his first five records beginning with Pee-Wee Get My Gun in 1997. it likely wasn’t a robust memory that accounted for Ford’s interest in the enthusiastic young man with the guitar in his car, though. “He said he [remembered me], but i don’t think he did. But he told me he was playing, so we said ‘great,’ that we’d follow him.”

auerbach followed Ford and his trailer from paved city streets to dirt and gravel roads, around oxbows and over levees to his first gig of the day, a house party and barbecue at a double-wide trailer in the middle of a field. Despite being a party-crashing out-oftowner, he found the hosts friendly; they welcomed him to their table and fed him, and he spent the afternoon plugged into the same Peavey amplifier as Ford, playing along. “i’d been obsessing over his records, so i think he realized i knew all his stuff and he was really pleased, you know what i mean?” auerbach says. “it was great, but at the same time, he was also trying to mess with me and trying to throw me off—making the changes crazy. and he was smiling about it. But he was just having a little fun.” the same pattern repeated later that night, with auerbach following Ford to a cinderblock building in another remote field and sitting in on another set. afterward, he took up Ford’s invitation to crash on the floor in a spare room at his home. By the next time auerbach made it to Mississippi, he and childhood friend Patrick Carney had channeled their love of Mississippi Delta and Hill Country blues into the Black Keys and were signing their own record deal with Fat Possum.

“

“t

he history of the Delta and the music that’s come from it,” Carney begins, before pausing to collect his thoughts—”i always feel like, when you roll into Memphis, all the way down to new Orleans, that whole stretch feels very touched, very special, and i can’t put my finger on it. like there’s a different energy there.” nine albums into a career that had taken them around the world more than once, earned five grammy awards, and notched four gold or Platinum records, that’s exactly where the Black Keys ended up. not even a week removed from their 2019 tour in support of Let’s Rock [easy eye sound/nonesuch], auerbach caught inspiration while jamming with guitarist Kenny Brown and bassist eric Deaton on sessions for Robert Finley. it felt so good that he asked them to stay another day and called Carney down to the studio.

The history is all around you. It’s living and breathing and thriving.”

Delta Magazine 2021

| 63

DREW BENNETT

The Black Keys recorded their April performance at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia and streamed it online for the release of Delta Kream.

the next day, the songs of the Delta and Hill Country poured out of them. as soon as one song was done, someone called out the next tune. they dove deep into the Burnside and Kimbrough catalogs—the specialties of their guests, Brown and Deaton, who had played extensively with the Hill Country legends—as well as tutwiler native john lee Hooker and Ranie Burnette, who was from the Pleasant grove community in western Panola County. auerbach let the tape run, and the collaboration came together as Delta Kream [easy eye sound/nonesuch], an eleven-song love letter to Mississippi music and the people who created it. “just listening to those guys play was really exciting, to get to gel with some new energy in the studio,” says Carney. “eric’s bass was really the glue holding everything together, and Kenny’s guitar is just like electricity.” although in the past they had tracked live and collaborated with artists like Danger Mouse and the one-off Blakroc with Damon Dash and Mos Def, Delta Kream marks the first time the Black Keys have ever recorded bass, rhythm and lead guitars, drums, and vocals at the same time. the whole affair has a juke joint feel, right down to the occasional, between-song banter. But even Carney wasn’t sure how it would turn out.

“For Dan and me to sit and play with those guys was really cool and very exciting, [but] we hadn’t played anything that sounded remotely like that in years,” he says. “to fall back into it without any rehearsal and just cut a whole record in two afternoons was pretty cool.” the album is named for a 1970s William eggleston photograph of the former Delta Kream shop in tunica, which is also featured on the album cover. alongside the music, the 64 | july/august 2021

package feels like a throwback to the days when juke joints weren’t too hard to find. so when it came time to put together a plan for promoting Delta Kream in the middle of a pandemic, the band hit upon the idea of going back to Mississippi. auerbach, especially, had kept a toe in the muddy Mississippi waters, recording and releasing the posthumous The Angels in Heaven Done Signed My Name by leo “Bud” Welch in 2019. He also collaborated with jimmy “Duck” Holmes, the sole living connection to the Bentonia style—a darker, less structured cousin to Delta blues played by Henry stuckey and skip james—on the grammy-nominated Cypress Grove [easy eye sound]. Oddly enough, though, they had never been to Holmes’s Blue Front Café in Bentonia. the seed germinated quickly, and they soon found themselves motoring south from nashville.

“We’d had a good time making a record with jimmy, and he played with us out on the road, so we had a good relationship,” says auerbach. “He had invited us down, so we basically took him up on the offer. it was amazing—oldest [active] juke joint in the world; his parents opened it. it’s really cool. it was the perfect place to play that music, too.”

Despite speaking the musical language fluently, Carney had never actually visited a juke joint until that april trip when he, auerbach, and the Delta Kream backing band set up at the Blue Front Café to record a promotional concert, which they later parceled out as segments for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and an exclusive livestream for spotify. the video for Hooker’s “Crawling King snake” mixes footage of the same Blue Front performance with various scenes from around the Delta. “i always wanted to make the trip [to Mississippi],” says

JOSHUA BLACK WILKINS

Carney, “and it’s weird that we never made the trip together to go to a juke joint or anything until this past spring. and we were talking about what to do, how to promote Delta Kream during a pandemic when we weren’t going to tour on it or anything, and Dan suggested we go to Bentonia. i think we both agreed that we wanted to do something in Mississippi, and he was like, we should go play jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes’s Blue Front Café.” still, Carney had soaked up plenty of Delta-adjacent experiences while growing up in akron, Ohio. Mississippi, the Delta and Hill Country regions in particular, serves as a suitable analogue for the northeastern corner of Ohio where auerbach and Carney grew up. in the open expanses, the winding, forested pockets, and the postcard layouts of small towns huddled around sleepy town squares, they found the comfort of the familiar. “north Mississippi is very desolate as far as population density, but it definitely reminded me of parts of Ohio,” says Carney. “you could get out of akron and in about fifteen minutes you can be in pretty rural farming communities.”

One thing northwestern Ohio had that eluded Mississippi, though, was an urban center on the order of Cleveland, just forty miles north of akron. that’s where auerbach and Carney saw tModel Ford, Paul “Wine” jones, R.l. Burnside, and other Mississippi bluesmen perform at rock ‘n’ roll clubs like the euclid tavern. Of course, they might argue Mississippi had plenty of places to hear the blues. Had, that is—because without junior’s Place in Chulahoma or Po’ Monkey’s in Merigold, there are few remaining places to experience blues in its natural setting.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney

Kenny Brown, who played extensively with many Hill Country greats, recording Delta Kream with The Black Keys.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 65

AARON BLOWER

A young Auerbach performs in the Delta with James “T-Model” Ford in the 1990s.

Below: Scenes and landmarks from around the Delta were prominently featured in the videos the band filmed to promote the album, shown in these clips.

66 | july/august 2021

DREW BENNETT

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes at the Blue Front Café.

Find Your DREW BENNETT

Sweet Spot

t

he night of their performance in Bentonia, word eventually spread over social media that the Black Keys were in town.

But the fans who showed up weren’t just there for auerbach and Carney. after COViD restrictions had damped festivities for more than a year, people showed up and joined in celebration. the Blue Front Café, the oldest continually operating outpost of the blues, was officially back. “[the history] is all around you there,” says auerbach. “you see it in the photos on the walls, the signs on the buildings. it’s amazing, really, to be around. But, also, it’s living and breathing and thriving, and there’s people there.” as the band pulled away from the Blue Front Café that night, the juke joint was still packed with people. Holmes was playing music on the front porch with a group of young fans who had shown up from out of town, maybe hoping some of the Delta mojo would rub off on them. Or maybe they had just traveled a long way for a chance to meet their hero. DM

1013 Jackson Ave. East Oxford, MS 800.758.9177 | visitoxfordms.com # v i s i t m s r e s p o n s i b ly

Delta Magazine 2021

| 67

Presbyterian Day School Providing a Superior Education in a Christian Atmosphere

2K-6th GRADE

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Daily Bible instruction and weekly chapel for all grades Accelerated instruction in reading and math Each student supplied with iPads Interactive technology in all classes Art, Music, Spanish, PE, Library, Computer, Stem Lab Small class size offering individual attention Afterschool care and full-time summer program

Fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Receiving the Highest Rating

110 Highway 8 West ◆ Cleveland, Mississippi

662.843.8698 pdsclevelandms.com

Presbyterian Day School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin.

68 | july/august 2021

Fashion to your front door

601.984.3500 Delta Magazine 2021

| 69

Where the Good Times Roll

The B.B. King Museum in Indianola expands to tell the story of how the blues icon made his life on the road.

BY JIM BEAUGEZ • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

70 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 71

ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 5, 2021, when the critically acclaimed blues artist Gary Clark Jr. took the stage with an all-star backing band in celebration of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center’s recent expansion, he played a slow-burning rendition of King’s “Three O’ Clock Blues” as a tribute. it certainly wasn’t the first time he had tackled the tune that launched King’s career—it’s a highlight of his 2014 release Gary Clark Jr. Live [Warner Brothers] and one of the most-performed songs in his repertoire. But that night, something was different. in between his own mesmerizing guitar solos, he ceded the spotlight to two lesser-known players, a veteran sideman named lil’ Ray neal and King acolyte D.K. Harrell. the three artists carried the torch for King, sharing in a musical conversation that lasted eleven minutes. “i’m just here for B.B.,” Clark told me earlier that day as he mingled with fans, posed for pictures, and shared stories. it showed during his performance that evening, which also included a rousing 72 | july/august 2021

version of “Whole lotta love.” that clear, warm evening in indianola will no doubt be remembered as one of the great you-had-to-be-there moments in the Delta’s long musical legacy. joining Clark as headliners were guitar heroes susan tedeschi and Derek trucks of the tedeschi trucks Band, who brought down the house with “you Don’t Know” and “How Blue Can you get,” and led the ten-guitar encore of “everybody Wants to Know Why i sing the Blues.” they closed the night with “the thrill is gone,” the song that changed King’s life. “‘the thrill is gone’ is the one single record that catapulted him onto the pop charts,” says allan Hammons of Hammons and associates, a project consultant from

greenwood who has been involved with the museum since the beginning. “He was widely known and respected [in R&B], but all of a sudden mainstream america now hears of this guy named B.B. King, and he becomes wildly popular, and he was revered by people like eric Clapton. He [became] the most commercially successful bluesman ever.” the B.B. King Museum and Delta interpretive Center opened in 2008 to tell the improbable story of how Riley B. King, who grew up in indianola, itta Bena, and Kilmichael, Mississippi, transcended the sharecropping cotton plantation where he was born and the jim Crow era in which he lived to become one of the cultural icons of the late twentieth century. King’s story

can’t be told without the context of his environment, and the museum masterfully parallels and intertwines the two, down to including a mess kit one of his band members carried on the tour bus for nights when they traveled through towns where no restaurant would seat them.

“Civil rights was a part of what he grew up in, and it affected his life in all aspects,” says Malika Polk-lee, executive director of the museum since 2015. “With him being a young african american boy coming from the south, with jim Crow [and] the plantation history, all that was relevant. it was a part of who he was. But it’s still an inspirational story. even though he endured those injustices and hardships, to still become this musical icon is inspiring. you can come from very humble beginnings and still grow to be this worldrenowned musical icon.” the first expansion since the museum opened adds an additional 4,500 square feet to its footprint and picks up the narrative of King’s life from 2008 until his Delta Magazine 2021

| 73

passing in 2015. a key part of that story is how and where King lived—not in indianola, or even in las Vegas where he kept a home, but on the road where he made his name. in the 1950s, a time when most popular musicians made their living by making records, King used the power of his performances to drive demand for his records, averaging more than three hundred 74 | july/august 2021

shows a year for three decades. true to his name, he rolled into each small town and city larger than life. He bought a used trailways bus and painted his name on the side, and when he and his band arrived for a show, curious locals followed. Over time, as he grew more and more successful, he would upgrade his mobile accommodations and only occasionally took breaks from the road.

to add context to his extensive travels, the museum acquired his tour ledgers from 1976 and plotted his movements on a map.

On an even grander scale, a display running the length of the north wall in the exhibit shows every place he performed during his lifetime, including the soviet union and every continent except antarctica. “it’s an incredible visual of how he lived on the road,” says Bill McPherson, president of the facility’s board of directors.

“People ask where he lived. Well, he had a house in Vegas where he spent his vacations or holidays, but he actually lived in the bedroom on his bus.” in 2012, the museum acquired three of King’s vehicles that are part of the new exhibition, including his silver shadow Rolls Royce and a custom-built Chevrolet el Camino with subtle identifiers on the doors: two musical notes that trained musicians will recognize as B notes, for his initials. the third piece is a tour bus King purchased new in 1987 and had shipped to the united states from Belgium. amazingly, the bus logged more than twelve million road miles, enough to travel from earth to the moon and back twentyfive times. “it was his custom home on wheels,” Delta Magazine 2021

| 74

King’s family and friends in attendance: Mitchell King, nephew, Sue King, niece, Modie Faye Henry, sister, with family friend, Debra Echols

says Hammons. “He had a bed in the back, [and] he had a vast library of videotapes and records and CDs—any way you could listen to music or watch music being performed, he had it on that bus. it had a shower, so he could pretty much live on it. that bus was in constant motion.”

King’s funeral took place at the museum in 2015, and according to his wishes, his body was interred in the indianola soil next to the center. the 2021 expansion 75 | july/august 2021

completes this part of his story as well. now, a pavilion erected around his grave and memorial garden gives fans a focal point, surrounded by quarter-inch aluminum beams with names of his most iconic songs carved on them. Down a pathway that leads from the center of the memorial, a bronze statue of King created by sculptor toby Mendez keeps eternal watch.

“What made [King] special to me was

that he never forgot where he came from,” says Hammons. “He was always promoting Mississippi no matter where he went around the globe. He was proud of his home state. He chose to be buried in Mississippi. “it’s a great american story,” he adds, “and more importantly, it’s a great Mississippi story—a great Delta story.” DM

Delta Magazine 2021

| 75

3814 MAJESTIC OAKS • OXFORD 4 bed/4 full baths & 2 half baths + office & 2 bonus rooms + pool

CHRIS SUBER (662) 419-0231 clsuber@gmail.com

Looking to buy or sell a house/land? Give me a call!

Save Room For Dessert For 50 years, The Crystal Grill has been serving Delta Classics to generations of families for lunch and dinner.

The Crystal Grill is known for its generous portions and legendary desserts.

Locals know to save room for dessert.

What will you try?

OPEN THURSDAY - SUNDAY 11:00 AM - 8:30 PM 662.453.6530 423 CARROLLTON AVENUE GREENWOOD, MS

76 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 77

HOME

NOT YOUR TYPICAL

LAKE HOUSE This traditional home in Chatham is bursting with extensive collections, family heirlooms, objets d’art, and colorful fabrics—all with a stunning view of Lake Washington

BY SHERRY LUCAS • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

78 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 79

80 | july/august 2021

C

ypress trees emerge from the skyblue water of Lake Washington, framing the pier that stretches from the slope of Brucie McKamy Mintz’s backyard. this exquisite scene, so finely composed it could be a japanese print, is visible from every picture window along the back of her house. inside, a joyous riot of color erupts and collections abound. this ranch-style house built by her father, Bill McKamy, in 1950, was his home with her mother, Mary adelyn, for more than fifty years. now it’s hers, and the retired lawyer has gradually updated the interior for a comfortable home that honors her past, embraces the present, and will glide gracefully into the future. like treasured loved ones, family pieces handed down from both sets of grandparents surround her in every room. Collections —english staffordshire figures, Wolfe studio birds and more, Hungarian Herend porcelain, and jamaican folk art—speak to a lifelong hobby of gathering things that charm. no sooner does Mintz settle in her sunroom than a Baltimore

Delta Magazine 2021

| 81

Bright and cheery fabric, such as this lively pattern of frolicking animals, is a fun touch in the sunroom.

A picturesque view of the home’s sitting room, framed by ancient cypress trees.

Blue chinoiserie design, a favorite of Brucie’s, adorns a chest and is found in accessories throughout the house.

82 | july/august 2021

oriole alights on a patio feeder—another splash of color on a site that revels in it.

Mintz practiced law for about forty years in Monroe, louisiana. though she loves that town and has great friends there, ultimately it just didn’t feel like her own. “i had it in my mind it’d be nice to come home. “this farm has been in my family for several generations, and i knew i didn’t want to let it go,” she says. “it’s just an old southern feeling of being tied to the land.” the house on the lake’s western shore was a two-bedroom, onebathroom endeavor at first. as McKamy children arrived—Brucie and a younger brother and sister—the house grew to accommodate them. it’s now three bedrooms with three and a half bathrooms.

Mintz began slowly updating rooms years before her retirement

Cypress walls are a reminder of the sunroom’s origin as a back porch. Now, it’s the go-to room for relaxation, cozy with collections that share her fondness for chinoiserie and Mississippi ceramics. Below, the elegant curves of a family heirloom frame selections from her collection of antique china. More antiques crowd atop an inherited marble-topped sideboard.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 83

Just off the master bedroom, a former pool room is now an inviting sitting area, where large formal pieces mix in with relaxing bamboo and rattan furniture. Below, Jamaican folk art, collected on Mintz’s travels, provides charming accents.

with the help of Marsu interiors, co-owned by designers Marla Mcgee and susan sutherland of greenville. “We just spiffed it up, i guess you’d say.”

“We’d do a room a year,” working with fabrics, wall coverings, paint, bedding, and more, says sutherland. “We based everything on her traditional mahogany furnishings, which have more of an english flair…” “…and threw in some fun,” Mcgee adds. updates and whimsy fold right in with elegant heirloom antiques and accessories for a home with as much personality as its owner. the sunroom is Mintz’s go-to retreat, for its handy proximity to the kitchen, lake and patio views, tV, colorful patterns, and abundance of art. Cypress paneling harkens back to the room’s screened-porch origin. a plantation desk is an old family piece, likely from natchez via her father’s family roots. a seaside watercolor by la jolla, California, artist georgeanna lipe (her father’s first cousin) hangs above a pale-yellow chest adorned with a blue chinoiserie design, also echoed in lamps and urns. “i like a little touch of China, definitely.” the antlered deer skull is Mintz’s own pandemic “souvenir,” discovered beside a turn row on the farm during one of her many walks. More antlers tuck into bowls with shells or onto a sunroom tabletop. she is an incurable collector. “i have tons of english staffordshire. Way too much,” Mintz says of the mostly nineteenth century porcelain figurines she’s collected on trips to england, in antique shops, at Round top antiques show in texas, and even on eBay. “My children say 84 | july/august 2021

A fun pair of mod lamps, perks of the living room, where family portraits and heirlooms dominate. The faux bois finish on the mantel, by artist Will Gray Edwards, is a recent addition. Below, every flat surface becomes a stage for collections spanning a lifetime.

they’re going to have me committed if i buy anymore,” she jokes. she’s drawn to the naiveté and pretty colors of the figures. “they’re almost childlike in their simplicity and attitude. it just makes me happy.”

Her breakfast room is wrapped in a cheery lee jofa wallpaper, “so perfect for the lake” with its lake flowers, birds, and shades of blue. “it really reflects what’s going on outside.” the light fixture, blue glass etched with hummingbirds and trailing flowers from san Miguel de allende in Mexico, pairs perfectly. gingko leaves on lamps and drawer pulls flirt with the outdoors, too, where a huge gingko tree is a standout. a collection of oyster plates— inherited, gifts, and eBay finds—doubles as intriguing wall decor just outside the kitchen.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 85

More antiques—the French bronze candlesticks, themed ‘war and peace’ are over two-centuries old—mix with English Staffordshire figures, crowding the top of a marble-topped sideboard. Inherited pieces range from ancestor portraits and furniture from her paternal grandparents’ antebellum home Everhope, to a few of the oyster plates that decorate her kitchen. Her set of antique Davenport Imari china includes passed down pieces as well as fill-ins from her own searches.

86 | july/august 2021

The dining set and chandelier came from Mintz’s maternal grandmother’s home in Leland.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 87

The breakfast room welcomes the outdoors inside, from the etched hummingbirds on the lighting fixture to lake birds and flowers in the vibrant wallpaper.

88 | july/august 2021

Colorful prints liven up windows and walls in the master bedroom suite, including the green Goa by Thibault wallpaper in the dressing room.

Below, chartreuse walls and beetle art bring a fresh, young appeal to a totally renovated guest bathroom.

the dining room’s chandelier, table, and chairs were once part of her maternal grandmother’s house in leland (now gone).

Mintz’s Davenport imari china dates from the nineteenth century and includes some pieces passed down many generations, “but not very much,” she says. “i always have my eye out for it.” the pattern’s deep navy blue, gold, and salmon hues echo through the rest of her house.

Her paternal grandparents’ home, everhope—an antebellum house on the farm that burned decades ago—was a source of furniture, too, including a scrolling walnut stand displaying her antique china. Her mother’s wedding silver, gorham Chantilly (“she had every piece known to man,” Mintz says, pointing out the ice cream forks), sterling silver goblets from her great aunt, and more complete the setting. Monogrammed linen napkins bear the initials of family members long passed, welcoming them back to the dinner table. in the living room, a marble-topped sideboard from everhope supports a crowd of staffordshire figures as well as antique French bronze candelabras themed war and peace. the boy depicting war still has his original tiny sword. “My father remembered playing with this when he was small.” ancestor portraits and Oriental rugs lend a formal air, tempered by the rattan chaise at the window and fun ‘70s-era lamps by the sofa. “i didn’t want it to look stodgy, with everything old.” artist Will gray edwards from indianola, a good friend, transformed the mantel with a faux bois finish that more closely aligns with the grandfather clock nearby. He also lent a hand and Delta Magazine 2021

| 89

A guest bedroom maintains details of the original look her mother gave the room, in its plantation shutters and the decorative molding that frames the twin beds.

an artist’s eye with rearranging and tweaking furnishings during the pandemic.

Mintz took care to make her house on the lake, though remote, welcoming for guests. good Wi-Fi (“as good as you could get out in the country”), scattered tVs, comfortable beds and bathrooms—“those were things i really put a lot of thought into because i really love to have company.” a guest bedroom and bath’s chartreuse walls share a bright, youthful spirit, as does the bold ikat fabric on bedding and window treatments. gutting and modernizing the bathroom was the biggest job for Mintz’s move home. the result is fresh and fun, with a glass shower, basketweave tile floor, and beetle paintings.

90 | july/august 2021

the bedroom’s trio of rose marble-topped chests trace back to her leland grandmother. Walter anderson prints, McCarty and Wolfe rabbits, and frog and hummingbird pillows welcome in the outdoors. “i live out in the middle of nature,” Mintz says, noting the deer she sees by the dozens in winter fields and the eagles that nest nearby. another guest room, its walls just a kiss of blue, kept original plantation shutters and decorative molding that frames each twin bed. Mintz picked up the pair of trumeaus at traditions on trenton in Monroe (owned by good friends). apple green gingham cushions spruce up cane back chairs, and an eye-catching

pair of italian Capodimonte porcelain lamps (also from traditions on trenton) sport fanciful felines in their decor.

Mintz’s master bedroom also has the gorgeous lake view, its blue hues reflected in Matouk bedding and fabrics. Her parents had put in a dressing room, but her mother never used it as such. it quickly became her little sister’s childhood bedroom then a storage room. Mintz reclaimed it for its original purpose. goa green by thibaut wallpaper livens up the walls with flora and fauna, greens and blues, and a trade route feel. “i wanted this as soon as i saw it!” she says. (Her daughter, Charlotte Muir in north Carolina, used the same pattern on nursery walls when her baby was born).

Delta Magazine 2021

| 91

A guest bedroom comes alive with chartreuse walls and ikat fabric on bedding and window treatments.

92 | july/august 2021

The painting above Mintz’s bed is the same lovely lake scene she wakes up to daily, visible from the back windows. Portraits of her two children (now grown) also decorate the bedroom walls.

“this is such a luxury,” Mintz says, reveling in the room’s cheery surroundings. Her antique blue enamel-topped dresser, jars, and mirror, collected from all over, fit right in. the bedroom chandelier is one more piece with leland family provenance. “this house is just polyglot. there’s stuff from everywhere.” Her parents’ Danish modern bedroom furniture, silvered to a lighter shade, won Mintz’s approval. “now, i think it’s very attractive. i really like it a lot.” the step-down sitting room was once a pool room for water exercises that helped her mother’s arthritis. now, a secure wood slab and Oriental rug hide the drained pool. Higher ceilings accommodate taller inherited pieces, such as a secretary from everhope and a pier mirror from leland. Bamboo and rattan furniture have a comfortable rapport with the more formal pieces.

Portraits of her children, Charlotte and Ben, decorate the walls, and a landscape of her lake view hangs over her bed. Mintz commissioned it when she lived in Monroe, taking photos of the scene for artist edmund Williamson to recreate in a painting. “i had it hung in my office for years, so when i sat at my desk, i looked at it and could relate to being here.” now back home on lake Washington, all she has to do is find a window, and voila. DM Delta Magazine 2021

| 93

94 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 95

FOOD

Taste of Heaven There’s something innately old-fashioned and satisfying about homemade desserts. Try these fresh peach desserts and you’ll see why.

BY CINDY COOPWOOD • PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILL JACKS

96 | july/august 2021

O

ne of the best things about the South is the food. Everyone knows this. another huge plus is the

abundance of fresh produce from our fertile soil, especially this time of year. justin Bieber may get his peaches down in georgia, but lucky for us they are readily available right here in the Delta as well. if you want to try your hand at making a couple of deceptively simple southern desserts consider these fresh peach recipes. and it won’t hurt our feelings if you add a dollop of ice cream on top.

FRESH FRUIT TART We love to mix peaches and blueberries, but almost any fruit will work for this simple tart.

RUSTIC SKILLET PEACH COBBLER We’ve been known to eat this while still warm, straight from the skillet—with a generous scoop of ice cream of course!

2 5 to 6 ¾ ½

sticks butter firm, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced cup sugar teaspoon cinnamon pinch of salt 2 cups all-purpose flour

2½ ½ ⅔ 1

teaspoons baking powder teaspoon salt cup milk teaspoon vanilla extract Vanilla ice cream, optional

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook peaches in butter until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. add ¼ cup of the sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring frequently until sugar has dissolved, peaches are softening and about half of the liquid has evaporated, about another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

For topping, combine flour, baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, remaining ½ cup sugar and remaining butter in a large bowl.

Cut in butter with a pastry tool till mixture is crumbly and butter is evenly distributed. add milk and vanilla and stir together till a rough dough forms. (a food processor may be used as well.)

Drop spoonfuls of topping over warm peaches. Bake at 375 degrees until topping is golden, 30 to 35 minutes. let stand 10 to 15 minutes. serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.

2 3 1½ 2 4 4 5 to 6 1 4

(9-inch) refrigerated pie crusts fresh peaches, peeled and sliced cup fresh blueberries cups fresh strawberries, sliced tablespoons sugar, divided tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided tablespoons additional sugar egg, beaten tablespoons butter, divided and cut into small cubes

lay out one pie crust on one side of baking sheet lined with parchment paper. leave room for the second crust beside it.

Mix the sliced peaches with half the blueberries, 2 tablespoons of the flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Pour in the center of the crust leaving a generous border. Fold the crust over the fruit and press around into rough pleats. Beat egg and brush edges with egg wash. sprinkle with half of additional sugar and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.

Place the second pie crust on the baking sheet. Mix together the strawberries, the remaining blueberries, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl. as before, pour over the second pie crust and form the tart, brush edges with egg, sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.

Bake tarts in preheated 425 degree oven until crust is lightly browned, 25 minutes. sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Best served warm with ice cream!

Delta Magazine 2021

| 97

www.joysartofdining.com

THERE ARE STILL GIFT OCCASIONS!

The Art of Dining® in Memphis 3 Cookbook, restaurant guide, art book, travel book. . . it’s the perfect gift!

Joy Bateman’s The Art of Dining® series of books is available at Novel–online and by phone order, with temporary curbside service.

(901) 922-5526 www.novelmemphis.com 98 | july/august 2021

Stuckey Family Dentistry is proud to serve Greenwood and the Delta for 30 Years in family dental services.

Beautiful results and a healthy mouth are a few appointments plan for a healthy mouth together.

Call us today!

Delta Magazine 2021

| 99

CANNING

In the Can

PRESERVING SUMMER’S BOUNTY

BY ANNE MARTIN PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANNE MARTIN AND MAGGIE POWELL

100 | july/august 2021

Every summer Olivia Watts and Roy Hopson preserve a little bit of American culinary history along with the bounty of their garden.

he bounty from summer gardens is being harvested and farmers markets across the Delta are brimming with fresh tomatoes, corn, squash, zucchini, beans, peas, and okra. and nestled among

T

the vegetables are small glass jars filled with the delicious flavors of the season—flavors to be enjoyed now or during cold winter months.

Canning vegetables has been a part of american culinary history since the 1880s. it is food art at its best, carried on in kitchens across the region. two Delta canners are keeping the tradition of canning alive and offering their delicacies at their local farmers markets.

Olivia Watts learned to can when she was still a teenager. she had seen her grandmothers can, but she had the opportunity to try it for herself when she married her first husband.

“He was Mormon, and they did a lot of canning,” Watts says. “this was my first real try at putting up vegetables.” after the marriage ended, Watts didn’t can again until about 2008 when she and

her partner, Roy Hopson, decided to be vendors at the Downtown greenwood Farmers Market.

“We started off making fried pies,” Watts says. “My mother made fried pies she sold to area restaurants, including the Crystal grill, so that’s what we did for a while.”

But Watts says the pies were just too much work. that’s when she rediscovered the art of canning, using a 150-year-old recipe she found in her father’s Bible after he died in 1982. “i was reading daddy’s Bible one night in 1983 and found a recipe for green tomato chowchow tucked inside,” Watts says. “i put it up with my other recipes, and it stayed there until i started canning for the farmers market.” she isn’t sure which grandmother the recipe belonged to since both of them canned but has always thought it was her paternal grandmother’s. Watts closely guards the recipe, sharing it with no one, not even family.

“Making the chowchow is a true labor of love because we chop all of the ingredients by hand,” Watts says. “and it has to sit about three hours before you can actually put it in the jar.”

Once Watts, sixty-eight, and Hopson, eighty-four, began making the chowchow and selling it at the farmers market, it became an instant hit. the chowchow is Delta Magazine 2021

| 101

RED TOMATO CHOWCHOW 25 1 3 3 3 3 2

An abundance of peppers from Olivia and Roy’s garden means plenty of canned peppers available at the farmers market along with their famous green tomato chowchow.

sought after by regular attendees of the market.

But that isn’t all they can. Pickled okra, string beans, red tomato chowchow, salsa, muscadine jelly, pear preserves, pepper sauce, peach strawberry preserves, apple pie filling, and vegetable soup are all put up and sold at the farmers market when available.

“We put up enough for us, then sell the extra,” Watts says. “not only does it taste better, it cuts down on the grocery bill.”

Watts and Hopson usually spend saturday after the market canning whatever is ready in the garden. But she added that some days she comes home from work at Chicot irrigation in greenwood to spend a few hours canning if there is an abundance of produce.

Known as R & O growers at the market, the couple also sells vegetables straight from the garden. a retired farmer from Humphreys County, Hopson is a natural in the garden and oversees the acreand-a-half plot filled with three hundred tomato plants, cucumber, cabbage, bell peppers, jalapeños, cayenne peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, purple hull peas, zucchini, squash, lima beans, butter beans, potatoes, and string beans. “if we grow it, we sell,” Hopson says. “the more we grow, the more we put up and sell.” the two work the garden, even have matching tillers, according to Watts. and they can together. she is quick to add that while they both enjoy canning, it is work and takes both of them to get it all done.

Roy recalls his mother canning when he 102 | july/august 2021

was growing up near swift town in leflore County. He says she would put up pork sausage and all kinds of vegetables including peaches and apples. “this is something i never thought i would be doing,” Hopson says with a laugh.

“Canning never crossed my mind.”

But they got so serious about it that Hopson took a canning class at the Capps Center in indianola. the first thing they can each spring is pickles since the cucumbers come in early. they make bread and butter pickles, kosher dill spears, sliced dill pickles, and sometimes hot dills. Watts says it takes about four hours to make a batch of pickles from start to finish.

Watts says she likes to can, to preserve the food to enjoy later, but admits it is work. “i do enjoy it. i can’t see myself not doing it,” she says, recalling that both of her grandmothers canned but not her mother.

“We always had a garden growing up in greenwood.”

But her canning experiences haven’t always been so pleasant. One year she purchased a different type of jar to use for canning peas.

“One by one those jars exploded! Peas and glass made a mess. i never bought that brand of jar again.”

While canning can involve a bit of time and effort, Watts encourages others to try it. she says it is very satisfying hearing the top on the jar ‘pop’ knowing that it is sealed and your efforts have been successful. “try it. it doesn’t hurt to try it.” DM

red tomatoes cooked and peeled cup sugar teaspoons salt tablespoons chopped garlic tablespoons celery seed tablespoons mustard seed chopped onions

Cook all ingredients in a large pot for 10 minutes at a low boil stirring occasionally. While ingredients are cooking, sterilize your canning jars. (see next page) Put chowchow into canning jars, seal with lids and rings. Place jars in pressure cooker or rolling boil water bath for at least 5 minutes. (see next page) Remove jars from pot to let cool.

Cover with dish towel and wait for top of jar to pop.

From the kitchen of Olivia Watts SALSA 3 3 ¾ 1 6 1½ ½ 2 1½

cups chopped tomatoes long Cayenne peppers cup onion jalapeño pepper, chopped cloves garlic cups vinegar cup ground cumin teaspoons oregano leaves teaspoon salt

Prepare jars to be sterilized. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. set rings aside.

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Place in salsa in sterilized jars, seal with lids and rings.

Put filled jars in pressure cooker for at least four minutes or boiling water bath for 15 minutes. (see sidebar) Remove from pressure cooker to cool.

Cover with dish towel and wait for top of jar to pop.

From the kitchen of Olivia Watts

Canning 101 Want to give canning a try but not sure how to get started?

HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED Sterilizing the Jars First, no matter the size of the canning jar, they must be sterilized. Put the jars and lids (not the ring tops) in a large pot, with the rack, completely covering them with water. Bring water to a simmer over medium heat. Sterilize the jars by boiling for ten minutes. Keep the jars warm in the simmering water until needed. Take out one jar at a time to fill.

Next, decide which method of canning you want to use—water bath or pressure canning.

Water Bath Canning A water bath is simply a very large pot, like a stock pot, with a rack in the bottom and a lid on the top. Fill jars and seal with lids and ring tops; completely submerge in simmering water for time specified in recipe. Heat to a temperature of 212 degrees. This method is used mainly for fruits, pickles, salsa, jellies and other highacid foods along with some tomato recipes.

Pressure Canning A pressure canner or pressure cooker has a lid that locks onto the pot and a dialor-weighted-gauge that allows you to regulate the steam pressure that builds up inside the pot by adjusting the intense heat up and down. The pressurized steam is much hotter than boiling water.

Pressure canning heats jars to 240 degrees. This method is good for canning such foods as green beans, corn, soups, and sauces with meat.

Rack You will need a rack to hold the jars off the bottom of the pot to allow the water to circulate freely. A rack from a crockpot will

PICKLED OKRA this is a simple recipe from food writer anne Martin’s mother, emily Williams. it’s an easy way to get started.

2 5 5 1 ½ 6 1 5 do. However, if you don’t have one, you can go old school and put a folded terrycloth dish towel in the bottom of the pot. Or roll up pieces of aluminum foil to place between the jars. You don’t want them to touch.

Jar Lifter A jar lifter is used to remove the hot jar out of the water bath or pressure cooker.

You can also wrap several heavy-duty rubber bands around the ends of tongs to increase their grip on the glass.

The POP After canning, with either method, put the jars on a dry kitchen towel on the counter. If a vacuum seal has been created, the raised circle on the lid is sucked down and flattened. When this happens, you hear a “pop.” To test the seal on each jar, press the center of the lid. If the lid is slightly concave, and does not make a popping sound, it has sealed properly. If the lid can move up and down when you press it, it hasn’t sealed completely. When that happens, refrigerate and eat the food within three days.

pounds tender okra red chili peppers cloves garlic, peeled quart white vinegar cup water tablespoon salt tablespoon celery seed pint canning jars with lids and screw tops

sterilize jars in hot water in pot on stove top. Wash okra. Remove jars from water and divide okra evenly between the jars. Put one pepper and one clove garlic in each jar. in a small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. ladle the hot liquid over okra in the jars. seal each jar with a lid and ring.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil with canning rack in the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat to simmer and put the filled and sealed jars in the water. Be sure the water covers the lids. leave in water for 10 minutes. Remove the jars to sit on a clean dish towel.

Once the jars have thoroughly cooled, check to see that the lids have “popped” and completely sealed. store the jars away from sunlight and wait at least 8 weeks before eating.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 103

Faye Davis’s treasured canning recipes are compiled in a family cookbook and used by her great-granddaughter, Maggie Powell.

Maggie Powell embraces the time honored tradition of canning and preserving food from her garden.

hile Watts’s first foray into canning was almost fifty years ago, thirty-two-year-old Maggie Powell of Clarksdale has only been practicing this time-honored kitchen tradition for about eight years. as a child,

W

she watched her grandmother, Margaret Wilson of glendora, make pickles and jellies and can vegetables. “if she grew it, it was going in a can somewhere,” Powell says. “she always had a garden.”

Powell says by comparison her garden 104 | july/august 2021

is much smaller than her grandmother’s, but it provides all she needs to make a variety of pickles and jellies and to put up various vegetables for winter.

But it was an act of generosity that got Powell into canning. “i made my first batch of pepper jelly to give as gifts,” Powell says. “But when i gave it to people i work with, they came back wanting to know how to get more of it so they could give it as a gift.” thus began Powell’s journey into canning and selling her product. Out of the first batch of pepper jelly, she sold

about thirty jars. she says now it’s nothing to do two hundred jars at a time. and many of her customers have standing orders. “i know who to call to let them know i’m making pepper jelly and find out how many they want,” Powell says. “that gives me an idea of just how many jars to can.” she doesn’t always make pepper jelly in the spring, but this year she did. One customer wanted twenty-five jars, so she got busy making jelly. and this customer, who is out of town, will purchase another twenty-five jars in the fall.

Powell also has a very productive garden from which she can pick and choose what vegetables to can. this year she planted squash, zucchini, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, traditional tomatoes, yellow peppers, green peppers, red peppers, and jalapenos, along with carrots, onions, potatoes, and sugar peas. she says all of this will end up in a jar or in her freezer for her family to enjoy. Family and friends will also share in the harvest.

When she sets up at the Downtown Clarksdale Farmers Market and the lyon Farmers Market, she usually sells a variety of pickles, pepper jelly—when she has it, and homemade sourdough bread. Baking bread became her pandemic hobby. she takes a basic sourdough starter, which she created from scratch, and turns it into chocolate zucchini bread, raisin swirl, focaccia, and traditional sourdough loaves.

Pickled pepperoncini peppers from the garden will be put up for Mississippi Pot Roast. jalapenos will be made into Cowboy Candy, which is jalapenos in a sugar syrup with a little bit of heat. Powell says it is great served over cream cheese. and, of course, she makes pepper sauce, which just gets hotter the longer it sits.

But pickles and pepper jelly are her most sought-after specialties. Pickles come in a variety of flavors including dill chip, bread and butter, spears, and a fourteenday sweet pickle where you do something to the pickles for fourteen days before you can them.

“My grandmother called them icicle pickles because of the crunch and the taste,” Powell says. “they are my husband’s favorite.”

When Powell cans her pickles, she tries to put up twelve jars of each of the sweet

and dill chip and at least six jars of the bread and butter, spears, and other flavors. and she will take pre-orders for her pickles. she says this gives her an idea of how many jars to make. any additional jars she has are sold at the farmers market.

Of all the things she cans, Powell says the dill pickles are her favorite. she says the crunch reminds her of a refrigerated pickle bought in the grocery store. But she quickly adds that canning the jelly also brings her great enjoyment. Her jelly is offered in such flavors as traditional pepper jelly, peach jalapeno (her most requested), blueberry habanero, fig, strawberry fig, plum, and a new flavor, cranberry.

“We love to take the blueberry habanero, melt it down, and use it as a glaze on chicken, and the peach can be served with any kind of pork or over cream cheese.”

Powell does all of this while working fulltime as comptroller with Planters Bank in downtown Clarksdale. But she says the time and effort that goes into canning is worth every minute.

“When people go ‘oh my gosh, i had some of your jelly and i loved it!’, there is such a satisfaction when you hear that,” Powell says. “that and we eat pickles all year long.” she also loves giving her grandparents gift baskets for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions filled with her jelly, pickles, and bread—especially her grandmother. “it is so gratifying to give my grandmother something she kind of taught me how to make. i use my greatgrandmother’s recipes, but my grandmother used some of them too.”

STRAWBERRY JAM 5 cups prepared strawberries 1 box powdered pectin (4 tablespoons) 7 cups sugar

stem and crush enough strawberries until you have 5 cups. add to large pot—do not use nonstick.

Over med-high heat, bring fruit up to just beginning to boil and add pectin. allow to come to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down while stirring constantly. add sugar and continue to boil for 1 to 5 minutes. *test for consistency after 1 minute. (instructions below) ladle mixture into hot half pint jars, add lids, and screw rings on until finger tight. in a large canning pot, bring water to a boil, add jars, and boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove to cooling area until all lids have popped. if lids don’t pop after 24 hours, place in fridge. *To test consistency, place ramekin or other small container in freezer. Remove pot from heat, spoon jelly into cold dish from freezer and place in fridge for 5 minutes. If jelly sets up, it’s ready to place in jars. If it is still runny, boil for another minute or so and test again.

Repeat until preferred consistency is reached.

From the kitchen of Maggie Powell

Delta Magazine 2021

| 105

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES this brine recipe will yield a one-pint jar of pickles. simply increase the number of cucumbers and brine ingredients for a larger batch.

For one pint of pickles, use 3 to 4 medium cucumbers.

Remove ends from desired number of cucumbers. slice into spears or chips. add to canning jar.

Pickling brine: to make a one-pint jar of pickles 1 ½ 1 ½

Her great-grandmother’s canning recipes are compiled in a family book, Recipes from the Kitchen of The Pickle Lady Faye Davis, including the recipe for bread and butter pickles Powell currently uses, which she doesn’t share. she admits canning and making jelly and pickles is a lot of work. and you must be ready to work when the vegetables are ready.

“When we pick the cucumbers, you have to can them that day or the next. you can’t put it off,” Powell says. “My husband (Houston) helps me keep an eye on the garden to see what needs to be picked and will sometimes have them sliced and in the ice bath when i get home.”

Powell says there is nothing like the taste of a homemade pickle and encourages anyone who has considered canning to give it a try.

106 | july/august 2021

cup white vinegar cup water tablespoon sugar tablespoon salt

Other seasonings, such as garlic, fresh dill or peppercorns may be added depending on your taste. Bring mixture to a boil and cook 3 minutes or until dry ingredients have dissolved. ladle over cucumbers in jars. add lid and ring. let cool then place directly in the fridge. Flavor is best after one week.

From the kitchen of Maggie Powell

“i tell folks to try making refrigerator pickles first; you don’t have to go through the canning process. you can have pickles ready to eat in two days.” the jelly may a take a bit longer before it is ready. Powell starts the process on a Friday night, spending about two hours grinding or shredding the peppers and putting them in the refrigerator. On saturday she continues making the jelly, putting it in the jars and finally in a water bath to seal the lids. From start to finish, she says it takes about eight hours. the best part about canning is eating summer’s bounty in the middle of winter. and the shelf life is longer. Pickles retain

their crispness for about four months on the shelf, much longer if stored in the fridge. jelly is good for at least a couple of years. Powell says it may be longer, but they can’t keep it any longer because they eat it. tomatoes and peppers she has canned have been consumed up to three years after being canned. “i would do this all the time if i could,” Powell says. “there is such a joy in growing the vegetables and putting them up and sharing them with others.”

Both Watts and Powell say the time it takes to can may not be short, but it’s worth every minute to preserve summer’s goodness in a jar. DM

Maggie cans hundreds of tomatoes each year to be enjoyed in soups, stews, and sauces throughout the winter.

CANNING TOMATOES There is a big debate on this process in the canning world, but it’s how my mom and grandmother taught me, so I continue to follow their process! – MAGGIE POWELL gather tomatoes, cut an “X” into the bottom of each tomato. Bring water to a boil and drop tomatoes in for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove tomatoes and place in ice water until cool. Once cool, remove skin and place tomatoes in jars. add ½ tablespoon salt to pint jars and 1 tablespoon salt to quarts before adding lids and rings. Put in water bath for 85 minutes. if jars do not pop in 24 hours, move to the fridge. tomatoes may be left whole, diced or crushed, depending on how you will use them.

Note: Approximately three pounds of fresh tomatoes should yield one quart of canned tomatoes.

You can find Watts at the Downtown Greenwood Farmers Market, Rail Spike Park Pavilion, corner of Main and Johnson Streets, Saturdays 8 a.m.–12 noon. Powell is at the Downtown Clarksdale Farmers Market, Collective Seed & Supply Courtyard, 145 Delta Avenue, Monday’s 5 p.m.– 6:30 p.m. and on Tuesdays at the Farmers Market in Lyon, on Main Street across the tracks from Lyon Park.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 107

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.

108 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 109

ONE NIGHT OF MADNESS BY STOKES MCMILLAN

HISTORY

Parchman trusty Hogjaw Mullen, whose real name was Clarence B. Grammer, and known as Main Mos’ Dog Boy, often assisted in manhunts across the state. Pictured here are Hogjaw and his best bloodhounds—Bama, Red, and Blackie—after capturing Leon Turner, who was wanted for murder. Emptying his pistol into a root cellar he stated, “Leon, this is Hogjaw, come on out, you know I’m badder than you are.”

110 | july/august 2021

PARCHMAN FARM, MISSISSIPPI’S STATE PENITENTIARY IN THE 1930S

The Midnight SPECIAL

One of the early camps built on Parchman Farm from lumber milled on-site. Parchman maintained both racial and gender separation during the old days. Once the brick plant was built, the buildings were constructed by convict brick-masons, with bricks made from clay deposits located on the sprawling farm. Landscaping efforts showed a commitment to make the camps look more homelike than the bare concrete and steel prison buildings of today.

“Let the Midnight Special shine her light on me, Let that Midnight Special, shine her ever-lovin’ light on me...”

BY HANK BURDINE

any of us grew up listening to Credence Clearwater Revival singing their hit song, “Midnight Special,” or maybe we

M

remember other versions sung by lead Belly, Big Bill Bronzy, sonny terry and Brownie Mcghee, les Paul, or the Kingston trio. Written about and sung in many different forms, the only definite location of the prison song was recorded by john and alan lomax at the Mississippi state Penitentiary at Parchman. in that version the illinois Central Railroad was operating the train referred to as the Midnight special. the steam locomotive, with its big piercing headlight and definite mournful whistle, left jackson at 12:01 a.m. and traveled through the hills and many small Delta towns arriving at Parchman station early that morning just about daybreak. On board that train were wives, family members, girlfriends—and sometimes prostitutes—bound for Parchman Farm, the state penitentiary.

Creedence Clearwater Revival, whose version of the song “Midnight Special” appeared on their album Willy and the Poor Boys, in 1969.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 111

The Superintendent’s home on Parchman Farm. The Superintendent was in charge of daily operations on the 16,000-acre farm, overseeing farming practices of the large operation and keeping watch over the almost 2,500 prisoners. The Superintendent reported regularly to the Prison Board in Jackson. Other than working in the Governor’s Mansion, the dream trusty position was as a house servant or valet in the Superintendent’s home.

“Well, if you ever in da Delta, boy, you better act right, You better not gamble and you better not fight.

‘Cause da Sheriff he will grab you, and his boys will throw you down, and before you know it, you is Parchman bound.”

112 | july/august 2021

One of the wards in the prison hospital. The staff consisted of private duty nurses and doctors who performed routine operations on-site.

More serious surgeries were performed in either Oxford at the University of Mississippi Medical School or in Memphis.

the burgeoning population along with huge vegetable gardens producing fresh vegetables year-round. For many years the prison ran on its own, producing a profit for the state of Mississippi. in 1943 the penitentiary canned eighty thousand gallons of vegetables and had a livestock inventory of 850 beef cattle, 3,800 hogs, 250 milk cows, and 825 mules and horses. some would say it produced a profit upon the backs of the prisoners. Parchman Farm has had its share of nightmare stories and was a nightmare place to be sentenced to; however, there was another side to the prison life. some prisoners reported that if you did your work, were not problematic, and were able to climb the ladder of trust, you just may find yourself in a position of a somewhat easier “row to hoe,” and even possibly, an early release.

PARCHMAN FARM, MISSISSIPPI’S STATE PENITENTIARY IN THE 1930S

as history records, Parchman Farm, which the Mississippi state Penitentiary was known as in the older days, was a sprawling cotton plantation that replaced the old stone-walled prison in jackson and the horrific and oftentimes deadly system of “convict leasing” where prisoners were leased out to private leasing companies or directly to landowners to assist in the clearing of land in the southern piney woods region for turpentine production or the hill and Delta lands for cotton production. the new prison was almost totally selfsufficient with its own sawmill, carpentry shop, and brick plant, producing most all of its necessary material onsite to build the many camps scattered across the sixteen-thousand-acre farm. the front gate was attached to nothing, and the prisoners slept and ate in their respective camps locked down only at night. the prisoners, known as gunmen because they were always “under the gun,” were looked after during the day by other prisoners who had done their work and gained the trust of the camp sergeant and moved into a supervisory position. these prisoners were known as trustys and wore vertically striped uniforms called up-n-downs as opposed to the horizontal ringarounds of the gunmen. the trustys carried shotguns and rifles standing guard over the “long line” as the prisoners labored in the fields, breaking ground with mules and middle busters, rowing up, planting cotton, chopping cotton, picking cotton, or doing any of the many jobs needed to be done on a working plantation. Parchman Farm had its own dairy herd and plenty of pigs and chickens to feed

PARCHMAN FARM, MISSISSIPPI’S STATE PENITENTIARY IN THE 1930S

One of the Parchman Bands during the 1930s, about the time John and Alan Lomax were photographing and recording prison songs and field chants. The band consisted of guitars, mandolins, banjos, a bass fiddle, trumpets, trombones, saxophone and a set of drums.

Once a prisoner was delivered to the front gates of Parchman from the county lockup by long Chain Charlie, the traveling sergeant that picked up sentenced prisoners, he was inducted, given a physical exam, and issued the typical heavy cotton duck ring-around uniforms and assigned to a camp to begin work in the cotton fields. in a book

by William Banks taylor, Down on Parchman Farm, it is noted that once a sentence began, if the gunman obeyed the rules and did his work, backbreaking in the broiling hot Delta sun as it was, there were immediate rewards. sex, whiskey, gambling, baseball on the weekends, and visitation were available to the prisoner who did right. just about all the camps had their own whiskey stills, and tobacco and other contraband were smuggled in. a gunman could be elevated to “trusty shooter” and put in charge of looking after other prisoners, which allowed him separate sleeping quarters away from the gunmen.

Coveted trusty positions were sought out that allowed one to work in the dairy, hospital, kennel, or the laundry. the best positions were up at the Front Camp working in administrative positions or as house servants or valets to officials or to the superintendent. the most coveted trusty positions were in jackson in the governor’s Mansion where most certainly a pardon was in store at the end of the governor’s term. When describing the trustys down in jackson, one inmate during the 1940s exclaimed, “Oh, sweet jesus, dem was da ones in high cotton!”

ONE NIGHT OF MADNESS BY STOKES MCMILLAN

“Well, I’m putting dat cotton in a eleven-foot sack…

Yes, I’m putting dat cotton in a eleven-foot sack…

With a twelve-gauge shotgun at my back…” – MOSE ALLISON

Hogjaw Mullen attained the revered trusty position of Main Mos’ Dog Boy in charge of a number of dog trainers and helpers.

Whenever a manhunt called for the Parchman bloodhounds to assist in a search, Hogjaw responded with his three best dogs.

He was given his own personal .38 caliber pistol, but only allowed six bullets on each mission. Highway Patrolman Tom Sadler was his driver on all hunts with Hogjaw riding up front with the dogs in the back of the cruiser.

Delta Magazine 2021

| 113

Visitation and the Midnight Special the inmate population at Parchman Farm was overwhelmingly male. the females, few in number, were housed separately and worked mostly in the sewing shop where they stayed busy cutting, sewing, and repairing prisoner uniforms and fabricating bed linens. each of the eighteen male camps held 150-200 inmates. as a part of each camp, there was a little building divided into private rooms set aside for “conjugal visitation” on sunday afternoons. the “red house” had between five and ten separate rooms adorned with a small table, chair, and bed. it was to these assorted “red houses” that the Midnight special delivered loved ones to Parchman Farm each sunday.

“Yonder comes Miss Rosie, how in the world do you know?

I can tell by her apron and by the clothes she wo’.

An umbrella on her shoulder, a piece of paper in her hand, She dun been to see da Guvnor’, she come to free her man…” it was that long piercing whistle that could be heard as the Midnight special left Ruleville and crept through Drew that would 114 | july/august 2021

cause many a love weary inmate to crowd around the barred windows in the camps, which were called cages, in hopes that the beaming bright light from the locomotive would shine on their faces and that their loved ones would be on that train.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, the hierarchy of the Parchman Farm worked quite efficiently through the gunmen, trustys, cage bosses and sergeants, sergeants being paid white employees and known as the “Main Mos Man” in each camp, up through the superintendent. in Down on Parchman Farm, Banks asserts, “most convicts were remarkably content.” One convict stated, “you could get everything you ever wanted...the trustys ran the drugs and whiskey, there were ladies on the weekends, and dice rollin’ all the time.” Contented convicts, in turn, pleased the drivers and the sergeants. every workday, “constant as ole Hannah (the sun), the Cap’m led his gunmen to the rows, brought home the quota, and gave Mr. Marvin (the superintendent) the leverage he had to have in dealing with the folks (politicians) down in jackson.” the “path of good behavior” was appealing to, and followed by, a good number of the prisoners. One investigative reporter in the

PARCHMAN FARM, MISSISSIPPI’S STATE PENITENTIARY IN THE 1930S

A. J. “Pap” Tabor on the right, along with another prisoner, was sentenced to life in prison for murder arriving at Parchman in 1915. In the 1930s, Tabor rejected pardons from both Governors Bilbo and Carrol, choosing to stay on the farm. When Pap Tabor got too old and feeble to work in the fields, he was given an apartment in the infirmary where he was delivered the Commercial Appeal each morning. In his apartment, he could read, smoke his pipe, and listen to the radio. Pap refused to wear prison clothes anymore, and wore a coat and tie each day except when he went fishing in Black Bayou with his own personal valet. For Pap’s 90th birthday, Parchman staff, fellow convicts, and relatives gave him a birthday party with all the fixings.

ONE NIGHT OF MADNESS BY STOKES MCMILLAN

early 1950s allowed to interview prisoners without staff around relayed a statement by one of the convicts who had just received a spanking from Black annie, the leather strap used to punish recalcitrant gunmen, and administered by other gunmen, for stealing drugs from the infirmary: “i have no special complaint with treatment here, my keepers are as fair as could be expected.” Convict evelyn stevens described her life at Parchman Farm as “really just like home.” Ruth Dickens from leland stated during her stay at the prison, “under the circumstances, we’re pretty well off here.”

Parchman Farm remained a hotbed of political furor between those who wanted to continue with the tried-and-true system, that had been working for the state as far as a fiduciary return, and those that wanted prison reform. it began to turn from a bubble to a boil during the term of governor Ross Barnett when a trusty was sent out of state on a mission, supposedly by one account to pick up a prized stud horse for breeding purposes, and failed to return, going home instead to Montana. the news got out about a trusty being sent on an out-of-state mission, and Hodding Carter of greenville’s Delta Democrat Times called for a “new attitude” at Parchman. the governor’s opponents jumped on the incident and began to ridicule the sitting governor. according to Cliff sessions of United Press International, “a rumor had circulated in jackson that hundreds Trusty Hogjaw Mullen, with two pistols—one empty and the other fully loaded—stands guard of persons had applied for admission to the over two men who were later convicted for murder in Attala County. Highway Patrolman Tom penitentiary because convicts are treated so Sadler frisks one while Sheriff Roy Braswell and a deputy search the other. Mullen was granted nicely.” When governor Barnett was release several times—but just couldn’t do right on the outside, although he had married approached about the incident with the missing while out. Hogjaw was in his element. As the prison’s chief dog handler, he had authority over trusty, he glibly replied, “Well, son, if you can’t dozens of men. He also had a pearl handled .38 revolver with a strap-on holster during manhunts, all the food and drink he wanted—and he had Connie Ruth, his wife, on the trust a trusty, just who the hell can you trust!” after civil lawsuits had been filed in Federal weekends. Parchman was where he belonged; it was where he fit in perfectly.

Court, judge William C. Keady ruled in 1972 that the old system at Parchman Farm was antiquated and in violation of the First, eighth, and Fourteenth “Mississippi’s prison system has one of the highest mortality rates in amendments. these findings later produced orders for immediate the country, is rife with corruption and is under investigation by the change and relief to the systems and practices at Parchman Farm. u.s. Department of justice over civil rights violations.” a new prison One by one, as new facilities were built, the old wooden and brick commissioner has been hired who once was warden at the notorious cages were burned down, and the practice of farming the productive angola Prison in louisiana. Commissioner Burl Cain’s plans to land ceased. the land was leased out to local farmers, and Black annie salvage the prison system include, “bringing rodeos back to the was banned. Very little prison manufacturing continued because of Mississippi state Penitentiary at Parchman, rooting out corrupt its competition with local industry. inmates were kept in locked down corrections staff, building a chapel, and placing emphasis on ‘moral facilities most of the day with some daily outside exercise and play rehabilitation.’” according to Cain, “these are four parts of running time allowed. the trusty system was abolished, and what was once a good prison, good food, good medicine, good praying, and good an income producing penitentiary became a costly burden to the playing.” state of Mississippi. in any event, it would do good to heed one-time gunman Bukka Recently there have been deadly riots within the confines of state White’s advice in his song Parchman Farm, from long ago… prisons including Parchman, set off by gang wars and fueled by “Oh, listen men; I didn’t mean no harm. horrible living conditions in some of the prison facilities. according If you want to do good...stay off...da Parchman Farm.” DM to an article in jackson’s Clarion Ledger on October 28, 2020, Delta Magazine 2021

| 115

116 | july/august 2021

Delta Magazine 2021

| 117

EVENTS

Bikes, Blues & Bayous in Greenwood on August 7

FESTIVALS, MUSIC & FUN THINGS TO DO July 1, 7:30 pm

Cleveland

July 29

The Marshall Tucker Band

Three Dog Night

Bologna Performing Arts center bolognapac.com

Landers Center landerscenter.com

July 8, 7 pm

Brandon

August 17:30 pm

Jamey Johnson

ZZ top

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitherater.com

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitheater.com

July 8, 8 pm

Memphis

Hardy

Southaven

August 7

Landers Center landerscenter.com

bikesbluesbayous.raceroster.com

Memphis

Little Big Town

Greenwood

Memphis

Elvis Week Graceland Memphistravel.com

Memphis Botanical Gardens memphisbotanicgarden.com

August 13 Southaven

Summerland Tour 2021 Featuring Everclear, Hoobastank, Living Colour, and Wheatus Landers Center landerscenter.com

July 22, 7 pm

Brandon

James Taylor and his All-Star Band in concert at FedEx Forum on August 14 Memphis

Brad Paisley Memphis Botanical Gardens memphisbotanicgarden.com

August 13-15

Clarksdale

Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival Sunflowerfest.org

Brad Paisley

August 14

Brandon Amphitheater Brandonamphitheater.com

James Taylor and his All-Star Band

118 | july/august 2021

Brad Paisley, Brandon Amphitheater, July 22

Bikes, Blues & Bayous August 11-17

July 22

Memphis

Graceland Soundstage graceland.com

Repticon- Memphis Reptile and Exotic Animal Show

July 17

Brandon

Blackberry Smoke with Allman Betts Band, The Wild Feathers

Graceland Soundstage graceland.com July 10–11

August 6, 5 pm

Southaven

FedEx Forum Fedexforum.com

Memphis Harry Connick Jr. in concert at Brandon Amphitheater on August 28

August 21

Southaven

18th Annual Tri-State Blues Festival Landers Center landerscenter.com

July 6, 12 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) lemuriabooks.com THEODORE R. JOHNSON

August 25, 7 pm

Memphis

When the Stars Begin to Fall July 7, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) squarebooks.com

Cheap Trick Graceland Soundstage graceland.com

August 28, 8 pm

Brandon

Harry Connick Jr. Brandon Amphitheater Brandonamphitheater.com

August 29, 7 pm

Brandon

Luke Bryan Brandon Amphitheater Brandonamphitheater.com

ACE ATKINS

The Heathens

July 1, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com

GRADY HENDRIX

The Final Girls Support Group July 20, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) lemuriabooks.com

DANIEL SILVA

HELEN ELLIS

ELIZABETH GONZALEZ JAMES

John and Mary Margaret

July 19, 5 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) Squarebooks.com

S.A. CROSBY

July 12, 7 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Zoom) lemuriabooks.com

SUSAN CUSHMAN

Such a Quiet Place

July 12, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford In person event at the Old Armory Pavilion Squarebooks.com

The Cellist

LITERARY EVENTS

MEGAN MIRANDA

Razorblade Tears July 21, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) squarebooks.com

Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light July 26, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) squarebooks.com

Mona at Sea July 15, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on zoom) squarebooks.com

GRACEY ZHANG and SAM WEDELICH

Lala’s Words and Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf

Delta JULY/AUGUST

m

i

z

a

g

a

2020

e

n

Delta

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBE

ing Lake LivLak e at Moonat Pier 332

m

• 4th of July Lake houses • 3 Family Restaurant • Kathryn’s

& Batches terie Boards inspired charcu

a

g

a

z

i

n

R 2020

e

Summer large batch cocktails boards and

HAUTE COUTURE AT EVERHOPE

Delta

MARCH/APRIL 2020

m

a

g

a

z

i

e

n

2020

Outdoor

Bows, Boats& Hunting Guid e and Custo m Calls

Wilson, Ark ansas Southern

Revival of a

12 Recipes to try this

$

Town

FALL

28

for a year

The

Wedding Issue

SUBSCRIBE TODAY CALL

662.843.2700

Delta Magazine 2021

| 119

DELTA SEEN

Delta Council 86th Annual Meeting at Delta State University in Cleveland on June 4 Photos by Andy Collier and Matthew Wood

Paul and Laura Hollis with Emily and Patrick Johnson

Tina Manning, Shelia Smith, Susu Whatley and Mary Catherine Brooks

Kirkham and Hilda Povall

Linda Gillison and Stacey Gillison

Huey and Laura Townsend

Louise and Tom Gresham with Emily Johnson

Monica Caston with Myahkia and Dee Watson

Emily Wyonzek, Grant Saum and Stacey Gorman

Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann

Pam Powers, Pierce Brown, Bee Jones, Sara Jones, Bryan Jones and Meredith Brown

Butch and Marlene Caston

Brenda, Joe, Ronnie and Michael Aguzzi

Jerryl Briggs, Tom Gresham, LaShon Brooks and Josh Harkins 120 | july/august 2021

Jordan Coopwood, Miles Johnson, Jo Ann Clark, Reuben Oates, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Josh Peaster, Doug Davis, Anna Kendall Thames and Umesh Sanjanwal

DELTA SEEN

Jeanne Hollis, Laura Hollis, Margie Hollis, Wendy Dalovisio and Mary Corban Marilyn M. Starks and Richard Coleman

Tyrone Jackson, Walton Gresham, Jimmy Walker, Katherine Crump, with Cindy and Scott Coopwood

Umesh Sanjanwal and Jimmy Walker

Bridget and Kirk Satterfield with Sentor Cindy Hyde-Smith

Philip Barbour and Frank Howell

Billy Nowell, Briggs Hopson, and Errick Simmons

Jamie Murrell, Laura Howell and Suzette Matthews

Buck Clarke and Doug Davis

Kevin Corban and Tim Clements

Julia Clark, Kathryn Mallette, Paul and Laura Hollis, Rebecca Dalovisio and Ellen Daniels

Errick Simmons, Ann Shackelford, Carlene Horton, Jamie Murrell, Myrtis Bailey, Docia England, Mary V. Watson and Betty Lynn Cameron Delta Magazine 2021

| 121

DELTA SEEN

Museum of the Mississippi Delta Opening Reception for the Smithsonian Exhibit in Greenwood on May 18 Photos by Blake Crocker

Beth WIlliams, Allyn Camp, and Joan Nored

Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams, Ashley Farmer, and Danielle Morgan

Linda Rose and Linda McDonald

Katie Mills with Louis and Kathy Coleman

Katie Mills, Linda Newell, and Mary Dent Lucas

Kaye Schroeder, Katie Mills and Gary McDonald

Paulette Palmer

Rod Givens, Ronnie Stevenson and Charles McCoy

Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Katie Mills, with Louis, Kathy and Hal Coleman

Susi Tackett and Kathy Coleman

122 | july/august 2021

DELTA SEEN

Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale Celebrating their 20th anniversary on May 29

Bill Luckett, Eric Meier, Kayley Cook, Morgan Freeman and Linda Keena

Jim Bulian, Anne Gutto, Bill Luckett and Cindy Coopwood

Morgan Freeman, Eric Meier and Bill Luckett

Francine Luckett, James Meredith and Bill Luckett

Bill Luckett, Morgan Freeman, Scott Coopwood and Linda Keena

Scott, William and Whitney Trimble with Liberty Lee

Jim Bulian and Dr. Derek Miles

Bill Luckett, Bernadette Messina and Joe Griffith

Linda Keena, Jennifer Levingston, Jon Levingston, Darby Miles and Lisa Lacay

Whitney Daane, Morgan Freeman and Elizabeth Scokin

Oliver Luckett, Academy Award actress Juliette Binoche, Bill Luckett and Whitney Luckett Trimble Delta Magazine 2021

| 123

DELTA SEEN

Grammy Museum Mississippi MTV Exhibit Opening in Cleveland on May 13 and 14 Photos by Blake Crocker and Gunner Sizemore

April Thomas, Mimi Keith, and Carol Ayers

Betty and Manny Burch

Bob and Wilma Wilbanks

Catti Beals with Ellen and Steve Case of Second Chance Mississippi

Chase McCu, Robin and Lanier Hurdle with Carol Ayers

Scott, Travis, and Cindy Coopwood

Danny and Tammy Whalen

Louise Turman, Megan Walton with Mike and Bib Belenchia

Jenny and Jamie Smith

Lisa and Jimmy Downs

Mike Comfort, Jan Micheals and Erica Jones of iHeartRadio 124 | july/august 2021

Gary and Jamie Gainspoletti, Foluso Fakorede, Arlene Redonda, Simon Burnham, and Gina Jones

Ronnie and Melodie Agnew Boo Mitchell, Emily Havens, Esther Peyron, Martha Quinn, Bob Pittman, Alan Hunter, Salli Frattini and Bob Santelli

Myrtis Tabb, Nan Sanders, Debbie Hutchison, and Cynthia Morgan

Patricia Brashier, Elyette Robertson, Lisa Cowart, and Irene Long

DELTA SEEN

Salli Frattini, VJ Martha Quinn, Bob Santelli, VJ Alan Hunter, Becky Nowell, Bob Pittman, Esther Peyron, Billy Nowell, Robin Hurdle, Will Hooker, Tom Pittman and Emily Havens

Sean and Susannah Wessel

Stephen Smith and Amy Wheeler

Tom and Bob Pittman

Susan and Paul Waits and Ronnie and Amy Wright

Tricia Walker, Karen Gilder and Tina Fortenberry

Will and Nicole Hooker with Tracey Rosebud

Esther Peyron, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, Bob Pittman and Tricia Walker

Sandra and Wade Hinton

Alan Hunter, Esther Peyron, Martha Quinn, Bob Pittman and John Cox

Abe Hudson, Bill LaForge and Ronnie Agnew

Alan Hunter, Esther Peyron, Martha Quinn, Bob Pittman with Jan and John Brown

Marsha Hargett, Patricia Brashier, Irene Long and Elyette Roberson

Mike Fisher, Linda Manning and Roger Fisher

Dr. Rob Pearigen with Nancy and Ray Neilsen

Wade and Sondra Hinton with Lauren and Michael Watson, Secretary of State Delta Magazine 2021

| 125

DELTA SEEN

B.B. King Museum Renovation Reception in Indianola on June 5 Photos by Blake Crocker

The King Family (Debra, Middle, Sue, and Faye Lewis)

Cindy Walters and Charlie Ingram

Blake Crocker and Gary Clark Jr.

Ray Lahti and Belinda Lopez

Kathryn Blackburn Satterfield

Venus Evans and Sharon Robison

Bill McPherson and Rob Malootian

and

Anna

The Ribbon Cutting

Barry McWilliams, Cynthia Abbott and Draughon McPherson

Kristin and John Causey, Bob Dowell and Rob Mortimer

Julie Grisham, Jae Ashley and Rob Higgs

Lyn Howart, Allison Clone, Susie Pepper and Alison Grant

Blake Crocker, Courtney Grierson and Justin Hodges

Cissy and Fred Anklam and Abott 126 | july/august 2021

Jim

Gary Clark Jr. and Dr. Alfonso Sanders

Tina Fish, Lutz Kirk, John Kirk, Dennis “Hook” Wesley Tindall, Ben Clayton and Brooks Roberts Custance, and Barbara Fleighbacker

DELTA SEEN

A selection of photos by Delta Magazine readers

Sydney DePhillips, Blair Ladner, Pam Maxwell, and Candice Fioranelli at the Delta Arts Alliance Night in the Arts event

Hunter Stewart, Dylan Matthews, and Luke Hargett at the Delta Open tennis tournament in Cleveland

Lucy Speakes, Ann Holeman, Kerri Mosco, and Kendall Roberts at the Clay Walker concert at the Bologna Performing Arts Center on June 10

Hank Burdine with Dr. Jessica B. Harris, Author of High on the Hog, closing down Galatoire’s in New Orleans

Mike, Alex and Pam Parker at the Hutchinson Bassie wedding reception at Crawdads

MSU President Mark Keenum welcomed Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier to the U.S. Grant Presidential Library on campus. Baier is completing work on his book on Grant To Rescue The Republic, due out in Oct. Baier has written prior books on FDR, Eisenhower and Reagan

Sandy Ray and her mother, Sharon Sauerwein at Iberostar Selection Resort in Cancun, Mexico

Matt and Hank Burdine with John Allen Mitchell at the Shack Up Inn Goat festival

Jamie, Carty, Jim, Jenny and Sarah Bennett Smith celebrating Jim’s Eagle Scout award

Latoya Takia performing at the Delta Arts Alliance Night in the Arts event

Jim’s Café Coffee group in Greenville. Left to right: Bill Andrews, Jeff Wong, Raymond Wong, Richard Dattel, Brother Etheridge, Cameron Montgomery, Mike Caufield, Claude Marchesini, Benjy Nelken, Betty Lynn Cameron, Tom Shields and Ike Trotter Delta Magazine 2021

| 127

Thefinalword

Antler sheds and arrowheads ’ve always had a knack for spotting things that are out of place. i first discovered this talent as a child hunting four-leaf clovers. none of my chums could match my ability to spot those lucky charms. Dad introduced me to Coahoma County turkey, duck, dove, and deer hunting at a young age. One of my first hunting memories is marveling at deer and turkey tracks in muddy woods roads. ever since then, i’ve always kept my eyes to the ground.

When i’m turkey hunting, my senses are especially fine-tuned. and how many old homesteads have we walked into, now in the midst of forest, their presence given away only by blooming daffodils and irises, a sure sign that someone once lived there? a close inspection may reveal old brick footings where the house once stood, even a brick cistern that was the family’s source of drinking water. i have found a number of interesting things during the many years i have “enjoyed” this passion: a woodland shrine of burnt candles and Maker’s Mark bottles, shed deer antlers, mule shoes, an abandoned moonshine still, arrowheads, and even a celt, which is the archaeological name for a prehistoric stone axe.

But what i came across on a recent april afternoon was a first. i was scouting around on a very old Mississippi Delta farm, hoping to find a few turkey tracks. as is my usual practice, i examined every muddy spot because that’s where i’m most likely to find them.

Heavy rains had eroded some areas where high ground faded into a swampy area. i took a few extra minutes there, having learned that such topography sometimes yields artifacts. One year, i found a lovely tawny, side-notched

I

Jim Crews is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is an attorney with Herring, Long & Crews, P.C. in Canton. When he is not practicing law, Jim is usually hunting and fishing in Coahoma County. His first book, Amid the Cypress was released in 2020.

128 | july/august 2021

BY JIM CREWS

arrowhead after a heavy rain. two weeks later, my wife allison and i ran across a loud-gobbling wild turkey, which she harvested after a very exciting half hour, mere feet from where i’d found the arrowhead. it was fascinating to ponder that centuries ago an ancient inhabitant had hunted exactly where we were. in most of the Delta, pretty much any rock arrived there by man’s hand one way or another. today, the only stones in sight were those carried off a nearby gravel road on muddy tractor tires. a metallic glint caught my eye, and i stooped for a closer look. i recognized the object as a small coin. On closer examination, i found that it was a very old one indeed: an 1888 seated liberty dime with a hole square-punched through one edge. allison suggested the hole was intended for a necklace, and we soon learned that these coins were customarily given as “love tokens” during a courtship, with initials engraved into the “tails” side of the coin. i’m going to need a magnifying glass to decipher the initials on this one, but i think they are there. How did the dime end up where it did? is area has been farmed since not long after the War Between the states. Did a farm worker somehow lose it during the many decades before mechanization, either planting, chopping, or picking cotton? Did it belong to the wife or daughter of some long-gone owner, riding out to check the crops? We will never know, so we can only imagine.

One of the most delightful things about hunting is discovery and exploration. no other pursuit brings anyone so intimately into nature, the land, and the people who walked it in past centuries. eyes to the ground. DM

Fred Zepponi III 662-418-6767

fzepponi@mossyoakproperties.com

5741 Hwy 45 Alt South West Point MS 39773 O ce 662-495-1121

223 Sharkey Avenue Clarksdale MS 38614 O ce 662-624-8282

Darrell Bullock 662-392-3010 dbullock@mossyoakproperties.com

Interested in Se ing?

Call America’s Land Specialist!

We specialize in selling recreational, timber and agricultural properties in Mississippi and Alabama. O ce locations in West Point and Clarksdale Mississippi. www.mossyoakproperties.com

Mossy Oak Properties Bottomland Real Estate

Each Mossy Oak Properties o ce is independently owned and operated