Delta Magazine May/June 2021 Complimentary Issue by Delta Magazine

Delta

MAY/JUNE 2021

Patios, Pizza, and Prosecco Pops Spend a weekend in the Capital City Award-winning Tutwiler Quilters

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Offering Women the

Highest Level of Care From adolescence to family planning and beyond, the team at Baptist North Mississippi offers women the highest level of care through every stage of life. Because a woman's health needs change throughout her lifetime, our Ob/Gyn team is committed to offering customized solutions every step of the way. We partner with our patients to ensure each woman in our care is living life to the fullest! Learn more about us at baptistonline.org/northmiss. Get better with Baptist.

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Oxford, MS

Get Better.

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Delta m

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, Sarah Fowler, Liza jones, Logan Kirkland, Sherry Lucas, Susan marquez, aimee Robinette, angela Rogalski, Brantley Snipes, Katie Tims Photography: Greg Campbell, nolan Dean, Rory Doyle, Logan Kirkland, andrew Welch 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 or email Delta Magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials or photos and in general does not return them to sender. Photography obtained for editorial usage is owned by Delta Magazine and may not be released for commercial use such as in advertisements and may not be purchased from the magazine for any reason. all editorial and advertising information is taken from sources considered to be authoritative, but the publication cannot guarantee their accuracy. neither that information nor any opinion expressed on the pages of Delta Magazine in any way constitutes a solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities mentioned. no material in Delta Magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publication. Delta Magazine is published bimonthly by Coopwood magazines, Inc., 125 South Court St., Cleveland, mS 38732-2626. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, mS and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Delta Magazine, PO Box 117, Cleveland, mS 38732-0117. Delta Magazine (uSPS#022-954)

Delta Magazine is published six times a year by Coopwood Magazines, inc. EDitoriAl & BusinEss offiCE ADDrEssEs: Mailing Address: PO Box 117, Cleveland, mS 38732 shipping Address: 125 South Court Street, Cleveland, mS 38732 E-mail: publisher@deltamagazine.com editor@deltamagazine.com

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from the editor

Last minute photo shoot at home with photographer Rory Doyle.

They’re Back! ever before would I have described the sight of a crowd of folks grooving and swaying in a nightclub as heartwarming, but that’s the most accurate descriptor for what I felt at Ground Zero on Saturday night of the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale last month. It just seemed right—things were as they should be. Everyone was so obviously giddy to be out and free and (mostly) maskless, enjoying live music once again, in the birthplace of the blues, at one of the premier blues festivals in the nation. It felt completely normal and surreal at the same time. How has it been a year and a half since the music has flowed so openly? I also might add that my very talented husband (and Delta Magazine publisher) Scott Coopwood was on the stage with his guitar at the time of said performance playing with friend and veteran rocker Derek St. Holmes of the Ted Nugent band—so that was extra fun for me! Music festivals, art festivals, concerts, and the like are back and we’re here for it. People are starved for creative outlets and the enjoyment of experiencing music and art en masse. Kudos to all who worked so hard to pull off such a successful festival despite continued COVID-19 challenges. It was a symbolic moment. And great thanks as well to Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Blues and Folk Art in Clarksdale, who is not only a founder of the Juke Joint Fest but is also one of our contributing editors. Roger has worked tirelessly for years to build Clarksdale into the blues mecca it is today. Speaking of contributing editors, we have two additions we would like to announce. Jim “Fish” Michie and Brantley Snipes will be officially joining our team at Delta Magazine, although they’ve already been “contributing” for a while. Fish is a native of Merigold, a lifelong musician, and a talented writer. He was a founder and the longtime keyboardist of the popular band, e Tangents, affectionately known as Mississippi’s House Band. Fish has written many articles for us over the years and still frequents the area, often playing music at Crawdad’s in his hometown. Brantley is a landscape architect and architectural designer who lives and works in Greenwood where she is also executive director of Mainstreet Greenwood. Our resident green thumb, Brantley often contributes gardening and other landscaping tips. In fact, in this very issue, we bring you her guidelines for building the perfect patio. We welcome them to the DM family! We hope you enjoy this issue—it is packed with “all the things” as they say: e history of picturesque Nitta Yuma, a weekend in our fabulous capital city, Ty ames’s newest eatery in Starkville, the surreal art of John Ruskey, the coolest downtown renovation in Clarksdale, and Prosecco pops and pizza to kick off summer! Sit a while and take it all in—and let us know what you think. DM

Scott, with Derek St. Holmes and Dave Kiswiney on stage at Ground Zero Blues Club. Right: The ladies of the Tutwiler Quilters manning their booth at Juke Joint fest. Top: It was great to see a packed house enjoying live music at Ground Zero!

Cindy Coopwood Editor @cindycoopwood | cindy@deltamagazine.com

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contents MAY/JUNE LOGAN KIRKLAND

Volume 18 No. 6

JOHN RUSKEY

departments

26 BOOKS Reviews and what Deltans are reading 28 SHOPPING Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, 30 ART JOHN RUSKEY:

and Graduation Day

Self-taught artist is inspired by life on the Mississippi River

34 MUSIC WALT BUSBY:

112

RORY DOYLE

Musical and celestial pursuits inspired by Pink Floyd

VISITJACKSON.COM

124

106 GARDEN PERFECT PATIOS:

112 FOOD PROSECCO POPS AND PIZZA:

Free Birds

Try grown-up frozen pops and vegetarian pizzas for the ultimate patio party

GREG CAMPBELL

features

48 54 76

to downtown residence, the Big Pink gets cooler by the year

More than just slabs of concrete in your backyard, patios are extensions of your home

54 40

90 HOME From ice factory to ice cream parlor

40 124 HISTORY

Through courage and perseverance, this historic Delta home has been in the same family for two centuries

Forty-three years later: A trip to the South Mississippi monument paying tribute to the iconic band, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Humble Taco

A Weekend in Jackson

Starkville’s newest Mex-ississippi eatery is thriving. Hola, Y’all!

Delta Mules and the Illinois Central Railroad Where to eat, drink, stay, and shop in the Capital City In the 1940s, dependable rail service to Greenville was undependable—something had to be done!

The Tutwiler Quilters

Surviving over thirty years, and earning national attention, one stitch at a time.

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

20 Off the Beaten Path

Roaming the Real and Rustic Delta

24 130 132 136

Hot Topics Events Delta Seen The Final Word by Peyton Davis Prospere

ON THE COVER: Naan pizzas topped with fresh tomato and basil salad. Photo by Rory Doyle. 10 | MAY/JUNE 2021

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LETTERS FOOD

with all the latest Delta current events and activities. Thank you for keeping us up to date! Kay Bradley Clarksdale, Mississippi

FAVORITE

COOKBOOKS “ No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”

– the late novelist and food-writer Laurie Colwin

hat sentiment has never been more true than when applied to those favorite,

decades old, often handed-down cookbooks we turn to over and over again. You know the ones—they’re on your shelf next to the shiny new beauties (no disrespect to new cookbooks) that are regularly passed over when we need dinnertime inspiration. Invariably, you’ll choose that stained, dog-eared compilation that is packed with favorite recipes you’ve made for years. And there is always the bonus of notes you’ve scratched in the margins over the years, or better yet, tips or advice in your mother or grandmother’s handwriting. We asked our readers to send us photos of their favorite dishes from their favorite cookbooks—and, no surprise—Delta Magazine readers love to cook! We had a great time going through photos and recipes from cookbooks— old and new— which we now bring to you. True to form many had wonderful notes and tips written on the stained, well-used pages from years and generations past, proving Colwin was right—”No one who cooks, cooks alone.”

“A cookbook is only as good as its poorest recipe.”

BY CINDY COOPWOOD

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-thehell attitude.” “Always start out wit h a larger pot than what you think you need.”

GREG CAMPBELL

– Julia Child

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special occasions and it is still served by our ladies of First Baptist Church in Indianola! Sylvia Stubbs Indianola, Mississippi

thank you for asking readers to share their favorite recipes from beloved cookbooks and allowing public access. I have Southern Sideboards, Come On In!, and the Inverness Cookbook. It is fun to see what became family mainstays for others. How is life in Cleveland these days?—it’s been a good decade since my last visit. I am a former student of the inimitable Delta State Professor Henry earl Outlaw, who often told me “mary Frances, don’t act rural!”

Well, when my most recent issue of Delta Magazine (january-February 2021) arrived, I tossed it on the back seat of my old van and then switched vehicles before I read it. Had my friend not told me about the review of my little book Hunting Bear and Panther in the Old South, in Delta I might have missed it. Thanks so much—as an author, I depend so much on help from publications—and Delta is one that goes straight to those who read the type of stuff I write. I really appreciate your help! Jim McCafferty McComb, Mississippi

i am writing to simply let y’all know how very much i enjoy both Delta Magazine and The Edit newsletter! Of course I love when I receive the magazine in my mailbox, but now I look forward to my inbox notification that the latest edition of The Edit has arrived. Travel for work sometimes delays my ability to thumb through the actual magazine pages, but with The Edit I’m still current

Mary Frances Hull Richards Retinne, Belgium Enjoyed your article on “tried and true” good recipes. The Sweet Potato Pone was made by mrs. Hazel Poe for

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

Delta JULY/AUGUST

Delta

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

AR FOR ONE YE

2020

Lake Living

at MoonatLake Pier 332 • 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

Annual Tourism Issue Public Art in the Delta

FAVORITE COOKBOOKS and RECIPES

2021

Bringing you the food, music, art, history, and lifestyle of the Mississippi Delta. Celebrate the “South’s South” with us! Subscribe to Delta Magazine and The Edit newsletter on our website, deltamagazine.com, or call our office 662.843.2700

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! DeltaMagazine

12 | may/june 2021

@Delta_Mag

@deltamagazine

Y’all Said SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS @deltamagazine

Spa

AT THE ALLUVIAN

We Asked... Go RVing

What’s your favorite summer vacation—a mountain hiking trip, the beach, a cabin at the lake, or RVing—and why? A mountain camping trip—We do a family reunion camping trip in Mountain View Arkansas every fall. It's peaceful, the weather is usually cool enough to enjoy a campfire and everyone can enjoy family or find plenty to do like fish or visit the folk center or just listen to music on the square. – Connie Lancaster We love going to Michigan! It’s hot enough already at home in Mississippi—it feels great to escape the heat! – Laura Howell One of my summer favorite things to do with family is to take our RV to state parks all over Mississippi. Roosevelt State Park is probably our favorite because you can take your own boat in the summertime! It’s such a beautiful way to see and experience our state – Haley Dollarhide

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

What’s the most useful Southern skill passed down by your grandparents or other family members? Making homemade pimento cheese and homemade mayonnaise. – Vicki Fioranelli The art of the warm thank-you note. – Gay Pieralisi Good manners! – Betty Cossar Gardening! My grandmother and great-grandmother raised a garden and I inherited their green thumb and passion for gardening. Nothing beats a farm-to-table meal that we’ve grown. – Aislynn Woodard Always standing when a lady enters the room and when she comes over to where you are, in any social occasion. Showing respect. – Richard Noble Treat people they way they treat you. – Jimmy Wood Saying please and thank you while smiling! – Charlot Ray Being respectful to elders! – Sally Jackson How to sew! My great grandmother taught me and my brother how to sew. I’ve been fortunate enough to make most of the drapes and pillows in my home, however, my brother, Brad sticks to sewing buttons on his hunting clothes! – Kay Bradley DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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Flying High

PHOTO BY RORY DOYLE

It’s the beginning of a new growing season and in the Delta, that means crop dusters (including Darryl mcCreary pictured with his family) will be flying from sunrise to sunset for the foreseeable future, as they do their part to help farmers produce healthy crops. each year, Deltans welcome the familiar sight of these air tractors dancing across the sky. DM

ON THE ROAD

where we’ve been, where to go next

SHAW

LITTLE ROCK

w o R e h t n o e Sunris

Early morning planting with a view in Bolivar County. – KAREN GIESBRECHT

on!

Lights, Camera, Acti

If you happen to be in Little Rock, but still have a hankering for a Doe’s steak—you’re in luck! Arkansans love their Doe’s Eat Place as much as we love the original in Greenville.

PHOTO OPS & School’s Out

SUMNER

The past comes alive in Tallahatchie County. These old cars were used in downtown Sumner for the backdrop of a movie recently filmed there. – MAUDE SCHUYLER CLAY

ARKANSAS

And Away We Go This wins the prize for the most unusual mailbox in Lepanto – LARRY HENDERSON

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PANOLA COUNTY

The old Mt. Olive School on Highway 315 in Panola County. – JIM HENDRIX

ARKANSAS

TENNESSEE If you’re a history buff, it’s worth the trip to the Arkansas Delta to see the Lepanto Museum with everything from Native American relics to Civil War military memorabilia. – LARRY HENDERSON

A must-see in the Nashville area—Puckett Grocery in Leiper’s Fork is a favorite of locals and is frequented by country musicians as well. Stop in for great food and good times—and you never know who you might see!

FUNKY STOPS Roaming the real and rustic Delta JACKSON

A Little History

GUNNISON

The Table: Sambo Mockbee, Willie Morris, The Chieftains, Rufus Thomas, Warren Zevon, Albert King, John Grisham, Leon Russell, Marcia Ball, Charlie Musselwhite, B.B. King, and Waylon Jennings just to name a few, have graced this table at Hal & Mal’s. – MALCOLM WHITE

ROSEDALE

Several items left behind from some of the Delta’s early inhabitants. – DELTA MAGAZINE

The American Queen Steamboat Company has added a new stop to its route at Terrene Landing, a couple of miles north of Rosedale in Bolivar County on the Mississippi River. Instagram users, follow @deltamagazine

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH roaming the real and rustic Delta

THE PURPLE RADISH IN LELAND WELCOMES YOU A wide variety of unique gifts from woodwork to pottery BY ANGELA ROGALSKI

CO-OP BOUTIQUE WITH A PROFUSION OF VENDORS and a variety of merchandise

can only mean one thing—lots of shopping fun. That’s what The Purple Radish in Leland offers its customers. jordan Lewis is one-third of the ownership of this unique boutique housed within Leland nutrition. Lewis and her mother, Debbie Lewis, along with their good friend, Kelli Stoker, opened the shop some six months ago during the pandemic. Risky maybe, but jordan Lewis says that since they had the nutrition shop already in place, they started with just a few items, then relocated both businesses into a larger building, and began to add more merchandise slowly, since COVID19 was a factor. But today, The Purple Radish and the nutrition shop are doing very well. “We have different vendors who come in and put out their items,” Lewis says. “Some are handmade and some they purchase from various places. We have one vendor, she and her husband do beautiful woodwork and she displays a lot of that here for sale. We also buy things ourselves and sell them and that’s all new merchandise. For example, pottery is my thing. So, I buy Satterfield’s Pottery and showcase and sell it in the boutique. It’s a wide variety of merchandise and we’re working to get even more for our customers to choose from. We’re always adding new things.” The name “The Purple Radish” comes from the three owners’ imagination. “We wanted something different and very fun and random,” she says. Lewis adds that both stores The Purple Radish and Leland nutrition are open monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. 801 Highway 82 East, Leland Facebook: The Purple Radish 662.820.0122 20 | may/june 2021

GROUNDED SISTER COFFEE SHOP Stay caffeinated and treat yourself to delicious house-made baked goods BY AIMEE ROBINETTE

ROUNDED SISTER COFFEE SHOP IS AN ECLECTIC MIX OF SCONES, MUFFINS AND CUPS OF HOT BREW. Owner megan Payne, with the help of her husband and children, provide fresh, baked goods that customers rave about. “I’m the oldest of five children—four girls and one boy. Being the oldest I tend to take charge of things and keep everyone ‘grounded’,” Payne says, smiling. and since coffee beans are ground, the name fit perfectly with her venture. “I have always loved the idea of owning a coffee shop. With four children, life has been busy for the last decade,” she said. “my children are finally old enough that it was time for me to have my dream.” Payne makes homemade scones, muffins, omelettes, muffins, and biscuits every morning. She says the scone and muffin flavors are switched out on a three-day rotation. If lemon blueberry, salted caramel chocolate or orange cranberry sound heavenly, you are not alone. “I offer bacon or sausage cheddar biscuits on alternating days,” she says. “Scones, all flavors, are my best seller. Second to that are the biscuits, but not by much. Caramel lattes are my number one seller by far. not a personal fav of mine, but it is loved by most.” Her business is loved by most too, and there is a reason besides the buttery, flaky pastries. “I am very much a people person, so I love the interaction with people and connections that are made. I love being able to help a customer find that new favorite coffee or getting suggestions from customers for new scone flavors,” Payne says. Grounded Sister Coffee Shop is open 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. 825 South Main Street, Greenville Facebook: Grounded Sister Coffee Shop 662.537.4625

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Find Your Sweet Spot

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

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HOT TOPICS HIGH COTTON ART STUDIO & GENERAL STORE Great food and art come together Tutwiler has a new art studio to shout about. Owner Stephanie Kassem has brought two things together that are dear to her heart: art and food. High Cotton art Studio & General Store has opened earlier this year with the hope of making a difference in children’s lives thru creative expression. “I’m an artist and a nurse, but my passion is art,” Kassem says. “On Saturdays I teach children art for free. my hope is to show children there are awesome ways to express creativity and also to give them an outlet that helps keep them safe and busy.” Kassem is a painter, using acrylics and watercolors, and adept at her passion on any surface. She has a distinct love for painting cotton bolls, hence the name of her studio “High Cotton.” “We also do recycled art, such as making things from plastic bottles and milk cartons,” she adds. “To me, it’s also about teaching citizenship to these kids, and about being responsible in life. and by doing the recycled art, I’m basically teaching them how to turn garbage into art.” Right now, Kassem is serving a small menu, such as soups and sandwiches, but hopes to have the restaurant portion of the business up and going fully within the next couple of months. and also to extend her hours more than just on Saturdays.

“It will be just like a working restaurant eventually. my husband will be there during the day and the plan is that I’ll be doing Sip & Paint classes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights,” Kassem says. “It will be breakfast and lunch with soups and deli-type sandwiches on the lunch menu.” Kassem’s tentative goal is to have High Cotton art Studio & General Store open full time within a year. (angela Rogalski) Facebook: High Cotton ART Studio

DELTA OVERLAND Experience. Explore. Eat. The Mississippi Delta entrepreneur Stewart Robinson is passionate about creating memorable Delta experiences and sharing them with visitors from all over the world. already known for his considerable culinary skills through his involvement with Delta Supper Club and esperanza Outdoors, where he and partner Cameron Dinkins serve as guides and hosts for duck hunters from all over the country, his newest venture, Delta Overland, brings his vision of the ultimate Delta experience full circle. It is an obvious extension of Robinson’s enthusiasm for showcasing the area, offering custom, boutique travel opportunities in the mississippi Delta. “Running those two businesses and bringing people here to mississippi from all over the country, inspired me to create a thorough and enjoyable tour experience for visitors to the Delta with Delta Overland,” says Robinson. “We’ll take people to all of the hidden jewels here that, more likely than not, they’ve never even heard of yet still make up the true Delta feel and vibe. What I hope to do with Delta Overland is cultivate memorable and personal visits for folks and show them the Delta they didn’t know they wanted to see. It will be similar to the local

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fixers you hire when you travel overseas, for example.” Delta Overland will also be utilizing, as part of those Delta tours that might require a little something extra vis-à-vis transportation, a unique, customized Land Rover Defender 110 that Robinson had built in South africa and shipped over. “It’s essentially a safari vehicle,” says Robinson, “and can seat eight people while I drive. as far as I’m aware, there’s nothing else like it in mississippi.” Robinson is just starting to book tours through Delta Overland, having been delayed by the pandemic. “The tours can be small and shorter—for one day—to a week-long vacation for larger groups wherein we handle every aspect from hotel bookings, dining experiences, visits to special sites and landmarks—whatever they desire. Customers can even select themes for their tours, from blues to civil rights to agriculture: we can customize any type of visit they want for any length of time they want, and handle all the details from a to Z. We anticipate hosting people from all over the world, as well as native mississippians who might want to learn more about the Delta.” (jack Criss) For more information, contact Stewart Robinson at 662.202.5695. Facebook: Delta Overland

OUR DELTA TABLE A takery with everything from healthy grain bowls to cupcakes Our Delta Table, Cleveland’s newest dining offering, which opened earlier this year, has already become a household name in the area as mother and daughter duo, Charlotte Skelton and allie Horne, create healthy, delicious dishes for all palates. Skelton has been a staple on the Cleveland restaurant scene for decades with such ventures as a la Carte alley and Crave, both of which eventually changed hands but are still Cleveland favorites. Her creativity in the kitchen has produced delicacies that are still discussed in Delta circles and most kitchens in the area boast her popular 1992 cookbook, Absolutely a la Carte. now she has teamed up with the now-grown little girl who grew up playing in those restaurants. as with a la Carte alley and Crave, Skelton and Horne looked for a catchy name for the latest endeavor. “Our Delta Table was originally created in may 2018 when we wanted to be a part of the Cleveland Farmers market,” says Horne. “We were trying to think of a name for our booth and at the same time we discussed switching our style of cooking to be a little more health conscious,” Horne says. “We wanted to experiment with a few different types of grains and incorporate lots of fresh herbs and local produce. We were vibing that ‘farm to table’ concept so Our Delta Table just made sense!” Fast-forward three years. as they were developing the menu and business model for the new restaurant with the same name, their creative process continued in the kitchen. Horne says they still experiment with a lot of different recipes for the restaurant which is a “takery”—where meals are either preordered for pick-up, or grab-and-go only. The two make a good team as is evident by their success, each bringing something to the, well, table. “She is the experienced, wise owl and I try to keep her up to date on trends and healthy alternatives. I couldn’t do this without her for sure,” Horne says. “most assume I have grown up cooking alongside my mother all of these years but you will be surprised to know I didn’t really get into cooking until three or four years ago,” says Horne, who is a dental hygienist by trade. “I have always enjoyed good food and I did inherit the appreciation of cookbooks, learning from various outlets and attempting things on my own, but my true love for cooking stemmed from researching nutrition and ways to keep your body healthy via food. I didn’t want to feed my family dump casseroles, meals using two sticks of butter and a bunch of processed ingredients. I knew if this was something that was important to me I had to be the one to figure it out, so I got in there, those genetics kicked in and surprisingly, I wasn’t half bad.” Horne says their goal is to create recipes and provide products their customers want for weeknight meals, parties, family get-

togethers or just every day eats. and, of course, Charlotte’s famous cupcakes are always on hand. “We have many customers who preorder to get ready for a busy week of sports and want something healthy on hand when coming in late after a game—or who might be taking care of an elderly parent or new mom,” says Horne. But, she emphasizes, it’s important they preorder from their meal prep menu, to be sure they can satisfy their customers’ demands. Here’s how it works: They post their weekly meal prep menu on Saturdays to Facebook and Instagram. Then customers comment with their order and leave their email address. The deadline to order is Sunday at noon with a billing invoice sent to the given email Sunday afternoon. Pickup for all orders, whether it’s for only one day or all four days is Tuesday. “We do try to prepare extra of the preorders to have in our open air cooler, but they go fast!” she says. additionally, for those who want to pick up something on the run, Our Delta Table also offers daily grab-and-go options, which include a fresh salad, a grain bowl, a salad trio, and the cupcake flavor of the day—plus the fridge and freezer are always stocked with rotating dips, spreads, appetizers, casseroles, grazing boxes, stuffed breads, and more. Facebook: Our Delta Table or Instagram: @ourdeltatable DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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BOOKS

Buzzworthy Comments

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw (West Virginia University Press) Deesha Philyaw’s short story collection, e Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a national Book award Finalist for good reason. It explores the complexities of the relationships among the women of these nine stories and also the relationship they have with themselves as they uphold church responsibilities while also honoring the passions of their personal lives. Women are often the backbone of a church, and this collection shows the struggle of devotion. among the deeply beautiful display of narratives, generations of women grapple with body image, forbidden love, grief, sex, and the scars of family. Some stories will leave the reader clutching her pearls. e characters are multidimensional in their pain and strength. all in the name of the vulnerability and freedom it takes to be exactly as God made these ladies to be. (Liza jones)

We asked Facebook friends and Delta Magazine Fan Page Group members to share with us—What is the best book you have ever read or refer to about gardening?

Deesha Philyaw

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Penguin Publishing Group) Prepare to be bewitched by matt Haig’s newest novel, e Midnight Library. is is a fantasy novel that tackles the question of alternate life experiences: what if you had done things differently? after hitting rock bottom, full of regrets and doubts, nora Seed kills herself. But she goes to a space between life and death, not a purgatory, but a limitless library with an infinite amount of books in which you can try on for size different lives according to different choices you could have made. It’s a philosophical study of what it means to choose, live, and learn. is book could not have come at a more perfect moment for a world trying to move on from a tragic, hard time. It’s a sparkling, magical story that will leave the reader entranced. (Liza jones) Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (Macmillan Publishers) Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a lovely story of five generations of connected women who show tenacity and resilience in the face of trauma. jeanette, dealing with addiction, is determined to learn more about her family’s history. But her mother Carmen is quiet about their past which compels jeanette to go to Cuba to see her grandmother. Through poignant memories of the past and parallels of the present, the reader is transported to different settings from modernday miami to nineteenth-century Cuba in a cigar factory to mexico, riding along with beautiful language and respect for the human suffering these women endure, the choices they must make. This novel is a truly gorgeous exploration of survival, immigration, legacy, and what it means to be a mother. (Liza jones)

o Brantley Snipes, Owner of Brantley Snipes Landscape and Design Greenwood, Mississippi

The Southern Living Garden Book. I reference this book at least once a day and it looks like there is a new edition out. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys landscaping or gardening—no better plant reference book out there! o Judy Meeks, Retired Senatobia, Mississippi

Matt Haig

o Wendy Frew Gore, Administrator at Hospice of North Sunflower Ruleville, Mississippi

The Complete Garden Guide. This book has it all! From new gardener to old school gardener, whatever style garden you want (even vegetables), it will help you design it. It’s the perfect planting guide. Gabriela Garcia

For the Record Books Delta Magazine fans are currently reading

o Jonni R. Webb

The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Cohen

o Debbie McGuire

1984 by George Orwell

o Leroy Gregg

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

o John Cooper

The Grand Biocentric Design by Robert Lanza, MD and Matej Pavsic 26 | may/june 2021

The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page. This book is very informative. Tips are given on how to determine which plants will do best in certain settings. It helps you decide what to plant each season and how to incorporate color, trees, shrubs and water features into your landscape.

o Dwayne McCrary

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

o Chet Hollingsworth Rabbitskin by Catturd

o David Sessums Dispatches From Pluto by Richard Grant

o Leslie Smith Shellman When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal

o Lee Ann Moore The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

o Linda Castleberry Showah American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

o Janie E. Journeay

The Mitch Rapp Series by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills

o Stafford Shurden Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

The Last Soul Company: The Malaco Reocrds Story by Rob Bowman (Malaco Press) The malaco story is one of the greatest, and certainly the most improbable, of any independent record company in the history of american music. Record industry wisdom would suggest that starting a label in jackson, mississippi was a losing proposition from the word go. yet, that is exactly what Tommy Couch, Sr., mitchell malouf, and Wolf Stephenson decided to do in 1967. Fifty years later, malaco is the largest and most important black gospel label in the world. In the 1980s it was also the primary exponent of the soul blues genre that then ruled southern black radio. By that point, Louisiana record man Stewart madison had bought out mitchell malouf. a decade later Tommy Couch, jr., joined the business, becoming president in 2012. While many record companies struggled with the digital revolution, having acquired Savoy, Onyx, apollo and atlanta International Records over the years malaco had amassed a catalog that provided the basis for streaming, sampling, and licensing opportunities galore. a half century since its humble beginnings, malaco remains the longest-standing, fully independent record company in american music history. The tiny upstart label that was affectionately dubbed The Last Soul Company in the 1980s has managed to outlast motown, atlantic, Chess, Stax, Sun, ace, and all the rest of the great indie labels that recorded and marketed the majority of great african american music. Based on dozens of interviews, in The Last Soul Company Grammy award winning writer Rob Bowman weaves together the tale of a half century of malaco soul and gospel productions. (Special/Dm Staff) Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (Crown Publishing Group) For many years, academy award winner matthew mcConaughey has been one of Hollywood’s most noted actors on the silver screen. and, while many are familiar with his career, people may not be aware of his connections to mississippi. mcConaughey’s breakout role in A Time to Kill was filmed in mississippi, and was an adaption of mississippi author john Grisham’s book by the same name. Other films starring mcConaughey with portions filmed in mississippi are The Free State of Jones and Mud. For the filming of Mud that took place on the mississippi River, mcConaughey stayed mostly in Greenville and no one recognized him. Two other mississippi connections: his father was born in Patterson, mississippi, and his brother, Pat, played on the Delta State Golf team for one semester before being dismissed after being caught with marijuana. mcConaughey says his brother had already had a couple of issues with marijuana in the past and those events had not gone over well with their father. The DSu golf coach told Pat he was going to suspend him. “Pat inhaled deeply, ‘Okay, coach, let’s go for a ride,” mcConaughey writes of his brother’s response to the coach. They took a long “… drive across the Delta. after about ten minutes of silence Pat finally spoke up: ‘Let me make this real clear, coach. you can suspend me, but if you call my dad … I’ll kill you.’” according to mcConaughey’s writings, his brother got suspended, however his father never found out. (Special/Dm Staff )

New from the

University Press of Mississippi

upress.state.ms.us

WHERE WHE WH WHER UPG U UP UPGR UPGRA UPGRAD UPGRADE UPGRADES KE YOUR KEE KEEP Y YO YOU P PROFITS PROFIT PROF PRO PROFI R GR GROWING GROWIN GROWI GROW GRO OPERATING AN D EQUIPM E NT FINANCING

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SHOPPING A beautiful French oil painting is a Mother’s Day gift worth the investment! Anna Allen Interiors, Jackson @annaalleninteriordesign, annaalleninteriordesign.com

Can’t go wrong with a cute tote or sweater for grads headed to the beach or Mom! Treehouse Boutique, Jackson @treehouseboutique treehouseboutiquejxn.com

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day & Graduation Day Shop our local gift guide for inspiration for all the BIG Days to celebrate ahead!

Stock up on these adorable beaded earrings for the best graduation happys! Sav-Mor Drugs and Gifts, Grenada @savmordrugsandgifts

Inspire Mom with Anne Neilson’s 100 Days of Gratitude cards! Treehouse, Jackson @shopcumbaacollection cumbaadesignco.com If Mom loves to cook she will LOVE Elizabeth Heiskell’s newest book, Come on Over! Available at local bookstores, and amazon.com Annie Glass and Aromatique are the best combo! Ultimate Gifts, Southaven @ultimategifts

Every guy needs some advice from “The Duke!” Give Dad The John Wayne Code this Father’s Day! Mimi’s On Main, Senatobia @mimsonmain Dough bowl candles are a great gift for anywhere in the home—indoors or out. ASJ Interiors, Jackson @asj_interiors, asjinteriorsllc.com 28 | may/june 2021

Can’t go wrong with these LoveAO hoops for a fun graduation gift or Mother’s Day happy! Elizabeth Clair’s, Jackson @elizabethclairs

Love this olive green Corkcicle backpack for the grad on your list. LeFleur Interiors, Jackson @lefleurinteriors lefleurinteriors.com

Mama’s little helper will be even better in these adorable pastel Corksicle stemless wine glasses! Olive Juice Gifts, Oxford @olivejuicegifts

Just what they need—upgrade Mom and Dad’s patio furniture for a gift they’ll use for years! Keep It Casual, Tupelo @keepitcasualstore, keepitcasual.com

Luminox watches are great for grads or dads— such a useful gift for the outdoorsman in your family! The Sportsman, Greenville @The Sportsman Inc.

Get your grad ready for summer with staples from Kinkade’s. Kinkade’s Fine Clothing, Ridgeland @kinkadesfc, kinkades.com

Personalize these super cute bags year-round with mix and match straps of your choice! Lavender Lane, Indianola @lavenderlaneindianola

If Dad (or Mom) has a green thumb, Mississippi’s master gardener, Felder Rushing’s new book Maverick Gardners has stories, tips, and anecdotes they will love. Available at local bookstores @upmississippi

Original art is a gift she’ll keep forever. We love these pink flowers by @haleyfarrisfineart! The Mississippi Gift Co., Greenwood @themississippigiftcompany DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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ART “I love the sparkling light on the water. I spend half my days on the water, and that experience has caused me to see things differently.”

A self-taught artist, master canoe builder, and observer of nature—John Ruskey’s art is directly influenced by the swirling, muddy, water of the Mississippi River BY SUSAN MARQUEZ • PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN RUSKEY

John Ruskey has always been fascinated by water. The swirling, meandering lines rivers made on maps were mesmerizing to him as a young boy living in the Colorado Rockies. “I’m the sixth generation of a long line of Coloradans,” says Ruskey. “I’ve always been a map lover, even as a kid. National Geographic was my opening to the world.” In 1982 Ruskey and a friend channeled their inner Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, building a raft and following the waterways out of Colorado and into the deep South. “We cut bait and took off on a five-month trip, ending up in mississippi.” john said it was those blue lines on the map that drew him down South. “I stepped foot in mississippi for the first time in 1983, shipwrecked when our raft was destroyed due to bad navigation. It was on an island in the northern part of the state.” john went on to study the philosophy of mathematics at St. john’s College in Santa Fe, new mexico, as well as explore places 30 | may/june 2021

like mexico and Canada, but he says he just could not get mississippi out of his mind. “For some strange reason I couldn’t describe or justify, I had to return to this place. my family thought I had lost my mind until they came to visit me here.” making his life on the river, john apprenticed with master canoe builder Ralph Frese in the construction of his first canoe. The Ladybug was a twenty-seven-foot cypress strip voyageur canoe. Over the last twenty years, john has built dozens of big canoes, both dugouts and strippers, each a unique and functional piece of art that now spend its life working on the mississippi River through Quapaw Canoe Company, the company he founded and owns in

RORY DOYLE

Life on the River

DAVID HANSON MIKE BROWN

In 1998 John founded the Mighty Quapaws Apprenticeship Program for the youth of the Mississippi Delta, which includes canoe building, canoe safety, and wilderness leadership and survival.

john in so many ways is Walter anderson. “He had the support of his family, and he never lost his spiritual compass. He’s one of my major inspirations of all time.” john got a taste of anderson’s life when he made the trip to Horn Island, a wild and remote mississippi barrier island where Walter anderson spent time sketching and painting the wildlife and scenery of the Gulf of mexico. He paddled out with a group of explorers in a twenty-nine-foot voyageurstyle canoe, a vessel historically designed for use by French fur traders on the open waters of the Great Lakes. The excursion, which lasted for six days, was in conjunction with the Walter anderson museum of art in Ocean Springs. another artist who inspires john is Robin Whitfield, who paints scenes of the

ALAN SPEARMAN

Clarksdale. The company provides guiding and outfitting to the raw wild power and beauty of the mississippi River. In 2007, ninety-four-year-old Chinook elder and master canoe builder George Lagergren asked john to renovate two of his traditional Chinook dugouts which are now ceremonially housed in tribal headquarters in Wilapa Bay, Washington. In addition to being a master canoe builder, john is a musician, writer, and painter. “I am a self-taught artist,” he says. “my mother is a painter, and it’s always been one of her real passions. She couldn’t pursue art the way she would have liked. as a mother, she had to make choices, and she chose to focus on our upbringing. She also sang opera and played the piano. I feel that through my art, I’m carrying on what she started.” john’s father also contributed to his love for art. “my father taught me that to understand something, I should sketch it. That way I could learn more about it.” john started sketching seriously in the 1990s when he was spending more time on the mississippi River. “Initially, it was an attempt for me to understand what was going on around me. I started with ballpoint pens, then pencils, colored pencils, watercolors, and finally with oils. my mom painted with oils, and she taught me how to use them.” art, for john, was something that heightened his senses while on the river. “I love the sparkling light on the water. I spend half my days on the water, and that experience has caused me to see things differently.” Fascinated by things that don’t necessarily belong together becoming one, john’s paintings are a study of the unique contrasts, elements, and colors he sees on the river. “It may be a swirl in the water against a landscape of dry, cracked mud,” he says. “Or smokestacks and mud or a sunrise and a half-mile-long tow boat. The mississippi River has a strong and direct influence, and that muddy water has an ability to clarify and cause me to see things in a different way.” as people discovered his art, john says people started asking him if his work was for sale. “It was shocking to me to realize that anyone would actually value anything I did.” He continued to paint, and over the years, he has had a few shows featuring the artwork inspired by his time spent on the mississippi River. “It’s been purely word of mouth,” he says. “It is a different type of tightrope for an artist to walk.” an artist who has inspired

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John’s medium of choice is watercolor. The colors are vivid and bright, with swirls in the water, and sunlight reflecting off the water and trees. The flora and fauna of the river are often depicted in his works.

32 | may/june 2021

Chakchiuma Swamp in the Lee Tartt nature Preserve in Grenada. Robin paints in the swamp while sitting in her kayak, as well as in her studio, nestled in Grenada’s historic district. “Robin and I have collaborated on a few things, and we have another project we’ll be doing together soon.” john maintains a studio across the Sunflower River from Quapaw Canoe Company. “It’s at 110 Catawpa in an old house.” His work is on display in the studio as well as in Quapaw Canoe Company. His art has become collectible by many influential Deltans, including mike Wagner, owner of Two Brooks Rice Company in Sumner, who has several of john’s pieces in his office. While much of his work depicts the flora and fauna on the river, other works include surrealistic maps of the river. His medium of choice is watercolor, naturally, and the colors are vivid and bright with swirls in the water and sunlight reflecting off the water and trees. john has giclées of his work available for sale as well as original pieces. Over the years, john has been recognized for his work and honored by several organizations. In 2017 he was named one of Southern Living’s Southerners of the year. In 2019 john was awarded the noel Polk Lifetime achievement award from the

“I spend half my days on the water, and that experience has caused me to see things differently,” says Ruskey. Some of his works include surrealistic maps of the river.

mississippi Institute of arts and Letters for his writing, his music, his environmental efforts, his knowledge of mississippi’s great river, and for his work with young mississippians. In 1998 he founded the mighty Quapaws apprenticeship Program for the youth of the mississippi Delta, most of whom come from severely distressed neighborhoods. The multi-year apprentice-

ship includes canoe building, canoe safety, and wilderness leadership and survival. In 2011 he founded the Lower mississippi River Foundation for access, education, and the betterment of public outdoor recreation on the middle and lower mississippi River. DM

For more information on John Ruskey’s art, visit the gallery page of his website, island63.com.

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MUSIC

Seeing Stars A teenage obsession with Pink Floyd’s atmospheric sounds sent Walt Busby down a musical path. Now he’s pointing his telescope in a different direction. BY JIM BEAUGEZ • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

34 | may/june 2021

larksdale native Walt Busby is known for his guitar playing and harmonizing in Blackwater Trio, a popular folk-rock collective that has played to crowds throughout the Delta and up the East Coast for the better part of a decade.

for the past year, though, he’s embarked on a parallel track toward a diﬀerent kind of stardom—a kind that involves actual stars. “e beauty of the Delta and the night sky has been the biggest inﬂuence on me in the past few years,” says Busby from his home beyond the streetlights of Clarksdale, where after sunset the dark Delta sky comes alive with stars and constellations. for Busby, a stargazing hobby led to astrophotography, the process of creating images of celestial bodies through multiple exposures of light. During the CoviD-19 pandemic, he established the Youtube channel Delta Astrophotography to catalog his experiences and share tips on how to photograph the heavens. “Just going out into the middle of nowhere in the dark and beautiful Delta landscapes with the Milky Way in the background, that’s very inspiring to me,” he says. “And i actually started writing space-themed music because it’s on my brain.”

e connection between Busby’s musical and celestial pursuits actually began years ago with the band whose music made the biggest impression on him as a teenager: Pink floyd. Busby related to the themes and imagery in classics like Dark side of the Moon, the fourth bestselling album of all time; even the band’s lesser-known songs, including “Astronomy Domine,” “interstellar overdrive,” and “set the Controls for the Heart of the sun,” reference what lies beyond the skies. once the budding sixteen-year-old musician got his hands on a four-track home recorder, which allowed him to layer multiple instruments on a song, his creativity took oﬀ and he wrote and recorded music daily. “i would make all kinds of keyboard sounds that layered on top of my guitar, bass, and drums and tried to simulate that psychedelic sound as much as possible,” he says. As technology progressed, he moved to computer recording software, which gave him a limitless palette on which to create music. “i was able to make music but hadn’t

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Busby, left, with Alice Hasen and Seth Stroud, of his band Blackwater Trio.

had to depend on other people to do it with me, which is kind of how I like to do it,” he says. “I like to play all the instruments and just have complete freedom to do everything myself.” Busby’s life changed quickly from there. after high school, he began auditing classes at the recently opened Delta music Institute at Delta State university, where he absorbed knowledge about microphones and sound systems and was able to get hands-on experience recording music in a professional studio. around the same time, Busby fell into the orbit of a young singer and performer named jacqueline Gooch (now known as jaxx nassar), who was putting together a band. “She was going to Los angeles to record a song for a soundtrack for a nickelodeon movie and asked if I wanted to go along,” he recalls. “and I thought, ‘is is an opportunity of a lifetime.’” e song didn’t make the cut for the soundtrack, but his gig backing jacqueline turned into a full-time job, and he never went back to school. He also landed a job as the sound engineer at Ground Zero Blues Club, which lasted ﬁve years and swept him into many challenging and 36 | may/june 2021

fascinating situations—one involving the cosmic rock and performance art of e Flaming Lips, whose appearance helped them set the world record for the most concerts played in different cities within twenty-four hours (they managed to play eight shows, beginning in memphis and ending in new Orleans). “e Flaming Lips were trying to break a world record [in june 2012], and we had to get ready for that, for them to get in and get out,” he says. To make room for the Lips’ elaborate stage set, Busby and others temporarily extended the Ground Zero stage on both ends. “e night it happened, Ground Zero became more packed than I’d ever seen it in the five years I worked there.” Blackwater Trio, Busby’s Celticinfluenced folk group with front man Seth Stroud and violinist alice Hasen, came together in Clarksdale the following year. Drawing comparisons to artists like neil young, america, and Cowboy mouth, the group found chemistry immediately and a fan base nearly as quickly. “We decided that we were going to try make a career out of this and started working on an album and started taking

Busby has been a fixture on the Clarksdale music scene for many years. Above, working on music in his home studio.

it on the road,” Busby says. “We would go to Vermont [Hasen’s home state] and play in Vermont every year, and we’d hit Baltimore on the way back down. ings were just getting bigger and bigger.” Busby’s day job teaching guitar lessons at the Delta Blues museum afforded him the ability to play gigs with the Trio while staying focused on music day and night. He traveled with his students and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram to the White House in november 2014 when First Lady michelle Obama recognized the museum’s afterschool program along with eleven other community youth arts programs around the united States. e students played the blues standard “Sweet Home Chicago” as a nod to the first family’s hometown. e next logical step for Blackwater Trio was to establish themselves in a larger city. “We decided maybe let’s move a bigger city so we could play more often,” he says. Hasen made the move to memphis before the COVID-19 pandemic, but Busby and Stroud stayed in the Delta—Busby decided he wasn’t a city person after all, and Stroud started a family. at didn’t stop them from hitting

the memphis circuit hard, making the 150-mile round-trip three nights a week to play gigs, often getting home at four o’clock in the morning only to do it again the next night. What did stop them was the COVID19 pandemic. In spring 2020, Busby’s calendar suddenly opened up as their local and cross-country gigs dried up. even his guitar lessons stopped. “For almost a year, we didn’t do much of anything except for a few small private parties,” he says. e road isn’t over for the band, though. Recently, he and Hasen have begun collaborating on songs over the internet, sending ﬁles back and forth. “We’re starting to work on new material for her solo project and also potentially Blackwater Trio.” Busby, for his part, has begun to dip back into the creative well that inspired him as a teenager, recording music he describes as Beatlesque pop with progressive rock inﬂuences, with hopes of releasing a solo album or single in the summer. “is is me kind of experimenting with a more mainstream style of music that I’ve not done before,” he says. “I just wanted to try something new.” DM DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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FREE BIRDS Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands in America. Then the unthinkable happened. BY JIM BEAUGEZ • PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG CAMPBELL

40 | may/june 2021

outhern rock ‘n’ rollers Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose iconic songs “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird” have become cross-generational anthems, were riding high in October 1977.

The addition of Steve Gaines to their three-guitar army had energized the band as they shook off the hangover of Labor Day 1976, the day co-guitarists allen Collins and Gary Rossington wrecked their cars in separate incidents while impaired by booze and pills. With Street Survivors, the band’s fifth studio album, frontman and mastermind Ronnie Van Zant aimed to turn things around, and he didn’t mince words. The title itself is a nod to their rough, brawling past—which Van Zant hoped was behind them—while the lyrics to “That Smell” redressed Collins and Rossington for their reckless behavior that derailed a lucrative tour. On October 27, just ten days after the release of Street Survivors, the album was certified gold. In December, it was awarded platinum certification for shipments of one million copies and hit number five on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart—the band’s fastestselling album yet. But by then, there wasn’t a band left to celebrate. While en route from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 6:42 p.m. on October 20, the Convair CV-240 jet the band had leased lost power to its right engine. The left engine died soon after, and the twenty-four passengers, pilot, and co-pilot spent the next four minutes gliding as the aircraft steadily lost elevation, clipping the tree line for five hundred feet before ripping apart as it crashed four miles northwest of Gillsburg, mississippi. Forty-three years and a day later, Dwain easley sits in a pickup on a plot of land he donated for the Lynyrd Skynyrd monument, a series of three granite markers commemorating the band, the first responders, and the six people who died that day—Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant tour manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter mcCreary, and co-pilot William Gray.

Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977: Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle, Ronnie Van Zant, and Billy Powell. DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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On October 20, 1977, the airplane that was carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd to a show in Baton Rouge lost power and crashed four miles northwest of Gillsburg, Mississippi. A memorial has been built near the crash site that honors those who lost their lives as well as the band’s legacy.

Through a nearby gate and down a winding path, he pulls up to an open-air workshop where artifacts recovered from the crash site are laid out on a long table: mangled sheet metal and swatches of beige shag carpet, bent and frayed wires affixed to pieces of metal gadgetry, a completely intact emergency door. Then he sits down in a lawn chair to recount what happened next that autumn evening. easley spent the afternoon of October 20, 1977, bow hunting for deer on family land that today surrounds the monument until the eighty-degree heat drove him back home before dusk. He was pouring a cup of coffee when he heard a helicopter flying lower than he thought it should. The phone rang, and his mother answered; there had been a plane crash somewhere in the woods behind their home. easley and friend Wayne Blades stopped what they were doing and headed out in the fading light to search for the wreckage. “I went down to talk to some of the guys hauling hay and asked them did they hear anything,” easley remembered, “and one guy who was all the way in the back said, ‘yeah I heard something, sounded like train coupling.’ I said, ‘That wasn’t no train’”—it was actually treetops hitting the bottom of the plane’s fuselage during the final moments of the crash. When the u.S. Coast Guard helicopter, dispatched from a nearby training mission, fixed its search light on a location over the trees, easley knew where to go. He and Blades tore across a quarter mile of pastures and wooded bottomland to find the fuselage ripped in two and the passengers moaning in pain and screaming for help. easley climbed into the wreckage and began removing passengers both alive and deceased; by then more responders were on scene to 42 | may/june 2021

help move them safely away. They worked late into the night alongside emergency crews to move the survivors to a nearby field for staging, then to Southwest mississippi Regional medical Center in mcComb for treatment. Lighting technician and rigger mark Howard was seated on the right side of the plane facing the back, watching the trees get closer and closer, when drummer artimus Pyle yelled for everyone to buckle up. The crash knocked him unconscious, but he woke briefly when first responder jamie Wall pulled him from the wreckage, then passed out again. He woke up four days later at university medical Center in jackson with a broken collar bone and skull fractures. “I think the first thing I saw was the brother of the road manager,” he says. “I remember asking him who lived. I was in and out for a while.” after regaining his faculties, Howard got a pass to go down to mcComb to retrieve his luggage but declined a visit to the crash site. “I couldn’t do it,” he says. “I just said, ‘nah, take me back to jackson; I can’t be here anymore.’ It was pretty freaky.” Bolivar medical Center surgeon Dr. Bennie Wright of Cleveland, who was on trauma surgery rotation during the final year of his student residency at the time of the crash, served on the team that treated Howard and the other severely injured survivors at university medical Center in jackson. although he knew the patients were members of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band and crew, he kept his involvement with their care professional. “In addition to hurting and being in pain and trying to recover, they had to deal with the fact that they knew they’d lost some friends,” he says. “I didn’t want

The back side of the memorials dedicated to band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, back-up singer Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.

visited with bluesman Son Thomas, and to get personal with them.” hung out at the Greenville bar One Block Back at home in Texas, Howard’s fight east. When he heard about the crash over continued—he would eventually have the radio, he was devastated. seventeen hip replacements. Doctors “That day pretty much changed my readmitted him to a hospital before life,” abraham says. “It hurt my heart so Christmas 1977 when he had retained bad. It’s just the hardest thing to have to enough fluid to gain sixty pounds. He deal with, losing friends.” recovered and signed on to work the When he was able to get a call through Willie nelson tour after his release in to keyboardist Billy Powell two months january, but he had to confront his later, he wasn’t prepared for what he trauma again. heard. “Billy is the kind of person that no “We blew a head gasket in Slidell matter how much it hurt him to talk [Louisiana] on the way to Florida, and about it, he really went into graphic detail they said, ‘We’re gonna have to rent a to me about the plane crash. Whether I plane,’” he says. “So we go to the airport, wanted to hear it or not, I was gonna hear and the exact same type of plane we had it. He told me about everything [that just gotten in a crash on two months ago, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s fifth album, Street Survivors was released they wanted us to get on with the days after their plane crashed in South Mississippi. happened] until it finally settled down equipment and fly to Florida. It was Although there was no fire associated with the crash, the and was quiet [during the plane’s descent]. either get on the plane or go home.” record company canceled this original album cover People whimpering and crying. It was horrible.” Leland native Paul abraham, who design and produced a new one. eerily, the cover artwork of Street later served as the band’s tour manager Survivors showed the band standing amid towering flames. mCa after Lynyrd Skynyrd regrouped with Van Zant’s brother johnny on Records quickly issued a new version of the album jacket without vocals in 1987, had become friends with Van Zant and other the flames, and “What’s your name,” which first charted a week and members after booking them to play the Bolivar County expo a half after the crash, peaked at number thirteen on Billboard Hot Center in Cleveland on march 7, 1974. The band stuck around the 100 singles chart in march 1978. The band’s entire discography has day after the concert, and abraham showed them around the Delta, DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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Delta Magazine publisher, Scott Coopwood, along with writer Jim Beaugez, photographer Greg Campbell, Mike Rounsaville, and Dwain Easley visit the Lynyrd Skynyrd crash site. Above, Dwain Easley, the first rescuer to arrive at the crash site, looks at names carved in a tree a few feet away from where the downed plane came to rest. Below, Mike Rounsaville with some of the plane crash wreckage that is still being recovered from the crash site forty-three years later. Rounsaville initiated building the memorial.

sold more than twenty-eight million copies just since the SoundScan reporting era began in 1991 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, cementing their place in music history. In a wooded area near the monument, just off the pasture where ambulances and pickup trucks carted the injured and deceased away from the crash site, a lone american beech tree stands among oaks that look scrawny by comparison. Known as the “Free Bird” tree, its thick, rigidly perpendicular trunk is scarred all the way around and six feet up with names and messages carved by Lynyrd Skynyrd fans. But while this may be hallowed ground to them, it’s not the actual crash site. easley leads us deeper into the woods on a similarly warm autumn afternoon, where the broad canopy has choked out most of the undergrowth and the ground is carpeted with layers of fallen leaves. We cross the same creek that the first responders and emergency personnel waded that night through waist-deep water, only the lack of rain has rendered the seasonal wash nearly dry. We easily step from sandbar to sandbar to the other side. at first, it looks like any mississippi hardwood forest. But with a little coaching on the flight path, a gap in the canopy emerges where the plane descended through the trees and came to rest. Four decades later, the forest hasn’t fully recovered. Once the major pieces of the plane were removed from the site, workers simply turned the remaining debris over into small mounds that today are barely discernible rises on the ground. Fan and archivist 44 | may/june 2021

mike Rounsaville loosens some dirt with a shovel to reveal small pieces of metal and carpet hidden in the dirt. abraham says that when he signed on to run security for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1987 reunion tour, and was later made tour manager, he came to expect trouble when the crash anniversary rolled around. “One particular day in Concord, California, about six o’clock in the morning, I get a phone call from johnny [Van Zant], who

Visitors to the Lynyrd Skynyrd memorial often stop by Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb to see the marker that acknowledges the care several members of the band received at the hospital.

was in the room next to Leon [Wilkeson, bassist]. He said, ‘Paul, Leon’s in his room either trashing it or somebody’s killing him.’ So I run down the stairs and sure enough, Leon had trashed his whole room. I looked out the window and there was about half a dozen people out there roaming around the wreckage [where he threw] the desk and TV. Things like that happened.” abraham, who now lives in Cleveland, joined judy Van Zant, Ronnie’s widow, and hundreds of other people at the dedication

for the Lynyrd Skynyrd monument on the forty-second anniversary of the crash. Despite his earlier reticence, mark Howard finally decided to come back to Gillsburg, too, after marc Frank, the band’s drum tech in 1977 and a fellow crash survivor, talked him into going. “I really don’t know how to describe how it made me feel,” Howard says. “It was like a calm came over me, like somebody lifted a big weight off my shoulders. meeting the first responders for the first time was probably the biggest part of it. I met jamie Wall first, and we both had tears in our eyes. With my seventeen hip replacements, I’m in pain every day of my life, [but] going back to the site eased all that; it made it worthwhile. I don’t know if that makes sense to you or not, but it does to me.” DM If you go: Driving southbound or northbound on Interstate 55, watch for the brown historical-interest signs at Exit 8. Take the exit and drive west on Highway 568 for 7.5 miles, then turn left onto Easley Road. The monument is 0.33 miles on the right.

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beginnings

After numerous delays, a location change, and a pandemic, Starkville’s newest eatery, Humble Taco, is thriving. HOLA Y’ALL!

BY LOGAN KIRKLAND • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW WELCH PHOTO

n 2016 Starkville Chef Ty Thames began thinking about what new type of restaurant Starkville needed. He and business partner Brian Kelley, a local attorney, were already heavily invested in the college town’s blossoming culinary scene, with the Eat Local Starkville Restaurant group which included his flagship Restaurant Tyler, Bin 612, and The Guest Room. But Thames was looking for something with a new flair.

at the same time, Hunter Smith who had always dreamed of owning his own restaurant was ready to make a move. Smith had learned his chops working with Thames for over a decade at Restaurant Tyler. after much discussion, Thames and Smith decided to create what they would essentially call a mississippi-mex eatery, a nod to the commonly known Tex-mex. enter Humble Taco, a venture that took four years to come to fruition—enduring a location change and a pandemic before it even opened. as with all great ideas, there are always hurdles to cross—and Humble Taco’s story is no exception. While looking for a unique location to house their new restaurant concept, Thames found what 48 | may/june 2021

he thought was the perfect spot on old Highway 182 in Starkville— the old Humble Oil gas station, pronounced “umble.” at the time, it was being used for storage; they wanted to restore the historic building to its original architecture and design a modern addition for extra space for the restaurant and bar. With the location and concept for Humble Taco in place, Thames and Smith were ready to move forward as planned. as luck would have it, that is also when Thames unexpectedly ran into one of his most challenging setbacks as a businessman. He had previously purchased City Bagel, one of Starkville’s oldest and most successful restaurants, from owners joe and mary Tkach. But after three years, he had to close its doors. many factors affected the success of City Bagel at the time, including not being the original owner, along with two major construction projects which flanked all sides of the restaurant for an extended period of time. and that is what dealt the final blow. “That was really hard for me personally,” Thames says. “It’s hard and it’s challenging, but that’s what learning and life is all about.”

LOGAN KIRKLAND

HUMBLE

Smoked Wings with Humble Dipping Sauce

Assorted Tacos

Fried Chicken Tender Blue Plate

Fried Catfish Blue Plate with Ancho Sauce

Humble Salad

Smoked Cauliflower

Churros with Dark Chocolate Dipping Sauce

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Thames says it’s important to pick yourself up after you fall and to “keep on truckin’,” so he did just that. Looking at his now empty City Bagel building, he made the difficult decision to switch gears, and gave up the location he originally wanted for Humble Taco, making the old City Bagel building its new home. With the construction surrounding the building wrapping up, Thames began getting everything in order. although he scrapped the original location of Humble Taco, he still loved the name, with its nod to Starkville history, and because he finds it important for food to be approachable and to be humble. “With the multiple meanings, the dimensions, and the depth of the name, we decided to keep it,” Thames says. Work began in earnest to transform the building, with interior designer amanda Kelley of jamison Fry Interiors in charge of all interior and exterior design elements. The result is a crisp, light-filled, dining space, white washed, but with pops of color. The focus inside is the margarita bar, framed above with exposed rafters; outside there is an inviting wrap-around porch. Things were looking up. Four years after the idea of Humble Taco hit in 2016, the 50 | may/june 2021

LOGAN KIRKLAND

restaurant was ready to open on May 5, 2020. After a deep breath, Thames says they were finally moving forward when both the United States and the world shut down. “We practically had a finished restaurant and then COVID hit, and we basically had to pause again,” Thames says. “We had to sit on that building for almost a year.” It was a stressful and scary time for the restaurant industry. For Thames and Smith, and many others, the worst part was all of the uncertainty with each passing day. “If I have a problem, I can solve a problem, but with the pandemic, everything was something new and different and that was crippling,” Thames says. Not only was shutting down the restaurants a huge ordeal, Thames says the difficulty of trying to keep up with the constantly changing protocols, methods, and rules proved to be even more challenging. So the big question for Thames was how to reopen safely. “We just evolved with the circumstances,” Thames says. “That’s one thing about the restaurant industry, we’re pretty tough and we’re pretty resilient and we are all problem solvers and can take something that’s really bad and turn it into something good.” This, however, was on an epic scale for Thames, making each turn more frustrating and more worrisome, but he finally saw the light and decided to open his doors to the public on January 26, 2021. Thames describes the establishment as a chef-driven modern Mexican restaurant. “At Humble Taco we use local ingredients, and focus on the local food culture of the American South incorporated with the flavors of Mexico,” Thames says. And its menu backs up the claim, boasting dishes like hot catfish tacos, a Mexican blue plate, and the Mexican smoked wings, okra gremolata and house-made sweet potato tortillas. Thames says even with restrictions lifting and the trends of COVID-19 moving downward, he has his fingers crossed that opening in January was the right decision. As the weather starts warming up and restaurant capacities slowly increase, he is feeling relieved and can finally start to be excited about this project. “We came out of the gate hitting home runs,” Thames says. “It kind of makes me a little hesitant; like is this for real? I feel really good where the restaurant is right now.” Also, even though the pandemic negatively affected and continues to put pressure on the restaurant industry, Thames found a way to use his time in in a positive way. With a smoker at his house, Thames experimented cooking meats

Co-owners Ty Thames and Hunter Smith

Tortilla press machine

Big Shrimpin’ Taco

Mexican Rice

House-made sweet potato tortillas dough balls made with Vardaman Smoked Pork Taco sweet potatoes are a trademark of Humble Taco. Combo plate: 2 tacos + one side

DELTA MAGAZINE 2021

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Salsa Combo: Pineapple salsa (left), tomatillo salsa (top), and smoked tomato salsa (bottom) served with chips

in different ways, deciding how he would cook the restaurant’s rice, and perfecting items like Humble Taco’s unique tortillas made from Vardaman sweet potatoes. “I tested all of the recipes basically throughout the whole pandemic,” Thames says. “I was just trying to stay busy.” This gave him the opportunity to experiment and strategize with different flavors and food pairings to help solidify Humble Taco’s menu. When talking about menu strategy, Thames makes calculated, intentional decisions with food which allows him to put his signature spin with ingredients. He does this by making the menu approachable for his customers, who may be hesitant or unsure of what the food item is. One example of his strategy is with the Cowbell taco. The taco has an okra gremolata as a part of the taco, and for people who may not know what a gremolata is or what it tastes like—it’s paired with a familiar item like steak so customers have a reference, and a window of trust. “I try to put the unfamiliar with the familiar,” Thames says. “I can use that little bit of trust to steer you in a different direction that you wouldn’t normally go Steak: Eight-ounce Denver cut with food.” steak, charred peppers and Gaining trust, as well as respecting a onions, mustard chimichurri, customer’s hesitation to try an unfamiliar smoked tomato jam, and food is a formula Thames seems to have smoked au jus perfected when encouraging customers to try new flavors. “There are limits and there are boundaries that I have to abide by and the guests have to somewhat abide by too,” Thames says. “It brings that curiosity and so it stays within those boundaries.” He uses this customer-friendly formula with his house-made sweet potato flour tortillas. People like sweet potatoes and like flour tortillas, and they wonder if the mixture would make them sweet or not. Playing into curiosities is a significant factor in Thames’s formula for getting guests to try new menu items with the comfort of familiar ingredients. Thames noted it’s an “evolutionary time” for the food scene in Starkville; with the pace it’s growing and with Humble Taco, he hopes not only to bring new flavors to the community, but also to bring pressure and encouragement to his competitors to break away from the normal food items. “as long as [Humble Taco] is successful, I do believe it would open the doors to other restaurants to go out on a creative limb with their food and their menus.” DM 52 | may/june 2021

Forty years ago, a revolution in music delivery introduced a way for artists to connect with their audience through not only their sounds, but through exciting visuals that helped bring songs to life. And it all started with Mississippian Bob Pittman. Don’t miss the fun of reliving the ‘80s and the start of music television with our newest exhibit celebrating the 40th anniversary of MTV. It will include interviews and artifacts from the remaining VJs, artifacts from Madonna, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, and more. Join us for our Grand Opening Weekend featuring FREE ADMISSION, a workshop and gallery tour with music historian Bob Santelli, MTV Family Day with Food Trucks, a “Drums Alive” education workshop, and YLC Live on the Lawn from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Friday, May 14 MTV Exhibit Grand Opening - Free Admission ALL DAY

Saturday, May 15 MTV Family Day & YLC Live on the Lawn - Free Admission ALL DAY

With additional support from Visit Mississippi, the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, and King’s Daughters and Sons Circle Number Two Foundation

800 West Sun ower Road, Cleveland, MS (662) 441-0100 • grammymuseumms.org

A Weekend in Jackson

Where to EAT, DRINK, STAY, and SHOP in the Capital City

BY SHERRY LUCAS

ChoCk-full of Culture.

A groaning board of eateries. Plenty of attractions and distractions. Jackson merits a red circle on the getaway calendar, and here’s a starter list of why: history, outdoors, family fun, art, music, books, science, theater, sports, and dance.

King Edward Hilton Garden Inn Downtown

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

EK Home Dumbo’s fried chicken

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PHOTOS OBTAINED FROM DIGITAL MEDIA SOURCES

Fine and Dandy

Mural located on the back wall of the Old Capitol Inn on North Street.

ACkSOn’S CiTy WiTh SOul label easily embraces soul food and soulful music but encompasses much more. It covers, too, the Southern and international influences that feed a bountiful restaurant scene (so much of it food from the hearts of city chefs) as well as the jazz, gospel, pop, indie rock, blues, bluegrass, symphonic, and operatic music anchored there or traveling through. “I’ve long been a drum leader and pied piper for the state, and, of course, the capital city is the heart of the state,” says malcom White, who as a restauranteurmusic promoter-tourism official-arts leader, has had a hand in every aspect of what’s there to enjoy. He’s made a home in jackson since 1979. “mississippi’s greatest asset is our story—it’s our art, our culture, and our history. We’re a state of 2.9 million storytellers. … In the grocery store, a restaurant, or in line to get the COVID vaccine, you’re going to get a good yarn Malcom White while you wait. and we don’t charge for that,” says White. jackson’s own story comes alive through its literary giants, its creative chefs, its civil rights heroes, and more, but you won’t get a good read on the compelling characters and plot lines without experiencing them firsthand. events in jackson helped change the culture and the world in the civil rights era, notes Visit jackson President and CeO Rickey Thigpen. The way it deals with that history—by sharing, telling and healing—has earned national and international interest. “When a community comes together and agrees on its story and tells it collectively, it builds economics, it builds tourism, but more important, it builds civic pride,” White says. “When communities have civic pride, people want to visit.” “The people are so welcoming. jackson really epitomizes Southern Visit Jackson President and CEO Rickey Thigpen hospitality,” Thigpen says, urging mississippians to grab an “amazing” opportunity to rediscover their capital city. “If you haven’t been to Mississippi Agriculture Museum jackson since your fourth-grade field trip, it’s changed.”

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Where to Stay

Belhaven’s historic Fairview Inn and the cozy Library Lounge inside

The Old Capitol Inn and its popular rooftop bar has an old-world feel that draws locals and visitors alike.

Distinctive choices on jackson’s hotel front hold their own chapter in the getaway story. The fairview inn, a boutique hotel tucked in the Belhaven neighborhood, is a lovely 1908 Colonial Revival mansion with historic charm to spare. If your idea of the perfect Southern stay involves a rocking chair on a grand porch or a cocktail under a magnolia tree, plus luxury guest rooms, this is your spot. The cozy Library Lounge is an intimate pub-like nod to the state’s literary heritage, and the restaurant 1908 Provision’s fresh and seasonal Southernrooted fare answers the dinner call with class. The hilton Garden inn Downtown—or the King edward Hotel, as everybody calls it—is a renovated gem, and its stunning lobby is a fresh face on the historic glam of this 1923 building. On-site amenities can fix you up on the sustenance end, but for real old-school jackson delicious, go for the fresh seafood at Mayflower Cafe, a mere block away (you’ll know it by the neon). The Old Capitol inn, with its once yWCa dorm rooms now distinctively designed for boutique hotel guests, also draws locals as well as overnighters with its Rooftop Bar. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and Museum of Mississippi history are close by. The Westin Jackson holds the corner on contemporary, from the sleek hangout potential of its bar to the plush comfort of its onsite restaurant, Estelle. Proximity to Thalia Mara hall and the Mississippi Museum of Art make the Westin a frequent choice for the arts set. jackson’s Fondren neighborhood is a draw for its many eateries, lively arts bent, and festive events, and the brand-new homewood Suites by hilton puts you right in the middle of all that action. With twenty-five places to eat and drink, all within walking distance in Fondren, it’s a downright grub hub (wheelbarrow not included). a new development in the works involving chef Robert St. john aims for first phase completion in mid-fall and will include the Capri Theater, highball lanes bowling alley, and The Pearl tiki bar. Ed’s Burger Joint, with a rooftop bar, will come later.

Residence Inn by Marriott located in The District

Homewood Suites by Hilton in Fondren 58 | may/june 2021

The stunning “This Little Light of Mine” Rotunda in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum located only blocks from the Old Capitol Inn

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum King Edward Hilton Garden Inn Downtown lobby

Estelle Wine Bar & Bistro at the Westin Jackson

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COURTESY OF THE MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM OF ART

Mississippi Museum of Art

Thalia Mara Hall, Jackson’s Municipal Auditorium

Betsy Bradley, Director of the Mississippi Museum of Art

Woman in Striped Dress by Dusti Bongé, currently exhibited at the Mississippi Museum of Art Fondren Corner is an anchor of the lively neighborhood.

For more information on what to SEE, DO, and EAT in Jackson: • Follow your favorite restaurants, museums, and venues on social media • Check out the following websites and Instagram handles: visitjackson.com, eatdrinkfondren.com, thedistrictateastover.com, highlandvillagejxn.com, ardenland.net @jacksonfoodiesms, @jacksonmsevents, @visitfondren, @cultivationjxn

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Two Mississippi Museums

What to Do

Dive deep into your interest of choice. “jackson, per capita, has more museums than almost any city its size in the country,” says Betsy Bradley, director of one of jackson’s top draws, the Mississippi Museum of Art. art by mississippians as well as art from across the country and around the world find an engaging showcase there in exhibitions that inspire, intrigue, and offer new perspectives. Piercing the Inner Wall: The Smith Robertson Museum The Art of Dusti Bongé ends may 23; Betye Saar: Call and Response is on view through july 11, and the Mississippi Invitational, a biennial heads-up on Sit in for Change: Woolworth 1963 artists working in the state, starts august 13. The ongoing New Symphony of Time is an exciting, evocative exploration of key themes in the mississippi narrative, and the museum’s public art Garden is an open invitation for a lovely stroll any time of year. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi history—collectively known as Two Mississippi Museums—tell the state’s story in ways that connect deeply and resonate fully. The Civil Rights museum illuminates a painful past with an unflinching gaze, in service to a more hopeful future. Its “This Little Light of mine” Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument rotunda is a particular standout and just the spot to reflect on the struggles and heroes of the movement. jackson is a must-stop (and multi-stop) for learning more about this pivotal moment in american history. The Smith Robertson Museum brings a focus on women of the movement, slain civil rights activist medgar evers, and the Woolworth, sit-in, as well as the africa-to-mississippi journey at the roots of slavery in the state. Medgar and Myrlie Evers

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The Eudora Welty House & Garden in Belhaven is a must-see for book lovers and garden lovers alike. Nature trails at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

Mississippi Children’s Museum is a colorful wonderland for little ones.

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home national Monument, site of his assassination in 1963, honors the lives and civil rights roles of both. Downtown, toast a historical site of a different sort. Lift a glass (offsite for now) to Cathead Distillery, the first legal distillery in a state that was the last to repeal Prohibition. Tours are on hold, but drop by the distillery to check out its on-site bottle and gift shops for a souvenir to sip back home. Book lovers and garden lovers can indulge in both at Eudora Welty house & Garden in Belhaven, stepping inside the world of the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author and taking a turn about the historic botanical garden in back. LeFleur museum District’s four attractions target different audiences, with lots of overlap to max out on family fun. Renew appreciation for the wildlife and plants that share our state at the Mississippi Museum of natural Science and its nature trails through LeFleur’s Bluff State Park. The Mississippi Children’s Museum provides adventurous play for the pint-sized set, and the Mississippi Agriculture & forestry Museum’s Small Town prompts adult nostalgia and kids’ runaround fun. nobody spotlights the state’s rich sports history and heroes as well as the Mississippi Sports hall of fame & Museum. Hankering for a real game? Root for the mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park in neighboring Pearl. On the music front, hal & Mal’s is a cool spot to catch it live and local (and beyond) while also tucking into a tasty morsel or two (or more!). nearby Martin’s Downtown is another musical magnet. after a much-missed pandemic absence, Duling hall in Fondren aims to get back into the game in june with the kind of shows that make jackson a music destination; check ardenland.net for the schedule (and while there consider the Twilight Concert Series at Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland).

International Museum of Muslim Cultures

The International Museum of Muslim Cultures has several current exhibits including, Muslims with Christians & Jews: Covenants & Coexistence, as well as The Legacy of Timbuktu: Wonders of the Written Word Exhibition, for which they partnered with the Mamma Haidara Memorial Library in Timbuktu. The exhibit includes ancient documents dating back to the 13th century.

Mississippi Museum of History exhibit

Mississippi Distilled is a current exhibit about Prohibition in the state. Two major pieces of Delta history are featured in the exhibit— a dugout canoe that was used to transport alcohol on the Tallahatchie River, and a moonshine still.

Martin's Downtown

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum

Hal & Mal’s and Martin’s Downtown are long-time favorite spots to catch live music, have a cocktail, or a bite to eat.

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Where to Eat

Lou’s Full-Serv in Belhaven

Sal & Mookie's New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint’s new location in The District at Eastover

Restauranteur, Jeff Good Aplos Simple Mediterranean at Highland Village

Delicious classic dishes prevail at Walker’s Drive-In, a longtime Jackson favorite.

Chef Brian Myrick of Johnny T’s

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Greek dishes at Alladin Mediterarean Grill

Chef Alex Eaton of The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen

Graze your way through a weekend getaway in jackson, where the selection goes deep on soul, wide on global, and star-worthy on the tasty scale. “jackson has always been a big dining town,” says restauranteur jeff Good, whose own three with chef Dan Blumenthal—Broad Street Baking Company in Fondren, Bravo! italian Restaurant & Bar in Highland Village and Sal & Mookie’s new york Pizza & ice Cream Joint in The District at eastover—enjoy a loyal following. What the Greeks did in jackson in the first wave, with restaurants such as Mayflower Cafe, laid the foundation for subsequent batches of creative chefs to build on—chefs such as Derek emerson at Walker’s Drive in, alex eaton with The Manship Wood fired kitchen in Belhaven and Aplos Simple Mediterranean in Highland Village, and Louis LaRose with lou’s full-Serv in Belhaven. now many of the city’s african american chefs are making waves in restaurants such as Godfrey’s on Terry Road and its Caribbean, asian, and american soul fusion standouts. “He’s just killing it,” Good says of chef Godfrey morgan. “Peruse the jackson Foodies (Facebook) page and it’s amazing how many restaurants there are out there that didn’t exist three years ago, and they’re doing great food,” Good says. “and all the younger chefs—it’s a cool ton. jackson’s strength is our people, and the people that live here are really coming into their own as food entrepreneurs.” among them count chef Hunter evans at Elvie’s in Belhaven, an all-day cafe showcasing seasonal fare and dinner selections along the line of short rib bourguignon and duck confit cassoulet. at Johnny T’s Bistro & Blues, chef Brian myrick and general manager john Tierre’s inspired take on Southern freshness results in signatures such as shrimp and grits topped with crawfish cream sauce. Southern comfort with snappy, seasonal distinction pulls diners in at Crazy Cat Eat up in Canton mart Square where chefs jon Lansdale and Gary Hawkins prove a winning combo. Indulgent desserts put it over the top; choosing just one may be difficult, but the bread pudding is a longtime local champion.

Godfrey Morgan of Godfrey's restaurant

Elvie’s, Jackson's newest allday cafe, offers a tasting menu and a wine club.

Chef Hunter Evans of Elvie's

Delicious dishes and baked goods from Crazy Cat Eat Up

Keifer’s Restaurant is one of Jackson’s most popular Greek restaurants.

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a pRohibition exhibition

May 22 Sept 5 popping the CoRk on pRohibition

Produced by

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Presented by

Experience stories of Prohibition, piety, and politics in “the wettest dry state” at this immersive new exhibit. SPONSORED LOCALLY BY:

mschildrensmuseum.org 601.981.5469 222 North Street | Jackson msdistilled.com

Jackson, MS

This project is partially funded through a grant by Visit Jackson.

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Fine & Dandy in The District at Eastover

Established in 1946, Brent’s Drugs serves up the best sundaes and a healthy dose of nostalgia.

La Brioche Patisserie

The District’s Cultivation Food Hall

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The focus might be on steaks at Char in Highland Village, but seafood and more hold their own at the fine dining draw. For retro appeal, Brent’s Drugs in Fondren delivers, from its authentic 1950s diner decor to its soda fountain savvy. Duck in for breakfast, burgers, shakes, or sandwiches. new in Fondren is Dumbo’s on Duling with fried chicken as a house specialty and darned good Southern staples (and a few internationally inspired grace notes) to boot. Find american casual juiced with whimsy (and chef jesse Houston’s culinary direction) at fine & Dandy in The District at eastover, where the burgers get a step up, cocktails get crafty, and milkshakes can get boozy. Hungry for variety? Check out the vendors at The District’s Cultivation food hall, among them la Brioche Patisserie (beautifully made pastries and crepes) and Poké Stop Jxn (sushi roll in a bowl). The go-cup policy amps up the outdoor draw of events and live music at The District Green. The Big Apple inn on Farish Street, with fourth generation owner Geno Lee at the helm, is a historic holein-the-wall still serving up tamales, smokes, and ears. Ground up Red Rose smoked sausage sings in a slider on the smokes. The ears? That’s short for a pig ear, also tucked in a slider-sized sandwich. For straight-up soul food, there’s no beating the lunch tray at Bully’s Restaurant, deemed one of america’s Classics by the james Beard Foundation. Pandemic got you stretching culinary horizons at home? Aladdin Mediterranean Grill and Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking also have specialty groceries on-site with authentic ingredients of the respective cuisines. If mexican is more your mojo, visit Valdez Market just over the county line in Ridgeland.

Southern goodness at the Big Apple Inn

Take a seat and soak in Dumbo’s laid back, refined vibe while enjoying their signature fried chicken.

Where to Shop

Highland Village has been a landmark shopping and dining destination for decades. On the I-55 corridor, it is home to several of the area’s favorite local shops as well as national chains.

Located at Banner Hall, Lemuria Books is one of Mississippi's Finest Independent Bookstores.

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Shop EK Home for gorgeous appointments for the home. For contemporary styles head to D Sqaured at Highland Village.

Blithe and Vine in Fondren carries classic but edgy, hand-selected styles. Find original local art, gifts, and decor for the home at LeFleur’s Interiors and Gifts.

The Everyday Gardener is a Jackson staple for gifts and garden items.

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Maison Weiss at Highland Village is a premier shopping destination for women across the state.

jackson is a boutique bonanza with shopping conveniently concentrated in cool retail hotspots. D Squared is Highland Village’s destination for contemporary fashion with a spirit of individuality. Women’s tops and bottoms, shoes and handbags, jewelry and more fit the occasion from a night out to a fun weekend away. Take a tote or two around Fondren’s central business district; its strollable nature suits serious hunter-gatherer instincts. The Everyday Gardener is the go-to for unique garden and gift items, as well as annieglass, artisan pieces, pamper products, and select fresh plants. Blithe & Vine is a source for thoughtfully selected fashions from independent designers and sought-after brands; the collection boasts pieces that are sophisticated, edgy, classic, and unique. Treehouse Boutique, a luxury retail and lifestyle store as well as fashion hub, offers a carefully curated, stylish mix of modern yet feminine clothing and accessories. explore decor possibilities at Ek home, the storefront that sprang from erik Kegler Interiors. The home furnishings boutique next to Banner Hall carries a mixture—modern, antique, traditional, shades of gold, shades of white, pops of color—to fit any home, style, taste, and budget. at ASJ interiors, also near Banner Hall, fine antiques meet modern-day living with a showroom to prove it. The focus includes interiors, upholstery, lamps, chandeliers, and art. across I-55, lefleur interior & Gifts is a one-stop shop for home decor, gifts, lighting, and all kinds of accessories with a store in the front and a half-dozen designer spaces in back highlighting styles from traditional to contemporary (Dawn Thomas of after Five Designs and Katherine Garraway Browne among them). artist walls are a showcase for original art changing monthly.

Nursery Rhymes clothing and gifts for babies and toddlers in The District

Great Scott, located behind Highland Village, was named one of Esquire Magazine’s Top 50 Men’s Clothing Stores in the country.

Anna Allen Interiors

Elizabeth Clair’s gifts and bridal registry in The District

ASJ Interiors offers fine antiques with modern day style for the home.

Nestled in the heart Fondren, Treehouse Boutique is one of Jackson’s most unique shopping experiences with carefully curated, sophisticated offerings for shoppers. DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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Delta Mules and the Illinois Central Railroad BY HANK BURDINE

In the 1940s, dependable rail service in and out of Greenville, known at the time as the Queen City of the Delta, was unreliable and untimely. Something had to be done. The gauntlet was thrown down and a challenge made that a relayed team of fine Delta mules could beat the Illinois Central’s “Old Reluctant” in a race from Cleveland to Greenville. And, the race was on! 76 | may/june 2021

MARTIN AND SUE KING RAILROAD HERITAGE MUSEUM, CLEVELAND MISSISSIPPI

Cleveland funeral director John F. Fletcher prepares to take off at the starting whistle of the infamous great Delta mule-train race from Cleveland to Greenville in May of 1948. Fletcher is armed to protect himself from hostile engines.

T THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY, the Delta was being

Mrs. George Archer, wife of Greenville’s Mayor, greeting “Nature Boy,” rider Larry Pryor’s steed as he came into Greenville, breaking the tape just ahead of “Old Reluctant.”

people, and mail was quite an annoyance. Greenville was known as the “Queen City of the Delta” and depended on the reputable and timely arrival and departure of its train service, which, to say the least, was not dependable. The Illinois Central Railroad, I.C.R.R., serviced Greenville off of its mainline north/south track that passed through Leland going from memphis to Vicksburg. But to get to Greenville, the train had to arrive in Leland, move over to a spur track, and slowly back all the way into Greenville by way of metcalfe and then on into the Queen City. Rarely did the train arrive on time, and there were many disgruntled passengers, planters, and business owners that were affected by the untimely and unreliable service. many letters

MARTIN AND SUE KING RAILROAD HERITAGE MUSEUM, CLEVELAND MISSISSIPPI

mainline railroads connected existing towns, and small hamlets sprang up where plantations converged as a central shipping point for cotton. Railroads followed the high ground, and once the tracks were built and service established, and trees had been removed by logging companies, excess rights of way, which had been granted by the state of mississippi to the railroads, were sold off to aspiring investors and farmers anxious to get hold of the fine Delta land, just waiting for a cotton seed. The railroads were coming, and the Delta was being cleared. William Faulkner referred to it as “...this land which man has deswamped and denuded in two generations.” after the Civil War, the railroads began buying up all the steamboat lines and shutting them down as a way of eliminating competition. The mississippi River, once a virtual highway of cotton bales loaded and stacked on steamboats, was effectively closed down as an avenue of transport for goods and produce. The conglomerate railroads were big and getting bigger. Towns and small villages along the tracks depended on the trains for their personal transportation, mail and goods and produce coming in, and the shipment of cotton and logs going out. a railroad was the lifeblood of a Delta community. Folks from the Delta depended on the timely arrival and departure of the train service, and when schedules were not kept and maintained, the disruption of shipments,

BERN KEATING

cleared as the railroads nudged their way into the deep, dense hardwood bottomlands. Spur tracks connecting large cotton plantations were built off mainlines, and dummy lines split off of spur tracks to collect the harvested logs; these tracks were later taken up and reused in another suitable forested location.

The Illinois Central’s mainline railroad ran from Memphis to Vicksburg connecting the main towns along the River Route. To get to Greenville, the train had to pull off onto a spur track and slowly back into Greenville through Metcalfe—a slow and arduous route. DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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BOB GOOKIN UHLER

Margaret Turner pours Larry Pryor a “long, tall one” from an oil can in Greenville after his victorious journey, which he described as being “through the deserts, Rattlesnakes Gulch and the Bogue Phalia.” Mule Express Manager P.B. “Bones” Barcroft describes the scene to the outskirts of the crowd while Mayor George Archer waits to hand over the floral and vegetable horseshoe. Legionnaire Ignace Loyacono holds the gallant steed.

Residents and the media came out in full force showing support for the great mule-train race. Sincere backing for a more reliable train service was evident in towns along the route.

of protest were sent to the Illinois Central home office in Chicago with no relief. The station manager and railroad men were doing the best they could, but no reprieve was in sight. Something needed to be done, and the good-natured folks of Greenville came up with an idea that garnered national attention. a bet was made that a team of relaying mississippi Delta mules could beat the I. C.’s prize locomotive, nicknamed “Old Reluctant,” in a race from Cleveland to the Greenville depot. Oh, the fat was on the fire, and friendly innuendoes from Greenville’s finest were set in print amongst great gusto, while the representatives of the I. C. Railroad did not think the idea was cute at all and certainly not good for business. according to a story in the Delta Democrat-Times, owned and published by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Hodding Carter, the originator of the big mule-train race was mrs. maxine House, art director of the Greenville schools who suggested the stunt to members of the Delta DemocratTimes staff. The race was to begin at the Cleveland depot with a change of mules in Shaw and another in Leland as “Old Reluctant” began its slow backward trek to the “Queen City” of Greenville where, certainly, many would be gathered to witness the earth pounding finale of the great muletrain race. (Of course, there were certain 78 | may/june 2021

unfounded accusations that the race was to be rigged with truck-hitched trailers waiting in the woods to deliver the racing mule and rider to the next stop, unloading right outside of town ahead of the train.) naw… a bunch of good-natured Deltans would never do such a dastardly thing!

Greenville was known as the “Queen City of the Delta” and depended on the reputable and timely arrival and departure of its train service, which, to say the least, was not dependable.

The race was set for may 22, 1948. Starting time was the scheduled arrival of “Old Reluctant” to the Cleveland Depot at 11:52 a.m., and it was to end at approximately 1:30 p.m. in Greenville. Prior to the race weekend, the Chicago home office of the Illinois Central Railroad was none too pleased with the bad publicity it was receiving with this so-called stunt and sent a delegation down to the Delta to check things out. “Because of the acute nature of the emergency, the railroad delegation did

not trust itself to travel by train. Instead, they roared down from memphis in the company’s “Doodlebug,” a Buick with handcar wheels and a cowcatcher, which is reported to be able to cut train time in half and almost equal automobile and mule time.” What company official would dare want to be late to the station riding Old Reluctant. Hodding Carter stated, “Despite the indignant comments of some of the humorless I. C. officials, the race tomorrow between Delta mules and Old Reluctant is simply a good-humored way of calling attention to our scandalous lack of adequate train service along the river route.” according to Carter, the past policy of railroads was to get all the traffic could bear and give little in exchange. many other railroads had abandoned that policy and were meeting competition from busses, waterways, airlines, and trucks by improved service. “But, not so with the I. C. on the river route. Train service in the Delta area where almost every town has doubled in population in the last twenty years is worse than it was twenty years ago. We have fewer and slower trains. The freight service has not kept up with our economic growth.” Carter went on to say, “as for the company’s personnel, their agents, trainmen and other employees do the best they can. But they can’t buck the atavists in Chicago.”

BERN KEATING

“Little Wynn’s Nelson Street Jazz Band” performing on the back of the American Legion’s 40 and 8 locomotive, a friendly engine which drew no fire from the four thousand Greenvillians gathered about to see the outcome of the great mule-train race.

switch, and one firm swat on nature Boy’s rear end caused him to leap across the finish line right ahead of the chugging, steam belching, and clanging Old Reluctant!). a tight race indeed! Prior to the arrival of nature Boy, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, marvin Rosenberg, said that the race was humorous but that the train service in the Delta was not. “The business leaders of the Delta would continue fighting for adequate passenger, mail, and freight service along the river route until their objectives are secured.” “The real celebration began when nature Boy broke the ribbon! amid thunderous applause, mr. Pryor waved his black tengallon planter hat and derringer and switched the long tails of his frock coat in triumph as he rode through the spectators to the speaker’s stand. Here pretty hoopskirted margaret Turner gave the winner a stirrup cup, a trainman’s oilcan filled with an undivulged liquid!” (again, according to jimmy Robertshaw, it was filled with a very large iced down gin martini!) Greenville’s own Charles Cason and P. B. Bancroft shared as masters of ceremonies as Little Wynn’s jazz Band played such favorites as “Casey jones,” “nobody know the trouble I. C.,” and the favorite, “The Old Gray mule Is Faster Than She used to Be.” mayor George archer read a proclamation establishing may 22 as “mule express Day.” mr. Bancroft then shod nature Boy driving in a final golden nail! a grand time was had by all, including the Illinois Central train crew, agents, and representatives!

FERD MOYSE

AND THE RACE IS ON With possibly much heat from Chicago, “Old Reluctant was out to win! She made it to Cleveland at 11:52 a.m., right on the dot, and took out like a house afire, close on the heels of the starting mule ridden by Cleveland funeral director john F. Fletcher. mr. Fletcher was attired in regulation hunting garb and carried an eight-gauge flintlock shotgun and a twenty-four-inch cane knife to protect himself from hostile engines.” Representatives of Life and Time magazines were on hand to photograph and report on the race as were cameramen from Paramount news. The Commercial Appeal, Bolivar Commercial, and Delta DemocratTimes newspapers covered the race. This was a national spoof, and one that garnered much attention, all to the chagrin of the Illinois Central hierarchy. Fletcher sprinted into Shaw as beloved lumberman Guy Simpson took off just ahead of the train and held his lead, they say, to the outskirts of Leland where Dr. Roy Cronan, wearing engineering overalls, took over spurring his charger into town. “Dr. Cronan was met with a mammoth parade, led by mayor Bill Carroway, immaculate in derby and frock coat, who presented the mule with the keys to the city and a bunch of carrots to Dr. Cronan. Roy Landers, attired in complete Boy Scout outfit and armed with three shotguns and a pistol, guarded Dr. Cronan and Russel neal, the next rider, through Leland. neal got a good start and the train a poor one.” Somewhere along Fish Lake, where the Old Leland Road crosses, neal passed the mail bag, loaded with letters to Santa Claus, to the Delta’s own bon vivant Lawrence Bellfield Pryor, Squire of Silver Lake. Pryor, attired in tailflapping frock coat and plantation manager’s wide-brimmed hat and with his teeth firmly chomped down on a fine stogie, raced off on his favorite mule, nature Boy. “Fifteen minutes late at Greenville, Old Reluctant nevertheless made a strong finish, backing into town just behind Larry Pryor who was overconfidently walking nature Boy along the home stretch. mr. Pryor, tastefully dressed as a planter, managed to break the red ribbon just ahead of the rear coach.” (It seems, according to jimmy Robertshaw, that nature Boy balked at the crowd of four thousand people, whooping and hollering at the finish line stretched across the track at the Illinois Central station, gathered for the finish-line celebrations. Realizing the problem, someone produced a

Mr. Larry Pryor, Squire of Silver Lake Plantation, triumphantly strolls across the finish line only minutes ahead of the chugging, steam-belching and backing-up locomotive, “Old Reluctant.”

all in good fun, the event was to show the need for better train service throughout the entire Delta. Something needed to be done, and this mule-train race was something that could bring awareness to the unreliable and untrustworthy rail service. according to Hodding Carter, “…we don’t have to like it. That’s why we’re acting a little mulish today.” DM DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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Great Flights, Low Fares,

ALL THAT JAZZ! Now Flying to New Orleans from Greenville’s Mid -Delta Regional Airport Fares starting at $79

www.boutiqueair.com • 855-268-8478

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TuTwiler QuilTers

Created to give area women a way to make their own money, Tutwiler Quilters has survived thirty years, one stitch at a time BY SARAH FOWLER • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

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These Delta quilters aren’t just crafting beautiful works of art, they’re part of a legacy.

TiTch by sTiTch, the women of the Tutwiler Quilters weave their legacy into quilts that will find homes across the country, a piece of the Mississippi Delta bound for parts unknown. rich and vibrant with color, every quilt is as unique as the women who create it. Personality leaps from the cloth, with each woman putting her own style, design taste, and affinity for certain patterns into her work. History passes through her ﬁngertips. “Right here in the mississippi Delta, where we don’t have a lot, we take what we have to keep people around the world warm and to continue that art,” says melanie Powell, executive director of the Tutwiler Community education Center. On a march afternoon, half a dozen of the quilters gathered at the center, displaying their work and sharing a

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The quilting group busy at work.

glimpse into what they see as a “dying art.” Together they have over one hundred years of combined experience. In their sixties and seventies, some of the women have been quilting since they were little girls, with memories of handing pieces to their mothers and grandmothers as they stitched the quilts by hand from scraps of discarded clothes. Others got into quilting more recently, at the insistence of their 84 | may/june 2021

friends and with the lure of something to do in retirement or a way to make a little extra money. What started more than thirty years ago as a small community project has since grown into a community of women. In the 1980s, Dr. anne Brooks came to town to work at the Tutwiler Clinic. Both a doctor and a nun, Brooks was focused on healing physical and spiritual

needs. Brooks asked Sister maureen Delaney to join her in mississippi, and in 1988 the Tutwiler Quilters was born, giving women in the area a way to make their own money their own way. mary mackey, sixty-four, of jonestown, has been with the quilters since their inception. Speaking of “Sister maureen” and “mother Founder” Pearly Taylor, mackey slips into storytelling mode, her voice softening as she uses her hands to accentuate a point. although Delaney has since moved on and Taylor has passed, their influence can still be felt. But the quilters have dwindled in numbers as older women either stop quilting or pass away. every inch of the quilts is handstitched, a sewing machine never used, and younger women don’t seem as eager to take up the art form. Without them to continue, the beloved craft is at risk of being lost to the past. Sitting on the corner of Hancock and alma Street, the community center is a familiar sight for those in Tutwiler. But inside, a treasure trove awaits. Past the entryway, back through a hallway, the center opens up into a bright and airy space filled to the brim with wares. Quilted potholders, phone cases, and wine holders are all on display, offered in a host

of colors and patterns. artwork and photographs of past quilters don the walls, history encapsulated in a frame. But the centerpiece of the room is a table that proudly displays the Governor’s arts award. e quilters were awarded the prestigious honor by Governor Tate Reeves and the mississippi arts Commission earlier this year. as the women crowd around the statue, executive director melanie Powell speaks with pride about both the founding members of the quilters and the accomplishments of the current quilters. Over the years, they have gained international recognition for their talent, and with that Powell hopes they can be the narrators of their own stories. “you get a sense of freedom when you’re able to make your own money, and when you’re able to make your own money doing a craft or something that you like, that brings extra joy,” she says. To help encourage those who come behind them, mackey goes into people’s homes to teach a quilting class. In just one example, mackey met a woman in Tutwiler who didn’t have a job and needed income. So on her way home from work each day, mackey would stop by the woman’s house, spending several hours DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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teaching her, until the woman felt confident enough to quilt on her own. “Her work sold as fast as I could get it in,” mackey says. e offer still stands for anyone interested in quilting and in need of some additional funds. Bobbie Spears, sixty-six, of Ruleville, bought a new car with money earned from quilting. For others, it pays bills their income simply doesn’t cover. With children and grandchildren at home, money can get tight. Quilting affords them financial independence. e quilts range in price, depending on the size. Baby quilts start at eighty dollars while a king-size quilt sells for four hundred dollars. e women get 80 percent of the profits, with the 20 percent going back into supplies provided by the center. Output depends on the quilter, but Spears says she regularly makes two a month. Martha Williams

“you get a sense of freedom when you’re able to make your own money and, when you’re able to make your own money doing a craft or something that you like, that brings extra joy.”

– Melanie Powell Executive Director

Bobbie Spears

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But not everyone likes to make the quilt from start to finish or has room in their home. martha Williams, sixty-four, of Ruleville, often has her supplies spread out in different rooms throughout the house. Spears simply doesn’t have the space to make anything larger than a queen. She can “piece” a king-size quilt but can’t do the final backing. at’s where ella Townsend comes in. Townsend, sixtyseven, makes her quilts but will finish the quilts for other women in the group. ey often get requests for certain patterns or styles, but no two quilts are alike. “We really have to follow the trends but still stay true to the work,” Powell says. Recently, the quilters got an order for a red, white, and blue twin quilt. almost immediately, the buyer placed an order for two more. none were the same pattern, but the color scheme was the same. e quilts were then given as gifts for the

Decades after their founding, the Tutwiler Quilters were awarded The Governor’s Arts Award by Governor Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Arts Commission earlier this year.

As director of the center, Melanie Powell strives to ensure that the quilters are narrators of their own story. Despite international recognition and trends that come and go, Powell is proud of the fact that each quilt is handsewn by a woman using her distinct talents and creativity right here in The Delta.

Betty Marlow

buyer’s grandchildren that they can cherish for generations. e women don’t often choose the colors or swatches they quilt with, but their personal ﬂair can be seen in how they piece the fabric together. For the more experienced quilters, the patterns are in their heads and ﬂow through their hands, almost instinctively. each quilter has a favorite, but the star pattern is a popular choice among the women because many have been doing it for so long. For Williams, though, it has personal meaning. When stitching the star pattern,

Williams says she often thinks of her ancestors, slaves who used the stars to guide their way to freedom. Putting that pattern into her quilts is a way of passing history down to younger generations. “It comes through my hands,” she says. For the Tutwiler Quilters, craftsmanship guides their ﬁngers, each stitch binding together the past and present. For those who they hope come behind them, the message is simple and pure: join us. “If you want to learn how to do it, you can do it,” mackey says. DM DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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HOME

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

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

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COOL

DIGS 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

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“The Big Pink,” as it’s fondly known, had a cool past from the get-go, with its ice factory roots and the years it spent feeding the ice cream nostalgia of Clarksdale’s youth. now, in its conversion to a residence, the building has gotten cooler still—the kind of cool that dances to the beat of Delta blues mixed in with the Old-World charm of new Orleans. The West Coast music lover and entrepreneur behind the project was enticed to the mississippi Delta—Clarksdale in particular—by its role in the roots of america’s music. “I thought it would be a fun place to explore and see,” he says. “From there, I gained a real appreciation for what it has to offer—the people and the potential.” 92 | may/june 2021

He first visited in early 2017, soaking up the vibe and flavor of the city and the Delta via Ground Zero, Red’s, the Shack up Inn, tamales, Levon’s Bar and Grill, and more. “It just struck me as a very, very unique place. I couldn’t get over the friendliness and wanted to spend time there, invest time and energy, participate, and give back to the community.” Involvement in Clarksdale’s music and festival scene filled the bill, as did his purchase, with a buddy, of the two-story circa 1910 pink brick building on john Lee

Hooker Lane. It had been the popular hangout Garmon’s Ice Cream Parlor back in the day and, more recently, Big Pink Guesthouse. Included in the purchase was the one-story building next door, a former commissary/feed and seed store that was moved to Clarksdale from a plantation in Webb in 2005. “I wanted a place that, frankly, had good bones and that had some historical significance and would also allow me to have some fun in renovating and restoring buildings to what I thought they should

The dining room’s unexpected table, salvaged from a Portland, Oregon high school, can easily seat ten to twelve guests for what are sure to be lively gatherings.

be,” he says. now the Big Pink is a comfortable second home to enjoy with friends and family. Right next door is Hooker Grocer + eatery, dishing up comfort classics with an upscale Southern twist. The home’s decor is a mix of inspiration, taking cues from new Orleans shotgun houses, bohemian funkiness, steampunk fun, and the Clarksdale groove. Converting a downtown commercial building into a comfortable private residence was quite the challenge, says

A pair of massive dropped Baroque-style chandeliers connect to the ceiling of the twenty-fivefoot-high atrium, suspended by cords covered in cobalt blue velvet.

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Local shops in Clarksdale were good sources for many details, including the big area rug and vintage green glass table lamp. A Hayden Hall painting provides a stunning focal point.

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The home’s decor is a mix of inspiration, taking cues from New Orleans shotgun houses, bohemian funkiness, steampunk fun, and the Clarksdale groove.

Designlab owner/principal designer jennifer Kelly of new Orleans. “It didn’t have bedrooms; it didn’t have enough bathrooms. … We had to gut it and renovate the whole thing,” adding walls, fireplaces, a whole new floor, even a kitchen. Kelly fell in love with it immediately, she says, swooning over the wonderful staircase in the foyer, which had been moved there from memphis, the story goes. “It’s jawdropping when you open the door.” now, the foyer floor’s black and white honed marble tile, set in a diamond pattern, is a welcoming companion to the warm wood. “Being from new Orleans, I love and appreciate old millwork and old character and old architecture,” Kelly says. “I wanted to keep all the existing fixtures that we could, too, because there were a couple of gasoliers still there.” They copied existing millwork trim—baseboards, crown molding, window and door casings—to continue through the house as needed. mod mid-century touches and select pieces from the West Coast come together in a way that’s as fresh and energizing as it is functional and comfortable. a striking two-story atrium/courtyard with an overlooking balcony is the most obviously new Orleans expression in the design. It’s also the dining room. The table hails from the art department of a Portland, Oregon, high school where, for forty years, kids drew, painted, and left marks that remain still. It easily accommodates ten to twelve these days for gatherings that are likely just as creative. Blue and orange Bertoia chairs pick up on the tabletop’s fun leftover flecks of paint. The gray herringbone brick floor subtly ties in with the abundance of surrounding red brick in the archways and wall. Gas lanterns and a custom-forged iron railing enhance the French Quarter-like balcony that overlooks the airy atrium space, with louvered doors completing the look. a pair of massive dropped Baroque-style chandeliers connect to the ceiling of the twenty-five-foot-high atrium, suspended by cords covered in cobalt blue velvet. Some of

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the home’s lighting, including the St. Charles gas lantern out front, comes from specialty shops on new Orleans’s famed Royal Street, contributing to an authentic French Quarter feel. In the living room, a landscape painting by Clarksdale artist Hayden G. Hall, of a cotton field after a rain, anchors the sense of place. musical instruments resting casually against the mantel and a framed poster of roots musician C.W. Stoneking also nod to the town’s musical identity. The gas fireplace is a new addition, “but it feels like it’s been there forever,” Kelly says, thanks to the early 1900s mantel she found in natchez. “I like to search and find pieces that have meaning and have warmth. It’s still kind of rough, but we liked it, and we put it in there because it just feels right in its raw state. We just cleaned it up a little bit and then installed it.” In one corner, an old wooden library ladder (a West Coast piece) finds a perfect companion in the painting of books on the 98 | may/june 2021

Designer Jennifer Kelly fell in love with the Big Pink immediately, swooning over the wonderful staircase in the foyer, which had been moved there from Memphis. “It’s jawdropping when you open the door,” she said.

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The restaurant and bar’s decor maintains its farmhouse integrity in the wood floors, lazy ceiling fans, and the original wood slat walls.

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The Big Pink shares a courtyard with Hooker Grocer + Eatery, a former commissary/feed and seed store that was moved to Clarksdale from a plantation in Webb in 2005.

wall above. Swanky ’70s couches pull in mid-century modern style. Shops around Clarksdale were good sources for details large and small, including the big area rug, vintage green glass table lamp, and the comfortable side chair (and custom-made ottoman to match) that’s become a favorite with visitors. The living room’s open flow to the kitchen makes entertaining a breeze. There the cobalt blue Viking range adds a colorful punch, as do the bold orange Bertoia barstools and a schoolhouse orange clock. “I like colors to exude energy,” the owner says. The rest of the appliances throughout the kitchen are also from Viking in

Greenwood—part of the project’s commitment to using local and mississippi merchants and tradespeople. Old doors from a Cleveland salvage yard got new life, helping create a pantry and a kitchen closet for the water heater and electrical. Their rustic charm is a good fit with all that brick. Soapstone countertops and a farmhouse sink fit right in, too, and a Stan Street painting of a blues musician brings it all back home to Clarksdale. In creating bedrooms and bathrooms, Kelly used all the original doors she could that were on-site, in keeping with the building’s period feel. “I did not put one brand new door in there. even if I had to get them from somewhere else, I wanted to

use old doors, to keep that theme going. “The materials helped dictate the feel of each room,” to accent the building’s inherent highlights, she says. The expanse of brick is a star feature in the master bedroom, for a timeless, masculine feel warmed by reclaimed wood floors and furnishings. In other bedrooms, select pieces anchor the space, and clean lines have a fresh, universal appeal that lets the setting shine. In one, pink accents on the pillows and rug are a shoutout to the building’s heritage, as is the subtle pink hue of the atrium’s fountain (nonfunctioning, but with plenty of visual appeal). “I always like to keep it a little fun and add little splashes DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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A timber trolley turned coffee table lends industrial flair, as well as a West Coast nod— it came from an Oregon lumberyard—to a sitting area tucked just off the atrium.

of pink here and there,” Kelly says. a sitting area off the atrium tucks under the balcony. There, a timber trolley turned coffee table lends industrial flair as well as a West Coast nod—it came from an Oregon lumberyard. The room’s sleeper sofa, full bath, and closet can make the space pull double duty as a fourth bedroom, plenty private with the other bedrooms upstairs. a chicken couple strutting across the wall above the sofa is guaranteed to start a smile. On the side of the house, reclaimed cypress barn doors open out to the courtyard shared with Hooker Grocer + eatery. The restaurant and bar’s decor maintains its farmhouse integrity in the wood floors, lazy ceiling fans, and the original wood slat walls. “They have texture. They have a story. They have warmth,” Kelly says. a pergola, fire pits, and heaters extend the season for outdoor enjoyment. The casual atmosphere and tasty menu have been wellreceived in the city and across the Delta—a success the owner credits to chef/general manager johnny Cass, chef jay Brennan, and the great team that supports them. It’s a destination for dining, events, and weekly live music for an international array of tourists as well as the folks right next door. DM 102 | may/june 2021

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

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GARDEN

Perfect PATIOS More than just slabs of concrete in your backyard, patios are extensions of your home’s living space, connections to your landscape, and a place of retreat

Shade is the greatest combatant of the Delta heat, therefore, location is extremely important. Additionally, positioning or connecting the patio so that it’s in close proximity to the house greatly enhances its functionality.

BY BRANTLEY SNIPES, PLA, ASLA

Where to begin on a patio design? Well, let’s start with why you need a patio. To “just have a patio” is a bit ambiguous and not really a valid reason to justify the expenditure. Patio justification can come in the form of outdoor living space, cooking space or dining space. Do you need space for a firepit? Does your husband have four different grills, a griddle, and a deep fryer? If in the Delta, the bet is he does! Maybe you have young kids and need a paved surface for bikes and scooters? Answers to questions like these will help determine what you need. If you already have a patio space, let’s begin to divide the area and see what the space can accommodate as is. Actually, one common problem with existing patios is too much space, rendering it uncomfortable, unusable, wasted space. So, once you identify the patio’s purpose and space requirements, let’s examine how the following key components will help develop your patio. 106 | may/june 2021

BEFORE

AFTER

The addition of bluestone pavers completely transformed the home’s appearance as well as providing funtional space for entertaining.

Patio Location The further you get from your home (or really your kitchen and bathroom) the less usable your patio will become. Patios should be attached to your home at the point of least resistance to access inside amenities. Consider locating your patio right off your main living space, dining room, or kitchen—the more public spaces in your home where your guests will be. even if you don’t have exterior access from one of these rooms, consider adding beautiful French doors to create an access point for your new patio. Patios should not be disconnected from your home—even your fire pit areas. Trust me. you won’t use it if it is more than 25 feet from your door. Or, if there is a screened porch, consider installing more of a landing than an actual patio, a space to transition from the porch to the backyard. Covered or Exposed Patio Let’s be honest, living in the Delta, there are about three or four weeks of the year we can enjoy being outside. By considering the addition of a pergola, or cover, over the patio, you can extend these weeks by adding a cover and a ceiling fan or two. If a cover is not for you or your roof line doesn’t allow it, incorporate some trees in the landscape around the patio. Shade is our greatest combatant of the Delta heat. Positioning the patio to catch cross breezes is another good way to keep the space cool. Type of Paving Material The beauty of patios is the multitude of paving materials available these days. Some of the most common patios we are installing these days are either brick, stained and scored concrete, salt or exposed aggregate concrete, or bluestone. a combination of these materials is also possible. Look at the environmental factors around the patio when making a material selection. If your

space is very exposed and hot, you may want to use a cooler concrete than brick. If the space is shaded and not well aerated, a natural stone, such as blue stone, may hold water in the natural deviations in the stone. The material should reflect the style and architecture of your home as well. Budget will also be a huge factor in selecting the paving material. Furniture, Accessories, and Layout as we mentioned earlier, planning your patio to accommodate your specific needs is the first step to get started on a great patio layout. Let’s say you want a cooking area, dining area and seating area. It’s best to create three invisible zones on your patio, which are delineated through your furniture and accessories. For example, you wouldn’t place the outdoor sofa right next to the grill because of the smoke—and guests dining outside don’t want to look at

The addition of a pergola or other covering provides shade, extending the time Deltan’s are able to spend time outdoors.

Brick and natural stone are both excellent options for paving material when designing a patio space. DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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Patios should be intentionally designed to incorporate existing landscape, flower beds, and access to the home.

A water feature or firepit is a lovely addition to anchor a patio space.

the grease pit from the grill. These are small, but significant details when determining your layout. Furniture selection is all about function and personal preference. There are hundreds of options for great patio furniture but do consider viability based on our climatic conditions. For example, if you’re doing cushions or pillows, maybe white is not the best option for the Delta. It’s amazing how quickly mildew can show up and how much mud we all seem to have on our shoes, which can find upholstery at any point. my recommendation is to make an investment in your furniture and then you can change out your rug or throw pillow selections as needed each year. Don’t forget a coffee table and/or side tables on 108 | may/june 2021

which to set your drink. If there is going to be space for a television, maybe it should face east as to avoid hot, Western, afternoon sun during ballgame time. Firepits. There are some beautiful images of large, stationary firepits throughout design magazines and websites. However, I personally recommend clients create a space for a moveable fire pot on their patio. Stationary firepits tend to dominate a space. In the heat of the summer, the last thing you want in the middle of your patio is a dormant firepit. a move-able fire pot can be shifted and moved around during the year and during shifts in wind. Flexibility is key to creating a perfect space because outdoor conditions are dynamic and ever changing. Containers and Planters as with other elements of a great patio, your containers should be intentional as well. They should have a purpose on your patio. If you do not intend to water your containers, they should not be included in your concept or you’ll need to speak with your irrigation specialist about some watering options. Containers will help to define your areas or fill the voids between areas. (See in the diagram, page 108 the containers are to the side of the steps and frame the seating area.) Containers can provide a cooling element, a pop of color and texture, and can really help pull your overall design together. your container style should be cohesive with your furniture style, which should tie in with your paving style, which connects to your home design. When choosing which plants to use

when potting individual containers, think thriller, filler, and spiller. your “thriller” has height, and is usually an evergreen or bold textured perennial. The “filler” is medium height, and your “spiller” usually overflows off the container. So when you start with a great evergreen that can be reside in the container year-round, the fillers and spillers can be easily substituted out each season. make sure containers have proper drainage, available water, and the right plants in the right place. you don’t want shade plants on a sunny, hot, and bright patio. If you need shade, consider a small tree in a large container to help create shade. Surrounding Landscape Often, the patio will extend into the existing yard or landscape and appear to be floating. To prevent the floating effect, extend your landscape beds to the patio. It’s human nature to want to be tucked into a space; we love nooks. as shown in our patio diagram, extend your foundation landscape bed out to meet the patio at a corner or at another strategic point on the patio to bring them together. Be intentional about the connection of the bed to the space. The bed can be used to host a shade plant, water feature, or wildlife attractant to enjoy while on your patio. The perfect patio really is personal preference. It’s about how you want to use

A container perfectly planted with a thriller, filler and spiller.

the space, design the layout of the space, and enjoy your time outside. Remember to simply start with a list of proposed uses begin scheming from there. and when in doubt, consult your local landscape architect… DM For more information: Brantly Snipes Landscape & Design, brantleysnipes.com or Instagram @brantleysnipeslandscapedesign DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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HERNANDO FARMERS MARKET

SATURDAYS ON THE TOWN SQUARE MAY–OCTOBER from 8 AM–1 PM With more than 70 vendors, the market is a place to shop and a place to gather.

It is truly a fresh, local experience.

Save the Date!

C H R I STM AS M A R K ET | NOV E M BE R 1 3

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FOOD

Prosecco

POPS & PIZZA

Usher in warm weather with grown-up frozen pops and vegetarian pizzas for the ultimate patio party.

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BY CINDY COOPWOOD • PHOTOGRAPHY BY RORY DOYLE

OTHING SAYS SUMMER LIKE FROZEN POPSICLES, and when served in a pretty glass with a few splashes of bubbly Prosecco—they are absolutely sublime. The same could be said for our vegetarian pizzas, chock full of fresh veggies, herbs and melty cheese. Pair these together and you’ve got the perfect summer party menu!

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To make simple syrup combine equal parts water and Tip granulated sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over

medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cool before using.

Popsicle molds come in all shapes and sizes. Keep yours filled in the freezer this summer for Prosecco pops at a moment’s notice.

Simply fill the molds, add fruit if called for, and insert sticks before freezing.

BERRY PROSECCO POPS 1 bottle Prosecco 3 tablespoons simple syrup 1½ cups assorted blueberries, raspberries, and sliced strawberries

mix together Prosecco and simple syrup. Divide the berries evenly among the popsicle molds. Pour Prosecco mixture over fruit and insert sticks. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours. Keep frozen until ready to serve.

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Wit h the warmer temps dripping Popsicles are no problem—especially when being dipped glass of bubbly Prosecco!

PROSECCO FRUIT POPS These pops are totally customizable. We used strawberries, mango, and pineapple—but feel free to use your favorite fruits. a splash of lemonade is a tasty addition as well! ½ ½ ½ 1

cup strawberries, sliced cup mango in small chunks cup pineapple in small chunks bottle Prosecco Pink lemonade or lemonade

Divide fruit between popsicle molds. Fill each popsicle mold three-quarters full with Prosecco, top off with lemonade and insert popsicle stick. Freeze overnight. When ready to serve, remove popsicles from molds and serve with additional Prosecco.

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Tip

Grapefruit juice can be tart, so be sure to taste the mixture before filling your molds—if you find it’s not sweet enough for you, add simple syrup to taste.

GRAPEFRUIT AND GRENADINE PROSECCO POPSICLES Only three ingredients are needed for this super easy grapefruit pop. So refreshing on a hot summer afternoon! 2 cups Prosecco 2 cups grapefruit juice ¼ cup Grenadine

Stir together the Prosecco, grapefruit juice and grenadine. Fill popsicle molds of your choice, insert sticks, and freeze overnight. These are delicious on their own or served in a cocktail glass with a mixture of juice and Prosecco poured over them.

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RASPBERRY PROSECCO POPSICLES 2 2 2 2

cups raspberries fresh or frozen tablespoons sugar tablespoons fresh lemon juice cups Prosecco

Place first three ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Stir in Prosecco. Pour mixture into 8 to 10 popsicle molds, insert sticks, and freeze for 4 to 6 hours. When frozen, remove from mold and place each popsicle in a glass and pour additional Prosecco on top. Serve immediately.

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VEGETARIAN PIZZAS

FRENCH ONION MUSHROOM PIZZA ½ pound pizza dough (see recipe) 2 tablespoons salted butter 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced Salt and pepper to taste 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes 1½ cups ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling 1 cup baby spinach 3 ounces crumbled goat cheese 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. melt the butter in a large skillet over mediumhigh heat. add onions and cook about 3 to 4 minutes, until softened, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until brown and caramelized—about another 6 to 7 minutes. Set aside. next, sauté the mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, and crushed red pepper, cooking until mushrooms are soft. Remove from the heat, add the balsamic vinegar. On a lightly floured surface, push/roll the dough out until it is pretty thin (about a 10 to 12- inch circle). Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Spread with a drizzle of olive oil. add goat cheese, then layer the onions and half the mushrooms over the cheese. Top with mozzarella and the remaining mushrooms. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Optional: Lightly oil a 10-inch cast iron skillet. After rolling out dough, transfer to skillet, spreading to the edges, and follow through with remaining instructions.

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NO-KNEAD PIZZA DOUGH 3 1 2 1 1

cups all-purpose flour packet yeast teaspoons kosher salt 12-ounce beer tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt. add the beer and olive oil, and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until doubled in size. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and use as directed in recipe. yIeLD: makes approximately 1 pound of pizza dough. Divide dough into two equal pieces using each half of dough as directed in most pizza recipes. Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest, Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard

may be left to rise Tip Dough overnight at room temperature, and stored in refrigerator up to three days. It also may be frozen up to three months. Just thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.

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Tip Use ready-made f latbread for an easy crust. Simply brush both sides of

the f latbread with olive oil and grill or bake until lightly toasted and warm; top with remaining ingredients and heat until warm and cheese is melted. SPINACH ARTICHOKE PIZZA WITH RICOTTA AND GRILLED LEMON ½ pound pizza dough (see recipe) 1½ cups ricotta cheese zest and juice of 1 lemon ½ teaspoon of salt, or to taste ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ cups fresh baby spinach 1½ cups marinated artichoke hearts ½ lemon, thinly sliced, charred in grill pan or skillet ¼ cup fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, spread or roll the dough out until spread thin. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Spread the dough with olive oil. Pre-bake dough until almost done, but not brown. In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice and black pepper. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the crust and top with sspinach, artichokes and charred lemon slices. Place back in oven until spinach is wilted and the pizza is well heated, about 8 to 10 minutes. To serve, transfer the pizza to a serving platter and garnish with fresh basil. Serves 4 to 6

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FAVORITE GREEK PIZZA ½ pound pizza dough (see recipe) 1 small zucchini, cut lengthwise into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler or mandoline 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided Salt and pepper, to taste 1 teaspoon dried oregano ½ cup kalamata olives 1½ cups grated smoked mozzarella cheese ½ small red onion, thinly sliced 12 cherry tomatoes, halved ½ cup crumbled feta cheese Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Brush the zucchini with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and lightly salt. Grill until soft and well marked, about 3 minutes. Reserve for topping. For a crispier crust, drizzle the dough generously with olive oil. Roll the dough out to thin consistency (about a 10-12 inch circle), then transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle dough with dried oregano. Spread mozzarella evenly over dough, then add the olives, red onion, zucchini, and tomatoes. Sprinkle the feta over all. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted.

BURRATA CAESAR SALAD PIZZA For those nights when you can’t decide if you want pizza or salad. Salad 2 cups shredded kale 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce ⅓ cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving Simple Caesar Dressing (see recipe page 122) ½ 2 1 2 ½ ½ 1 to 3

pound pizza dough (see recipe) tablespoons extra virgin olive oil tablespoon dried basil teaspoons dried oregano teaspoon smoked paprika teaspoon red pepper flakes cloves garlic, grated kosher salt and pepper 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella ½ cup shaved fontina cheese 2 balls burrata cheese, at room temperature

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seasonings, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pizza dough out until it is spread thin to about a 12 to 14-inch circle. Place the dough on a lightly oiled sheet pan, or line with parchment paper. Brush on the herb mix, then top with mozzarella and fontina. Place in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes, pull the pizza out, add the burrata and bake another 3 to 5 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Top the pizza with the salad and additional Parmesan. SIMPLE CAESAR DRESSING ¼ ¼ 1 3 2½ 1 ½ ¼

olive oil cup lemon juice teaspoon Worcestershire sauce teaspoons water tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard teaspoon minced garlic teaspoon salt teaspoon ground black pepper

In a jar with a lid, combine all ingredients. Cover and shake well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Readily available in grocery stores, naan is a wonderful base for quick homemade pizzas.

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NAAN PIZZAS WITH CHERRY TOMATO AND BASIL SALAD Serve these as an appetizer—or they make a quick, simple, and pretty lunchtime summer pizza! 1 package ready-made Naan or flatbread 1½ cups coarsely grated smoked mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced Salt and freshly ground black pepper 6 ounces yellow cherry tomatoes, halved 6 ounces red cherry tomatoes, halved ½ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Top each piece of naan with half the mozzarella cheese, divided evenly. Bake until cheese is melted. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and garlic in a bowl to make a vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper totaste. add the tomatoes and toss together. When the pizza is done, place on a platter. Top with half each of the tomatoes, vinaigrette, and basil. Serve immediately. DM

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HISTORY

Nitta Yuma Courage and perseverance have kept this historic Delta home in the family for two hundred years BY KATIE TIMS

nitta yuma is about forty-ﬁve minutes north of Vicksburg, where the highway veers gently to the left and manicured grounds with white fences abound. It’s impossible to miss. an impressive antebellum home and charming chapel grace the west side of the highway, while genteel, tree-lined grounds, log cabin and pretty white house adorn the left. Delightful old buildings, in various stages of disrepair and restoration, dot the landscape on both sides. at the speed limit, nitta yuma is a historic mississippi plantation 124 | may/june 2021

that has been held together by strong family bonds—black and white, north and South—with mutual respect, devotion, sacriﬁce, sorrow, joy, hardship, progressivism, and stubborn resilience. at is what has kept nitta yuma alive and in one family for nearly two hundred years. To really understand, one has to stop where the road bends. The Place nitta yuma is what remains of a larger plantation carved from Choctaw Indian land in the early 1800s. major Burwell Vick— the founder of Vicksburg—and his two brothers, omas and newit, migrated from Virginia to mississippi sometime between 1803 and 1810. Immediately, they began buying land for the cultivation of cotton. Burwell had four children. He and his oldest son, Henry William Vick, pushed the family’s holdings north into the unsettled,

PHOTO COURTESY OF NITTA YUMA ARCHIVES

ighway 61 has plowed its way through ﬁelds, towns, what used to be yards, and whatever was in its rambling path from Memphis to Vicksburg. But at nitta yuma, a little baby girl turned the road all by herself. More on that later.

The Phelps’ family home is actually a former carriage house, which was positioned behind the original Nitta Yuma Plantation’s mansion.

wild, swampy Delta woodland between the yazoo and mississippi Rivers. e race was on to acquire the best land for growing crops, acreage with navigable waterways, and enough elevation to stave off annual floodwaters. In 1829, the Vicks used family jewels to purchase land that would become known as nitta yuma. Family history reports that Choctaw Indians guided Burwell and Henry W. along Deer Creek. at one stop, a little Indian boy got out of the boat and scampered up the creek’s embankment. He pointed to the ground and shouted, “nitta yuma! nitta yuma!” (“Bear track! Bear track!”) at’s where the Vicks chose to build their plantation. nitta yuma’s history could fill a book—and it has. e late Dorothy Phelps and her husband, Henry Vick Phelps II (Henry W. Vick’s great-grandson) wrote and published Nitta Yuma – King Cotton in the 1970s. Two of her children, Henry Vick Phelps III and Carolyn Phelps may, still live at nitta yuma with her husband, Woody. eir other two children, Irene Phelps Terry and Vicki

Phelps Domin, live in Brentwood, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, mississippi, respectively. ere’s also a seventh generation directly tied to nitta yuma: Henry Vick Phelps IV, 33, who also lives at nitta yuma; and Cooley may, 42, who resides in Houston, Texas. e nitta yuma plantation has defied the odds—almost all of it has stayed in one family from the start until now, two centuries long. Marriage Bonds at the time nitta yuma was formed, cotton growers were at the mercy of governmental policies and economic conditions that exerted significant impact on agriculture and banking. Landowners had to weather the extreme ups and downs of cotton prices, plus weave their way through droughts, floods, and everything in between. Headwinds cascaded in 1849, and the family almost lost nitta yuma. Henry W. was forced to sell the plantation at a public auction in order to settle a $45,988 promissory note. DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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In its heyday, Nitta Yuma was home to more than two hundred people and several bustling businesses. The Seed House, positioned next to the rail road, still stands in its original form.

This painting by Gary Walters shows the bend in Highway 61 at Nitta Yuma.

Henry Gray was a bright, dynamic, sporting young man naturally destined to take over the family businesses. He met Helen johnstone, who came from the annandale Plantation near madison, and after six months of courting, they were to be married in may 1859. Sadly, that never happened. Henry Gray had a trusted servant named jake with whom he developed a very close bond over the years—much like father and son. While attending the bachelor party at Vickland, one of the party goers had a brush-up with jake over the way a horse was saddled. james Stith, who had been friends with Henry Gray since childhood, demanded the servant be punished. The Duel Henry Gray refused and then defended At one stop, a little Indian jake’s honor, which enraged Stith. eir Henry W. and Sarah divided their boy got out of the boat and friendship was done. time between their grand residences in e situation might have concluded Vicksburg and Louisville. nitta yuma and scampered up the creek’s there, but the two men bumped into each the other plantations were still remote embankment. He pointed to other while Henry Gray was on a business locations with very little housing and no the ground and shouted, trip to new Orleans a few days prior to social structure. nitta yuma had the bare “Nitta yuma! Nitta yuma!” the wedding. One thing led to another, basics—a log cabin, dock on Deer Creek, seed house, store, and the various (“Bear track! Bear track!”) and on may 17, 1959, Henry Gray and Stith found themselves in a duel. Henry outbuildings needed to operate plantation That’s where the Vicks Gray, who had promised Helen never to business. chose to build. kill a man, shot his gun into the air; Stith By then, the seeds for family success shot for keeps and killed Henry Gray. were already planted. Friends escorted Henry Gray’s body back to nitta yuma, where From his own crops in the mississippi Delta, Henry W. he was unloaded at the dock. at that time, Deer Creek was navigable developed a quality, high-producing cotton seed that was put on the to the mississippi River—from the north through Lake Bolivar and market around 1843 as “100 Seed Variety.” He was regarded as one from the south through the yazoo River. Steam-powered boats were of the most successful planters in the South, thus earning the local the main source for the transport of people, commodities, and nomenclature, “King Cotton.” supplies. (e railroad did not arrive until around 1886.) Henry W. and Sarah had ﬁve children—three sons and two james Stith was killed in the Civil War, at the Siege of Vicksburg daughters. e oldest of these, Henry Gray Vick, was just ﬁfteen in 1863. when his mother collapsed while playing the organ at church. She died later that day. Sarah’s will stipulated that her holdings in From Vick to Phelps mississippi and Kentucky be divided among her four surviving In his will, Henry Gray left the northern portion of nitta yuma, children. Henry Gray received the northern portion of nitta yuma, known as Vickland Plantation, to his intended bride, Helen an area known as Vickland Plantation. 126 | may/june 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NITTA YUMA ARCHIVES

His wife, Sarah Pearce, was from a prominent and wealthy family in Louisville, Kentucky. anks to a law passed in 1839 that allowed married women to own land, Sarah was able to purchase back nitta yuma for $30,858. But that law also stipulated that women could not “control” land. So Sarah designated nitta yuma to a trust deed and then signed control over to her husband by appointing him as the trustee. at was not the last time an outsider would save the nitta yuma legacy. It happened again after the Civil War when a doctor from Ohio married into the family.

Mrs. Ellen P. Crump “Nellie” (right) was the daughter of Dr. Alonzo and Mary Phelps. Her wish was for Nitta Yuma to be preserved and restored, and the chapel with its Ten Commandments was built according to her wishes. Nellie was Mississippi state chairman of the National Women’s Party. She is pictured here with Vivian Cook during a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with political leaders regarding Equal Rights legislation that was being introduced in Mississippi.

Dr. Alonzo Phelps (second from left) served in the Civil War where he was appointed by General Ulysses S. Grant as the general director and inspector, in charge of general field hospitals. (Grant is seated second from right)

Mary Vick Phelps, left, inherited Nitta Yuma after the untimely death of her brothers and father. She married Dr. Alonzo Jefferson Phelps, right, from Ohio.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NITTA YUMA ARCHIVES

Calvin Smith, considered part of the Phelps family, buried an infant girl at Nitta Yuma, thus changing the course of Highway 61.

johnstone. e rest of the family’s estate was to be divided between his siblings, George and mary. Heartbreak over Henry Gray’s death and the threat of Civil War took a toll on their father, and Henry W. Vick died in january 1861. George died suddenly from a heat stroke a few months later, making mary the sole heir of nitta yuma. While in Louisville with her aunt, mary was introduced to Dr. alonzo Phelps, a dynamic young physician from Ohio. ey courted until alonzo left to serve in the Civil War where he was appointed by General ulysses S. Grant as the general director and inspector in charge of general ﬁeld hospitals. mary and Dr. Phelps corresponded back and forth, and they married in 1865. e couple moved to mississippi and took over a ﬁnancially challenged nitta yuma. Dr. Phelps rolled up his sleeves and assumed the leadership, thus enabling the plantation to survive. “and he kept the carpetbaggers away,” says Henry Vick Phelps III. Dr. Phelps and mary had four children: mary, who married Count Renato Caselli from Italy; nannie, who married a Scotsman Peter George; ellen, who married Dr. Robert Crump from north Carolina; and Henry Vick Phelps, who married Helen Smiley from St. Louis. Dr. Phelps continued to run nitta yuma and serve on the mississippi Levee Board until his death in 1897. mary died in 1901.

Henry William Vick and his wife, Sarah. Henry W. and his dad, Major Burwell Vick, right, established the original Nitta Yuma Plantation along the shores of Deer Creek.

nitta yuma was divided among their four children. a map still exists with the hand-drawn divisions that were assigned by a drawing of names. Henry Vick Phelps ended up with the main house and grounds near the road. Bend in the Road In a way, the bend in Highway 61 is testament to nitta yuma’s trek to modernity with family reverence in mind. around 1903, Helen Phelps was riding her horse a short distance to the mont Helena plantation when she very unexpectedly went DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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The Cameron House is actually an antebellum home from the Cameta Plantation, just south of Nitta Yuma. Henry Vick Phelps II purchased the abandoned house as an anniversary gift for his wife, Dorothy, in 1976.

This restored building was once the town’s post office and general store. Now it houses Dorothy Phelps’ impressive doll collection.

into labor, as she did not realize she was pregnant. Helen galloped back to her house at nitta yuma and delivered premature twin daughters, the ﬁrst of which passed away as the second was being born. Calvin Smith, the family’s longtime trusted employee and friend, was asked to bury the deceased baby girl “I started to carry her over to the old cemetery, but I thought, ‘no,’” Calvin recalled in the Nitta Yuma – King Cotton book. “I’d heard some talk about widening the road. en I wondered about placing her over there on the north side of this front yard. at would be by the old dirt road that leads to the mule lot.” But that backyard would eventually become the front yard. Deer Creek was dammed, and the water receded. e mansion burned, and what had been the carriage house was converted into a home that faced west. according to Vick-Phelps family history, civil engineers came through the Delta in the 1920s, to survey land for the future Highway 61. at nitta yuma, the most direct line sent the road straight along the existing railroad, but that meant the highway would go over the little girl’s grave. So the engineers opted to alter the course just a smidgen, thus creating the bend in the road at nitta yuma. 128 | may/june 2021

Yesterday is Today ere are two hundred years’ worth of yesterdays at nitta yuma, a real treat for all of us today. Visitors are welcome at nitta yuma, and either Henry Vick Phelps III, Henry Vick Phelps IV, or Carolyn may are available to give tours and tell the family’s history. you can visit the nitta yuma Facebook page to learn more and communicate with the family. numerous buildings, spanning 200 years, grace the grounds at nitta yuma. e chapel was built in 1988 to fulﬁll the wishes of nellie Crump (the daughter of Dr. Phelps and mary Vick). e plantation’s original chapel burned during a ﬁre that consumed the family’s home and chapel in 1901. History is paramount in this new church. e doors are from the Vick family home in Vicksburg and the pews from the old Chapel of the Cross Church, the african american church in nitta yuma. also, Henry Vick Phelps II and his wife, Dorothy, were laid to rest in a mausoleum at the back of the chapel. e Cameron House is actually an antebellum home from the Cameta Plantation, just south of nitta yuma. Henry Vick Phelps II purchased the abandoned house as an anniversary gift for his wife, Dorothy, in 1976. e building was sliced into sections and moved,

PHOTOS BY RORY DOYLE

The dock, built on the bank of Deer Creek nearly two hundred years ago, is one of Nitta Yuma’s original buildings.

Nitta Yuma’s chapel was built in 1988 to fulfill the wishes of Nellie Crump (the daughter of Dr. Phelps and Mary Vick Phelps). The plantation’s original chapel burned during a fire that consumed the family’s home and chapel in 1901.

PHOTOS BY RORY DOYLE

piece-by-piece, to nitta yuma. Today, the Cameron house is beautifully renovated and filled to the brim with furniture, décor, and tools that have been in the Vick/Phelps family for generations. mary Phelps married into the Italian aristocracy and lived her life in Italy. Her son, Renato Caselli II, moved from Italy to nitta yuma. He opened a store, built a home, married an american girl, and had a family. One of his sons, Carlo, is a retired farmer who still lives in nitta yuma. a few years ago, Carolyn was picking up her mail and she happened upon a young couple from Belgium. music aficionados, they were driving along the Blues Trail that stretches from memphis to new Orleans. One conversation led to another, and pretty soon neelke and Gerrit Leroy became part of the nitta yuma family. ey were married in the plantation’s chapel and held their reception in the plantation’s old post office. now, the Leroys hope to one day relocate to the united States and renovate the Caselli Store. Authenticity on Display In total, there are nine antebellum buildings at nitta yuma, along with several others dating back at least a century. at one point in the 1930s, nitta yuma had more than two hundred residents. now, its population is about twenty. Some structures, such as the landing dock at the edge of Deer Creek, date back to the very first days of the plantation and remain in their original locations. most of the others have been relocated to the nitta yuma grounds—including the gorgeous 1820s log cabin situated next to the family’s main residence on the east side of the road. “every time I came home it seemed as if Daddy had moved another house,” Carolyn says with a laugh. “yeah, he got good at it.” Henry Phelps II agreed. “It’s

amazing what you can move with two telephone poles! e stately white house you see now on the east side of the road was actually a carriage house. e original Vick family home—built in the early 1800s—faced east, toward Deer Creek. at house burned and another was built in its place, which then burned in 1901. Instead of spending the money to build the twenty-room mansion he dreamed of, Henry Vick Phelps started renovating and adding on to the structure that housed the carriages, and it still serves as the family’s primary residence. In the 1950s, Henry Vick Phelps II and Dorothy renovated that home using materials recovered from the razing of two family homes in Vicksburg. e columns you see today are examples of that grand endeavor. Henry and Dorothy, along with Henry’s aunt nellie, were adamant that nitta yuma’s history be preserved. “my grandparents collected antiques, and they wanted to set up this entire town as a museum,” Cooley says. Dorothy’s doll collection, which numbers at least three thousand, is housed in a former post oﬃce/general store. Henry’s train collection chugs away in a building by the family home. and all the family’s documented history—including letters, journals, maps, publications, and photos—are in Carolyn’s care. Henry Vick Phelps III takes care of the grounds and does his level best to keep up with building maintenance. “every day, when I got back from school, my grandmother would be in a diﬀerent building, and she would tell me about every piece of furniture,” the son, Henry Vick Phelps IV, recalls. “We’d sit in the kitchen for the longest time and talk about the plantation and how to move forward with it, how to improve it. She knew how to inspire you.” DM

DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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EVENTS

Lucious Spiller, BAM Fest on June 19.

MissiHippie Music, May 14 in Hernando.

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

Brandon

Lee Brice with Parmalee Concert

Memphis

Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest

Brandon Amphitheater

May 6, 1 pm

May 12-15

Greenwood

Tom Lee Park

Greenwood-Leflore Chamber Golf Scramble

May 14, 6-8 pm

Greenwood Country Club

The CUZ Band with Tricia Walker Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

Cleveland

Deep Roots: Live Downtown!

May 14

Clay Walker, in concert at Bologna Performing Arts Center on June 10.

Hernando

May 28-29, 7:30 pm

Clarksdale

Water Tower Sessions with MissiHippie Music

Ground Zero Blues Club 20th Anniversary—Weekend of Blues

Panola Street Courtyard missihippiemusic.com

groundzerobluesclub.com

May 28, 6-8 pm May 7, 6-8 pm

Cleveland

Deep Roots: Live Downtown! Delta String Band with Mason Honnell Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

May 8

Clarksdale

Crossroads Blues, Brew & BBQ Fest Delta Blues Alley Café bamfestms.com

May 14-June 26

Greenwood

Crossroads: Change in Rural America Smithsonian Institute’s Museum on Main Street program Museum of the Mississippi Delta museumofthemississippidelta.com

May 15

Hernando

47th Annual A’Fair Arts & Crafts Festival/Laurie Wiley Memorial 5k Run/Walk

310 Eagle Lake Shore Road

May 29

Cleveland

Deep Roots: Live Downtown!

June 4, 6-8 pm

Deep Roots: Live Downtown!

May 8, 4 pm

Jeff McCreary with Libby Switzer Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

Flowood

Flowood Liberty Park

May 8

May 27, 7:30 pm Clarksdale

15th Annual Caravan Music Fest Cat Head, Bluesberry, Bad Apple Blues Club clarksdalecaravan.com 130 | may/june 2021

Clarksdale

MLK Park Stage near Red’s Lounge

May 21, 6-8 pm

Downtown Cleveland

Flowood Family Festival

Vicksburg

Lake Fest

3rd Red’s Old-Timers Blues Fest

Cleveland

Pour Mississippi Beer & Music Festival

Gran Boiz with Mason Honnell Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

May 29, 10 am

DeSoto County Courthouse

May 8

Cleveland

Deep Roots: Live Downtown!

Cleveland

Betzenzo with Mary Claire Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

Cleveland

Martha Reeves Concert

June 5

Bologna Performing Arts Center

12th Annual Snake Grabbin Rodeo Lake Washington, Roy’s Store Road

Chatham

June 5-6

Jackson

Mississippi Quarter Horse Summer Show MS State Fairgrounds mqha.org

June 10, 7:30 pm

Cleveland

Clay Walker Concert Bologna Performing Arts Center

June 10-12

Greenville

Steve Azar Delta Soul Celebrity Golf and Charity Event

May 7, 11 am: Viking Cooking School, Greenwood Luncheon cooking demo followed by signing at TurnRow Books turnrowbooks.com May 12, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Book, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com STEPHEN HUNTER

steveazarsaintceciliafoundation.org/delta-soul-event

Basil’s War

June 11, 6-8 pm

May 11, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com

Cleveland

Deep Roots: Live Downtown! Chris Dixon & Joyfull Noise with Audri Outdoors at the Delta Arts Alliance deltadeeproots.com

GIN PHILLIPS

June 19

May 12, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) Squarebooks.com

Family Law

Clarksdale

BAM Fest (Birthplace of America’s Music)

CHRIS BOHJALIAN

bamfestms.com

Hour of the Witch

June 19

Leland

Hotter Than Hades Half-Marathon lelandchamber.com/hotter-than-hades-halfmarathon

June 21, 8 am

Indianola

Art of Living Smart Summer Camp B.B. King Museum

June 23-26

Vicksburg

May 12, 5:30 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) Squarebooks.com ANJALI ENJETI

The Parted Earth May 13, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com JEFF GUINN

Miss Mississippi Pageant

War on the Border

Vicksburg Convention Center

May 18, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com

LITERARY EVENTS W. BRUCE CAMERON

A Dog’s Courage May 4, 2 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) Squarebooks.com ERIC NGUYEN

Things We Lost May 5, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com JULIAN SANCTON

Madhouse At The End of the Earth

DAVID WEILL

Exhale May 19, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD

Great Circle May 25, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com KIESE LAYMON

Long Division

May 6, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com

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

ELIZABETH HEISKELL

CURTIS WILKIE

Come On Over! May 4, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford Virtual event followed by in person event at Isom House Squarebooks.com

When Evil Lived in Laurel June 15, 6 pm: Square Books, Oxford (Virtual event on Zoom) Squarebooks.com June 16, 5:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson (Virtual event on Facebook) Lemuriabooks.com DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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DELTA SEEN

Alex Janoush, Maggi Mosco, Ferris Love Capocaccia and Kellie Mullins

Front: Lucy Speakes, Kendall Roberts, Ann Holman, Jenni Melton; Back: Allison McCrory, Kerri Mosco and Stephanie McGarrh

Fish Michie and Robert Heslep

Crawdad’s Children’s of Mississippi Hospital Fundraiser in Merigold on January 25

Jacob Mosco, Alex Janoush and Kerri Mosco

Front: Sean Bullock, Matthew Chism, Tom Nichols; Back: Will Bradham, Reeves Gaddy, Matthew Jones, Wesley Radicioni, Brian Blansett, Hunter Abide, Mitchell Norquist, Adam Miller, Wilson Langston and John Armstrong

Ross Hester

Debbie and Robert Heslep with Hope and Rance Richard

Marilyn Zornik with brother Fish Michie, Kristian Paul Janoush, Fish Michie, Robert Heslep and Dambrino with her mom, Debbie Dambrino Peter Zornik 132 | may/june 2021

Alex Parker and Allie Blackwood

Edward Kossman, Fish Michie and Hunter Abide

Bayou Academy Class of 1980-81 Reunion in Cleveland on April 9; Foolish Night Party in Hollywood on March 28 Photos by Wendlandt Hasselle-Selden

Cheri Cowart Howell, Raanne Tindall, Bobbie Faye Lance Line and Luther Bailey Moore and Hillary Cox Smith

Jeff and Shelia Sherwood

JoJo Aguzzi and Sherry Couey

DELTA SEEN

Harry Tarsi and Gaye Reginelli Luther Bailey and Ronnie Warrington

Vicki and Ronnie Warrington with Gaye Wade and Traci Thompson Reginelli

The Selden Brothers plus two...Bard Selden and Scott Faragher, sitting. Cousin Tait Owens, Tait Selden and Chad Selden

Shelley Ritter and Minor Buchanan

Tait Selden and Hank Burdine getting ready to ‘howl at the moon’

Donna Flinn, Wendlandt Hasselle-Selden and Kathryn Gardner

The Borneo Moon #5, Private Imbibing Emporium and Sanctuary

Jane Rule Burdine and Hank Burdine “Dixie Don” Mitchell DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

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DELTA SEEN

Annual MDJC Football Reunion. Left to right: Guy Hall, Phil Greco, Hal Bridges, Tommy Fava, Neal Berryhill, Ed Kennedy, Joel Henderson, Regan Ford, Curtis Hood, Frank Dantone and Paul Walker

Dinner with friends at Hooker Grocery. Seated: Cindy Coopwood, Jenny Smith, Mary Helen Varner, Amy Wheeler, Elizabeth Coleman; Standing: Stephen Smith, Scott Coopwood, Jamie Smith, Rogers Varner and Jack Coleman

Donna Buford Spell, Pryor Buford Lampton and Lee Buford Threadgill 134 | may/june 2021

A selection of photos by Delta Magazine readers

Greenwood childhood best friends enjoy a night at Giardina’s Restaurant in historic downtown Greenwood. Standing: Erin Hodges, Eleanor Braswell, Carly Freeland. Seated: Pryor Hackleman, Stribling Hargett, Kitty Pinkston and Meg Naaman

Front: Elizabeth Behm, Beth Benson, Jamie Sowell, Lori Tucker; Middle: Brantley Snipes, Jennifer Prather, Thomas Gregory, Danielle Morgan; Back: Dalton Russell, Sabreya DeLancey, Lisa Klutss, Billye Jean Stroud and Cade Holder

Tutwiler Quilters, Janice Mitchell, Mary WillisMackey with Lea Margaret Hamilton in Tutwiler

Eric Meier, Derek Miles and Sykes Sturdivant fly fishing on the Soque River in Northeast Georgia

DELTA SEEN

Left to right: Ben Marchetta, Nathan Cutts, Harris Meyer, Homer Sledge, Thomas Logan, Havens Fioranelli, Jim Smith, Garrett Shook, Logan Cutts,Tanner Hayes, Zane Hardy, Nathan Logan, Holt Fortner and William Havens

Lucy Hatcher with Chris Sartin, founder of the Soul Shine Pizza chain

Carolyn Teaford, Janie Charbonnet, Jim Fraiser and Lamar Teaford had great fun at Lusco’s!

Machelle Williams, Grace Sandlin, Ellen Manning, Leighton McCool, Elizabeth Heiskell and Pat Cooper

Lee Threadgill, Becky and Todd Donatelli, and Burney Threadgill

Judith and Jerry Lee Lewis celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary

Panama City Beach trip: Emily Phillips, Anna Janes, Marcia Houser, Brandy Grant, Ashley O’Neal and Mary Micheal Makamson

JJ Keras, of the Today Show with Jenny Smith at a Clay Erwin is with Amy Erwin at Stein Eriksen Lodge Dee Valley in Park City, Utah recent Delta Home and Garden Club meeting

Mike Wolfe from the show American Pickers was recently at Luscoe’s in Greenwood with Karen and Andy Pinkston, owners of Lusco’s DeLTa maGaZIne 2021

| 135

Thefinalword

Seeking home: My Delta Journeys

Peyton D. Prospere grew up on Cedar Street in Greenville and graduated from Davidson College and the University of Mississippi Law School. Peyton serves as the Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany in Mississippi; President of the USA International Ballet Competition and a member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Book Festival. He practices law with Watkins & Eager PLLC in Jackson.

winter’s drive south from Greenville down Highway 1 late in the afternoon is a serene pleasure. e ﬂotilla of geese

aloft in the cold sky, with light above in the blue vault evaporating over the levee, serves to release the spirit like a kite. e fallow land sketched in trees is snug, draped in shades of brown and gray, at rest again. is sublime experience I’ve heard described as boring, mud-toned, land and sky dull. For such folk I wish more fertile souls as I turn away, for encounters with Delta nature stir my senses. is particular trip, through Rolling Fork, Holly Bluﬀ, and Satartia before turning onto Highway 49 toward my Belhaven home, also returns me to another place. after law school, it took years before I responded to ‘where you from’ with 136 | may/june 2021

‘jackson’. It was Greenville that had raised me and to which I lay claim. e river town was the Delta’s bazaar, bustling with fine stores, towboats, writers, and the Carters’ newspaper to help make sense of it all. ere was nothing monochrome about Greenville at that time. a broad palette of ethnic backgrounds, faith traditions, and literary types won the description of ‘cosmopolitan’ that was frequently applied. e four corners of main and South Shelby Streets occupied by City Hall, the Temple, First Baptist Church, and the William alexander Percy Library reflect this ecumenical quality. my school years were enriched by five Chinese-americans in my classes of thirty children, only later understanding the complex social relations they navigated outside the schoolhouse. St. joseph’s Catholic School was two short blocks from my house, filled with kids of Italian, Lebanese, and Irish ancestry, many from my neighborhood. jewish merchants, lawyers, and professionals were a considerable presence downtown. and the Greenville air Force Base stood just outside of town, bestowing a few cadets who decided to stay. my path out of innocence began at e.e. Bass junior High School whose estimable principal, Herman Solomon, had a profound influence on so many. mr. Solomon arranged on the walls in the main hallway photographs of distinguished Greenvillians, mainly writers, Shelby Foote, Charles Bell, ellen Douglas, David Cohn, William alexander Percy. e inference taken was that these people, who read and wrote, mattered. It was mr. Solomon who responsibly led his school into desegregation in 1965 when I first made friends with black kids. a sage whose moral guidance endures, mr. Solomon was a worthy mentor for anyone coming of age.

BY PEYTON DAVIS PROSPERE

autumn then meant Ole miss football games, in memphis, Oxford, or jackson. e rhythm of riding to and through Delta towns, as traffic thickened, built our anticipation. Traversing the Delta, I felt that I had not truly left my yard until rising into the hills. Coca-Cola and nabs at Whitey macarthur’s in marks on the way to Oxford or late-night cocoa, with pie, at the Blue and White in Tunica returning from memphis, “Return to Sender” every third song on the juke box, deepened this sense of place for a young boy. e way home eased by the soft glow of traffic lights in Clarksdale, Rosedale, Benoit. at fifteen, I left Greenville for episcopal High School in alexandria, Virginia, traveling further into the world where early on I found myself adrift. e librarian, mr. Finks, came to me that fall of 1967 book in hand and said, “Read this.” e book was North Toward Home, freshly published, an immediate connection home to yazoo City and the Delta. Willie morris captured the dissonance of feelings about our home in that fraught time that persisted and perplexed, the racial meanness side by side with a warm magnanimity. Willie’s account of his leave-taking helped me settle in, and I stayed on. although I first met Willie over a decade later, I always dated our friendship to that november in 1967. aging now, I seek opportunities to return to that formative landscape, whether one hundredth birthdays, golf tournaments, funerals, Doe’s, or even COVID vaccinations. I proudly took my jabs in Greenwood and, accompanied by Cynthia Williams jordan who made sure I came through upright, celebrated my second shot with lunch at the Crystal Grill, a fine evening meal at Giardinia’s, and a stay at e alluvian. e Delta will always welcome the wayfarer, especially one of its own. DM

Fred Zepponi III 662-418-6767

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

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