Delta Magazine May/June 2022

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The Delta BBQ Battle Grilling Recipes from the Pros

Migrating Monarchs & the Church Goin’ Mule

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Publisher: J. Scott Coopwood Editor: Cindy Coopwood Managing Editor: Pam Parker Contributing Editors: Hank Burdine, Maude Schuyler Clay, Lea Margaret Hamilton, 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: Scott Barretta, Jim Beaugez, Chatham Kennedy, Sherry Lucas, Susan Marquez, Mary Lee McKee, Angela Rogalski, Marilyn Tinnin, Katie Tims, Wade S. Wineman, Jr. Photography: Tom Beck, Emma Bond, Mary Catherine Brooks, Brian Flint, Anna Satterfield, Gunner Sizemore, Rob Walker Account Executives: Joy Bateman, Cristen Hemmins, Kristy Kitchings, Wendy Mize, Ann Nestler, Cadey True Circulation: Holly Tharp Accounting Manager: Emma Jean Thompson POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to Delta Magazine, PO Box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732

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

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

deltamagazine.com Subscriptions: $28 per year ©2021 Coopwood Magazines, Inc.

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GET FATHER’S DAY SORTED with JOHNNIE-O Now carrying men’s & boys

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DELTA MAGAZINE | 7 4/12/222022 11:09 AM

from the editor

Doing what you love he Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the noun hobby as “a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.” Sounds nice. Passion is defined as “a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.” Obsession is broadly defined as “a compelling motivation” or a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an idea or feeling. I bring this up to set the stage for what you are about to encounter in the following pages. As I have said before, a theme often seems to materialize with each issue of Delta Magazine. In this one it’s the pursuit of personal hobbies that have morphed into full-blown passions or even businesses that emerged as our editorial content came together.

It’s the best kind of story—the ones we love to hear—when people love their hobbies so much that nothing brings them more joy than to share it with others. Such is the case with Linda Hiter of Merigold whose interest in raising Monarch butterflies in recent years has become a passion she shares with garden clubs and school children alike. Or Lester Mitchell of Greenwood. His lifelong love of bass fishing kept him on the hunt for the perfect lure—and now at age seventy-nine when he isn’t on the water, Lester is building his own custom lures and other specialty bait, treasures that are highly coveted among his friends.

This brings me to the world of barbecue.

And when I say world what I really mean is universe. Specifically the barbecue contest circuits. I had no idea of the depth of love, devotion, and hard work required for these Best tip ever: BBQ expert Malcolm Reed adds teams to hone their craft. The team camaraderie a pat of butter on each burger as he cooks them to make them more juicy. is palpable, the competition is fierce, the food is sublime—and the winnings aren’t shabby either. In this issue we bring you the story of the Delta Barbecue Battle, an annual series of four competitions held throughout the Delta, with a Grand Championship announced at the Octoberfest Competition held in Cleveland each year. And then there are those who have taken their love of barbecue to the next level—making it a business. Malcolm Reed of Senatobia began sharing his recipes and tips on social media and now has over a million followers on his HowToBBQRight YouTube channel, as well as a line of seasonings and other products. You’ll read about others who have also developed their own product lines.

The month of May calls for many celebrations, not the least of which are graduation ceremonies and Mother’s Day. One of our favorite Southern graduation Great Pig in the Sky founders and old friends Nick traditions, the Magnolia Chain, has been celebrated at Deer Creek Academy Woolfolk, Blake Gibson and my son Thomas (far right) consecutively for over fifty years and endures to this day. Plus, you’ll take a look at with Cade McNatt, proudly displaying their spoils from our Mother’s and Father’s Day gift guide that’s loaded with great ideas to help you Octoberfest, where they were also named the Grand find just the right gift for your Mom or Dad from local shops.

Champions of the 2021 Delta BBQ Battle.

Every issue of Delta Magazine is unique—and we hope you enjoy this one as much as we loved working on it. If you are not a subscriber, please consider signing up today on our website, deltamagazine.com, so we can continue to bring you the stories of Delta people doing what they love. DM

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Cindy Coopwood Editor @cindycoopwood | cindy@deltamagazine.com

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Volume 19 No. 6

contents

MAY/JUNE

ANNA SATTERFIELD

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BRIAN FLINT

departments

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116

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features

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BOOKS

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SHOPPING

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MUSIC

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HOME

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FOOD

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HISTORY

Monarch Butterflies

Linda Hiter of Merigold welcomes Monarch butterflies each year as they pass through the Delta on their path to Mexico

Magnolia Chains Linking old and new, this decades old tradition marks a new beginning as an important chapter of life is closing

Huntin’ Fish How a passion for finding the perfect lure became a lifelong hobby

Grandmother’s Heirlooms More valuable than jewels—cast iron cookware is a family treasure

The Delta BBQ Battle This series of contests combines fierce competition, family fun, and the best barbecue around Malcolm Reed’s How to BBQ Right, page 108

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Reviews of new releases and what Deltans are reading now Gift ideas for Mom & Dad

ART Marshall Blevins creates joyinfused paintings, inspired by the blues, the past, and the lowly mule With the launch of his new album, singer-songwriter Tyler Tisdale hits paydirt

The Cumbaa home renovation in Indianola blends classic tradition and warm contemporary style

Grilling recipes and tips from the experts How a secluded Delta village is connected to General U.S. Grant

in every issue 12 Letters 18 On the Road Where we’ve been, where we’re going next

22 Off the Beaten Path Roaming the real and rustic Delta

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Hot Topics Events Delta Seen The Final Word

by Scott Baretta

ON THE COVER: The stunning sunroom at the recently renovated Noel Cumbaa home in Indianola, captured by Photographer Brian Flint.

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LETTERS MARCH/APRIL 2022

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The

Wedding ISSUE

My mother, Weenie French, passed away last November. She loved your magazine—and I would guess that she’s been receiving it since 2008. It gave her a continual connection to Mississippi and allowed her to keep rubbing elbows with that world.

She spent her summers in the ’20s and ’30s in Ruleville, and attended Delta State Teachers College in the early ’40s, after which she taught school in Drew for a few years. She had a plethora of priceless stories about the Mississippi Delta. In 1995 she and my father accompanied President Clinton on Air Force One to Hawaii for the 50th Anniversary Commemorating of the end of World War II. From Air Force One she called family and friends in Mississippi— quite a distance, in many ways. Thank you for helping her, in her latter years, maintain her connections to the Delta and all the wonderful memories she made there. They always held such a special place in her heart.

Ed French Hot Springs, Arkansas

I always enjoy Hank Burdine’s pieces in Delta Magazine, and his compilation of articles in the book Dust in the Road (with a forward by the late much-lamented Julia Reed) comes highly recommended to anyone who wants to sort out the mysteries of our great mutual place, the Mississippi Delta.

However Hank has outdone himself in the March/April issue with “Papa and Piggott.” This is a fine explanation and exploration of Ernest Hemingway’s time in the flatlands of Arkansas and his relationships with and debt to the Pfeiffer family.

In this the land of Faulkner, it’s hard to find anyone with a nice word about his coequal Ernest Hemingway, of whom Mr. Faulkner said should not be afraid to send his readers to the dictionary on occasion.

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Keep the inspired writing coming Hank—you can’t duck hunt all the time.

Bill Dunlap Coral Gables, Florida

The March/April issue of Delta Magazine was absolutely stunning! I wanted to let you and your staff know the Teach for America alumni piece was fantastic, both writer Mary Lee McKee’s article, which was in-depth and comprehensive, and the wonderful photo layout! It beautifully captures so much of what TFA is all about. We cannot thank you enough for spreading the word about our folks and the lasting impact of their work in the greater Delta area. We couldn’t be more pleased by this!

Ron Nurnberg Deputy Executive Director, Teach for America Oxford, Mississippi

Many thanks to the staff of Delta Magazine for going the extra mile and helping me locate a special photo from years ago. In the “Delta Seen” photos, from the Fall 2011 edition, y’all ran a photo of Al Tuck and me holding two large bass. The description said our fishing was better than our SEC Football teams had done on the same day. Recently, I looked and looked and couldn’t find this copy of the magazine or my own photograph of the same.

Thank you to graphic designer Sandra Goff for taking the time to locate the archive copy, and email it to me! I speak for myself and my friend Al Tuck, pictured in the photo, that it made our day to get our hands on that photo once again. It was a great day of Mississippi Bass fishing!

My wife, Kathy, and I are both natives of Clarksdale, and I graduated from Delta State in 1970. We greatly enjoy being subscribers to your Delta Magazine! Thank you again and we wish you the best.

Charles Pittman Loudon, Tennessee

Y’all Said

SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS @deltamagazine

We Asked...

What’s your favorite Easter dessert?

Carrot cake with buttercream icing!

– Aislynn Woodard Coconut Cake decorated with jelly beans and Peeps – Paulette Jarjoura Pavlova – Sammy Chow Hummingbird cake – Gay Pieralisi Homemade banana pudding from scratch…on the stove custard like my Grandmommie made fifty years ago! Memories of childhood brought to the table! – Donna Surholt

When the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year, we asked—are you ready for six more weeks of winter or for spring, and why?

Ready for Spring! Spring brings hope and renewal! It is just good for the SOUL. I can’t wait! – Katrina Corban Ready for spring! I love the spring with all the “newness” of God’s beautiful creations exhibited in flowers and birds and budding trees.

– Andrea Marble Spring will come when Spring wants to come. She doesn’t care about dear old Phil! – John Whiteside SPRING!!! Cause I’m now at a point in my life where about all I can take of winter is couple weeks around Christmas. Also the past few weeks here in West Virginia have been not been fun, even a little bit.

Looking forward to getting down y’alls way come April.

– Mike Lucas Actually, after fighting winters forever, tired of hot sweaty summers, mowing, working on outside projects—a few years ago I embraced winter and it flew by...like lunch hours—gave me a much needed break, let me focus on research, neglected inside projects, so as long as no more snow and ice like ‘94 and last February where I was “trapped” in my steep driveway and road leading to house for 8 days - go for it Phil!!! – Steve Stricker

SEND COMMENTS AND LETTERS TO: editor@deltamagazine.com or Delta Magazine, PO Box 117, Cleveland, MS 38732 DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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Stay Gold

PHOTO BY DIXON-DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY

Delta sunsets are unparalleled in their beauty and the range of colors they boast, adorning the skies on any given summer evening. Their glorious display perched over the rows of humble soil waiting to be planted, tended, and harvested points to the paradox of beauty, nature, and hard work that defines the ebb and flow of seasons in the Delta. DM

Touching lives Powering the future The communities we serve are the communities we call home. 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. entergymississippi.com

A message from Entergy Mississippi, LLC ©2022 Entergy Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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“They have been so professional and dependable, and their work ethic is beyond reproach.”

Billy Nowell, Mayor of Cleveland

City of Cleveland Hwy 8/61 Lighting Upgrade

WHEN IT HAS TO BE DONE RIGHT

ROBINSONELECTRIC.BIZ DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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ON THE ROAD

where we’ve been, where to go next

GREENWOOD

ITTA BENA

Back in Time Honoring a pioneer who was instrumental in providing recording opportunities for Delta musicians.

Steamer Choctaw, early 20th Century. It often delivered cotton seed, sugar cane, as well as other supplies on the Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers.

– LARRY HENDERSON

– SUSAN PRICE MILLER

SENATOBIA

Good Eats

PHOTO OPS VICKSBURG

A north Mississippi original since 1963.

– TY AUSTIN

ROSEDALE

F loatin’ Along Commerce making its way from port to port on the Mighty Mississippi.

– RORY DOYLE

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The original bell located in the clocktower of the Old Courthouse Museum is still in use today. – CHRIS BOLM

STARKVILLE WINONA

This public art scene is one of the town’s most noted displays.

– LARRY HENDERSON

YAZOO CITY

All Glory

Cheerful

Built with the collective effort of many supporters.

– DIXON DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY

& FUNKY STOPS

Colorful storefronts beckon visitors to stop and stay while in the “Gateway to the Delta.” – JIM HENDRIX

HOLLY GROVE, AR

GREENWOOD

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New Deal Tobacco and Candy Co. Building in downtown Greenwood.

it S l a c i r o t s i H

– VISIT GREENWOOD

Louisiana purchase survey marker, erected in 1926 by the Arkansas Daughters of the American Revolution. – LARRY HENDERSON Instagram users, follow @deltamagazine

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH roaming the real and rustic Delta

GROUND ZERO BLUES CLUB BILOXI Iconic Juke Joint Opens in Second Location

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ROUND ZERO BLUES CLUB HAS A SECOND LOCATION IN THE STATE NOW.

Along with Clarksdale, where the original Ground Zero is located, there is now one on the Gulf Coast in Biloxi.

Angie Galle Ladner is the general manager of Ground Zero Blues Club Biloxi and says that duplicating the original was never the idea and would have been impossible.

“We knew we could never replicate Ground Zero or Clarksdale,” she says. “So instead we worked hard to pay tribute to them by scouring the south for blues memorabilia and by taking their menu and turning it into a “southern eats with a Delta edge” style. And on top of our three stories of memorabilia, we have also created a Delta front porch scene and set it up the way that old cat heads used to when they would sit and pick on the front porch. It’s an amazing ambience for people to experience. We’re also working hand-inhand with the Clarksdale location.”

Ladner says that the Biloxi edition has been opened for almost two months now and Morgan Freeman has part ownership in both clubs. She adds that the motivation for opening a second club and doing it in Biloxi had to do with connecting people to the entirety of the famous Blues Trail.

“We wanted to connect the rest of the Blues Trail with the very end of the Blues Trail, the real ground zero, which is the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” she adds. “In doing so we are collaborating with blues musicians from the Gulf Coast as well as other cities like New Orleans, Mobile and Hattiesburg to give blues musicians a platform that they may have never had a chance to utilize before.”

814 Howard Avenue, Biloxi groundzerobiloxi.com 228.910.6600 Facebook: @groundzerobiloxi Instagram: @groundzerobiloxi

Ground Zero Biloxi has its own unique decor which pays tribute to all things blues.

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DELTA DIRT DISTILLERY Raising Spirits In The Delta, One Bottle At A Time

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ELENA’S DELTA DIRT DISTILLERY, THE ONLY BLACK-OWNED FARM DISTILLERY IN AMERICA, is not just a success, it’s an amazing example of creative thinking, risktaking and determination. Owners Harvey and Donna Williams, both children of farmers in nearby Lee County, were high school sweethearts and left long ago seeking more opportunity; they moved back to the area in 2016 when Harvey got a job offer. Being from a four-generation farming family, Harvey’s wheels started turning once he returned, and the idea of using his family’s farm-raised sweet potatoes for vodka took root.

They did the research, convinced their son Thomas to be the master distiller, jumped through endless regulatory hoops, dealt with delays during the pandemic, and poured their life-savings into the venture— they were turned down for a loan by the bank. But they persevered. The goal is to produce the finest handmade and locallyinspired vodka, gin, whiskey, and liqueurs.

And they are unique because they grow their own produce and grains in the same community where they distill their spirits.

They have now celebrated their first anniversary, won Double Gold for the their award-winning Sweet Blend sweet potato vodka at the prestigious 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and they just launched their Tall Cotton Gin. Thomas, was also featured on the TV show Master Distiller this year.

The Williams are also committed to helping grow the community. Their location is an anchor on historic Cherry Street in Helena, Arkansas, drawing customers and tourists to stop by their tasting room, to take a sip-and-see behind-the-scenes tour, and enjoy live music on weekends. Delta Dirt Distillery also donates one percent of all sales to local education and community initiatives. They recently presented a check to the Boys and Girls Club of Phillips county. Their slogan “Raising Spirits In The Delta, One Bottle At A Time” has proven to be true.

Harvey and Donna Williams are a fourth-generation farming family who are transforming the lowly sweet potato into mouth-watering concoctions.

430 Cherry Street, Helena, Arkansas Facebook: @Delta Dirt Distillery Instagram: @deltadirtdistillery DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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HOT TOPICS SPRING STREET CIGARS New shop smoking hot in Starkville Every southern, college town has a set list of consumer staples: namely, a collection of bars, BBQ joints, and blue plate restaurants. Of course, there are the occasional stand-alone establishments that capture the hearts of locals and contribute to the town’s character. Last winter, a new course was brought to Starkville, Mississippi, one that is rich in full-bodied flavor and camaraderie.

Spring Street Cigars opened the doors to their fifth location on December 31, 2021. Home to the largest humidor in the Magnolia State, this two-story shop has a collection of roughly fifty brands of cigars. In addition to relishing cigars that hold notes of coffee with cream or sought-after spice, customers can enjoy a refreshing beer from the microbrewery. Upstairs, a bartender dressed in early twentieth century attire serves sixteen beers on tap. Even though there are multiple offerings of things to do, the building encompasses rest and relaxation. Housing multiple lounging areas and a wrap-around balcony, Spring Street Cigar’s “homey” feeling is accentuated by the living room style set-up, complete with towering bookshelves, a fire place, and subtle nuances to Mississippi State University. The building has a rustic feel, which is defined by natural, dark wood furnishings and exposed brick walls.

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In light of the store’s recent opening, manager Teddy Mullin says, “The town and all of the people have been really receptive to us.” Perhaps there is no better place for a cigar shop than in a town where life moves at a slower pace. After all, it is here where the essence of a cigar shop can truly be appreciated, allowing the taste and aroma to linger a little longer.

Spring Street Cigars in Starkville is open seven days a week and can be found on the corner of East Main Street and Dr. Douglas L. Conner Drive. (Chatham Kennedy) 101 Dr. Douglas L. Conner Drive, Starkville; 662.268.8850 Facebook: @Spring Street Cigars; Instagram: @springstreetcigarsstarkville

THE WORLD OF MARTY STUART AND MISSISSIPPI MAKERS FEST Stuart’s curated exhibit opening in conjunction with Makers Fest From Marty Stuart’s first guitar to Hank Williams’ original handwritten manuscripts, “The World of Marty Stuart” exhibit at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson will hold its grand opening on Saturday May 7, 2022. The exhibit will have free admission on opening day and run through December 31, 2022. The grand opening is in conjunction with the Mississippi Makers Fest, a music festival which includes an impressive lineup including, The North Mississippi All-Stars, Jimbo Mathus, Cary Hudson, and many more.

Museum Division Deputy Director at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Shane Keil says the collection is a wonderful mix of curated items that have a special place in the heart of Marty Stuart personally, and in the world of country music.

“This will be the large summer exhibit at our Two Mississippi Museums this year and it will open in conjunction with our Mississippi Makers Fest that will take place the same day,” Keil adds. “We’ve been working with Marty Stuart on this exhibit, and as many know Marty is a Philadelphia, Mississippi native who has had a long and very successful career in country music. He began touring with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at a very young age, then later on

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became a member of Johnny Cash’s band. In the 1980s he went out on his own as a solo artist and just has had a great career in country music. The exhibit covers his life and career as a Mississippian, but it also reflects his advocacy for the preservation of country music history. He has many items from his time with Johnny Cash and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and other individuals who influenced his career and country music overall.”

Keil says that the ultimate goal for the exhibit is to end up in Philadelphia at The Congress of Country Music Museum, which Stuart hopes to open soon.

“Marty’s goal is to open The Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia. He has been fundraising and building support for this for a while now. Eventually, this exhibit will be housed there. It’s Marty’s hope to make Philadelphia that home of country music.”

Opening day is free admission, but tickets for future dates may be purchased in person at Two Mississippi Museums, or online at mdah.ms.gov/2MM. (Angela Rogalski)

222 North Street, Jackson; 601.576.6850 mdah.ms.gov/party-with-marty; msmakersfest.mdah.ms.gov Facebook: @Mississippi Department of Archives and History

SON HOUSE: FOREVER ON MY MIND Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach releases never before heard recordings In 1965, Son House cut his career-defining album, The Legendary Son House: Father of Folk Blues, exposing his raw talent to a new, broader audience. Five months prior in November 1964, Son House gave a performance at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the recordings from which sat in a cardboard box for nearly sixty years, in the possession of House’s manager, Dick Waterman. Eddie “Son” House, a composer and lyricist rose to fame in the 1960s when he was rediscovered by Waterman after what had been a nearly twenty-year hiatus from the music industry.

Fast-forward to 2022 and in steps Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach who acquired the cache of tapes from Waterman, and now, more than thirty years after House’s death, the collection of lost recordings has been released. With minimal editing, the eight piece set titled Forever on My Mind was released by Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in March of this year.

While the album’s titular song “Forever on My Mind” was a part of House’s set list that night, it was never officially recorded. The other seven pieces appearing on the album are renditions of previously recorded songs, including the beloved “Preachin’ Blues.” The Wabash songs are played with abandon, without the limit of time constraints, no filter, allowing a new kind of creative artistry to take shape. They

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are richer, fuller, and louder, encapsulating the heart of Mississippi.

As a bluesman, House sang with raw emotion, evoking the deepest elements of lament. Known for his bottleneck guitar slide and irrefutable candor, House drenched the Mississippi Delta in melodic grace until his passing in 1988 at the age of eighty-six. House took the world of blues folklore by storm, and thanks to Auerbach, his music lives on and we can enjoy these never before heard recordings. (Chatham Kennedy) Facebook: @sonhousebluesman

GREENVILLE GARDEN CLUB Celebrating 100 Years There are corners of the world that act as miniature Edens, surrounded by unscathed beauty. In the Mississippi Delta, cypress trees stand guard over the marsh marigolds and copper irises.

Great blue herrings and white egrets find solace in the branches of this deciduous tree, gaining a moment of temporary reprieve from the blaring sun. Sunless swamps form the perfect breeding ground for bald cypresses and, in return, the natural habitats they create.

Formally known as the Greenville Cypress Preserve, this 16-acre treasure is home to a variety of birds, animals, and plants. The preservation of this luscious land, which began in the late 1930s, was a dream for the members of Mississippi’s oldest garden club.

For nearly 80 years, the Greenville Cypress Preserve has been under the tender care of the Greenville Garden Club. Since dipping their hands into the preserve’s soil, the Garden Club has played an integral role in the maintaining and well-being of this land. Working arm-in-arm with the Cypress Preserve Trust, this beautiful property

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has been transformed into a natural learning center with an observational deck and outdoor classroom, a historic flood pole, and an array of informational signs denoting native species.

To commemorate 100 years of service, the Greenville Garden Club will host “Swinging in the Slough” on May 7, 2022 at the Greenville Cypress Preserve. This event is free to the public and will include nature walks, face painting, and food trucks from 10am2pm. In addition to listening to the colorful cries of mockingbirds, guests can enjoy music from local artists. “It is very heartwarming to know that we are part of maintaining and caring for a piece of nature that is in a trust and will never be turned into urban development,” says former Garden Club President Amanda Cottingham. “That’s something to be proud of—this part of the world that will be untouched.”

The Greenville Garden Club is proud to leave a lasting legacy that will go on to live for another 100 years, setting the tone for the next generation to come. (Chatham Kennedy) 359 Crittenden Street, Greenville; 662.378.2286

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BOOKS

Buzzworthy Comments

Love, Daddy: Letters from My Father by David Rae Morris & Willie Morris (University Press) Willie Morris wrote scores of letters to his only son, David Rae Morris, from the mid-1970s until Willie’s death in 1999. From David Rae’s perspective, his father was often emotionally disconnected and lived a peculiar lifestyle, often staying out carousing well into the night.

But Willie was an eloquent and accomplished writer and began to write his son long, loving, and supportive letters when David Rae was still in high school. An aspiring photographer, David Rae was confused and befuddled by his father’s warring personalities and began photographing Willie using the camera as a buffer to protect him and his emotions.

David Morris The letters cover topics ranging from writing, the weather, Willie’s return to Mississippi in 1980, the Ole Miss football season, and local town gossip to the fleas on the dog to just life and how it’s lived. Likewise, the photographs are portraits, documentary images of daily life, dinners, outings, and private moments. Together they narrate and illuminate the complexities of one family relationship, and how, for better or worse, that love endures the passage of time. (Special/DM Staff) The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis (Penguin Publishing Group) Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate—the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion—a building that, ironically, bears her own visage—Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the Fiona Davis daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family—pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death. (Special/DM Staff) Exposing Mississippi by Annette Trefzer (University Press) Internationally known as a writer, Eudora Welty has as well been spotlighted as a talented photographer. The prevalent idea remains that Welty simply took snapshots before she found her true calling as a renowned fiction writer. But who was Welty as a photographer? What did she see? How and why did she photograph? And what did Welty know about modern photography? In Exposing Mississippi: Eudora Welty’s Photographic Reflections, Annette Trefzer elucidates Welty’s photographic vision and answers these questions by exploring her photographic archive and writings on photography. (Special/DM Staff)

We asked Facebook friends and Delta Magazine Fan Page Group Members to share with us the best autobiography they have ever read. o Anne Martin, volunteer Rosedale, Mississippi

Craig Claiborne’s A Feast Made For Laughter. Claiborne gives an up-close and personal account of growing up in the Mississippi Delta. It’s warm and funny and at moments sad. An amazing story of a man from Sunflower, Mississippi who changed the way restaurants are critiqued.

Plus recipes! Another view of the influence of the Mississippi Delta and how that influence reaches out far into the world. Made me admire Claiborne even more. o Sherry Wilbourne, dental hygienist West Point, Mississippi

The Best Advice I Ever Got by Katie Couric. Couric had the opportunity to talk to a wide array of people throughout her career and this book compiles some of the best advice she was given from people like Sheryl Crow to the queen of Jordan. o Tricia Killebrew, Coordinator of Academic Support at Delta State University Cleveland, Mississippi

Scar Tissue, the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis the lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers is an outstanding book.

Annette Trefzer

For the Record Books Delta Magazine fans are currently reading o Cheryl Thornhill Hell of a Book

by Jason Mott

o Adelaide Fletcher I Died and Went to Mississippi

by Tom Ward

o Vicki Peterson The Choice

by Gillian McAllister

o Carolyn Ann Sledge Never

by Ken Follett 30 | MAY/JUNE 2022

o Lynn Pritchard The Litigators

by John Grisham

o Mary Gay Stover Just As I Am

by Cicely Tyson

o Suzanne Greer Olexy Clock Without Hands

by Carson McCullers

o Lindy Smith Carpenter The Book of Lost Names

by Kristin Harmel

o Louella Graves The Lady’s Mine

by Francine Rivers

o Billy Morehead Faith Driven Entrepreneur

by Henry Kaestner

o Kathy Sage Moon Sing Out by Boze Hadleigh o Ricky Stevens Proven Guilty

by Jim Butcher

o Michelle Tarsi Shaking the Gates of Hell by John Archibald

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki (Random House) Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. … So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweather Post lived an epic life few could imagine.

Bestselling and acclaimed author Allison Pataki has crafted an intimate portrait of a larger-than-life woman, a powerful story of one woman falling in love with her own voice and embracing her own power while shaping history in the process. (Special/DM Staff ) Ghost Channels Paranormal Realty Televison and the Haunting of Twenty First Century America by Amy Lawrence (University Press) Through American history, often in times of crisis, there have been periodic outbreaks of obsession with the paranormal. Between 2004 and 2019, over six dozen documentary-style series dealing with paranormal subject matter premiered on television in the United States. Combining the stylistic traits of horror with earnest accounts of what are claimed to be actual events, “paranormal reality” incorporates subject matter formerly characterized as occult or supernatural into the established category of reality TV. Despite the high number of programs and their evident popularity, paranormal reality television has to date received little critical attention. Ghost Channels: Paranormal Reality Television and the Haunting of Twenty-First-Century America provides an overview of the paranormal reality television genre, its development, and its place in television history. (Special/DM Staff) The Diamond Eye, by Kate Quinn (Harper Collins) In the snowbound city of Kiev, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son —but Hitler’s invasion of Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the Eastern Front and sent to America on a goodwill tour. Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC—until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever. (Special/DM Staff) DM DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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New from the

University Press of Mississippi

Available at your local bookseller.

32 | MAY/JUNE 2022

UPM_Mar22_DeltaMag_HalfPg_7.125x4.75.indd 1

upress.state.ms.us

3/25/22 9:57 AM

M Y L A G O S M Y W AY

C AV I A R C O L L E C T I O N S

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SHOPPING

Make an impression in any room of the house with this beautiful quatrefoil ivory planter.

The Finery, Jackson Facebook and Instagram: @thefineryjackson

It’s beach season, and what a better way to tote the essentials than in an outdoor-friendly tote with a bit of flair.

Mod + Proper, Cleveland Shopmodandproper.com

GIFTS FOR

Mom & Dad Our Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift guide is jam-packed with goodies and great ideas to help you find just the right gift for your Mom or Dad

The dynamic duo of protect and perfect come together in the awardwinning Sunbetter Tone Smart! With SPF 75 and tint, it’s double the power.

Renew Delta, Greenville renewdelta.com Facebook and Instagram: @renewdelta

34 | MAY/JUNE 2022

The iconic Italian Persol sunglasses ooze not only style, but comfort. Featuring a patented flex system that allows the shades to be comfortable on every size face, these sunnies are prepared to stay with you for a long summer day.

Oak Hall, Memphis oakhall.com Facebook and Instagram: @oakhall

The Garden Market, tucked out on Black Bayou Road in Leland, is a plant-lover’s dream. Owner Rachel Nightingale and her family opened the current location in 2009, and have since become a destination for those looking for ornamentals, herbs, hanging plants and decorative containers. A specialty the store has is putting together beautiful containers, either ones you purchase there, or customers that bring their own. They also grow as many of the plants on site as they can. The nursery is seasonal, opening around the middle of March until a half day break beginning mid-June, and picking back up full time for fall specialities in September until they close in mid-December.

The Garden Market, Leland Facebook @thegardenmarket

Summer’s coming—but that’s not all. The Delta’s unofficial mascot will be buzzing around before we know it. If you love the Delta for better or worse then these linen, monogrammed hand towels and cocktail napkins are for you!.

Delta Magazine Gift Shop, Cleveland; 662.843.2700

Bring a little light to mom’s life with this beautiful vintage-inspired rose globe lamp with brass detailing.

Packing for summer vacay doesn’t have to look frumpy. These Katie Loxton weekend bags will keep mom looking stylish for any outing.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then Suzanne Cox of Hernando met the challenge. Cox actually created the UPDOIT hair clip ten years ago, but it essentially stayed in her garage while she raised her triplets. Once her kids left home she dusted it off made a website and put it on Etsy, where it has taken off is now a bestseller with 5-star reviews. “I created the UPDOIT out of necessity because I didn’t want a visible claw clip and couldn’t find what I needed. It works for a variety of different hairstyles and different types of hair, and it comes in three colors so it disappears into the hair.”

The Updoit on Etsy Updoit.com Contact: Suzanne@updoit.com

MisKelly Furniture, Pearl miskellys.com Facebook and Instagram: @miskellyfurniture

Lavender Lane, Indianola Facebook: Lavender Lane Indianola; Instagram: @lavenderlaneindinola Rosson Co., Cleveland; rossonco.com Facebook: @rossonco; Instagram: @rossoncompany

Capri blue has brought its cult-favorite signature scent Volcano on-the-go! These new car diffusers are the perfect way to bring the fragrance of home to any trip.

The Mississippi Gift Company, Greenwood

Memories make the best gifts.

Complement that special picture with a golden touch in these fabulous frames!

Lina’s Interiors, Leland linasinteriors.com Instagram: @linasinteriors

themississippigiftcompany.com Facebook and Instagram: @themississippigiftcompany H Squared Boutique, Cleveland

Facebook and Instagram: @hsquaredboutique

DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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Filson is long known for being one of the best in the luggage game, and this Ducks Unlimited Dryden carry-on is no exception. A perfect travel companion for any dad or grad!

Kinkaid’s Fine Clothing, Ridgeland kinkades.com Facebook: @kinkaidsfineclothing

DUST ROAD in e th

RECOLLECTIONS OF A DELTA BOY

Foreword by

JULIA REED

ij Epilogue by

RICHARD GRANT

A Collection of Stories from Delta Magazine

HANK BURDINE

The GCI Freestyle rocking chair helps create that front porch feeling no matter what the terrain! Perfect for sporting events, outdoor get-togethers or camping.

Ace Hardware, Cleveland Instagram: @clevelandsacehardware8200

The stories never get old and the memories never die. Hank Burdine’s Dust in the Road: Recollections of a Delta Boy makes a perfect gift, for Father’s Day or for anyone who loves the Delta.

Delta Magazine Gift Shop, Cleveland 662.843.2700

One thing that’s not too hot to handle is the Looft Lighter. This corded must-need appliance lights everything from fire pits and grills to indoor fire places. No more striking out on matches in the wind!

Ace Hardware, Cleveland Instagram: @clevelandsacehardware8200

Keep dad organized on the go with the Gentleman’s Grooming Kit made of bridle leather and waxed filler twill canvas, featuring organized compartments for easy travel.

Wren & Ivy, Madison wrenandivy.com Facebook: @wrenandivybrand; Instagram: @wren_ivy

If that nightstand is getting cluttered, cut some of the cords with the Mad Man alarm clock with wireless charging station. It also features USB ports for any additional needs. Don’t worry about that phone dying to get your weather, time and wakeup call!

Lina’s Interiors, Leland linasinteriors.com Instagram: @linasinteriors

36 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Who says bubbly only has to be in a glass? These champagne trays are the perfect touch to add a bit of celebration around the home!

The Linen Shop, Madison Instagram: @thelinenshopfabrics

Memphis-born and made Sonny Salt has amassed quite a following in the food world for its delicious seasoning. As their slogan says… “it’s good on everything, ‘cept rocks.”

Frame Corner, Memphis framecornermemphis.com

A simple deck of cards doesn’t mean it can’t come with class!

Take game night or bridge up a notch with a beautiful Chinoiserie set.

Cotton Row Uniques, Memphis cottonrowuniques.com Instagram: @shopcottonrow

It’s all about the signature scent, and that’s exactly what Abraham’s has created! We love the nod to Sharpe Street on which they reside, as well as two versions after their namesake.

Abraham’s, Cleveland Facebook: @abrahamsclothing

Sip your favorite spirit in style with these double old fashioned glasses with a pewter bottom.

An adorable Frances Valentine handbag that screams Summer is just what this season ordered. Tres chic!

Cotton Row Uniques, Memphis cottonrowuniques.com Instagram: @shopcottonrow

Oak Hall, Memphis oakhall.com Facebook and Instagram: @oakhall

DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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A New Year, A New Healthier You!

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

DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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ART

Church Goin’ Mule Marshall Blevins, creating joyinfused paintings inspired by the blues, the past, and the lowly mule

BY MARY LEE MCKEE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNA SATTERFIELD

“After a while, it occurred to me that stories and love is just about all there is in a good world—stories making life starry and magic, love gilding things how it does.”

– Church Goin Mule

40 | MAY/JUNE 2022

I

F YOU SIT FOR VERY LONG WITH THE CHURCH GOIN MULE’S ART,

or even just a little while, you might find yourself feeling a bit uplifted.

Perhaps even hopeful and happy, which is interesting considering that so much of her work is inspired directly by the blues. When asked if that is a paradox, her joy-infused paintings and their blues-soaked origins, Mule (she goes by Mule) says she doesn’t think so. She says she’s never gotten sad listening to the blues. Rather, she hears songs full of hope. There is gut-wrenching honesty and heartbreak, to be sure. Yet she claims, “They’re saying, ‘It was hard, but we’re still livin’.’ And that’s the crux of my work.” The text of one painting proclaims, “It’s not always sunshine and it’s not always night. By and by it will work out alright.” Ultimately, she wants her work to inspire hope. And to impart her love to its viewers.

Marshall Blevins, the woman behind the mule, made her first visit to the Delta in 2014. She was compelled by the blues, which, for her, “have always kinda been there.” She remembers listening to Howlin’ Wolf ’s “Smokestack Lightin’” and Blind Willie McTell when she was growing up in Virginia and Florida. In college, the blues became very important. “I was just drawn to it,” she explains. “Stephen King says the best writers are honest. I don’t think anyone’s more honest than blues musicians.

The rawness and heartbreak. You can feel them singing with their own heart.” She vividly remembers the trip from her home in Sunset, Louisiana, to Clarksdale. “I was completely entranced on that drive. We

drove and drove. And the romance and the myth of it all was palpable. We saw all three of Robert Johnson’s graves in one day.” She recalls staying at Shack Up Inn and listening to the rain on the roof. “It was magical.” Eight years later, the Delta is not only her favorite place on earth, it’s home.

Currently, she is the farm manager at Jacks Farms in Cleveland, where she helps direct the Jx Farms Artist Residency (jxfarms.com) and where she was a resident herself in January 2021.

The former horse farm was lovingly converted in 2018 by members of the Jacks family, including renowned photographer Will Jacks, into a haven for artists. Creators of many different disciplines from all over

Blevins is inspired by what the imagery of the mule symbolizes—a common denominator of generations past, plodding along beside her, and providing scope to her work.

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the country apply for residencies that last from one to four weeks. The opportunity for inspiration and quiet and uninterrupted focus that a residency can provide, away from normal routines and environments, is invaluable and can result in groundbreaking artistic development.

Often, residencies are pivotal in the lives of artists. Such was the case with Mule.

After graduating from college in Kentucky, where she double majored in art studio and art history, a photography job took her to southwest Louisiana. She was working as a horse-racing photographer and grooming dogs while developing her art and a growing conviction that she wanted to be a full-time artist. Living in the 42 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Lafayette area provided a very supportive artistic community, which was a wonderful incubator, but Mule needed to determine if she could make it full-time. Eventually, she had the opportunity to conduct her first residency, two weeks in Georgia, which propelled her towards becoming a full-time artist. “It changed how I saw the world, changed my routine. I proved to myself I was capable. That’s why I’m so committed to residency programs.” Since then, her talent and her career have experienced continual growth and development. In January 2020, she had the honor of being selected as Artist in Residence at Twelve Oaks Nature Preserve in Ocean Springs.

Although the four-month residency was

cut short by COVID lockdowns, the nearly three months she had there were lifechanging.

Tucked away, nearly hidden beneath sprawling, massive limbs of mammoth live oaks, is the ante-bellum house, now artist residence, where Mule and her dog, Wilbur, were alone most days. “Reading Southern writing and listening to Southern music is the backbone of the work I make.

I dedicated all my time to reading, writing, and painting. Played the blues and gospel.

I felt more connected to the world around me.” While there, she says she rediscovered “childlike wonder.” That wonder taught her to use her eyes and ears more skillfully— watching and listening to all the magic that

was around her in the surrounding woods.

One painting reads, “The whole world was music and she couldn’t listen close enough.” To speak with her today, or to scroll through her photography, it is evident her wonder has not diminished but has likely become more acute. “Always seeking miracles,” is the text of another painting. Mule has made a discipline of seeking miracles and has clearly become adept at finding them. Her photography and paintings are the evidence.

A very accomplished sketch artist and painter, Mule has been greatly influenced

by Howard Finster and Bill Traylor and, more recently, Walter Anderson. Her paintings typically feature her iconic mule,

though not always the same one, and some text, a lyric or phrase, bits of Scripture, or a thought. But why a mule? Like the blues, horses have always been around for Marshall. At the age of fourteen, she began working with racetrack horses and later was a racetrack photographer. She has been drawing horses forever it seems. Eventually, however, she took a shine to the slightly less beautiful, less gentrified mule. The mule is common. And in some ways, a common denominator.

“Mules were tractors and cars before we had them,” she explains. “They worked for rich people and poor people. They were in the country and in cities. He was always there, able to work harder, live longer, eat

less. He worked six days and brought his folks to church on the seventh.”

The mule grounds Marshall as he plods along. He’s not so much the subject of her work as much as he is her traveling companion through this wonderland of miracles and blues and song and books and Bible and all the stories those contain. It’s his job to help her along, eyes focused, ears pricked, noticing all the miracles, stopping for her to pick them up and save them. A blog post describes the process, “You gather everything up and carry it with you for so long, and when it hits its time, it comes along. A phrase appeared out of nowhere, then it’s answer, then the work. Grateful.

Magic.”

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The mule also provides scope, as much of Marshall’ attention is focused on the literature and music, especially the blues, of that era in the South when mules were ubiquitous before being mostly replaced by tractors. There are troves of fabulous gothic, Southern tales, plenty of them tall and many of them true, about the legendary mule. According to Taj Mahal, for example, the blues were actually born behind a mule as the mule’s plowing rhythm led to the basic blues rhythm.

Ultimately, Marshall is a collector of stories and considers herself a storyteller. She desperately wants to be a good one.

“Much of the art I make is concerned with stories, with love, with concern for the generations past and what they have left us.” That includes generations of musicians and writers. Yet she’s also seeking to preserve something that belongs to her, her stories and her family. She recalls growing up with family gatherings and listening to the adults tell stories all night, history and heritage she wants to remember and preserve. Her great-great grandfather, for whom she was named, farmed in North Carolina and had mules. Her mother’s father was in the navy and fought in World War II. And her father’s father was a Methodist minister, whom she never met.

She recently acquired all of his sermons and has been poring over each one, getting to know him, admiring his labor and love.

“All the sacrifices and hard work they did. I have a blessed life because of all their sacrifices. We’re still here. They persevered, and they loved their family.” She’s speaking from her heart, and you can hear her gratitude. “Grateful every day,” is a terse note in one blog entry, stating her gratitude 44 | MAY/JUNE 2022

and reminding herself to practice it. That practice is exemplified in listening and honoring the stories that are entrusted to her. And she aims to hold on to them.

Now she’s living on Jacks Farm in the Mississippi Delta, and stories are crawling out of the ground and the trees and the farm buildings, and history is oh so present.

She inhabits the stories. “I’m not a rock’s throw from Highway 61. All these musicians I love so much lived in this weather, smelled these smells, saw these

gorgeous sunsets and the constellations, and had their feet on this land where I walk my dog. Will’s (Jacks) dad, Gerald, was a pillar in this community. My parents and I have lived so many different places, so people don’t know how great my parents are. But everyone here knows Gerald and has high regard for the family who used to own this place.” She’s teary now. “I’ve gotten to meet my neighbors and hear their stories, when it was their land, before it was my myth. If you can meet people where they are,” she pauses in thought and then emphatically states, “I’ve never had conversations like I have here.”

Marshall has been practicing meeting people where they are—taking the blinders off the ole mule and getting out of the rut of preconceived notions and judgments of new acquaintances. A recent blog entry reads, “Grateful for the kindness of strangers. Reading that hospitality to strangers, that love of strangers, is a thing of God—and Mississippi is full up on that.” She’s getting behind the veneer of opinion and class and politics to find the common denominator. The inner mule.

In a recent sermon she heard, Mule is church goin’, after all, regularly in fact, the preacher claimed that it’s easier to love someone when you hear their story. Walls really do come down when you just listen.

“Cutting to the quick of life, people here will give you their whole story. In that sense, I feel more open, more curious.” The experience is driving her development. “My painting needs to step up more towards that. I feel like my work right now is quite solid. I want to get more loose. I want my work to bring hope and love to the world.

A sense of community and knowing our neighbors. I want people to look at their neighbor and have an open ear towards them. And better attention to nature. The more you look at it, the more magic.”

Musing on the richness of her new community, she shares, “I was looking at a grain elevator the other day, thinking about how tall it is. And I was thinking about my neighbor. How tall would he be if he was measured in stories? Most folks around here are twenty, thirty stories tall. Or more.

That’s why I think so much of all of them.

They’re giants.”

Church Goin Mule will have a show at the Delta Arts Alliance in Cleveland on June 2. DM

C O N V E N T I O N A N D VISI T O RS B UREAU

MUSIC

Partners in Rhyme With the launch of his new album, singer-songwriter Tyler Tisdale hits paydirt

ROB WALKER

BY JIM BEAUGEZ

46 | MAY/JUNE 2022

t’s a showbiz cliché, but Tyler Tisdale really has worked all of his life—or at least his adult life—to become an overnight success in music. But it took Delta music impresario and hit songwriter Steve Azar to make it happen.

PHOTOS OBTAINED FROM DIGITAL MEDIA SERVICES

I

Tisdale’s 2021 single “She’s the One,” recorded with Azar at the Delta Music Institute, landed on CMT.com as well as on Apple Music’s Best New Americana playlist in September, where it debuted at No. 7 between well-established artists Amanda Shires and Bela Fleck.

“I couldn’t tell you who was more excited to release those singles, me or [Steve],” jokes Tisdale from his home in Petal, Mississippi. “It takes somebody like Steve Azar, who believes in you and gets just as excited about your music as you are.

I’ve been very grateful to have him on my team.”

The buildup to the launch of Tisdale’s debut album, If It’s All the Same to You, released in May 2022 on Azar’s Ride Records, has also seen four other singles hit streaming services. “She’s the One” has racked up more than half a million streams on Spotify alone, while “High” is closing in on 75,000 listens as of this writing.

“Scrolling through [those lists] and seeing my name next to all these big artists

was a very surreal experience,” Tisdale says. “It’s weird, because you’re seeing these things happening and you’re super excited about it, but at the same time, I’m still here in Petal waiting for these gigs to come in [laughs]. We’ve had to be patient, but we’re finally starting to see success from all of it.”

Tisdale grew up in the Hattiesburg area and attended Pearl River Community College as a young man, but his heart was always in music, not school. Raised on a steady diet of rock ‘n’ roll thanks to his father’s record collection, he latched onto artists like James Taylor and Joe Cocker— “More as a performer and not a songwriter,” he says; “I just really love the way he attacked the microphone, and I try to take a similar approach”—and rounded out his music education with contemporary Americana heroes Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson, as well as jam legends Widespread Panic.

Midnight Revel, the Hattiesburg-based

Tisdale’s most recent album, If It's All The Same To You, was released on April 28.

jam band he played in for five years, wove all of those musical influences and more together, and kept him on the road. His song “High” was inspired by being on tour and trying to keep the whole traveling rock ‘n’ roll circus from unraveling. “We definitely learned a lot of hard lessons on the road,” he says. “We got the craziness out of our systems in the first couple of years.”

As the band wound through a two-week tour in Colorado and New Mexico, Tisdale remembers having fun but also felt his bandmates begin to drift apart. “That [tour] started the trickle effect of everyone starting to put their perspectives in order, and their priorities, and what they really DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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ROB WALKER

Tisdale playing with Mike Doussan Music at their Live at Five show.

48 | MAY/JUNE 2022

wanted to do,” he adds. “And Midnight Revel wasn’t it for most of us.”

While some of his bandmates formed a new band, Royal Horses, Tisdale “went into a hole” and began to write new music and figure out what kind of artist he wanted to be. Not long into that process, his path crossed with Azar. Tisdale’s father happens to be an avid listener of “In a Mississippi Minute,” Azar’s radio show on Supertalk FM, and he heard him talk about his consulting work in music.

“My dad reached out to me and sent me the website and was like, ‘You should send a video of yourself and a little bio and just see what happens,’” Tisdale recalls. “I fought him on it for a month or so. I was coming from the jam-band world; I’d just left my five-piece Southern-rock jam band, so I was in between and hadn’t decided which direction I wanted to go with my music.”

Those songs felt like a return to the Americana singer-songwriter vibe he had when he first started playing solo acoustic shows. What did he have to lose? “I sent a video to Steve, and he emailed me back that night. We got on a phone call the next day—it happened that quick.”

Tisdale began collaborating with Azar in songwriting sessions without realizing he was auditioning for Ride Records. He would send Azar music and lyrics, and they would begin to work out words and phrases together. Azar’s sports background—he’s an avid golfer in addition to being a musician—meshed well with Tisdale, who spent a lot of time playing sports, as well.

“He naturally has a coach aspect to his personality,” he says. “Writing with him, he just pushes you. He would pick out a line and say, ‘I think you can do better than this word here, chase that.’ And he would talk about what he calls ‘furniture.’ If you’re gonna talk about a tree, what kind of tree is it? Put some detail behind it and really bring the scenery to life so people can [have] a picture in their mind while they’re listening to your song. That really stuck with me.”

The lesson changed Tisdale’s approach to songwriting. Instead of writing a song and considering it finished and ready to record, he now sees them as works in progress. He returns later with a sharpened focus but doesn’t rush the process.

Curiously, as he went back through his record collection, he began to hear songs he’s heard his whole life in new ways.

ROB WALKER

“Whenever he unlocked that for me in my mind, it became a lot more second nature to me after that clicked,” he says. “I feel like my confidence really grew a lot as far as my approach to songwriting.”

Tisdale hit his stride writing rootsy character sketches—not necessarily true stories, but true to the spirit and emotion of the characters. Like all great songwriters, he looks outward for inspiration and stories to tell as much as within himself. One song deals with a divorce, while he’s currently never been married. Another, “She’s the One,” he wrote for his fiancé.

“I definitely pull from life experience and I love just coming up with a story,” he says. “‘Unscathed’ on the record is a story of two love people in love, trying to outrun the law. There’s a scene in my mind of them running down a shoreline, running toward a lighthouse, and that’s where the idea for the song started, and it ran from there.”

Before they got too far, though, the Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to their plans. That is, until they decided to make use of the technology available, including computer programs that allowed them to record the entire album in real time from remote locations.

The pair got access to the Delta Music Institute recording studio at Delta State University for a few days and cut basic tracks—just Tisdale singing and playing guitar—for all ten songs on If It’s All the Same to You. Then, with Tisdale in Petal and Azar at his home in the Delta, they patched into a Nashville studio with drummer Chad Cromwell, who has played with Neil Young, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes and many other country legends, and pulled up a Zoom videoconference to talk through the song arrangements.

“It worked out really well and I love Delta State’s studio,” he says. “It’s so beautiful, and that big room, I would love next time around to get a full band in there and cut some live recordings.”

With If It’s All the Same to You on the streets, Tisdale’s calendar is filling up with shows for the summer and fall 2022. But now that he’s somewhat older, and a heck of a lot wiser, his perspective is squarely focused on the music.

“It’s just about doing what you love, and if you’re lucky enough to pay your bills doing it, then fantastic,” he says. “If you’re not, then you still love it, and [you] keep writing and making music.” DM

Tisdale (far right) at the recent Mockingbird Music Festival with Steve Azar (middle) and Phillip Lammonds.

Dell Smith, Tisdale, and John Mark Odom DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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www.rossonco.com (662) 843-3986 Downtown Cleveland DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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Metamorphosis of the Monarch Each year when the Monarch butterflies pass through the Delta traveling thousands of miles from Canada to Mexico, they receive a warm welcome by Linda Hiter of Merigold

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Linda’s husband, Park, built her a little butterfly house and helped cultivate an area of the yard for the necessary milkweed plants.

The Hiter’s landscaped an area of the yard for people to come and visit and learn about the process.

BY SHERRY LUCAS • PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINDA HITER

inda Hiter was captivated from the moment a Facebook post stopped her scrolling in her tracks. The video showed nature’s ultimate Cinderella moment as monarch butterflies emerged from the chrysalis stage at Baddour Garden Center in Senatobia.

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“Oh my gosh, I had never seen that before!” she says, traces of that thrill still evident in her voice six years and hundreds of butterflies later. She wanted to go see it up close—hardly a tall order from her home in Merigold.

“It was just in Senatobia. It wasn’t like it was the Key West Butterfly Conservatory, you know?” She got a girlfriend to go along on a day trip, the first of several. The next year, Hiter invited Felicia’s Butterflies’ Linette Walters, who’d led the center’s program, to her church for a presentation after Sunday service.

“All my friends bought a chrysalis from her.” The end-of-season timing meant

Beautiful example of a crysalis before it becomes transparent.

plenty of monarchs had just emerged.

“Even my little one-hundred-year-old friend got to release one for the first time in her life.”

Hiter’s interest took flight, too, and she plunged into the hobby with

recommended books and Facebook groups.

“I just found that if you plant what they eat and what they lay eggs on, they will show up.”

Monarch population decline is linked to habitat loss—the milkweed that’s key for caterpillars. Generally, only about 10 percent of a monarch female’s four hundred eggs survive. Wasps, ants, praying mantises, and birds are natural predators, Hiter says.

“And that’s not even mentioning chemicals.

“That’s all we do—put chemicals out all the time. There’s got to be something that we can do for the environment that’s better.

Got to be, since we cannot farm without chemicals.”

Hiter began planting the habitat monarch butterflies are looking for. “They have some sort of innate instinct to just zero in on where it is and fly down to it. It’s just crazy—I love it, though.”

That first year, she had a single milkweed plant. “Now, I’ve probably got hundreds.”

Her start wasn’t without mishaps. The DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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Butterfly Stages

Eggs are laid on the back of milkweed leaves.

Tiny caterpillars emerge from eggs begin eating the leaves.

Mature caterpillars.

Caterpillars hangs in a “J” for a day, shedding its skin one last time before becoming a chrysalis.

The chrysalis will turn from green to clear over about two weeks.

When the chrysalis is transparent the colors of the wings can be seen.

Hemolymph (equivalent to blood in invertebrates) pumps into the veins of their wings for them to expand.

It takes about four hours for new butterflies’ wings to dry before they fly away.

A butterfly emerging with crumpled wings.

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Things to know about monarchs ◆ Caterpillars shed their skin five times, becoming larger with each developmental stage (instar). ◆ When ready to pupate, a caterpillar hangs in a “J” for a day, then straightens out, sheds its skin, and becomes a chrysalis. ◆ The chrysalis turns from green to clear over ten to fourteen days; at that point, the colors of the monarch’s wings are visible. ◆ Butterflies emerge crumpled and must pump hemolymph (equivalent to blood in invertebrates) into the veins of their wings for them to expand. ◆ Monarch migration takes up to five generations.

Milkweed plants being cultivated inside the Butterfly house.

◆ Sap from the milkweed plant can be toxic to the eyes. Research is vital before beginning any monarch butterfly conservation project.

Learn more: monarchwatch.org on the web and The Beautiful Monarch on Facebook

first batch of eggs she gathered wouldn’t make it past her porch. She’d nestled the leaves with their tiny eggs in plastic shoeboxes close by, to keep an eye on the process. “I didn’t realize I had the mosquito sprayers still working from the year before on my porch—I had little caterpillars, and the next day, they were all dead. I cried and I cried, ‘I’m no good at this!’”

That would change. Her husband, Park, built her a little butterfly house in the yard.

She raised a few there, but there were too many nooks and crannies for caterpillars to get out and wasps and spiders to get in. So

A local teacher releases a butterfly to the amazement of her students on conservation day, sponsored by the NRCS office, at Bear Pen Park in Cleveland.

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Hiter’s grandsons, Fin and Fisher Oswalt, prepare to release a new butterfly.

she took the mosquito sprayers out and brought in some pop-up hampers that’ve worked well. Plants and eggs go in, and she swaps in more milkweed as needed for hungry caterpillars.

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butterflies, then thirty-five in 2019. When 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic had her working from home (she teaches dental hygiene at Mississippi Delta Community College), Hiter released 127 butterflies.

With the process down pat, even a return to work didn’t slow her down. This past year, she released 166 monarchs.

Before all this, it’d been a long time since she’d seen anything other than clouded sulphur butterflies, which are among the most common. As her butterfly studies intensified, so did her plantings to attract more than just monarchs. “I’m amazed,” she says, going down a list of sightings that include zebra swallowtails, eastern black swallowtails, giant swallowtails, a tiger swallowtail, pipevine swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, Gulf fritillaries, question mark butterflies, eastern commas, painted ladies, red admirals, red-spotted purples, cabbage whites, pearl crescents, blue azures, and more.

“I haven’t had any viceroys and queens yet. I’ll be working toward that,” she says.

“It just depends on what you plant. You’d be so surprised—a lot of it is stuff you do plant.” Queen Anne’s lace has been the biggest contributor to getting swallowtails back, she says. “You see that on the side of the road, and you see butterflies, driving down the highway. I dodge ‘em, if I can.”

With her butterfly bounty, she’s keen to delay mowing, just to give the pretty population a chance to tap clover and

dandelion nectar in spring. “Thank God I don’t live in town!” she jokes.

It’s tough to say precisely what it is about monarchs that has captivated her so or to rationalize this much effort and expense for an insect, lovely though its fleeting presence may be. Perhaps it’s just a capsule view to a miracle.

“I can’t really explain it,” Hiter says. “It’s just beautiful. It’s amazing that a beautiful monarch butterfly can emerge from the teensiest, tiniest, one-millimeter shell you’ve ever seen in your life.

“It’s just looking at God’s creation and how he paints things—it’s just beautiful. If they’re newly emerged, they have to dry their wings for about four hours, and you don’t want to mess with them. But at about the three-and-a-half to four-hour point, actually, they’ll stay on your hand a minute before they fly away.”

While these pretty creatures don’t recognize her as their protector, “they do recognize my yard, I believe, because of the milkweed.” A grant from Natural Resources Conversation Service helped plant seed for milkweed and nectar flowers in an acre-long strip in her yard and a nearby several-acres patch that her husband could no longer reach to farm.

The insects’ ephemeral charm resonates with points in her own past. She remembers moments from her childhood trying to distinguish a monarch from a viceroy butterfly, but they flitted too fast for her to figure it out.

She’s no good at growing things from seed, she says, but her dad, a farmer in Shelby, was brilliant at it. “If Daddy was still alive, he could be my milkweed supplier!” she says, and she’d no longer have to drive all over for plants. When Hiter’s daughter asked her to go through some of her late mother’s costume jewelry, she discovered a necklace covered with tiny butterflies. “There you go; there’s a God wink. Mama’s saying, ‘I like your butterflies.’”

Her husband loves this, too, she says, and knows so much about it by now that when a visitor asks a butterfly question, he starts answering.

Monarchs fly in nearly the same pattern they always have—a flyway from Canada and the Northeast to the plains and down through Texas. “Mississippi is just a little bit away from that, but we’re starting to get that pattern a little bit more here,” she says.

Hiter registered her own monarch

Hiter enjoys teaching garden clubs and student groups about the process of raising and releasing butterflies.

waystation on monarchwatch.org. “I’m, like, the only little dot in the Mississippi Delta on the map.” That was enough for a woman from Indianola to find her and invite her to their garden club for a talk.

And, oh, could they visit her garden too?

“Oh no, uh uh,” a surprised Hiter replied.

“I don’t have anything but weeds out here in the country! It’s not a garden center kind of a field trip.”

But that was an idea. In 2020, her husband helped landscape a little area “so when people come out here, it does look nice,” she says, laughing. “I didn’t realize how many people wanted to come out and see things like that.”

It’s the same desire that put her on this track and that’s pulled people to witness the monarch migration all the way to a forest in Mexico. She’s good with catching them on the fly, closer to home.

“I’m just enjoying doing what I’m doing in my yard.” Others are too. “I can’t tell you how many people have released butterflies—either they want to just show their kids the process—or some people want to come release one for somebody they’ve lost.

“We don’t do anything special. I just kind of stand back and let them just ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over it. It’s like seeing a red bird on your windowsill.” The joy and smiles it brings to people’s faces is special, sweet, and worth the effort, she says.

“I think it’s great because the more we do, the better we’re going to be,” for pollinators, for ecosystems, and for the pure enjoyment butterflies bring. DM DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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The Magnolia chain tradition was and still is celebrated at schools across the state and the South. Forest Hill High School, Jackson circa 1980-81.

The Magnolia Chain LINKING OLD AND NEW, THIS DECADES OLD TRADITION MARKS A NEW BEGINNING, AS AN IMPORTANT CHAPTER OF LIFE IS CLOSING

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ • PHOTOS CURATED BY LEA MARGARET HAMILTON

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igh school graduation is so much more than a ceremony and a diploma. In a way, it marks the end of childhood and opens the door to the next big chapter in a person’s life.

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For some, that may be college for the next few years or time off to travel and reflect.

Or for others it may be heading directly into the military or the workforce. No matter what a student’s plans are after graduation, one thing is for sure, the friends and classmates that have been daily touchstones in their lives will scatter. But, that doesn’t mean the special memories and bonds formed during high school will be forgotten.

Each high school has its own rituals and ceremonies which help to permanently etch the memories of the graduates’ high school years into their hearts. Graduation ceremonies typically involve the graduating seniors wearing caps and gowns as they march towards the graduation stage to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance, the venerable 1901 composition by Sir Edward Elgar. It was played at his own graduation from Yale in 1905 and has become a tradition at graduations across the world ever since.

At Deer Creek School in Arcola, another tune is as much a part of the graduation ceremony as “Pomp and Circumstance.” One of the most special parts of the graduation ceremony is the song “Chain of Magnolias,” which the junior class sings as they carry a long chain of magnolia leaves interwoven with sweet smelling magnolia blossoms down the aisles to the graduation stage.

Chain of Magnolias we carry tonight, Emblem of love in our hearts.

We bring you this chain, our devotion to show, E’re from these halls you depart.

Now as you leave us and bid us farewell, We bring you this song from our hearts.

Take it and keep it as you keep our love, Forever and ever and aye.

According to Mary Hobart, head of school at Deer Creek School, the song has been sung at each graduation ceremony at Deer Creek for over fifty years. “I know it has been a part of graduation ceremonies since the first graduation here in 1971. It may have been passed down from Hollandale High School which consolidated with the old Arcola Public School in 1958. I don’t know when or how it actually began,” she says. “It is a tradition that has been passed down from one class to another for decades at several schools in the Delta.”

It is possible that the idea for the magnolia chain came from women who attended the Mississippi University for Women. “They may have brought the idea back to the Delta with them after graduation,” says Hobert. To this day, one of the most beloved aspects of “The W” graduation ceremony is the magnolia chain.

At The W, sophomores have prepared for the seniors’ graduation magnolia chain since 1890. The floral chain was originally made of daisies but evolved to magnolias as students wanted a flower that better represented them. The symbolism of the chain is that college brings the students together, and as they leave, they are walking into their future.

Deer Creek School 1975 photo courtesy of Michael Boykin.

Sylvia Goggin spent much of her childhood in Belzoni before moving to Clarksdale as a teenager. “We didn’t do the chain of magnolias at Clarksdale High School, where I graduated, but I heard about it at other schools, like Hollandale and Leland. I went to college at The W, and I was so excited that the magnolia chain was a part of the graduation ceremonies there. I remember that the sophomores made the chain, and it was carried though campus in a long procession while singing the Magnolia Chain Song. It felt like such a Southern thing to me, and it was always so special.”

Greenville native Mary Stovall Richards has lived in Utah many years and is now a

Leland High School 1967 photo courtesy of Mary Boteler.

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Deer Creek juniors assembling the chain for the 2021 graduation ceremony.

Forest Hill High School, Jackson circa 1980-81.

From the 1964 Rosedale High School Annual.

Leland Academy 1975 photo courtesy of Mary Boteler.

Deer Creek Graduation, 2019. Class of 2020 presenting chain to Class of 2019.

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Members of the Deer Creek junior class waiting to present the magnolia chain to the 2021 graduating seniors.

retired Brigham Young University history professor. Richards graduated from Greenville High School in 1969. “I fondly remember participating in the magnolia chain back in 1968 at the end of my junior year at Greenville High, and I am so glad someone is going to tell the story!” she says.

“My recollection is that the faculty had made the paper magnolia blossoms, which were encircled by real magnolia leaves. I think there were too many of us to use real blossoms; that would have stripped the blossoms off too many trees! I saved my magnolia ‘blossom’ until I left for college in the fall of 1969.” Richards continues, “We all wore white dresses—day length, not evening wear—short cotton gloves, and white shoes. It was a beautiful tradition.”

Mary Sanders, the college and career readiness teacher at Leland High School, confirmed that the chain of magnolias has been a long-standing tradition at the school.

“I have been here for twenty-five years, and it has been a part of graduation ceremonies during that time, except for the past couple of years. We had to quit doing it due to COVID concerns. I was just having a conversation with our counselor, Wanda Head, about doing it again this year. She graduated from Leland in 1982, and she said it was a special part of her own graduation.”

Sanders says that the juniors make the magnolia chain, and during the graduation ceremony, they march it down the aisle.

“The junior girls are dressed in white dresses while the boys wear dark suits and white shirts. It’s really special. I am looking forward to having the chain of magnolias as part of our graduation ceremony again this year.”

Mary Hobart graduated from Deer Creek in 1986 and said the chain of

Deer Creek Graduation 1975. Juniors, Suzanne Alexander Malatesta, Julie Ann Jones and Terry Boykin Burdford.

Rosedale High School 1966 photo courtesy of Julie Brown.

magnolias was a prominent part of the school’s graduation ceremony that year. “It’s one of the things I looked forward to the most,” she says. “The junior class girls had on long white dresses, and the boys were in coats and ties. They sang the song as they marched down the aisle with the chain on their shoulders, presenting it as a gift to the seniors on stage.” And the tradition has continued in the Hobert family, with all three of her children carrying the chain at Deer Creek. “My youngest graduated in 2020, and because of COVID, we had a limited graduation. The juniors weren’t able to walk the chain inside, but they still prepared and presented it. It’s a tradition we all hold near and dear.”

Julie Brown taught at Deer Creek from 1983 to 2018. “I taught Mary Hobart when she was in high school,” Brown says. “I can vividly remember the chain of magnolias.

I’m pretty sure it started at Deer Creek with

the first graduating class,” she says. Brown graduated from Rosedale High School in 1969. “They have done the chain of magnolias for a long time there. I know Leland High School did it as well.” While at Deer Creek, Brown served as senior class sponsor. “The junior class made the chain.

They loved it because they got out of school to gather magnolia leaves.” Hobart says the parents would make the “chain” the leaves were attached to and assisted in wiring the leaves onto the chain. “They would gather the actual magnolia blossoms on graduation day and add them before the ceremony so they would be nice and fresh.” Brown says that in Rosedale, the chain was made the night before graduation.

“I think it such a special tradition,” says Brown. “However, it got started, it is something people enjoy, and they are inspired by the meaning behind the chain.”

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Lester Mitchell in the workshop where he hand makes bass baits, a craft he’s perfected over five decades.

HUNTIN’ FISH How a passion for finding the perfect lure for the elusive bass became a lifelong hobby STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATIE TIMS

SECRETS LURK JUST BELOW THE SURFACE. A few are deep

and out of sight. Others skim along the top or dart this way and that. Sometimes they catch a fish, most of the time not. Those fish can be tricky and unpredictable. A bass fisherman counters with strategy and system—his own secrets—and clutches those cards close to his vest. His is a hand seldom tipped, never fully revealed.

As for bait, well, that’s a whole different game.

What works best? What catches the most fish? This lure, that plastic worm, those jigs— what’s hottest right now? Experienced fisherman love to talk bait—always looking to better the odds of catching a fish.

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Above Lester’s work bench hangs (second from left) an original Fred C. Young “Big O” lure.

Lester Mitchell from Greenwood is one such fisherman. He owns a lifetime of bass fishing knowledge, technique, and experience, not to mention a collection of bait that puts most to shame. The classic bait, the trendiest, the winners, the rare, the newest, and even the craziest of concoctions—he’s got them all. And even then, Lester is still looking to better his odds.

“A bass fisherman will buy anything to get an edge,” he says. “Every single time he’s thinking, ‘This is the one is that’s going to do it!’”

Still going strong at seventy-nine years young, Lester spends nearly every day thinking and doing bass fishing. When he isn’t on the water, Lester is in his shop building lures and other specialty bait. He’s been at it for better than fifty years and has handmade tens of thousands of lures. Each one is unique and tuned to perfection, always designed to catch that next feisty hawg.

It’s more than a passion. For Lester, it’s life.

The Formative Years Lester caught his first bass when he was about six years old. He and his dad, Marvin, were fishing on a lake bank in Texas “I caught it on a Lucky 13,” Lester recalls about the bait he was using. “Dad came running over and helped me drag that big ol’ bass up on the bank. From that day forward, I was hooked.”

Sadly, a year later his father passed away.

“My father was one of those people who had the knack for catching bass—he was a natural,” Lester says. “I would have loved to have been able to fish a lot more with him.”

Lester was born in Picayune, just over

Fred C. Young “Big O” lure.

Take a look at Lester’s tricks of the bass fishing trade. He’s even made a few of those rods— ones he’s used to catch tens of thousands of fish over seven decades.

Once the lure is carved, line tie and hook holder inserted, bill epoxied in, and belly weight attached, Lester seals the lure multiple times and then paints it white. At this point he tests the lure to make sure it runs correctly. “I have to tune the lure before I paint it because if it doesn’t run correctly and I have to adjust, then it’s going to be noticed. The fish won’t bite it.

Of the last fourteen lures I made, one of them had to be tuned. I pretty much know what I’m doing after all these years.”

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Using balsa wood, which is very soft and easy to carve, Lester traces the plug pattern onto the board and then cuts it out with a jig saw.

Why balsa wood? “It floats because it weighs almost nothing. It pops up—when you stop the lure immediately rises and is doing something erratic. That’s what makes balsa wood lures so effective. They trigger bass bites.”

This custom-made lure, in the early stages of construction, dives deep when line tied on one side. Turn it around and tie the line on the other side, and the lure dives shallow.

Notice the tools—those are what Lester uses to carve his balsa wood lures.

A freshly carved lure with the square bill attached. The thin wire (left) is used for the line tie at the end of the lure, and the thick lead (right) is cut to add weight to the belly of the fish.

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Although makes lures in all shapes and sizes, the “The Ol’ Boy” is Lester’s singnature pattern.

“All my lures are ‘The Ol’ Boy,’ because when I go to pick one up I say, ‘Hand me The Ol’ boy.’ “

the Louisiana border north of New Orleans.

He and his brother were identical twins— Lester Dan and Marvin Van. The boys stayed in Picayune until their mother, Florence, married a professional gambler by the name of Harvey Luther Payne and relocated to Meridian.

Lester tells stories of a happy childhood and coming of age. He has especially fond memories of meeting Carolyn Billings, daughter of Millard and Marguerite Billings of Greenwood.

“I started coming to the Delta to court Carolyn,” Lester says. “I was just absolutely infatuated! I fell in love with her, and I fell in love with the Delta.”

Carolyn graduated from high school and moved to Oxford to attend Ole Miss. Lester did the same. He majored in chemistry but was forced to put college on the back burner when President Lyndon Johnson pushed the Vietnam War draft in 1965. In response, Lester and Carolyn pushed up their wedding date and exchanged vows in the living room of her family’s Greenwood home. Naturally, Lester’s best man was “a good fishing buddy.” Two days later they went through with their already-planned church wedding.

Road to the Delta After family and friends, the outdoors is what Lester loves best.

“All I wanted to do is hunt every day of the season and fish the rest of the time,” he notes with a laugh.

In his twenties and thirties, Lester managed his military and working careers in a way that left just enough time for hunting and fishing on evenings and

weekends. Plus, Carolyn was supportive of her husband’s hobbies.

“I have the best wife in the world!”

Lester says, looking over to his wife of fiftysix years. “I wouldn’t be anything without her. Of course, her father being a fisherman and her mother being supportive helped me immensely.”

In the late 1960s Lester went to work for Kellogg’s—working in sales—and had to move his family all around the Southeast.

They packed up about every eighteen months. In the late 1970s, however, Lester landed a job in Memphis and moved his family there permanently. It wasn’t the new rock ‘n’ roll that Lester liked about Memphis—it was the abundant duck hunting and fishing. He did a lot of both, and in the mid-1980s, he and a partner started publishing “Waterfowl’s World.”

“It was a wonderful opportunity and a wonderful magazine,” Lester says. “It greased a lot of gates! I got to hunt at a lot of places where ordinarily you don’t get to hunt. We hunted all over the country.”

Lester spent time with accomplished hunters who taught him the finer points of calling and hunting ducks. He hunted with Grady Perkins Sr. and with Mike McLemore, a Tennessean who won the World Championship of duck calling three times and won the Champion of Champion Duck Callers once. His mentors were Arkansans Robert Nicholson and Punk Files, both excellent woods and field hunters.

“These two were the best of the best,” Lester recalls. “We were standing out in the water in the middle of the opening when Punk took me under his wing. He showed

me how to call a duck, and that’s a secret I won’t share. But I will say, the best callers in the world won’t call a duck away from where he wants to go.”

Eventually, the ducks were the ones doing the calling. They called Lester to the Delta. In 2008 he and Carolyn moved to Greenwood, into the family house where they married five decades ago.

“The love of duck hunting grew my roots in the Delta,” Lester says happily.

And bass fish kept those roots firmly planted.

“When I retired, I no longer had a magazine, and I no longer had places to hunt,” Lester says. “So I went back to fishing. In the Delta you can always find a place to fish.”

Nowadays, Lester spends the bulk of his time on the lake fishing, tuning homemade lures, visiting with fishing buddies, or watching bass tournaments on television.

The bulk of his time and attention, however, is spent crafting new bait in the workshop behind his house.

He is always looking for that edge.

The Magic Edge Lester was a modern-day bass fisherman before his time. By the time he was in his thirties, Lester had already helped found the first bass fishing club in New Orleans and was winning at the tournament level. On a working man’s budget, Lester acquired the latest rods, bait, and tools of the elite level fishing hobby. Forrest Lee Wood started his Ranger Boats company in 1968, and within a year Lester owned one.

“By then I was really consumed with bass fishing,” he says. “I was so proud of that boat. I’m still proud of that boat!”

In 1971 Lester’s job landed him in east Tennessee. He arrived in the Volunteer state ready and able to fish, complete with a sponsorship from Four Rivers Tackle Company, a business based in Greenwood at the time.

With lures and traveling expenses covered, Lester competed in as many bass fishing tournaments as he could. At first, the change was a bit challenging.

“I got there, and I was shocked by two things: one, I had the only bass boat in east Tennessee; second, I fished for five straight days up there and didn’t catch a fish! I wasn’t used to deep, clear water—the kind where you can see the anchor twenty feet down.

We didn’t have that kind of water in the Delta or in Louisiana.”

Lester drills a hole into one end of the lure where he will insert and glue in a wire line tie.

There was no Google, YouTube, or televised fishing program in those days. So a sportsman learned one way—and that was the hard way. Lester observed. He asked questions. He gathered information and took every idea for a spin. Some worked, most didn’t.

“The very first thing a fisherman is going

“The Ol’ Boy” balsa wood crankbaits have been a popular go-to lure for several decades.

Here, a couple of Lester’s plugs are featured on a magazine cover.

to ask you, when they see that you’ve been successful or caught a big fish, ‘What did you catch it with?’” Lester says. “Some will tell you the truth. Some will embellish it.

And some really won’t tell you what it is.”

Lester joined Smokey Mountain Bass Anglers Club. He made friends with fisherman who were just as passionate about learning, improving, and winning tournaments. In the process he discovered what he still refers to as the “magic edge”— handcrafted balsa wood bait. Balsa wood is very soft, light, and porous, almost like cork, which makes it the perfect medium for bait that floats, dives, darts, and mimics a fish’s behavior in water. As long as the fisherman is experienced enough to do his part, balsa wood crankbait is going to do its job.

Balsa wood crankbait has been around a long time. Made from wood native to Central and South America, these lures gained traction in the 1950s and then went mainstream in 1962 when Life Magazine ran the article “The Lure Fish Can’t Pass Up.” It featured Finnish artisan Lauri Rapala, who made his first balsa wood bait (a floating minnow) in 1936.

By the 1960s Rapala’s plugs were the hottest bait on the market and tournament circuit. Bass fisherman found themselves trolling the tackle aisles in hardware stores—always looking for that elusive catch.

“If you could buy one, you were going to pay twenty dollars,” Lester recalls. “And if you could find somebody to rent you one, you were going to pay ten dollars per day.”

It didn’t take long for American versions to pop up.

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“We didn’t know who made them,” Lester says. “Those balsa wood lures were made in somebody’s basement or back room. And if you found somebody who knew how to make them, you were just blessed!”

A half-dozen of Lester’s finished lures. He stores them in egg cartons, just like the homemade lures he spotted in a hardware store 50 years ago—lures that ignited his passion for crafting bait.

Generally, Lester paints his lures in combinations of four colors. In total, his lures are sealed at least twelve times with polyurethane to prevent water seepage. “You’re looking at two weeks to finish a lure. You don’t want to give somebody one that does not work, does not run correctly.

I’m not going to have my name associated with one that doesn’t go right.”

Lester doesn’t stop at balsa wood lures. Here are a few of the vibrating jigs he’s crafted.

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A Godsend One day on a work trip near Maryville, Tennessee, Lester stopped by a local hardware store to check out the fishing tackle aisle. And there they were: two egg cartons full of handcrafted balsa wood lures.

“I looked at those things and thought, ‘My God! Those are the most beautiful things I ever saw in my life!’”

Lester bought as many of those “Tennessee Shads” as he could afford. Boots Anderson crafted those lures. Fred C. Young was the most famous of the east Tennessean balsa wood bait makers. In the 1960s he crafted the famous “Big O” lure that lit up the bass fishing world—so much that his waiting list was two years long. Today, Young’s original lures are worth thousands of dollars. (Interestingly, the “Big O” was named after Young’s sizeable brother Otis, who lived in Maryville.)

One thing is for sure: balsa wood crankbait worked. Lester bought as many as he could, and so did everyone else. Scarcity breeds invention, and so Lester decided to strike out on his own. He learned about balsa wood lure maker Mike Eastep. Lester took a chance and gave him a call.

“He was so kind. He said, ‘I know you.

I’ve heard of you. Why don’t you come over to my house, and I will show you my lures,’” Lester remembers about their initial phone conversation. “I couldn’t get over there fast enough!”

The men visited, and then Eastep guided Lester to his workshop, which was in the basement. For a passionate bass fisherman, the sight was pure heaven. Hundreds of lures were hanging, boxed, and otherwise displayed. Dozens were in various stages of construction. Several more were packaged in egg cartons and ready to ship out.

“Can I buy a few of those?” Lester asked, gesturing toward the finished lures.

“No, you can’t afford them,” Eastep answered with a chuckle. “I have a better idea!

I’m going to show you how to make them.”

On that evening Lester got the fast course in lure making. No notes. No recorder. Just watching as Eastep carved one, painted another, applied seal to a few others—handmade balsa wood lures, start

Lester and Carolyn Mitchell

to finish in one short session.

“It was a Godsend,” Lester says. “I was looking at a man going as fast as he could, and then I was out the door. I figured out the basics of making a balsa wood lure by watching him put one together. But there is so, so much more that goes into one.”

Huntin’ Fish Lester Mitchell has a lifetime of fishing stories. His photo albums hold seventy years’ worth of big catches, tournament wins, and, most importantly, wonderful fishing times with friends and family. His lures are well known in the bass fishing world, with many tournament champions requesting and using his balsa wood baits.

Lester has his secrets—proven strategy and system for catching bass based on decades of experience and testing of thousands of baits. Probably, on any lake on any day, the odds are in Lester’s favor. But as any bass sportsman knows—certainty is never reality out on the water.

“You fish them all basically the same, but different,” Lester answers rather vaguely when asked for his advice about how to catch a bass.

“Most fishermen forget the one key— that is awareness. If you’re not aware what’s goin’ on around you, you’ll never figure it out. The fish are at a certain place for a reason, and you need to figure out why.

Then you need to figure out why those fish hit a particular bait.”

Even now, Lester says he has much to learn. He still observes, asks questions,

In his younger days Lester was a serious competitor on the bass tournament circuit. Here, he’s hoisting up a day’s catch aboard the Ranger bass boat he purchased in 1969. These days, Lester fishes for fun. “Now I turn most of what I catch loose. We try to save our resources.”

gathers information. Difference is—now he has access to the Internet and a bass fishing sport that’s gone big-time.

“I spend a lot of time watching Major League Fishing on television,” Lester says.

“I don’t watch it to see them catching fish.

I watch to see what rod they picked up, the lure they’re using, and, most importantly, how are they using it.”

Lures, plastic worms, spinners, jigs— Lester uses what works best on that day in that place. Whenever and wherever, that is.

“If I go to a lake and somebody says, ‘The fish are biting on spinner bait,’ I’m going to use spinner bait,” Lester says. “I don’t care whether I made it or who made it. I’ll tie it on.”

At the end of the fishing day, however, balsa wood plugs are still Lester’s passion.

He makes dozens every year, each one individually drawn, cut out, carved, weighted, painted, sealed, and tested. The whole process takes about two weeks, and each lure is completely unique. Typically mimicking shad or brim, Lester’s lures are designed to catch a hungry fish’s eye and initiate a chase. The plugs are painted dark

colors for murky water and cloudy days and light colors for clear water and sunny days. Always, they’re pretty. In fact, one friend uses Lester’s lures as ornaments for his Christmas tree.

Lester tests his lures in a clear water lake or a neighbor’s swimming pool, and then he tunes each one to ensure proper movement.

“The tuning is important because if they don’t run like the fish expect them to, they’ll figure it out,” Lester explains.

“They’re looking for something to eat, and something that’s running wrong doesn’t look like it’ll taste very good.”

Occasionally Lester comes up with a special lure. He cannot predict which one it will be, nor can he make that lure from a pattern. It’s just like catching that special fish—it just happens on the right day, at the right place, at the right time.

“Every once while you get one that will dart, then back. It’ll dart again and then come back again,” Lester explains. “That lure is huntin’! They call that ‘huntin’ fish,’ and that’s what all this is about. It’s what every bass fisherman lives for.” DM DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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72 | MAY/JUNE 2022

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HOME

Breathing New Life into a Beloved Family Home The best of classic tradition meets a warm contemporary update in this Indianola home renovation

BY MARILYN TINNIN • PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN FLINT

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T

he imposing red brick home on the corner of Gresham Street and Catchings Avenue was home to four generations of Greshams. Built by William

Pinkney Gresham and his wife, Mamie, in 1917-1918, the colonial revival’s solid construction effortlessly weathered two world wars, the Great Depression, several ice storms and tornadoes, eighteen US presidents, and more than a few shortlived design trends that never came close to threatening its classic façade. If walls could talk, this home could tell countless stories about the unique ties that bind among friends and families in the Delta.

When the last Gresham matriarch and resident, Ann, passed away in 2017, her eleven grandchildren had moved to various places, established their own family homes, and not one intended to return to Indianola to take up residence in the grand old homestead. The big house stood vacant for the first time since 1917, a reminder that times have changed.

Determined to be good stewards of the home that held so much of their family history and their personal memories, Ann and Bill Gresham’s four adult children searched for a buyer who would love the house, who would appreciate its history, and who would want to make the same kinds of family memories that defined the Gresham family all these years. It felt like a tall order, but never underestimate the power of prayer and the Delta’s social network!

The lights are on again in the big house as a young family now calls it home. Mary Clair and Noel Cumbaa began a ten-month renovation in early 2021. At the same time, Mary Clair, an interior designer and owner of Cumbaa Design Co., was also opening The Olive Tree, her retail shop in downtown Starkville, and preparing for the birth of their first child, Thomas. Mary Clair managed to meet every challenge with flair. She was doing what she does best— creating a beautiful space. She embraced the spirit of the proud old house, keeping its “bones” true to its origins, seeing herself not just as a designer but as a curator and steward of this treasure.

The original house underwent its only previous major renovation 76 | MAY/JUNE 2022

The original façade of the 1917 home did not change at all until a 1963 renovation by the third generation of Greshams. The Greek columns, the exterior shutters, and wrought iron handrails maintained the classic appeal.

in 1963 when Ann and Bill Gresham moved in with their four children. They basically reconfigured the back part of the house, removing a butler’s pantry to add a side entrance and extending a back wall to create a laundry room and a new garage. A screened porch became a breakfast room, and the former garage became a new family room. Three pair of tall French doors open onto a brick porch that looks out on a swimming pool and an expansive brick patio.

With an old brick woodburning fireplace at one end, the family room remains the most lived-in room in the house. The warm chocolate-colored Saltillo tile floor is original to 1963. The natural pine paneling is reminiscent of Point Clear’s Grand Hotel, and Mary Clair decided to leave it just as it was. They raised the preexisting bookcases slightly, finishing them out with molding and painting them with Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze. The brass

The existing bookcases were painted and a finishing moulding was added along with overhead accent lighting, a small detail that adds interest to the focal point of the den fireplace.

arm sconces by Visual Comfort showcase the numerous old wooden duck decoys scattered among the books, all handed down to Noel by his grandfather.

In front of the fireplace, a pair of sofas, built under the Cumbaa private label, face each other. They are covered in a sand-colored relaxed linen. The animal print coffee table is actually a custom upholstered ottoman by CR Laine. The Indian Oushak rug in subtle earth tones anchors that end of the room.

At the other end of the spacious area are two oversized lounge chairs, called a “chair and a half,” also with custom CR Laine fabric.

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Extending the new cabinets to the ceiling and taking out a wall between the old breakfast room and the kitchen was a dramatic before and after change to the living area.

BEFORE 78 | MAY/JUNE 2022

A Brazilian cowhide atop the dramatic chocolate tile floor gives this end of the room its own fun personality.

Just beyond the family room is the newly designed open-concept kitchen created by removing an existing wall between the old breakfast room and kitchen. The new island doubles as a workspace and a breakfast spot; its marble countertop in Leathered Bianco Rhino is repeated on the surrounding surfaces. New custom cabinetry extends to the ceiling, providing a display case for Annie Glass. The unlacquered brass hardware, from Brandino Brass in Birmingham, is one of Mary Claire’s favorite finds. And a warm taupe color, Benjamin Moore Alexandria Beige, defines the space and harmonizes perfectly with the neutral backsplash. Both countertops and backsplash came from Renfrow Decorative Center in Gluckstadt.

Parallel to the island, suggesting another dining spot in the open space, is a weathered gray casual dining table flanked by six Parsons chairs in a natural textured performance fabric. Both the chandelier above the table and the lanterns above the island came from Visual Comfort. The soft natural travertine floor from Magnolia Home Center in Greenwood keeps the room light and airy. Easy to keep and virtually indestructible, the floor stands ready to endure future years with active children, pets, and casual entertaining.

The master bedroom is just down the hallway from the kitchen living area. One of Mary Clair’s first tasks was to pull up decadesold blue carpeting. The white oak wood floors underneath had likely been covered in wall-to-wall carpet of one kind or another since the 1950s. Roberson Floor Service of Indianola expertly sanded off the layers of glue and restained them to their rich dark color. A massive DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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The walnut pencil post bed, a Gresham piece, and the dark oak floors give the neutral bedroom a warm feel. The cheetah lampshades and the sunburst mirror are typical of Mary Clair’s fun accents.

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A reconfigured master bath has new fixtures and surfaces.

trio of windows form a bay extending across the outer wall. The original wavy cylinder glass panes and double-hung sashes let in the light and offer a view of the lush back yard and pool area. Mary Clair chose to keep the custom drapes of ecru silk with a subtle gold trim, selected by Ann Gresham. The pencil post walnut king-size bed was also a Gresham family piece. Mary Clair balanced its traditional design with fluffy white bedding, accented with an array of throw pillows in a classic toile fabric she found at The Linen Shop in Canton. The bedroom paint color is Natural Choice by Sherwin Williams, and the trim, as throughout the house, is Dover White.

She found the perfect French miniature bedside chests at Courtney Peters Interior Design in Jackson, and the matching lamps, which had belonged to her parents, add a pop of whimsy with new cheetah print shades. The India Oushak rug from Tinnin Imports is among the first purchases the Cumbaa’s made when they were married.

For the reconfigured master bath right off the bedroom, the Cumbaas incorporated a former closet into a state-of-the-art luxury shower, replaced a standard bathtub with an oversize marble tub, and constructed a separate enclosure for the toilet. The floor was updated with porcelain tile from Magnolia Home Center. To compensate for the closet they lost, the Cumbaas repurposed a DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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dressing room and closet on the opposite side of the bedroom, turning it into a large and functional his and her closet.

In the formal dining room, four tall windows on the north wall are framed by cream silk draperies appointed with a cream and gold Stroheim border trim, the handiwork of Charlotte Nichols of Leland. The rich walls in Benjamin Moore Whythe Blue and contrasting crown molding extend twelve feet in height, giving the room a regal and historic feel, reminiscent of Charleston. On one end, original Gracie hand-painted wallpaper remains, but an unusual Italian fragment art piece is now centered on that wall creating a new focal point. The mahogany double pedestal table is flanked by eight Chippendale side chairs and a matching baby highchair that 82 | MAY/JUNE 2022

The elegant Gracie wallpaper and the crystal chandelier remain timeless in their appeal.

once belonged to Noel’s grandfather, William Coleman of Drew.

The chair seats of pale ecru silk and mint-colored embroidery blend perfectly with the other elements in this room. A Louis XVI gold mirror, original to the house, hangs above the Henkel Harris Hepplewhite sideboard which was also handed down from Noel’s grandfather. Atop the sideboard is a crystal punch bowl set, one of several finds from the estate of Jim Randall in nearby Baird, Mississippi. Randall was a beloved coach, and his granddaughter, Sarah Nan Donahoe, is a close college friend of Mary Clair, who delighted in the purchase of several sentimental pieces from the estate. The period crystal chandelier above the dining table is original to the house and will continue to oversee family dinners for

BEFORE DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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The stained glass on the front stair landing bathe the stairwell in sunlight.

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Cumbaas just as it has for generations of Greshams. The neutral rug has with suggestions of faint colors that complement the blues and greens in the room came from Rug and Kilm.

Beyond the dining room is the library. Warm and inviting, the olive hue, Ruskin Green by Sherwin Williams, sets the perfect mood for a quiet retreat. The original fireplace is now equipped with gas logs behind a French Victorian brass filigree folding fan design fire screen. The screen and a pair of matching brass column lamps, which flank an old hunt scene print on the mantel, are also both special finds from the Randall estate. Symmetrical bookcases accentuated by original single-sash antique beveled glass paned windows create a focal point, and brown leather contemporary wing chairs on either side of the fireplace are inviting spots for conversation or reading. The saddle leather ottoman belonged to

Clockwise from top left: The wallpaper in side foyer is House Palm by Schumacher.

Leaping Cheetahs by Scalamandre define the hall wet bar.

Acrylic chair by the Scout Design Studio in Dallas is a favorite of Mary Clair’s.

Contemporary sconces and a marble countertop modernize the Master Bath.

A display nook in the kitchen was created by the reconfiguration.

The cheetah runner on the front staircase makes a bold statement.

The coffee table and the colorful accents give the white sunroom a beach feel.

Baby Thomas Cumbaa approves of his new home.

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Updating the formal living room involved a new paint color and a mix of traditional and whimsical new furnishings. The Louis XVI mirror remains in its original place and fits in well.

BEFORE 86 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Noel’s grandfather. The zebra print rug infuses a bit of fun and whimsy into this slightly masculine room.

Nowhere is Mary Clair’s love for blending the past with the present more evident than in the formal living room. The soft apricot walls, Creamery by Sherwin Williams, the wide crown molding, and the mix of imaginative and traditional furnishings can only be described as happy. Immediately to the right of the front door is a gold Louis XVI crested mirror with pedestal that has stood in the same place since 1918! As iconic as the house itself, the elegant piece looks surprisingly appropriate next to the bright white sofa tables with the gold ball studded modern lamps from Worlds Away.

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The matching chairs—with updated fabric—beside the fireplace were among Mary Clair’s parents’ first furniture purchases from Batte Furniture when they set up housekeeping in the 1980s. The Chippendale sofa belonged to Noel’s grandfather, and it wears its original mustard velveteen fabric as though it had been purchased for that very spot. The Italian artist fragment panel above the fireplace, like its sister piece in the dining room, came from a shop in Fairhope, Alabama, and it rests between a matching pair of crystal candelabras that originally belonged to William Pinkney and Mamie Gresham.

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A cream antique Italian console table on one wall is another testimony to Mary Clair’s ability to create harmony between contemporary and traditional. A find from the Round Top Antique Show, it has a marble insert tabletop and is sure to be both beautiful and functional through the years. The Turkish Oushakug, with subtle hues in peach, yellow, and blue is a recent purchase from Davis Imports in Madison.

The sun porch, labeled “the conservatory” in the original 1917 blueprints, was once a staple in Southern homes. This one has been marvelously preserved through the generations. Sisal carpeting now

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covers the old tile flooring, and three walls of paned glass welcome the morning light. This is the one room in the house where Mary Clair went all white. The sofa, like several others in the home, is custom designed by Mary Clair and a fellow designer friend. It is covered in a bright white performance fabric, with throw pillows in Schumacher’s “Citrus Garden” fabric for a fun splash of color. A Brazilian cowhide rests beneath the mirrored coffee table, and on either end is a contemporary acrylic chair from Scout Design Studio in Dallas.

Baby Thomas’s room is masculine by every measure and was designed to be a room that he will not outgrow. Spacious upstairs rooms with ten-foot ceilings allow the brown Thibaut toile wallpaper, “Kingdom Parade,” and its large motif plenty of space to be fully appreciated. The dark pine floors, the texture of the Jaipur wool rug, the brown grasscloth dresser, and the brass baby bed give this room a timeless all-boy appeal. The gingham print drapery fabric and the crib pillow are also by Thibaut. On one wall is an etagere bookcase from Noel’s own childhood bedroom, appropriately arranged with cherished memories including a vintage candy store jar filled with Noel’s old

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collection of baseballs. Favorite childhood books and other keepsakes hint that this is a family that treasures legacy!

The guest room, on the northwest corner of the second floor, has its original mantel and tile-faced fireplace.

Constructed as a coal burning heat source in 1918, it has simply remained as a focal point of the room and a reminder of the past. A Brazilian cowhide rug and sunburst mirror give this traditional room a fresh contemporary update without destroying its proud character. The bright paint color is Sherwin Williams Ancestral Gold. How very appropriate!

Mary Clair found the pencil post bed at an estate sale, and it just seemed to belong in this room. The draperies, another creation by Charlotte Nichols of Leland, are ecru linen with a Samuel and Sons border trim.

The glorious old home on the corner of Catchings and Gresham in Indianola is symbolic in so many ways of the Delta itself. There is a certain spirit that is indomitable and free and solid. The world and the culture may change with the wind, but there are just some things that transcend time—like families and roots. DM

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Grandmother’s

For our Rustic Skillet Peach Cobbler and other great recipes go to deltamagazine.com

From cobblers to cornbread and squash to squirrels, cast iron cookware has been a mainstay in Delta kitchens and camphouses for generations.

BY HANK BURDINE

Black iron pots and pans are solid, enduring, real and built to last generations, many generations. Taken care of properly, cast black iron pots, pans, griddles, ladles and skillets are family treasures.

Youngsters are taught early on not to touch those skillets until they know and understand how to cook on them and care for them.

Stainless steel pots and pans come and go, but black iron is passed down to grandchildren. George Washington’s mother even specified who was to get her cast iron cookware in her will.

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RORY DOYLE

Heirlooms

More valuable than jewels—cast iron cookware is a family treasure

Working cast iron pots and pans of the author’s collection. Cast iron cooking utensils are meant to be used and are a testimony to the culinary habits in a Southern kitchen.

During the 18th century, tight fitting lids were cast to fit on the kettles and became known as “Dutch Ovens” possibly after the fact that it was in Holland that the dry sand-casting process was developed that is still in use today when casting pots and pans. Paul Revere, a blacksmith and silversmith, is credited with the flanged lid of the camp Dutch oven. With three legs and the flanged lid on top, the pot can be set in a bed of coals with coals shoveled on top to create an actual oven to bake breads, rolls and even biscuits.

Cast iron’s heat loving nature makes it a great conductor of well dispersed and

“Bo Weevil” Law cooking breakfast on a river camping trip.

uniform heat. It cooks food evenly while resisting burning and scorching. Heat retention is much longer in cast iron than in the modern high-tech cookware being sold today. And maybe we get just a little iron as needed from the food we eat when we cook with cast iron. In my meager opinion, roasts, chicken, cornbread, bacon and fried catfish just taste better when cooked in black iron.

Some folks say that it’s just too much trouble to care for cast iron skillets and pots.

Properly seasoned and stored, cast iron is really not much different to care for than the new steel pots you buy today. Sure, you

JOHN RUSKEY, QUAPAW CANOE COMPANY

PHOTOS HANK BURDINE COLLECTION

If there was one utensil that settled the East and helped to win the West, while being endeared in the South, it was the cast iron pots and pans that provided sustenance and support to pioneering and farm families throughout the years. These utensils were the first to be loaded into wagons in special compartments and were looked after with great care. The Lewis and Clark Expedition discarded many things to lighten their load upon returning from their exploration and eventually showed up with only their guns and iron pots. That trip, with its black iron cookware, was the preamble to the opening of the American West.

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DOE’S EAT PLACE

Perfect cornbread every time cooked in a hot oiled black iron skillet, crusty, succulent and golden brown.

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Some black iron skillets are not only functional but decorative as well.

can’t EVER put a cast iron skillet in the dishwasher, but, by cleaning them out with hot water and a stiff brush, then drying off and giving a rub with vegetable oil or a squirt of Pam, your cast iron will be the envy of your kitchen. Most cast iron cookware you buy today comes preseasoned and ready to cook. Older neglected skillets can be re-seasoned to a shiny black patina with just a little cleaning with soap and a brush, rubbing with vegetable oil and placing upside down in a 350* oven with a drip pan beneath. Let your pan cook for an hour and turn off the oven leaving your pan in until cool. For a darker seasoning repeat 2-3 more times. Then load it up with grease, there is chicken needing to be fried.

“Though corn is America’s indigenous grain, and cornbread was America’s first bread, it was the South that made cornbread an art form. Perhaps this is because there is nothing better for sopping up every drop of soup or stew or ‘pot likker’ from the bottom of a bowl of greens. Cornbread is as much a part of us at most meals as is our southern Drawl.”, as stated in A Skillet Full published by Lodge Cast Iron. I cannot think of

cooking cornbread in anything other than cast iron, whether it’s a skillet, cornstick pan or triangular pan preheated with oil to give it that perfect outside crust. Pass the butter please!

So, reach back in the back corner of your kitchen cabinet and pull out your Mama’s black iron skillet, look at it awhile and think of all the dishes it has cooked, all the satisfaction it has given around a family table and all the loving care it was once given. Re-season it if need be and start cooking on it again. Tend to it, use it, take care of it and it will take care of you. Cherish that black iron skillet and keep it to pass on down to your grandchildren. Let them know the stories, the tastes and the nourishment it has provided. Let them know what it means to have something that means so much within their family. Matter of fact, go out and buy some more black iron and start cooking on them all. Hopefully you will have more than one grandchild, and you will never regret passing down your own cast iron. Once they get these heirlooms, your children and grandchildren will never forget where they came from and what they really do mean. DM

PHOTOS HANK BURDINE COLLECTION

Second only to the blast furnace broiling ovens in the front of Doe’s Eat Place in Greenville are the big heavy cast iron skillets that are used to cook fried potatoes and shrimp. These skillets never stop working.

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The Great Pig in the Sky, a team of twenty-five to thirty-year-olds founded by Nick Woolfolk, Blake Gibson, and Thomas Coopwood celebrating after being named the Delta BBQ Battle champs in 2021.

THE

Delta BBQ Battle This series of contests combines fierce competition, family fun, and the best barbecue around

BY SHERRY LUCAS • PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELISE JENKINS AND EMMA BOND

SAUCY FUN. GOOD-NATURED RIBBING. A COMPETITION SO KEEN YOU CAN TASTE IT. Slather on enough prize money to whet the appetite for that, too, and you’ve got the Delta BBQ Battle, now poised for its greatest growth yet with a purse of ten thousand dollars for the championship winner and at least three thousand dollars for the top patio team.

The nonprofit Delta BBQ Battle started in 2017, an idea blooming from barbecue’s intersection of small-town family fun, tourism, and economic potential.

“We saw an opportunity with the number of sanctioned barbecue contests in 100 | MAY/JUNE 2022

the Mississippi Delta,” says Elise Jenkins, one of Delta BBQ Battle’s founders along with Rob Marshall and John Paul Gates.

Jenkins, a retired Delta State marketing professor, has been involved with sanctioned barbecue events since the 1980s.

Gates has a long history as a competitor who transitioned to the organizing end. Marshall, formerly employed at Bolivar Medical Center, got his first taste of barbecue competition fun as a judge. “He was really the visionary for what we’re doing,”

Nick Woolfolk prepping for a long night of cooking.

Dennis Cheshire with Fat Side Up preparing for MBN judges training for their certification.

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No Count Q of Greenwood made it to the pulled pork finals at Pig Pickin’.

Jenkins says of Marshall. “He said, ‘You’ve got such a great thing going on here. How do we make it bigger and better?’”

They put their heads, and ties to various events, together. “We thought that by pulling them together, we could really target outside teams to come to the Delta, get more tourism, and get more people coming to town for economic impact for these events,” Jenkins says.

Rather than a single event working on its own to attract traveling teams of barbecue competitors, this combined pull boosted the incentive for teams to compete in more or even all events, racking up points for an even more lucrative prize, above and beyond that at the individual contests. Major sponsors provided seed money, and the sponsors list has grown in the years since.

HAAT Smoke Delta BBQ Battle winner.

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Diamond D Cooking Team was the Grand Champion winners at The Great Ruleville Roast.

The Delta BBQ Battle started with three events and now covers four: Que on the Yazoo in Greenwood; Pig Pickin’ at Delta State University in Cleveland; The Great Ruleville Roast; and the Mississippi Delta State Barbecue Championship that’s part of Cleveland Octoberfest.

To be eligible, teams compete in at least three of these four Delta contests sanctioned by the Memphis BBQ Network (MBN).

Events announce their winners in two divisions: championship (whole hog, pulled pork, and pork ribs categories) and patio (pulled pork, pork ribs, and pork loin categories). The Delta BBQ Battle takes a team’s highest score in any meat category and adds those together. “The more they cook, the better their odds are of getting better scores,” Jenkins says. The team with

the highest cumulative sum from three highest scores is considered the Delta BBQ Battle winner.

Having four events also takes a bit of the burden off teams. If they have to miss one event, they’re still in the battle. “We don’t want to make it impossible to do,” Jenkins says. “It is geared, really, to attract traveling teams to come to the Delta. That has been the key to it, with the idea that they need to be incentivized to make that travel.”

Delta BBQ Battle’s success has also inspired other states to go similar routes, stitching together area contests for a bigger pull and profile. “That tells us what we’re doing is working,” Jenkins says. Creating a model for regions that improves participation helps the sport but also economically helps the contest locations.

Michael Wayne Dearing of Diamond D after winning Grand Champion at Octoberfest.

Rolling Bones’ husband-wife team, Susan and Wade Boyette of Rosedale at DSU Pig Pickin’.

BBQ can be an expensive hobby, with most teams investing their winnings in upgraded equipment to use as they travel to competitions.

Diamond D. MS Delta State BBQ Championship

Custom cypress trophies were made by Cleveland Trophy Awards for The Great Ruleville Roast.

John Fletcher, DSU Alumni Association President and James Forte of DSU Foundation/Alumni with Pig Pickin’ custom bottle cap art trophy made by Brandon McCranie of Natchez.

The whole hog category is one of the most sought after titles in the competitions.

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Nick Woolfolk checking pork shoulders at the Octoberfest competition.

Craig Verhage, also known in the BBQ world as the “BBQ Ninja” showing off his ribs for the rib championship division.

Teams and judges come in, stay overnight, buy gas and food, and more. “It can have a strong impact.”

This year’s new partnership with Melissa Cookston, dubbed “the winningest woman in barbecue,” and her BBQ Allstars super store doubles the Delta BBQ Battle’s prize money, amping up the lure and attracting more teams to participate. “She’s originally from the Mississippi Delta,” Jenkins says of Ruleville-born Cookston,” so she’s got a real soft spot in her heart for what we’re doing.”

Barbecue competition is a highly social family activity filled with hard-nosed competitors vying for a win but who’d also give another team the shirt off their backs, Jenkins says. “They love what they do.

“It is an expensive hobby, without a doubt,” she says. “When you’ve got people doing this—and they’re so passionate about it—having an organization such as the Memphis BBQ Network gives them the confidence that when they go to compete, it’s a fair competition, that judges are trained and certified, that they get every opportunity to win. It’s rewarding to do that for them.”

As well as veteran competitors, the field

is seeing a new crop of young cooks honing their skills on the hog. Cookston is doing much to sow the seeds, with her start of the nonprofit World Junior BBQ League, dedicated to bringing the sport to teens.

“They think they’re learning to cook barbecue, but what they learn is a lot of life skills through competition barbecue. … I guess it’s a way of giving back because barbecue’s been very good to me,” Cookston says. The league is quite diverse, with kids from all walks of life, she says, including at-risk youth, special needs teens, and children of barbecue team members who are doctors and lawyers. “They all come together and cook together and turn in highly competitive barbecue.” All the while, they’re learning responsibility, accountability, and teamwork. The significant purse—last year’s was twenty thousand dollars—goes to the organization they’re cooking with.

“Not everybody can throw the perfect spiral, and not everybody can slam dunk a basketball, but everybody can cook competition barbecue,” Cookston says. The Ruleville Roast piloted its first Junior BBQ League event last year.

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The Delta BBQ Battle has a strong, loyal following among teams that like the Delta contests, Jenkins says. “They make it a priority. Teams can go anywhere from Galax, Virginia, to Cleveland, Mississippi— there are lots of options for them. But we do feel that quite a few are partial to us. Of course, we call it that Delta hospitality. We treat them like royalty.”

In competition barbecue, teams cook all that meat for judges, not the public. But with the aroma of smoking meat hanging heavy over a competition, it’s vital that someone satisfies the public appetite too.

Jenkins says that in her work with MBN for new events, “We look for opportunities where the general public can get access to barbecue,” whether from a vendor or a people’s choice component. “It’s just criminal for people to come to an event and smell all that great barbecue, but you can’t eat it,” Jenkins says. “Events do work to at least provide some avenue through vendors.”

Prize money, cool trophies, eye-catching belts, bragging rights, delicious barbecue, branching out into the sauce and rub business, and competition’s adrenaline rush

Pig Pickin’ custom bottle cap art trophy.

Melissa Cookston with a World Junior BBQ League winner.

are powerful motivators for competitors— trying to light the fire back up and motivate for No Count Q, a Greenwood-based crew in teams big and small—to devote their more people to do it.” that hunts together, does business together, weekends to travel, smoking meat, and Family ties are behind the two-member and now cooks up barbecue fun together getting judged.

Rolling Bones team, with husband-wife too. “It’s just kind of an odd hobby,” says The cement of friendship provides the Wade and Susan Boyette of Rosedale at the Matt Freeland who, like Woolfolk, is a drive for The Great Pig in the Sky, a team helm. They won the patio division in 2019 second-generation barbecue competitor. He of twenty-five- to thirty-year-olds who were and have since advanced to championship and his buddies ate it up from the start.

Delta BBQ Battle champs in 2021. “We level. He’s the cook, and she’s the extensive “There’s great camaraderie. All the teams were elated!” says Nick Woolfolk of note-keeper, shopper, and clean-up crew. you cook against—you wind up being really Senatobia. “It’s a culmination of all the hard “My husband loves it, and I love my good friends with a lot of different people.” work we put in that year,” made even husband,” Susan Boyette says by phone Once they debuted at Que on the Yazoo sweeter by getting the prize at and did well, No Count Q Octoberfest in Cleveland, the first discovered there are barbecue contest they ever cooked in. They competitions all over the place. have now also gained Royal Oak “Next thing you know, we have a Charcoal as a sponsor becoming sixteen-foot trailer with counters, part of Team Royal Oak 2022. kitchen space, cookers,” Freeland The group of a dozen guys who says. Three years later, it’s a twentymet through Delta roots and college two-foot enclosed trailer with has now dispersed into different almost a full kitchen and aircommunities and different fields, conditioning, with sponsors Royal The coveted Delta BBQ Battle “prize belt” that comes with the including agriculture, construction, Oak Charcoal and Triple 9 Swine. top winnings. finance, and more. “Quite the Despite their name—three of melting pot,” says Woolfolk, who works for from Atoka BBQ Fest in Tennessee, where them forgot and were no-shows at a the nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief, which they were settling in for another breakfast meeting early on, and organizer feeds first responders and communities competition. “We only go to the glamorous Justin Braswell dubbed them “a bunch of affected by natural disasters. He and team places,” she kids. “Last weekend, we were in no count you-know-whats,” Freeland co-founders Blake Gibson and Thomas Tylertown.” reports—they’ve become a force to reckon Coopwood came up with the idea at the Winning is appealing in the sport, she with at competitions. The Delta BBQ men’s annual cold weather campout on the says, but good friendships are a real bonus.

Battle regulars have won in both the patio Mississippi River. “There was always “We do it for fun,” Wade says, chuckling as and championship divisions. barbecue there. I had the smokers, and we’re he adds, “It’s really not fun unless you win “Anybody can do it,” Freeland says, always trying to find a way to link back up something.” With the people in the sport, putting out a call to all the guys sitting at —ways to come together, hang out, and “It’s like a real family,” with a feeling not of home with a penchant for barbecue and have a good time, and that’s what barbecue competing against each other but for the praise from friends. “If all your friends tell is. We took it and ran with it and have done judges. Leftovers are another bonus. “We you your barbecue is the best, come out and pretty well.” have a lot of friends waiting for it when we play. There are a lot of good teams still in He sees it, too, as a way to bring to bring get home.” the patio division, and they need some more young life into the sport. “We’re Friendship also provides the foundation competition!” DM DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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4/11/22 2:30 PM

Barbecue for the People

MALCOM AND RACHELLE REED OF How to BBQ Right TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF GRILLING

BY JIM BEAUGEZ • PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOW TO BBQ RIGHT

hen Malcom Reed started cooking barbecue, there was no YouTube to search for instructional videos and not many people willing to share what they knew about pit cooking. But after learning the

W

craft from family members and through his own trial and error, he decided to change that.

“Everybody held those recipes and techniques secret, and so I changed up the script on everybody and just started sharing,” says Reed, who is pit master at How to BBQ Right, an online barbecue resource he started in 2007 with his wife, Rachelle.

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With How to BBQ Right, the Hernando, Mississippi-based couple have leveled the playing field for anyone who has a grill and wants to learn. In the decade since pursuing barbecue full time, the brand has amassed 1.34 million subscribers to its YouTube channel, where audiences have viewed Malcom’s cooking videos 167 million times.

Cooking shows are nearly as old as television itself, so how did theirs succeed?

By teaching instead of merely entertaining.

It’s right there in the name; the Reeds’ passion and their entire business model is about sharing what they know.

“It’s about cooking in your backyard

[for] the average person that has a grill and wants to cook better,” says Reed, “and it’s just me sharing techniques, recipes, and things along the way that I’m learning. I say I’m always a student of barbecue, and you can never know it all. And I just believe in sharing what I’ve learned.”

As Reed was growing up in Mississippi, barbecue was a fixture of family events.

“Some of my earliest memories were Fourth of July, going to the lake with our entire family, all the cousins and aunts and uncles, generations of my family, and it was always centered around a big barbecue,” he remembers.

“My dad always cooked. My mom’s a

great cook. My grandparents, my granny, I learned so much hanging out in the kitchen with my mom and granny. It was fun to me to be able to play with fire and to cook some meat and for everybody to tell you how wonderful it is. And to see the reactions you get when you really turn out something special on the grill. That’s what draws me to it so much.”

Reed began competing in barbecue contests as an amateur in 2001, paired with his brother Waylon as Killer Hogs. At those early events, they sweated over a homemade pit fabricated with two steel bathtubs, stacked with the drains on opposite ends and welded together. The drains allowed

them to regulate the air intake and the smoke exhaust. They gradually upgraded to more professional cooking equipment, but it didn’t happen overnight.

“When we first got going it was whatever we could put in the back of a pickup truck,” he says. “We had homemade grills, and we didn’t know what all we needed, so we brought everything and the kitchen sink.”

Learning from their experiences was crucial to their development into the team that won the Patio Porkers World Champion crown at Memphis in May in 2006. “In the barbecue world where we come from, there’s so many world

champion pit masters that it was either get your teeth kicked in at these events we were going to or learn how to cook.” The duo immediately turned pro, and a year later How to BBQ Right was born.

The most important lesson Reed learned in those formative years, and the one that provided the inspiration for creating How to BBQ Right, is that taste is subjective to people’s individual preferences. Whether someone likes the barbecue styles from Texas over Carolina, or Kansas City over Memphis, is purely a product of personal taste. Good barbecue is much more about learned cooking techniques—preparing a cut of meat that excels in texture, color, and DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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Turn to page 116 for some of Malcolm’s favorite recipes and tips.

other attributes rather than merely taste.

“Technique is really what is key,” he says, “and so that’s learning how to properly manage your fire and your barbecue pit.

Learning how to control those temperatures and how to have the patience to let the meat cook and to know when it’s done and what to do with it when it gets done, all of that encompasses the technique of barbecue.

And once you learn good technique, you can take it and use any flavoring and cook any region you want.”

The Reeds have grown How to BBQ Right into a robust business that employs twelve staffers and produces instructional videos, live cooking events, blog articles about cooking tools and how to grill multiple meats at once, and four seasons of the How to BBQ Right podcast with Malcom and Rachelle. In addition, their website is full of tantalizing recipes for beef, 110 | MAY/JUNE 2022

pork, chicken, fish, and even lamb and venison—brown sugar bourbon chicken skewers, grilled red snapper, a world champion ribs recipe, and for the more adventurous palates, whole smoked alligator and stuffed venison backstrap.

The Killer Hogs competition team is still active as well, adding more than twenty additional titles to the trophy case since their amateur win in Memphis. Like How to BBQ Right, the endeavor has also grown and evolved and now sells Killer Hogs rubs and sauces, gourmet pickles, and various seasonings in grocery stores across the US and into Canada. But while he champions technique over taste, when the meat comes off the grill, Reed reaches for his own Memphis-style sauces.

“Ours is definitely based on Memphis flavors because I started cooking in the Memphis in May barbecue contest,” he

says. “That means that we’re a little sweet, we’re a little tangy, but we’ve got a lot of balance so one thing’s not going to overshine another. And that’s what I’ve learned in doing competition, that you can’t be too heavy on any of it. You want everything to be in balance. You want your sugars to match your spices, and you want your smoke to go with the savoriness.

Balance is what makes good barbecue.”

As How to BBQ Right grows, Reed continues to broaden the scope of meats and techniques he uses, partnering with outdoor brand Mossy Oak on a video series that finds him cooking wild game. He plans to expand his own brand to the outdoor space soon.

“Since we have the barbecue or outdoor cooking side of it, it’s a great way to break into hunting and fishing, around showing people how to cook some of the wild game that people love to take in Mississippi,” he says. “Mississippi is such an outdoor paradise. We have a lot of at our disposal for hunting and fishing, and we’re just going to work to spread the word on how to cook some of that stuff.”

Now that barbecue is recognized internationally as an American culinary experience, Reed hopes to travel more in the coming year to continue offering cooking and learning experiences to novices and fans of barbecue around the world.

“That’s really my goal—that when people go outside, they’re comfortable enough around the grill that they know they’re going to turn out some good food with the help of some of my recipes and techniques.” DM

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More than a side hustle A love of BBQ and an entrepreneurial spirit led these Delta natives to turn their hobby into a business HogWine Original Finishing Sauce David Wilson was born and raised in Greenville, and has since delved into many things. He had a successful career as a licensed professional mental health counselor and also bought a chain of tire stores along the way. But his love of cooking and close relationship with his Uncle Fig Newton perhaps led to the most enduring hobby-turned-business of all. Throughout the years he developed a grilling sauce, based on his beloved Uncle’s recipe—one that friends and family could not get enough of and for which they’d drive miles to get their hands on. After years of perfecting the recipe, making it and handing it out for free, his son and namesake, David, encouraged him to turn it into a business and take it to market.

The rest, as they say, is history. Wilson launched Southern Spoon, LLC in 2007 which now produces Wilson’s famous sauce.

Called HogWine, it is what he calls a finishing sauce—not a traditional barbecue sauce, which is traditionally thicker and redder. His sauce is apple-cider based and typically used at the end of cooking to immerse the meat in flavor. It is delicious on everything— steak, fish, pork and chicken—with recipes for each on the website. He has also developed a dry rub with the same name and a line of chips that are now sold in hundreds of grocery stores across the South.

hogwine.com Instagram: @keeper_of_the_sauce

Barbecue

HOTSPOTS

Our readers shared some of their favorite restaurants for those times when you’re craving barbecue but don’t have time to cook

Zee’s BBQ, Clarksdale Rib tips are great but the turkey legs they do are my favorite. – Robin Colonas Memphis BBQ Moist pulled pork and cheese nuggets. – Pam Vaughn Yo’ Eddie’s, Cleveland Love Eddie’s ribs with his mild sauce. Better than any place in Memphis! – Barbara Levingston

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JonesyQ BBQ Rubs and Sauces Jeff Jones a self-taught pitmaster, is a Cleveland native and began competing on the professional BBQ circuit with the Memphis Barbecue Network in 2014. But what began as a hobby has turned into an amazing ride, with his own line of products, World Food Championships, Memphis in May awards, Food Network and Cooking Channel appearances, podcasts and more. In the spring 2017, Jones, who is also CEO of his own surgical company Ascend Surgical, launched his company with a line of four cleverly named BBQ rubs; BONE RUB, BOOTY RUB, LOVE RUB and BIRD RUB. A year later, the company followed up with a line of sauces, and since that time has continued to grow, with seventeen products currently on the market. JonesyQ products are considered “clean” by industry standards, containing no MSG, gluten, or GMOs. This healthier approach set them apart from other seasoning companies. The use of social media and influencers has also been a key component to the success of the company, in addition to the backyard chefs, and pro teams that use their products faithfully.

jonesyq.com Facebook: JonesyQ BBQ Co. Instagram: @jonesyqbbq

Red’s Lounge, Clarksdale Plenty good bbq around but Red Paden of Red’s Lounge (juke joint) in Clarksdale is as good as it gets. – Mike Lucas The Squealin Pig, Vicksburg The Squealin Pig on 61 South has the best ribs and pulled pork around! – Patrick Spencer J&W Smokehouse, Cleveland J&W Smokehouse in Cleveland is the best. – Michael Patterson Ubon’s, Yazoo City Pulled Pork is my favorite. – jbee4243@aol.com Abe’s Bar-B-Q Abe’s is a winner every time we visit. Big Abe BBQ and Big Abe Chili Cheese Burger. Also their hot tamales. – Billy Boswell DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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FOOD

RECIPES ALL AMERICAN GRILLED BURGER 1 pound 80/20 ground chuck 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning (we used Killer Hogs AP Seasoning) 4 pats of salted butter 8 strips of bacon cooked 4 sesame seed hamburger buns—toasted lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise, and mustard

Prepare Weber kettle style grill for 2 zone cooking—hot coals on one side and cool zone on the opposite side.

Season the ground chuck with All Purpose Seasoning and divide into 4 portions forming each into a ball. Place each ball of ground chuck on a burger press (or form into a patty by hand).

Make an indention in the center of each 116 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Warm weather is upon us—it’s a great time to get outside and perfect a few new dishes. So light up your grill and try these recipes and tips shared with us from Malcolm Reed, Melissa Cookston and local BBQ aficianados

patty and place a pat of butter in the depressions.

Place the burgers on the grill grate on the cool side at first. After 3 minutes move them a little closer to the fire but not directly over.

Flip each patty after 6 minutes and repeat the process until the reach your desired doneness (mine is medium which is about 12 total minutes cook time).

Place a slice of cheese over each burger right at the end and let it melt for 30 seconds before removing the burgers from the grill.

To build the burgers start with a toasted sesame see bun slathered with mayo and a little mustard on the bottom bun. Add your favorite burger toppings mine are: lettuce, sliced tomato, and hamburger style

dill pickle slices. Place the burger patty on top and finally the top half of the bun slathered with a little extra mayo.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOW TO BBQ RIGHT

G rilling

CHARGRILLED PORK CHOP SANDWICH 4 thick cut, boneless pork chops ¼ cup BBQ Rub (we used Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub) 1 8-ounce BBQ Sauce (we used Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce) 1 vidalia sweet onion thinly sliced 2 tablespoons butter 4 jumbo size buns dill pickle chips crispy jalapeños

Butterfly each chop and tenderize with a jacquard meat tenderizer. Place each chop in a plastic zip top bag and pound out to

¼-inch thickness using a meat mallet.

Prepare charcoal grill for two zone fire (hot and cool side).

Season each chop with BBQ Rub on all sides. Rest the chops for 20 minutes until the grill is ready to cook.

Place each chop over the hot side of the grill (directly over coals) and grill for 1½ to 2 minutes each side. Flip each chop, baste with BBQ Sauce and continue to grill flipping and basting with sauce until the chops are done about 8 minutes total time. (move the chops to the cool zone if the fire gets too hot, this will prevent burning).

Rest the chops for 5 to 7 minutes, meanwhile place a cast iron skillet over the hot side of the grill. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the onions and grill until softened about 5 minutes. Also place the buns over the hot side of the grill and toast for 30 seconds or until brown.

To assemble the sandwich: layer dill pickle chips on the bottom half of the bun.

Place a char grilled chop over the pickles and drizzle with extra barbecue sauce. Add grilled onions and a few crispy jalapeños then the top bun.

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MALCOM STYLE RIB RECIPE 2 slabs St Louis Cut Spare Ribs Killer Hogs AP Seasoning Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub 1 cup Killer Hogs Vinegar Sauce ½ cup Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce

Remove silver skin and excess fat from each slab of ribs Season each slab with AP Seasoning and rest for 15 minutes Prepare smoker for indirect smoking at 275 degrees using Hickory and Cherry wood. (Any smoker can be used for this recipe just keep the cooking temperature at 275 degrees the entire duration) Season the ribs with The BBQ Rub on all sides and rest for 15 minutes.

Place the ribs on the cooking grate and cook for 2 hours. Rotate the cooking rack every ½ hour so each slab has equal time over the hot coals. Also spritz each slab with water every rotation for moisture.

After 2 hours when the ribs have a dark, mahogany color; remove them from the smoker. Lay our a piece of aluminum foil on the counter, pour ¼ cup vinegar sauce across the foil and place 1 slab of ribs meat side down on the sauce.

Wrap the foil around the slab and fold the ends so you can easily get back into the wrap. Repeat this step for the other slab as well.

Place the ribs back on the pit.

After 1 hour of cooking in the wrap carefully open the ribs and check for doneness. Internal temperature should be around 202 degrees and you should see the bones starting to expose. At this point remove the ribs from the smoker and rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Combine ½ cup The BBQ Sauce and ½ cup vinegar sauce in a small bowl.

Carefully place each slab or ribs on a “foil boat” and brush with the sauce mixture. Season the top of each rack with additional The BBQ Rub and return to the pit to glaze for 15 minutes.

Cut the ribs into individual bones and serve.

Malcolm’s Killer Hogs seasoning and sauces are available at howtobbqright.com 118 | MAY/JUNE 2022

UNCLE RAY’S DRUNK CHICKEN This recipe has become a family favorite at Editor Cindy Coopwood’s family gatherings often held at the Mansion home of her brother and sister-inlaw Ray and Alison Callahan. The beer provides the liquid to steam the chicken from the inside and keep it moist, but a can of water or coke could be used in place of the beer.

1 4-pound whole chicken, neck and giblets removed 1 opened, one-third can of beer at room temperature 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, enough to generously coat chicken 3 to 4 Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

Remove the giblets from inside the chicken.

Cut the extra fat from around the opening of the cavity so the chicken will sit flat. I blot the excess moisture off with paper towel, then coat whole chicken in EVOO. Coat the chicken with as much Tony Chachere’s as it will take, turning and rotating chicken to cover completely. Drink two-thirds of your favorite beer. Leave ⅓ in bottom of can. Sit the chicken down upright on the can so that can is in the cavity of the bird.

The chicken should cook indirectly. I cook mine on a Weber charcoal grill, using a small bag of instant light charcoal (need about 5 to 6 pounds of charcoal). Pile on one side of grill and light. When the charcoal is ready, put your chicken on the opposite side of the grill with the breast facing the charcoal. Make sure the bottom vents are open on the grill. Then open the vents on the top, positioning the top so the vent is behind the chicken and pulls the heat through the chicken from front to back. Cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

CAST IRON SEARED RED WINE MARINATED DUCK BREAST A simple yet elegant recipe that can be cooked indoors or outside using your grill and a cast iron skillet.

2 4 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3 1

NICK’S TIP Adding baking powder with the salt helps break down the proteins in the skin, making it more crispy and also aids in browning.

duck breast, skin on garlic cloves, minced cup extra virgin olive oil cup pinot noir red wine teaspoon paprika teaspoon turmeric dash baking powder tablespoons kosher salt tablespoon black pepper

Take your duck breast and score the skin side, ensuring not to do to the meat. Combine next five ingredients in a large bowl, whisking together, add duck breast and cover and allow to marinate refrigerated for 2 hours. Remove from fridge and allow to sit in marinade for 1 more hour. Then remove breasts from marinade and dry off very well. Combine baking powder and half of salt in a small bowl. Use this mixture to season the skin side heavily. Season the meat side with remaining salt and pepper.

In a cast iron on medium-high heat, place breast skin side down, pressing gently on the breast to ensure an even touch on the pan surface.

Cook skin side down for 4 to 6 minutes, checking skin every 2 minutes until its golden and crispy. Flip and cook for an additional 4 minutes or until desired temperature—135 degreees is preferred internal temperature for poultry. (Breasts may also be cooked on an outdoor grill at mediumhigh heat).

Rest for 5 minutes. Slice on a bias and serve.

MOJO MARINATED CHICKEN SKEWERS Try these simple chicken skewers with a Cuban flair at your next summer cookout.

1 1 1 1 2

pound boneless skinless thighs medium red onion medium seeded Cubanelle, a mild green long pepper medium zucchini teaspoons of your favorite citrus flavored seasoning long bamboo skewers

Mojo Marinade ⅓ ⅓ ½ 1½ 1 ¾ 1

cup lime juice cup lemon juice cup orange juice tablespoon minced garlic teaspoon dried oregano teaspoon ground cumin bay leaf

Soak bamboo skewers in water while prepping recipe.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients for marinade well. Set aside. Cut chicken, onion, zucchini, and pepper into 1-inch chunks. Toss in a shallow pan and cover in marinade mixture. Allow to marinate in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. When ready to assemble, evenly divide chicken, onion, cubanelle, and zucchini pieces, threading onto the bamboo skewers. Season lightly with citrus seasoning. With a two-zone grill set-up, place skewers on the cooler side and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer to hot side of grill to char to preferred doneness, at least 165 degrees for the chicken.

NICK’S TIP If you can’t find cubanelle peppers, Anaheim or banana peppers will substitute nicely.

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CAROLINA STYLE VINEGAR BBQ MOP Unlike a traditional barbecue sauce, which is typically applied after the meat is done, a mop sauce is applied at intervals as the meat cooks, and helps keep meat moist while also giving it rich layers of flavor.

12 4 6 3

ounces white distilled vinegar ounces ketchup ounces hot sauce tablespoons crushed red pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, whisking to mix. Use as a mop on as desired while cooking to keep meat moist and add flavor.

This recipe yields enough mop for 1 pork butt or 2 half chickens.

“This is a perfect BBQ mop in the traditional Carolina style. I use it on everything from pork butts to half chicken to whole hog.”

– Nick Woolfolk

SMOKED SHORT RIB TACOS “I, like many of you perhaps, am a fan of the humble taco, but sometimes, I like to change up the normal meats used in most tacos and make them truly amazing. This recipe for smoked short rib tacos is one such dish, and I love it.” – Melissa Cookston 2 1 1½ 2 ½ 3 to 4 1 to 2 1 to 2 1 1

Melissa’s favorite taco toppings • • •

pico de gallo guacamole verde sauce

• • •

chopped onions cilantro radishes

“I like to layout a taco buffet where everyone can pick their favorite taco toppings.” – Melissa Cookston

pounds boneless short ribs tablespoons Melissa’s Garlic Blend Rub tablespoons Melissa’s Bold Rub cups beef stock tablespoon tomato paste dried ancho peppers, stems and seeds removed dried pasilla peppers, stems and seeds removed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (if desired, for heat) cup water small can diced green chilis

Preheat grill to 225 degrees. Place the peppers in a small aluminum pan with 1 cup water and place on the grill. Rub the short ribs with the seasonings and place them on the grill. Smoke for 1½ hours.

In a cast iron dutch oven (or a disposable pan) place beef stock, tomato paste, chipotle peppers, and contents from dried chili peppers pan. Add in short ribs and cover pan. Raise temperature to 325 degrees. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until very tender.

Remove short ribs from pan and loosely cover. Pour all contents of braising liquid through a strainer into a fat separator, and set in freezer or fridge for 5 to 10 minutes. Pour off broth into blender, and add strained peppers. Pulse to puree.

Pour pureed sauce back into short ribs and shred meat.

Serve with your favorite taco fixings!

Melissa’s bbq rubs and seasoning are available at melissacookston.com

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HISTORY

Pumpkin Patch

How a secluded Delta village is connected to General U.S. Grant

BY WADE S. WINEMAN, JR • PHOTOGRAPHY TOM BECK

WADE WINEMAN

A Historical marker alongside Highway 433 at the original site of Mechanicsburg.

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little town in our Yazoo-Mississippi Delta derives its name from a Choctaw word meaning "pumpkin place" or “pumpkin patch.”

This inconspicuous village, now called Satartia, is situated in the Delta’s southeast corner, at the toe of the Bluff Hills. Satartia is the smallest incorporated municipality in Mississippi with a population of only forty-eight in the 2020 Census. Founded in 1830 as a small shipping point on the Yazoo River, the town is the second-oldest incorporated town in Yazoo County and is one of only three towns in the county chartered before the Civil War. Satartia is located at the east end of “Satartia Road,” one of the most lightly traveled paved roads in the state. The road runs from Holly Bluff to Satartia, where it crosses State Highway 3 and connects with State Highway 433.

Although it is a lonely road, the route has always been this writer’s favorite byway from the Delta to the Jackson area. The views along the section of Highway 433 running through the Bluff Hills east of Satartia are unmatched in our state. This twelve-mile stretch to US Highway 49 is one of Mississippi’s

WADE WINEMAN

Bridge over Yazoo River at Satartia. Below, map of the Mechanicsburg Expeditions near Satartia, by Edwin C. Bearrs, Chief Historian (Emeritus) of the National Park Service.

must-see drives in late fall, as an annual explosion of color in its upland flora blends with a profusion of dangling Spanish moss.

A quick pass through Satartia today reveals that not much is left in the little hamlet other than a sprinkling of small homes. Its lone school building has been demolished, and its two stores, gin, and flying service all closed several years ago. In recent years, one of the few notable things with which the town has been associated was its mention in the major motion picture, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, in which a roadside sign appears, saying, “Satartia-7 Miles.”

Satartia, however, is well-known to

historians familiar with the Vicksburg campaign of the Civil War. Several light skirmishes occurred near the town, and it was occupied at various times by both Confederate and Union forces. At the time of the war, Satartia consisted of only five or six houses, a few stores, and a church.

Notwithstanding its small size, the town was strategically situated, not only because of its location on the Yazoo River but also because of its proximity to several important roads.

During May and June of 1863, frequent over-land troop movements occurred on nearby roads: the Valley Road, running parallel to the bluff hills in the Delta

lowlands, from Yazoo City through Satartia to Vicksburg; the Benton Road, which ran through Mechanicsburg from Vicksburg; and the Mechanicsburg Road, extending from Satartia through Mechanicsburg to the Big Black River.

Even today, the deeply eroded trace of the original Mechanicsburg Road can be seen driving along State Highway 433, east of Satartia. In some places, the present highway follows the old road and overlays it.

In other spots, the heavily eroded old road can be seen in the woods along the highway, similar to the vestiges of the old Natchez Trace, which can be seen alongside the DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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WADE WINEMAN WADE WINEMAN

Eroded remnant of original Mechanicsburg Road alongside Highway 433.

Satartia's present-day main street.

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present-day Natchez Trace Parkway.

The Yazoo River, running along the west edge of Satartia, is the second-longest tributary flowing into the Mississippi River from the east. Only the Ohio River is longer.

During the war, the Yazoo was strategically important because the stream was in almost constant use as a conduit for Union ironclads, transport ships, and supply ships.

Satartia became a port of debarkation on the Yazoo for Union troops, who often marched along Mechanicsburg Road to monitor Confederate activity between the Yazoo and Big Black.

According to the Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, more than thirty-five boats were sunk up and down the Yazoo during the war, not counting those sunk in its tributaries. In addition to the hazard of bombardment by Confederate forces, Union ships were plagued by complications presented by the so-called, “Satartia Bar,” a naturally formed shoal in the Yazoo near Satartia that resulted from creek outwash from the Bluff Hills. If ship captains were not careful, rapidly falling river levels could render the stream unnavigable and strand vessels above the bar.

Mechanicsburg, located three miles southeast of Satartia, had acquired its name from its wagon manufacture-and-repair businesses. It was situated on the narrowest point on the ridge between the Yazoo and the Big Black. The town was larger than Satartia, consisting of thirteen or fourteen houses and was located at a strategically important crossroads: where the Benton Road met the Mechanicsburg Road running from Satartia.

In Union communications, the entire divide between the Big Black and Yazoo was referred to as “the Mechanicsburg Corridor.”

This artery was considered by the Federals to be the most likely route of approach from the northeast by Confederate General Joseph Johnson’s army in the event he moved troops to relieve the attack on Vicksburg. Although Johnson’s attempt never materialized, Union forces almost continually patrolled the region, trying to observe Confederate movements and control their presence west of the Big Black.

At least four separate skirmishes occurred in the vicinity of Mechanicsburg, and the town was occupied by opposing forces six different times during the war. The town is now extinct; a Mississippi Department of Archives and History historical sign alongside Highway 433 marks its former

site. A Union soldier named Benjamin F Hilliker received the Medal of Honor for his actions in a Mechanicsburg skirmish occurring on June 4, 1863.

A long-enduring legend is that General Grant briefly occupied a house in Satartia during the Vicksburg campaign. Some locals even believe that Grant used the house as one of his headquarters. Research by this writer, however, has revealed no firm evidence confirming that the general was present in Satartia at any time during the war. Another persistent legend is that while he was at Satartia, General Grant remained in a state of almost constant insobriety.

For years, a reputation of alcohol addiction had followed the general. Some thought that he simply had a low tolerance for alcohol and that consumption of even small amounts would result in his slurring of words. A contributing factor may have been Grant’s relatively small build. The general’s height was just under five foot eight, and his weight was only 140 pounds—not the type of physique that would typically allow consumption of prodigious amounts of alcohol without consequence.

Grant’s use of alcohol seemed to begin before the Civil War while he was a junior officer stationed on the West Coast, first at Fort Vancouver, Oregon, and later at Fort Humboldt in California. In 1854, thenCaptain Grant resigned from the Army—supposedly pressured to do so by his commander—and returned home to Missouri. He would not re-join the Army until the outbreak of the Civil War. Upon returning to active duty, Grant’s alleged alcohol problems seemed to follow him, as tales of western binges lingered.

According to most sources, however, Grant was not an alcoholic in the strictest sense. He never drank in the presence of his wife, Julia, and he occasionally went for months at a time without consuming alcohol. On occasions when he did indulge, however, he seemed prone to do so in excess.

It appeared that such an occasion occurred in June 1863, near Satartia. In the early evening of June 6, Grant boarded a steamer at Haynes Bluff, on the Yazoo near Redwood, intending to personally check his troops patrolling between Satartia and Mechanicsburg. What occurred during the night has been controversial, much of it based on comments by Charles Dana, Special Correspondent of the War Department, a confidant of Grant who

Original pencil line reportedly showing water level inside Kling House during 1882 flood.

Original pencil inscription on an upstairs wall of Kling House made by a Union soldier during Civil War.

Original servant's pass-through in dining-room wall of Kling House.

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Room inside Kling House used as a surgical room by Union occupiers (now a small bedroom).

Bedroom in Kling House showing original plank flooring.

accompanied him upriver on the trip. The opinion of most historians is that General Grant most likely used the occasion as an opportunity to indulge in alcohol. While headed upstream during the night, the boat’s captain learned that Union troops had withdrawn from Satartia and that the town had been occupied by Confederates.

Consequently, before reaching Satartia, he reversed course, and the steamer returned to Haynes Bluff.

According to Dana, Grant became thoroughly intoxicated and went to bed shortly after the steamer headed up the 128 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Yazoo. He further reported that Grant slept through the remainder of the night and awakened only after the boat had arrived at Haynes Bluff. As usual, however, the general seemed to awake fresh the next morning with no lingering effects from the previous night’s intemperance.

Historical evidence seems to confirm that Grant’s leadership in battle was never compromised by the influence of alcohol; however, following his initial failures to take Vicksburg, opponents of the war asked President Lincoln to remove Grant from the campaign, using the general’s supposed

abuse of alcohol as the reason. Lincoln’s response was reported to be, “Ah! You surprise me, gentlemen. But can you tell me where he gets his whiskey? Because if I can only find out, I will send a barrel of this wonderful whiskey to every general in the army.”

Satartia’s most well-known point of interest today is the only building that survived the Civil War—the house rumored to have been occupied by General Grant as one of his headquarters. This structure was completed in 1848 and is known as the Wilson House or, more commonly, the Kling House. The house was occupied for a time by Union forces but was probably never personally used by Grant. More likely, it was used as a military hospital. A room of the house attached to the kitchen is still known today as the hospital’s surgical operating room. A bag containing surgical implements was found in the attic of the house by the current owners and was believed to have been of Civil War vintage, but, unfortunately, it disappeared many years ago.

The Kling home was built by Robert Wilson, a native of New Hampshire, and was supposedly constructed of cypress lumber obtained by steamer from St. Louis.

A few years after the Civil War, Monroe Kling, a native of New York, came to Satartia, enticed to do so by his brother, Abe, a merchant who had settled in the town in

Metal ceiling medallion in the original dining room of Kling House.

Main hallway of Kling House

Plaster ceiling medallion in the front parlor of Kling House, reportedly with original paint still showing.

Front parlor of Kling House

1850. Abe Kling later enlisted as a private with the Satartia Rifles, a famed regiment serving during the war.

In 1873, Monroe King married Robert Wilson’s daughter, Elizabeth. Following Kling’s death in the early 1920s, the Kling House was rented until 1935, when it was again occupied by members of the original Wilson/Kling family, the Henry T. Carley family. Mr. Carley's daughter, Mrs. J. R. Pennington—the great-granddaughter of Robert Wilson—owned the house until 1973, when she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. C.E.

Lungrin. This conveyance ended 125 consecutive years of ownership by members of the Wilson/Kling family. The Lungrins later restored a portion of the downstairs floor of the home.

A mention of the Kling House in the Yazoo Herald of April 11, 1890, describes the house as a “beautiful home, with lovely gardens and sea-shelled walks. Internally it is as cosey [sic] as can be, and all that refined taste could suggest adorn the parlors and drawing rooms. Vineyards, gardens, orchards, and fish ponds occupy eight acres

and it is a rare retreat for a busy man of the world.”

Although the Kling House is considered to be one of the most well-preserved types of Greek Revival architecture in Yazoo County, its owners have been unable to have the house listed on the Register of Historic Places, primarily because the residence’s siding is not original. New siding was added many years after the original construction.

Despite its age—174 years—the house remains in remarkably good condition today, especially considering it has been caption hereDELTA MAGAZINE 2022 | 129

View of Yazoo River from the Satartia bridge.

flooded several times in its history. The water level during one such inundation, in March of 1882, is reportedly indicated by a penciled line that can still be seen on the wall of a downstairs closet.

Two other penciled inscriptions of Civil War vintage—believed to have been scrawled by Union soldiers—can still be observed on the wall of an upstairs room of the house. One inscription states, “To the unknown owner of this house, your case is a hard one and I pity you though I cannot relieve.” The other reads, “How are you rebel?”

The Kling House is a fascinating complement to the Vicksburg campaign history abounding in the Satartia/Mechanicsburg area. Although General Grant probably never visited Satartia and never occupied the Kling House, visiting the old home today is a poignant experience. The interior of the old home retains much of its original charm and grandeur. But standing inside, it is sobering when one imagines the suffering and dying that must have been experienced by wounded Union soldiers who were treated there. Their presence is palpable. DM (A portion of the information about the Kling House was taken from an article appearing on February 15, 1978, in the Peoples’ Press of Humphreys, Madison, and Yazoo Counties entitled, “Pre Civil War Old Home Being Remodeled By Lungrins.”)

(A portion of the information about General Grant’s actions and the strategy of Union forces was obtained from the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University).

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2022 UPCOMING EVENTS

CHRISTMAS PARADES

APRIL 9

IDEA Jaybird Spring Market

APRIL 23

Renaissance Day

DEC. 2

Iuka

MAY 7

Smokin’ on the Waterway/Touch A Truck

DEC. 3

Tishomingo

JULY 4

Belmont’s 4th of July Celebration

DEC. 5

Burnsville

JULY 4

Tishomingo’s 4th of July Celebration

TBA

Belmont

SEPT. 3

Iuka Heritage Day

SEPT. 3

Wheels of Northeast Miss. Antique Car Show

SEPT. 10

Belmont Bear Creek Festival/ Antique Car Show

SEPT. 24

Burnsville Waterway Festival/Antique Car Show

SEPT. 30 & OCT. 1

Trash & Treasures along the Tenn -Tom .

OCT. 1822 Tishomingo County Fair NOV. 12

IDEA Veteran’s Day Parade, Iuka

NOV. 12

IDEA Jaybird Holiday Market, Iuka

DEC. 16

Downtown Iuka’s Christmas Celebration

SCAN HERE

EVENTS

Bentonia Blues Festival, June 16-17

Fred Armisen, June 17

The Who, May 13

FESTIVALS, MUSIC & FUN THINGS TO DO April 29-May 1

Memphis

Beale Street Music Festival memphisinmay.org

Through May 15

May 7, 5:30-7:30 pm

Cleveland

May 12

Cody Jink with Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

Delta Arts Alliance

Bancorp South Arena

Memphis

Andy Warhol Exhibit

May 7

Brooks Museum brooksmuseum.org

Clarksdale Caravan Music Festival

Brooks & Dunn

visitclarksdale.com

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitheater.com

Through July 31

Memphis

May 7, 11 am-7 pm

Clarkdale

May 12

30th Annual Leland Crawfish Festival

May 13

MOSH moshmemphis.com

Historic Down Leland Featuring John Horton Band, Raymond Longoria, Ferd Moyse and Smokin Gun! lelandchamber.com

Ronnie Milsap

Cleveland

Waitress

May 6

Mississippi Makers Festival Memphis

Melissa Etheridge Graceland gracelandlive.com

Two Mississippi Museums Art, food and music festival featuring North MS Allstars msmakersfest.mdah.ms.gov

May 7 May 6-7

Yazoo City

Celebration of the Arts

Willie Nelson & Family

May 11-14

Gumtree Art & Wine Festival Downtown Tupelo gumtreeartandwinefestival.com

Brandon

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitheater.com

Triangle Cultural Center visityazoo.org

May 6-8

Jackson

Tupelo

Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest memphisinmay.org

Tunica Resorts

Gold Strike Casino goldstrike.mgmresorts.com

May 13 May 7

Bologna Performing Arts center bolognapac.com

Brandon

Leland

Isaac Hayes Exhibit

May 3, 7:30 pm

Tupelo

Art Opening: Lawson King and Devin Liston

Memphis

The Who FedEx Forum fedexforum.com

May 14

Cleveland

Pour Mississippi Beer & Music Festival Downtown keepclevelandboring.com

May 17

Brandon

Dave Matthews Band Memphis

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitheater.com

May 19

Oxford

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Ford Performing Arts Center fordcenter.org

May 20 T

unica Resorts

Heather Land Horseshoe Casino caesars.com/horseshoe-tunica

May 20

Air Supply Dave Matthews Band, May 17

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Graceland gracelandlive.com

Memphis

Bonnie Raitt, May 21

May 20

Memphis

Ray LaMontagne The Orpheum orpheum-memphis.com

May 21

Tunica

Southern Soul Black Invitational Rodeo Tunica Arena & Expo Center

May 21

Memphis

Bonnie Raitt The Orpheum orpheum-memphis.com

May 26-29

Oxford

World Championship Old Time Piano Playing Contest & Festival Nutt Auditorium, UM Music Building oldtimepianocontest.com

May 27-28

Clarksdale

Goat Fest IX Hopson Commissary/Shack Up Inn

May 27-28

Clarksdale

Ground Zero Blues Club 21st Anniversary groundzerobluesclub.com

May 28

Clarksdale

Red’s Old-Timers Music Festival MLK Park Stage near Red’s

June 4

Chatham

13th Annual Snake Grabbin Rodeo Lake Washington

June 4

Tunica Resorts

The Oak Ridge Boys Fitz Casino fitzgeraldstunica.com

June 7

Memphis

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Astronomy Bizarre The Orpheum orpheum-memphis.com

June 8-12

Tupelo

Tupelo Elvis Festival Downtown Tupelo tupeloelvisfestival.com

June 8-12

Grenada

Thunder on Water Grenada Lake thunderonwater.net

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June 9-11

Greenville

Delta Soul Celebrity Golf Tournament steveazarsaintceciliafoundation.org

June 10

Oxford

Robert Earl Keen

June 28

Graceland gracelandlive.com

June 29

The Lyric thelyricoxford.com

Memphis

The Drifters, The Coasters and The Platters

Brandon

Kenny Chesney

June 10

Jackson

Patti LaBelle

Brandon Amphitheater brandonamphitheater.com

LITERARY EVENTS

Thalia Mara Hall thaliamarahall.net

Taylor Brown

June 11

Tunica Resorts

Wingwalkers May 3, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

Martina McBride Horseshoe Casino caesars.com/horseshoe-tunica

Emily St. John

June 16-18

Bentonia

Bentonia Blues Festival Blue Front Cafe

Sea of Tranquility May 4, 12 pm: Lemuria Books, virtual event on Facebook Live Tom Sancton

June 17

Oxford

Fred Armisen

The Last Baron May 7, 2 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

The Lyric thelyricoxford.com

M. Chris Fabrican

June 17-19

Greenville

Culture Fest: Soul Food & Music Festival Washington Co. Convention Center

June 18

Memphis

Collective Soul

Junk Science May 13, 6 pm: Off Square Books, Oxford Julie Hines Mabus

Confessions of a Southern Beauty Queen May 17, 5:45 pm: Off Square Books, Oxford May 21, 1:30 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

Graceland gracelandlive.com

June 18

Clarksdale

BAM Festival Various locations around downtown area bamfestms.com

June 18

Leland

Sherye S. Green

Abandon Not My Soul May 19, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson Debby Thompson

Pulling Back the Iron Curtain

Hotter Than Hades Half Marathon

May 21, 12 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

Fundraiser for Christmas on Deer Creek lelandcoc@gmail.com

James Lee Burke

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood June 18

Grenada

Southern Firecracker Triathlon

May 24, 6 pm: Square Books virtual event on Zoom

southernfirecracker.com Steve Yarbrough

June 18-30

Cleveland

Janice Wyatt MSAI Core Arts Camp Residential art camp for students ages 12-18 bolognapac.com

June 21-24

Clarksdale

Pinetop Perkins Experience Workshop & Showcase Shack Up Inn/Ground Zero pinetopperkinsfoundation.org/workshop

Stay Gone Days May 24, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson May 26, 6 pm: Off Square Books, Oxford Jake Kaiser

Daffodil Hill June 7, 6 pm: Off Square Books, Oxford Diane C. McPhail

June 23

Jeff Dunham Horseshoe Casino caesars.com/horseshoe-tunica 136 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Tunica Resorts

The Seamstress of New Orleans June 7, 5 pm: Lemuria Books, Jackson

DM

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DELTA SEEN

Jamie Kornegay, Yolande van Heerden and John Beard

Lisa Smith, Kelli Stainback and Mary Neff Stewart

John Stewart, Mary Neff Stewart and Allison Calhoun

Rachel Goldberg and Lindsay Powers 138 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Turnrow Art Company’s First Anniversary celebration, Cocktails & Canvas in Greenwood on April 1

Sam Newsom, Kay Newsom, Mary Neff Stewart and Ellen Alderson

Andrew Stainback and John Stewart

Beth Barnes, Sally Hodges and Jessica Barnes

Kelly Kornegay, Beth Barnes and Yolande van Heerden

Alanna Mosley

Allison Calhoun, Brooke Nokes and Rachel Goldberg

Ellen and John Alderson

DELTA SEEN

Haley Farris Art Opening at the Cotton House Hotel in Cleveland on April 1 Photos by Gunner Sizemore Delta Artists Association Opening Reception of “Lucille” Art Exhibit at the BB King Museum in Indianola on March 4 Photos by Mary Catherine Brooks

Shannon Barrett, Haley Farris and Jason Barrett

Anna Reese, Will and Wilks Bradham

Pat Brown and Mary Lynn Powers

Meredith Brown, Lizzie Powers, Lucy Swayze, Haley Farris, Meagan Litton, Geney Galey, Landi Mohamed and Megan Litton

Presley and Landry Lee

Megan Denton and Haley Farris

Raymond Waddey, Pat Brown, Janice Neil Dean and Randy New

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DELTA SEEN

Haley Korb and Leigh Street

Eddie and Brandi Lovin

Comedian Leanne Morgan and BPAC executive director Laura Howell

Leanne Morgan at the Bologna Performing Arts Center on April 7 in Cleveland Photos by Gunner Sizemore

Scott and Christie Washington

Gay and Barry Stuart with Gina and Terry Roberts

Amy Morris, Sue Yount and Mallory Collins

Rebecca Winters and Julianna Bailey

Bib Belenchia, Kathleen Lott, Hilda Clarke and Laura Little Jordan Burchfield and Hayley Floyd

Karen and Ike Brunetti

Gaylen Howell, Nancy LaForge and Nan Sanders

Lisa Bramuchi and Beth Mansour

140 | MAY/JUNE 2022

Regina Pitts, Stephanie Lusk and Debra Yawn

DELTA SEEN

Dana Baugh and Tish Givens

Phillip and Jodie McIntosh

Susan Sizemore and Kendall Melton

Jamie and Jerry Borgognoni

Debbie Bullock, Shannon Taylor, Kim Phillips, Kim Buehring and Kerri Mosco

Tasha Huerta, Pam Maxwell, Sydney DeFillips, Kelly Cardelli and Andrea Sandifer

Susannah and Sean Wessel with Sean and Debbie Bullock

Scottie Johnson, Kim Phillips, Valerie Ouzts, Shelby Swafford, Kim Buehring, Leslie Bishop, Kendall Roberts, Kerri Mosco, Ferris Love Capocaccia, Maggi Mosco and Lucy Speakes

Penny Powell and Sissy Stallings

Paige Swindle and Elizabeth Branton

Emiliegh Williamson, Kelly Cardelli and Jackie Melissa Castle and Amanda Robinson Williamson DELTA MAGAZINE 2022

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DELTA SEEN

Barry Bays and Dr. Bill Lewis

Hostess Elizabeth Coleman and John Dean

Don Blades, Gary Hines, Hostess Ellen Ames and Anne MacVaugh

Charlie Harlow and John Dean

Melissa Moise and Kitty Kossman 142 | MAY/JUNE 2022

House Concert featuring musician Jordi Baizan at the Home of Gene and Ellen Ames in Rosedale on April 14

Jackie Lewis, Elizabeth Coleman and Florida McNeal

Jan de Regt, Host Jack Coleman, Marjan de Regt and Hall Warlick

Douglas Kelly, Elizabeth Coleman and Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis and LaMarr Winn

Jordi Baizan performs for the group

Sean Johnson, Representative Robert Sanders and Michael Lewis

Bill Dunlap Art Opening at Southside Gallery in Oxford on April 1 A selection of photos by Delta Magazine readers

Ed Croom and artist Bill Dunlap at Bill’s art opening in Oxford.

Robert Marsh, Bill Dunlap and Andrew Marsh

Sandy Ray, Haley Barbour and Mimi Taylor

DELTA SEEN

Leighton McCool, Bill Dunlap, Kathleen Waldrop, and Linda Burgess

Travis, Scott, and Cindy Coopwood with Bill Dunlap

Kathryn Parker, Deloris Franklin, Dolly Parton, Elizabeth Heiskell, Sarah Virden Quinn, Dylan Barker and Jane Ellen Warlick

Vernon Shelton, Willis Frazier, Bill Yates, Kirkham Povall, Sparky Reardon and Wayne Drinkwater

Carrie Tillis, Ashley Cleveland, Tricia Walker, and Pam Tillis, performing at GRAMMY Musuem Mississippi for the Women in the Round event.

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Thefinalword

Living Tradition ississippi was a big winner at the recent Grammy Awards, with Clarksdale’s Christone “Kingfish” Ingram taking home the Best Contemporary Blues Album award for 662 and Cedric Burnside, currently of Ripley, winning the Best Traditional Blues Album honor for I Be Trying. Those of us who live here are proud of our current homegrown talent, and it’s a real pleasure to see Grammy voters also recognizing Mississippi’s living musical treasures.

The state’s reputation as the “birthplace” of the blues is well known, but such recognition doesn’t necessarily translate to an awareness of contemporary music-making here. Many visitors come to Mississippi looking for remnants of our musical past, and there’s plenty to find—Charley Patton’s stomping grounds at Dockery Plantation, Robert Johnson’s mythical “crossroads,” Elvis’s first home, and so much more.

Hopefully they run into live music along the way, though many of our great talents are, as before, often out on the road.

A segment on Kingfish on CBS Saturday Morning this April featured video of him performing at the storied Apollo Theater in New York City just days before the Grammy Awards, while Burnside spent the month prior to the ceremony touring across Australia. They’ve both ascended to the top tier of the blues world, and a secret to their success was immersion in vibrant local music scenes.

Cedric Burnside is the grandson of North Mississippi Hill Country legend R.L. Burnside, with whom he played at both local juke juke joints and around the world.

Kingfish, on the other hand, was the product of both formal education and the unique opportunities presented by living in a blues Mecca. Notably, he’s an alumni of the Delta Blues Museum’s Arts and Education Program, and even represented its band during a visit to the White House in 2014.

JAMES PATTERSON

M

Scott Barretta, a resident of Greenwood, is a writer/researcher for the Mississippi Blues Trail and teaches sociology, including music classes, at the University of Mississippi. He is the former editor of Living Blues magazine, hosts the radio show Highway 61 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and has written exhibits for the B.B. King Museum and the Grammy Museum Mississippi. In 2006 he received MAC’s Governor’s Arts Award.

144 | MAY/JUNE 2022

BY SCOTT BARETTA

Kingfish, born in 1999, credits Bill “Howlin’ Madd” Perry, “Daddy Rich” Crisman and Anthony Sherrod, with teaching him basic music skills as well as learning how to play effectively in ensembles and the importance of studying historical figures of the blues. Meanwhile, he was exposed to blues history next door to his childhood home in Clarksdale, where bassist Jeremy Horton held rehearsals.

“They would have house parties, and they would let me go over there,” Kingfish recalled to me in an interview for Living Blues magazine in 2020. “Terry ‘Big T’ Williams, all the guys who were known in the area, like Michael [“Dr. Mike”] James, Anthony Sherrod, Wesley Jefferson, and you could probably throw Big Jack [Johnson] in the mix. Razorblade [Josh Stewart], all those other guys.

“I’ll be honest with you. At the time I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until I got immersed in the scene in town that I started putting the pieces together. I was like, ‘Man, that was history that I was hanging around and I didn’t even know it.’ And I was kind of mad at myself—even though I was five— I wish I could have utilized that time a little bit more, playing with those dudes. I could have been better at this point in my life.”

By his early teens Kingfish was able to play in Clarksdale’s clubs, initially on bass with the All Night Long Blues Band, Lucious Spiller, Stan Street, and Rip Butler.

He moved on to guitar with Space Cowboy and the Blues Posse, and was soon leading his own trio, causing a stir with his renditions of Hendrix’ take on “The Star Spangled Banner” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.”

But unlike other prodigies Kingfish also shines as a representative of a living tradition.

He’s a clear descendant of Patton, Johnson and Muddy, and is refreshing the tradition with new compositions that likewise reflect the realities of Delta life. DM