Leflore Illustrated Spring 2020

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After about four decades, store still maintains its musical draw Cardio tennis offers participants a high-energy, fun workout MVSU choir director is living out his dream Acy’s Grocery and Deli is known for having the “best burgers around” Carroll tax assessor and collector is also a longtime musician Fourth grader enjoys camaraderie when playing on sports teams FedEx pilot, Greenwood native enjoys a globe-trotting lifestyle Balloonist caught the flying “bug” as a teenager Renovating “forever home” is a labor of love

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t seemed too complicated at first. Betty Gail was in Nashville for spring break, visiting our daughter’s family. I was overloaded at the office.

The coronavirus was just starting to take hold in the United States. And I couldn’t find a reasonable price on airplane tickets to Kansas City.

Despite my sisters’ telling me not to worry about missing the 90th birthday celebration of my lone remaining aunt, I couldn’t quite let go of it.

Aunt Esther, who was married to my mother’s brother, Albert, had always been one of my favorite relatives. For many of the big occasions of my childhood — birthdays, Christmas, Easter — my family routinely gathered with hers. We had seven kids in our family. Esther and Albert had six. And when my mother’s other sibling, Cathy, and her family of five children joined in, it would be a raucous time. We loved it.

Esther and Albert’s own home seemed always fun to me.

They ran a tight ship. Their kids got away with less than we did with our parents. Still, I always felt at ease there.

My mother would sometimes quarrel with Cathy, and less often with Albert, but I never saw her and Esther get cross. I never saw Esther cross with her own husband either, which I thought remarkable and worthy of emulation, since my own parents quarreled almost daily. I considered Esther and Albert to be models for the type of marriage I hoped to have.

They met on the elevator of the building where the two of them worked. He was the son of Slovenian immigrants, and she the daughter of German ones. Like her father, who restored antique furniture, Esther developed many talents: Q / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

No regrets

as a cook, a seamstress, a painter and even a rug maker. She still plays a mean hand of bridge.

As with many children of the Great Depression, she was raised to be thrifty. She made a lot of her daughters’ dresses.

Rather than send money with her children to buy their lunches at the cafeteria at the nearby Catholic school they attended, they would all walk home for a noontime meal prepared by Esther.

She and Albert were a team, but at least once she conspired in a scheme to pull one over on him.

When their youngest daughter, then in her teens, had a minor automobile accident that punched a hole in the radiator of

the family car, she was certain her father would have a fit. She and Esther took the vehicle to a service station, where they were asked if a tree branch had done the damage. The two decided that sounded like a pretty good story, and it’s the one they provided Albert. It kept the daughter out of the doghouse, at least until a different mechanic scoffed at the explanation.

As I began to introduce Betty Gail, during our courtship, to my large and complicated family, I had no reservations about her meeting Esther and Albert. I knew they would like her, and she would like them. It stuck in Betty Gail’s memory how Esther rationalized weight gain in middle age. “Old people

don’t look good skinny,” she said.

Esther and Albert came to Mississippi for my wedding, where they helped lead the group in polkas and the German “chicken dance.” Thirty years later and after Albert had died, Esther returned to this state, chauffeured by her oldest daughter and son-in-law, this time for our daughter’s wedding.

Betty Gail and I were there for Esther and Albert’s 50th wedding anniversary. We were there for Albert’s funeral. I didn’t want to miss out on Esther’s 90th milestone.

“Regrets,” as one of my sisters says, “are hell.”

At the last minute, everything came together for Betty Gail and me to be there. I found a bargain on plane fare and a way to get enough of my work done to leave. It would be a quick trip — less than 48 hours in Kansas City — but a worthwhile one. There would be enough time to catch up with my best friend from high school and college, to spend time with several of my own siblings, and pay tribute to the best aunt a person could hope for.

Although the country wasn’t yet on lockdown, the coronavirus caused a few adjustments.

We kept our social distance from Esther, except for a few brief slip-ups. I was told that she had been apprehensive before the event, not about COVID19, but about being the center of attention.

With six children, 17 grandchildren, three stepgrandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, plus two more on the way, she didn’t have much choice. Esther has led a life worth celebrating.

Luckily the health crisis stayed far enough away that weekend to give us a chance to tell her in person. — qáã=h~äáÅÜ

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‘All the music in the Delta’

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harles Hall, a native Greenwoodian who has had a musical instruments store in Greenwood about four decades, picked up a banjo inside the store.

One second he was saying, “I don’t play the banjo very often” and the next second he was playing one.

Indeed, it sounded good.

Hall, who often plays the guitar and keyboards, can pick up all kinds of instruments and make music. He’s been helping people in Greenwood find their talent for one

instrument or another since the Charles Hall Studio opened at West Claiborne Avenue and Grand Boulevard in the late 1970s, or as he said, “maybe the early 1980s.”

Over the years, he’s made a living from all things musical. This includes instruments and sound systems, and his customers come from all around the Delta and beyond. Hall has taught guitar at the store, and Brian Hadley of Winona has been teaching guitar and keyboards there for years. A recording studio, which Hall said is no longer a large part of his business, has been well used over

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the years. From the studio work and recordings he has collected, the 69-year-old Hall has an archive that’s unusual and perhaps unique.

For example, there’s a recording of the great, late jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, also a Greenwood native, that “we made when he was playing over at Greenwood High School,” Hall said.

He usually has “a couple of interesting projects in the works, sometimes involving transferring and restoring old recordings from various mediums.” Lately, Hall’s been going through and remastering “old reel-to-reel tapes” made by “my dear friend Cynthia Thomas, an elderly jazz pianist originally from England” before she passed away recently.

There’s more, of course, from across the spectrum of American roots. Hall said after he and his wife, Roxanne, set up their home and store in Greenwood, they began to fully realize the possibilities.

He had attended Delta State University and then Memphis State, and for several years he lived “mostly in Memphis playing with everything from opera orchestras to Elvis impersonators.

“One of the strangest things I got involved with in Memphis was a project to promote Elvis Presley’s nephew, Tony, as a singing star. This was backed by a wealthy Memphis lawyer, and they managed to get an article in the National Enquirer claiming to have had a seance with Elvis (about Tony’s career) in which he said he was all for it.”

In Greenwood, he played with Robby Browning, David Shaw, Steve Everett, Stacy Wren and Trey Pollard, among others. “I was invited to join the great Curb Service band — at that time Joe Seawright, Johnny Freeman, Johnny Jennings, John Eliot and Jack Glaze.” Through his guitar students, he began assisting and recording up-and-coming young musicians. He said helping them with demos and equipment “kind of segued (with) going into music retail-

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ing and putting on an annual Battle of the Bands with the help of Clay Ewing and WGRM.” He soon realized he had the chance to tune into “all of the music in the Delta,” and he

“began getting to know many black gospel groups, a number of whom we recorded, and an enormous diversity of other players — blues, bluegrass, jazz, country — as well as people connected with school

music programs and theater.”

Today, “the biggest musical scene around here is the black gospel groups,” he said, and he works throughout the region providing sound systems and instruments for churches and

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gospel groups.” He added, “We also deal with a number of excellent DJs and keep a stock of replacement components for speakers.”

Hall’s customers tend to become longtime friends. And they make other friends at his place. The guitarist Will Freeman, 37, of Gunboat and now B3, grew up in Greenwood. He said the store is significant in ways people don’t always consider. “How important it is for youth in Greenwood to have a local music store where you are not just ordering stuff online and where you meet local musicians,” he said.

Freeman was raised among musicians, including his uncle, Jim Turner, and his dad, Johnny Freeman. After Turner finished working many years for Fender Guitars, he was employed at the store, and Will Freeman gravitated toward it anyway.

“I would go to Charles Hall even before I learned how to play,” Freeman said. “I met some of my lifelong friends at the local music store,” he said. “He would be working there or his wife, Roxanne, or a guy named James Goss.”

Freeman’s first guitar lessons were from Hadley, the longtime teacher.

Young and old from all around show up there regularly. Recently, Oney Cole of Indianola and his wife, Lutrissa, came into the store with their 5-year-old grandson, Dylan Jordan. They had an old baritone ukulele, which Lutrissa said “needs to go the hospital.” Their main purpose was to buy a guitar for Cole, who at age 68 has retired as a mechanic for Mississippi Delta Community College.

Cole, who is sight-impaired, had played guitar in his youth. “I played a little bit with Willie Clayton,” the widely known Chicago bluesman who grew up in Indianola, he said. But Cole said he knew himself that “I wasn’t going to make no career from music.” So he let it go. But now he wanted a guitar, which they purchased, to pick it back up, play with his brother and teach his grandson.

“I’ve always loved music,” he said.

As has Hall. As a teenager, he played in the Greenwood High School band under the direction of Jeff Capwell, who expanded Hall’s musicianship. “He had me playing mariachis and the xylophone,” Hall said.

In Memphis, he got to see and hear jazz greats Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Herbie Mann. At some point he saw the movie, qÜÉ=däÉåå=jáääÉê=píçêó, and he still watches it every so often. Hall’s remained impressed with the big-band leader. “It really seems like a wonderful thing that he did. He was just obsessed with it.” No doubt Miller, like Hall, could play almost any instrument in his band, if only a little bit. LI

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ardio tennis is a very social activity for all ages, abilities and fitness levels.

That’s why Marko Lovrinovic implemented the program in Greenwood after he arrived a year and a half ago as the tennis professional for Greenwood Country Club and Twin Rivers.

It looks like just another tennis workout as balls sail by Lovrinovic, but the plastic cones and the rope ladder along either side of the court suggest otherwise. This is a group class that combines traditional tennis practice with other endurancebuilding exercises. The workout is typically at least six to eight players per court, using the agility ladder, cardio balls (red and orange tennis balls), music and heart rate monitors.

Lovrinovic says it is a fun group activity featuring drills to give players of all abilities an ultimate, high-energy workout, and that if you have interest in tennis at all, he suggests it as a healthy, new way to get in shape and burn calories.

“I don’t think there was anything like it before around here,” said Lovrinovic, who is a USPTA-certified tennis professional with seven years of coaching experience and 20 years of playing experience. “I probably had around a hundred people who have tried my class and about 25 regulars. This is the only tennis class where it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or if you are an advanced player. Everybody is welcome to come and have a blast while burning calories and listening to music.”

The classes are held mostly at Twin Rivers.

Longtime Greenwood tennis player Mignon Hodges plays at a high level — a 4.5 ranking. She loves the social aspect of cardio tennis.

“The music, it’s fun exercise and getting to mix in with all levels of tennis players,” Hodges said. “I suggest it to anyone that has any interest in learning more about the sport.”

Lovrinovic agrees, saying cardio tennis is the best way to start and train for the sport as a newcomer. As for medium-level players, he has seen the program improve their tennis skills.

“This is the only tennis class where it doesn’t matter what level you play at, from beginner to advanced,” said the native of

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Croatia. “Cardio tennis is an engaging group fitness program featuring the heart-pumping effects of tennis drills, games and skills, delivering the ultimate full-body and calorie-burning aerobic and anaerobic workout.”

Shawna Young was one of the first to sign up when Lovrinovic started the classes. “I like it because it is a different workout,” she said. “You are constantly moving, and you burn lots of calories while enjoying the outdoors and having fun.”

Unlike a regular game of tennis, cardio tennis is focused on fitness and less on hitting great forehands and backhands. It was started in September 2005 by the Tennis Industry Association as

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a way to get more people involved in the sport.

Lisa Melton, an avid tennis player, was excited when cardio version was first implemented in Greenwood. It has been everything she hoped it would be — and more.

“I had heard about cardio tennis being in other, maybe bigger towns for years before it came to Greenwood. While we were searching for a pro, we all hoped whoever was hired would do it. And sure

enough Marko brought the program when he came,” she said. “He offers it on Saturday mornings, mainly as he alternates between Twin Rivers and GCC, since their tennis programs are somewhat merged.

“I find it to be both challenging for cardio strengthening as well as a fun way to work on some of the basic tennis drills. I personally have enjoyed being able to incorporate it as a family activity with my high school/college-age children

It’s also a fun social activity because players of different levels are able to participate all together in one cardio session.”

For those who participate, cardio tennis means more of a “total body” workout than just tennis alone or other activities, such as running or cycling. Both the upper and lower body are involved during a session.

Family. Fitness. Fun. Music.

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Living out his dream

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randon Cash has been in love with music ever since the tender age of 4, and now he’s living out his dream to teach music on the college level.

Originally from Ashland, Virginia, the 34-year-old has earned several degrees in music and education and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia.

For the last six of the 10 years he’s been a music educator, Cash has worked at the high school level. A friend of his saw the job opening at Mississippi Valley State University and encouraged him to apply.

Cash became the new director of choral activities and an assistant professor of music at the school last August.

“Mississippi is a little bit slower than Atlanta,” Cash said with laughter.

“Everyone has been very hospitable, and everybody has been concerned in how I have been adjusting in Mississippi.”

He also said that his colleagues in the music department helped him get acclimated and were his family away from home.

“Going from a very robust city to a very calm, everything-closes-at-9-or-10-on-theweekdays type of place, you look at things from a different perspective,” he said.

“You try to make your own opinion about what’s best for you in the moment, and I have to say that colleagues have been very helpful. Even people on campus in different apartments have been very helpful,” Cash said.

“In the transition of moving up and moving from where I’ve been for the last 10 years now, coming to a new place, new

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job, anxiety levels have been a lot lower,” he added.

Cash doesn’t spend all of his time educating young people about choral music.

He also likes to go to concerts, travel, shop, visit family and friends, work out and live life with his Maltese Yorkie, Tatum.

“I love to make people laugh, I love to cook, and I’m always willing to help people,” Cash said.

His favorite things to cook are steak and fried chicken, and his favorite baked good is pound cake.

His love for music started in the church.

He said his passion was sparked by seeing Cleithenia Arrington-Johnson, a pianist and organist at his childhood church, play during worship. He was then exposed to different types of music from gospel choir, and that’s when he wanted to make it into a career.

“It made me want to hone this vocal aspiration I had at the time,” he said.

He played trombone in middle and high school and college. He started wanting to be a choir director while in college.

“All I knew was gospel music, and then I got exposed to other genres of music,” he said. “There were other avenues of being a musician that I could explore.”

He said that between moving and pursuing his degrees, he cannot go to church as regularly as he would like. However, he is involved in organizations such as the American Choir Directors Association, the National Collegiate Society, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America Inc.

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and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

He said he has been inspired by his mother, Juanita, who raised him and his younger sister, Brittney, by herself — “just looking at her tenacity and strength and her being the only child helping my grandmother when she got sick and passed away, then helping my grandfather — just using that strength to press forward.”

He said his grandfathers, Clarence Cash and Charles Tyler, and his father, James

Toliver, are also big inspirations in his life because of their work ethic and perseverance.

On the professional level, he said Dr. Kay Pace has been his biggest inspiration over the last decade. “She would call me her son and help me with any situation I had, be it life lessons or trying to teach,” he said. “In the process, she’s been very influential and inspirational. I’m trying to be the best I can be.” LI

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Worth the drive

A

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fter taking a bite of the locally famed Acy’s cheeseburger, Jerrika Goss of Greenwood says, “This burger is absolutely worth the drive.”

Located about 15 minutes from the hustle and bustle of town, Acy’s Grocery and Deli is a nice escape from the lunchtime

rush and home to the best burger in Greenwood, according to its many fans.

Acy’s, hidden in the hills off of Mississippi

430, first opened its doors in 1988 and was purchased a year later by William Tackett of Greenwood and his late wife, Delores. The Tackett family has owned the establishment since.

“My parents bought the store and told me and my brother to come work with them,” said Randy Tackett of Greenwood.

“They told us in 10 years they would retire and turn the store over to us. That was 30 years ago, and it hasn’t been turned over yet.”

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Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / NR

Above: The “famous” Acy's burger sits on a plate with a side of seasoned fries.

Upper right: Acy’s Grocery and Deli, hidden in the hills off of Mississippi 430, usually has anywhere from 25 to 30 people come in to eat each day and many more to-go orders.

Randy and his brother, the late Rodney Tackett, began working with their parents right out of high school. The store became a family affair for the brothers and their parents.

Since Delores’ passing in 2015 and Rodney’s passing in 2019, William and Randy have taken sole responsibility of the store.

“My mother died five years ago. She took care of the kitchen. My brother died a year ago. We really took care of the front of the store. We would swap back and forth on opening and closing,” Randy said.

“It was really nice because there was always family here. Now it’s kind of different because we are running out of family,” he said.

Even though they have lost two loving members of their team, William and Randy see to it that the store is open seven days a week to service their customers. The store is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s really surprising how many people will drive out here,” Randy said. “We usually have anywhere from 25 to 30 people come in to eat, but we do way more to-go orders.”

Randy said there are a few local businesses that will usually get together and order.

“They’ll then have someone run out here and pick the orders up,” he said.

Rachel Mitchell said the drive to Acy’s is the perfect opportunity to clear your head before getting a delicious meal.

NS / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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William Tackett and his son, Randy Tackett, run Acy’s Grocery and Deli. William and his late wife, Delores, purchased Acy’s in 1989, and the Tackett family has owned the establishment since.

“They have one of the best cheeseburgers around,” she said. “If you need a short drive to clear your head, call and order something to go.”

When asked what the most popular item on the menu is, Randy did not hesitate to say, “It’s the burger, no doubt.”

Jennifer Marshall of Greenwood said, “I literally wouldn’t choose to eat a hamburger anywhere else I go, but I drive out there to get one. It’s the best.”

Although the burger may be the most popular, Acy’s has a vast menu for breakfast and lunch. During breakfast hours from 6 to 10 a.m., the store serves breakfast plates with eggs and a choice of meat. Customers also have the choice of adding toast, biscuits or pancakes to their order if they choose.

Other lunchtime favorites include baskets with pulled pork, chicken strips or shrimp, or burger patties, po’ boys or sandwiches with an array of sides from which to choose, such as fries, onion rings and Tater Tots.

Everything is cooked to order, so customers are guaranteed a hot, fresh meal within a few minutes of ordering. William

may even tell you to wait on paying until you are finished eating because “you may want something else.”

“We try to have everything ready very quickly,” said Randy. “My dad is so particular, and my momma was very particular.

“It was a ‘This is the way we’re going to do things’ attitude. They firmly believe if you want something done, you better do it right.”

In addition to offering hot meals, the store also makes sure to have other necessities available for its customers.

“We have bread and eggs; we slice meat — ham, roast beef, turkey. We really try to cover all of the basics,” Randy said. “My dad even used to fix flats in the shop connected to the store 15 years ago.”

Randy and his wife, Beth, have two sons, John Hollis, a freshman at the University of Mississippi, and Sumner, a freshman at Pillow Academy.

Randy said he does not see his dad slowing down anytime soon, and they both say they look forward to continuing to serve the people of Greenwood, Black Hawk and the surrounding areas. LI

Colton Landers of Greenwood enjoys a cheeseburger from Acy's. He says it is “the best cheeseburger ever.”

“They have one of the best cheeseburgers around.”

Rachel Mitchell

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / NT

NU / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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A borrowed skill

ilton Neal stays busy during the day as Carroll County’s tax assessor and collector, but he also enjoys sharing his faith in the community as a musician.

Neal has led the music at Mount Olive Baptist Church for more than two years and previously served in that capacity for 45 years at North Carrollton Baptist. He has been a familiar face at revivals and other special church gatherings as well as community theater productions.

He was elected tax assessor and collector in 1976 and served 34 years before retiring. He ran for a 10th time in 2015, won and was reelected in 2019. So he’s used to taking church-related calls at his tax office and tax-related calls in a church setting. But he loves the work at Mount Olive.

When he stepped down from North Carrollton Baptist, he planned to stay active as a fill-in music minister, and he served in that capacity at Mount Olive while Randy Hemphill was sidelined by surgery. But after Hemphill recovered, Neal stayed in the job, and he said it's worked out well for everyone.

“I’m having a blast out here,” he said. “The people are just so nice, and they’re glad I’m here.”

He stays in contact with North _ó=Ç~óI=táäíçå=kÉ~ä=áë=`~êêçää=`çìåíóÛë=í~ñ=~ëëÉëëçêI=Äìí=ÜÉÛë=~äëç=âåçïå=Ñçê=Üáë=ëâáäë=~ë=~=ãìëáÅá~åK Carrollton Baptist, too. kÉ~ä=äÉ~Çë=íÜÉ=ãìëáÅ=~í=jçìåí=läáîÉ=_~éíáëí=`ÜìêÅÜK pqlov _v a^sfa jlkolb n melqlp _v glekkv gbkkfkdp

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / NV

“We did a Christmas program here in the morning; they did theirs at night,” he said. “I sang two Christmas cantatas the same day.”

v v v

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Neal, 70, spent his early childhood in Florida, living across from an air base between the towns of Greenwood and Marianna and attending Greenwood Baptist Church. His father worked at the air base as an airplane mechanic.

After the base closed, he and his family moved to North Carrollton, where his father ran a service station for 30 years.

Neal said his father taught him about hard work and honesty and even encouraged him to run for office.

His father also played guitar and passed on his love of music. “I believe it can be in your genes,” Neal said. “It’s just part of your makeup.”

He said he doesn’t remember singing at the Florida church, but he had a cousin, Ginny Neal, who sang, as did her brother, Mike.

“I used to be so envious of them because I couldn’t play anything,” he said.

“So I got Ginny to teach me how to play a little bit on a ukulele.”

One summer, his father let him go to Hagerstown, Maryland, to sell books for The Southwestern Company. He ended up selling books for six summers, traveling to several states.

“That really was a growth time for me,” he said. “I talked to more folks, probably, in those six summers than most folks talk to in their lifetime.”

One summer in the mountains of Kentucky, he exchanged a set of books for a Gibson guitar that was cracked on the top. “I got me a little piece of wood, propped it up, and I tried to play that thing,” he said. “I can remember when I was going to Delta State, I sat out on the front porch in this little house we rented, and I tried to play that thing.”

His wife wouldn’t let him play in the house, and he admits he wasn’t very good at it, but he kept working: “I just had a desire to learn it — to learn something.”

He picked up advice from others, including one person who told him that if he could learn fÑ=f=e~Ç=~=e~ããÉê=— which requires playing C, A minor, F and G — he could play many other songs.

“I don’t know much about a guitar, but I know if you start off in C, you have to go to F and G. And, see, if you start off in G, you’ve got to go to C and D,” he said. “I don’t know a whole lot about it, but I know enough about it to really enjoy it.”

Neal completed a computer science degree at Holmes Community College in 1970 and then studied business at Delta

State University. While at Holmes, he sang and led music on Wednesday nights at vespers.

He led his first revival at Harlan Creek Church, west of Lexington, at the invitation of Ted Evans, the manager of Holmes’ football team.

“Since that time, God’s blessed me with numerous revival opportunities — churches everywhere,” he said.

Once, he was asked to lead music at a Kairos Prison Ministry event at a time when he hadn’t been playing for while. During a break, he picked up a guitar and played a song called oÉãáåÇ=jÉI=aÉ~ê içêÇK “It just says the things that I love and hold dear in my heart are just borrowed,” he said.

“The Lord spoke to me through that song. He said, ‘I gave you that. I loaned that to you. I loaned that skill to you. What are you going to do with it?’”

So he started playing guitar again, buying a Fender acoustic instrument from Debbie Suggs at North Carrollton Baptist. He had loaned his earlier guitar to someone in Grenada and hasn’t seen it since, but he says that’s fine: “Hopefully maybe somebody has gotten it fixed.”

v v v Neal said he sometimes gets invitations to play and sing at unexpected times and doesn’t know where some people have heard about him. But he’s glad to do it — and glad that his work schedule and the capable staff at the tax office allow him to step out occasionally for a daytime church event.

“God just gives me opportunities like that. I’m thankful for that,” he said. “I’m thankful that I have work that I can ease out from.”

Years ago, Bernard Taylor, who was Neal’s music director in high school and led music at Carrollton Baptist, invited him to sing there. “He was very influential in my life — very influential,” Neal said. “And he would invite me to come to their church and sing in a cantata. He gave me a little solo part — a tenor solo.”

Later, Alva Montgomery, an

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alto at North Carrollton Baptist, asked Neal why they didn’t do a cantata there, so he decided the choir would start performing them for Christmas and Easter.

Now they’re holiday favorites, he said: “Once you do one, you don’t quit.”

Neal, who has performed in Greenwood Little Theatre plays including dçÇëéÉää, qÜÉ c~åí~ëíáÅâëI=lâä~Üçã~>I=låÅÉ réçå=~=j~ííêÉëë=and gçëÉéÜ=~åÇ íÜÉ=^ã~òáåÖ=qÉÅÜåáÅçäçê=aêÉ~ãÅç~í as well as Hillfire folk plays, worked with former North Carrollton Baptist pastor Archie Goodwin to bring some theatrical activities to the church, too.

“We started an Easter drama deal. We had the set, built the stage, the whole works,” said Neal, who has sung as Pontius Pilate in the drama. “And I could use my skills that I learned in secular events like the Little Theatre at the church.”

He often performs for senior adult ministries and at nursing homes and funerals, which he said has been a blessing. He also has played Santa Claus at Greenwood Market Place for 45 years — and sometimes he gets to combine that with his musical activities.

On one trip he went to a nursing home in Greenville and “sang gáåÖäÉ=_Éääë=and tÜáíÉ `Üêáëíã~ë=and páäîÉê=_Éääë=and all

those songs, all the way to l eçäó=káÖÜíI in my Santa Claus suit,” he said. Then, still dressed as Santa, he went to several places in Indianola and Greenwood to spread Christmas cheer.

v v v Another favorite feature of Neal’s musical activities is whistling, which he picked up from his father.

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t whistling,” he said.

Once while he was in Yalobusha County for a revival at Hopewell Baptist Church, he started whistling, and Guy Dale Shaw, a longtime tax assessor in that county, heard him.

“He said, ‘Wilton, you ought to whistle at church tonight,’” Neal recalled. “I said, ‘Man, Guy Dale, you’re crazy. I’m not going to whistle in church.’ And he said, ‘Look, I think the people might enjoy it.’”

So he did — and after getting a good response, he incorporated whistling into more musical programs. He said he’s amazed at how much people like it, although he recognizes that it’s unusual for a church service.

After one event at St. John’s United Methodist, a woman asked him if he had recorded

anything. “I said, ‘Ma’am, all I’ve got is a little whistling CD,’” he recalled. A few days later, Lorraine Carl, mother of Viking Range founder Fred Carl Jr., made a similar request, and he sent her a CD of him whistling and one of him singing. Carl, who was 89 then and is now deceased, wrote him to say she had enjoyed listening to the CDs, and he also got a complimentary letter from Viking.

“I just use those letters as encouragement — to keep on sharing with folks,” he said.

Since then, he has made many CDs featuring his whistling and singing and mailed them to people. “I’ve actually gone to McDonald’s on Christmas Day in Winona, and I see people come in from out of state, and I just give them a CD,” he said, laughing.

v v v Neal said he doesn’t expect to run for another term in the tax office, and he is looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “I’ll be 74, and that’s enough,” he said.

As for his music ministry, he said he’s enjoyed working with Pastor Kenny Roberson and the others as Mount Olive.

“I feel like this is where God wants me to be right now,” he said. “And I love the people. I enjoy serving with the new pastor. ... To have a choir of 15, 18 people’s good. I mean, a lot of the town churches don’t have that, you know?”

He said he would like to learn to do more on the guitar but has been too busy. He also has a harmonica and has always been interested in learning to play it, but he’s never pursued it.

Mostly, he wants to pass on his love of music to others and encourage singers to use their talents.

“I guess that’s what I really desire, is to help more people to have more confidence to sing and enjoy it, because it’s been such an important part of my life,” he said. “I think being able to sing has given me confidence and everything. It’s given me joy. It brings joy.” LI Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / ON

OO / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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R

iley Coleman is ready to see her friends from school again.

“We’ve been doing distance learning,” said the Pillow Academy fourth grader.

The school switched over to distance learning in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On warm spring days, the 9year-old — soon to be 10 in June — completes her distance learning and then goes outside and plays soccer or spends time with her black Lab, Max. The daughter of Richie and Patti Coleman of Greenwood, she is enjoying the springtime weather, if it’s not raining.

When asked if she likes distance learning, Riley replied, “Not that much. I like seeing all my friends at school.” aç=óçì=Ü~îÉ=~=Ñ~îçêáíÉ ëìÄàÉÅí=~í=ëÅÜççä\ I like reading and English. tÜó=Çç=óçì=äáâÉ=íÜçëÉ ëìÄàÉÅíë=íÜÉ=ÄÉëí\ I don’t actually know. It’s just fun. tÜ~í=~êÉ=óçìê=Ñ~îçêáíÉ ÜçÄÄáÉë\=I like sports. I like coloring and painting; I like art. And then I like reading. tÜ~í=~êÉ=óçìê=Ñ~îçêáíÉ ëéçêíë\ I like soccer and softball, and I play basketball. tÜó=~êÉ=íÜçëÉ=óçìê Ñ~îçêáíÉ\ You get to have teams. You’re not just one person; you get to play with your team, and it’s fun. ^êÉ=óçì=çå=~åó=ëéçêíë íÉ~ãë\ We were supposed to

Team pl ayer name is Rio. We’ve had him for like one year, whenever I turned 9 years old. He’s a beta fish. He’s like blue and turquoise. fë=óçìê=ÄêçíÜÉê=óçìåÖÉê çê=çäÇÉê=íÜ~å=óçì\ Younger.

He is 6 years old. aç=óçì=äáâÉ=ÄÉáåÖ=~=ÄáÖ ëáëíÉê\ Kind of. tÜ~íÛë=íÜÉ=ÄÉëí=é~êí=~åÇ ïçêëí=é~êí=~Äçìí=ÄÉáåÖ=~=ÄáÖ ëáëíÉê\=The best part is you get to boss him around. Not boss him, but you get to tell him what to do. And the worst part is: He’s a boy, and he’s younger. Boys are just gross. aç=óçì=Ü~îÉ=~=Ñ~îçêáíÉ ÑççÇ\ I like ramen noodles.

And then I like pizza, and tacos are good, too. aç=óçì=Ü~îÉ=~=Ñ~îçêáíÉ Å~åÇó\ I like chocolate, any type of chocolate. tÜ~íÛë=óçìê=Ñ~îçêáíÉ Åçäçê\ I like turquoise. My whole room is turquoise — my walls are, my bed is and then my fish is. tÜ~í=Çç=óçì=ï~åí=íç=ÄÉ ïÜÉå=óçì=Öêçï=ìé\=I like animals, so I want to be a vet. fÑ=óçì=ÅçìäÇ=áåîÉåí=~åóJ íÜáåÖI=ïÜ~í=ïçìäÇ=áí=ÄÉ\ OK, so this is for my mom. I want to invent something that could pick up leaves, like it sucks up leaves. You set it down, turn it on, and then it sucks up all the leaves. tÜ~í=ïçìäÇ=óçì=å~ãÉ óçìê=áåîÉåíáçå\ The Leaf-anator. fÑ=óçì=ÅçìäÇ=ÅÜ~åÖÉ=~åóJ íÜáåÖ=~Äçìí=dêÉÉåïççÇI ïÜ~í=ïçìäÇ=áí=ÄÉ\=The coronavirus. ... And a Newk’s and Zaxby’s. The restaurants here are good, but I like Newk’s a lot. And a movie theater and a water park. LI

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do softball, and I play on a soccer team, and it’s a travel soccer team. Our travel soccer team is the Delta Red Bulls. My softball team, we were supposed to practice one week, but then the coronavirus was here, so they canceled all of it. tÜ~í=~êÉ=óçìê=Ñ~îçêáíÉ Äççâë\ Some of the books that we read at school. We read chapter books, and one of them was lìí=çÑ=jó=jáåÇ, and another one is e~êêó=mçííÉê — I read that one but not at school.

I’ve read the first one, and in

the summer, I am planning to read the second one. tÜ~íÛë=óçìê=Ñ~îçêáíÉ ãçîáÉ\ I like e~êêó=mçííÉê. aç=óçì=Ü~îÉ=~åó=ëáÄJ äáåÖë\ I have a brother named Luke and a dog named Max, and we have a turtle and I have a fish. tÜ~í=~êÉ=íÜÉ=å~ãÉë=çÑ óçìê=íìêíäÉ=~åÇ=ÑáëÜ\ Leroy is the turtle, and my mom and dad got him whenever they were in college. (Leroy is about 15 years old.) He’s a redeared turtle. And my fish’s

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Up in the air

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unter Stuckey’s fondest childhood memories have been up in the air — literally.

His parents — Greenwood attorneys Wallie and the late Katherine Stuckey — had a 1939 Piper J-3 airplane.

“It was an old WWII trainer,” Hunter Stuckey said. “It’s very special, very light.

“I was really lucky that my parents had bought an airplane when I was really young. I grew up flying with my dad, mostly. And both of my parents had pilot licenses.”

Stuckey’s love of flying remained with him throughout his childhood, although he did not initially choose to become a pilot.

He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in business and soon after started the job hunt, interviewing for entry-level positions at various investment banks.

During the course of these interviews,

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Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / OR

Stuckey not only realized that working at an investment bank wasn’t what he wanted to do, he went through his entire college career without knowing what he’d do career-wise.

Taking a moment to reflect, Stuckey remembered his love of flying and thought of all the baby pictures of him with model airplanes.

“I decided on a whim to go to flight school in 2003,” Stuckey said.

He saved up money from his job as a waiter and moved to Deland, a town in central Florida just outside of Daytona Beach.

After completing flight school, Stuckey became a flight instructor in 2004 and taught aspiring pilots how to fly small airplanes. Meanwhile, he built up his flight time and earned various flight licenses.

In 2006, Stuckey landed his first airline job with Air Wisconsin. He worked there until 2015, flying 50-passenger jets primarily along the East Coast. He became a captain and instructor.

“The big thing about that job was the people that we worked with. Everybody was amazing.

When we started a trip, it was like you’re working with family,” Stuckey said. “Just the people that you work with, that makes or breaks the job.”

Stuckey moved on next to Air Atlas, for which he was given the opportunity to fly Boeing 747s. The wide-bodied aircraft is known as the “Queen of the Sky” since many pilots dream to fly it.

“It’s incredibly beautiful. It’s that big plane with that hump on the nose,” Stuckey said.

“It’s a lot of fun to fly.”

For Air Atlas, Stuckey mainly flew freight and military charters. He transported U.S. troops from the states to Germany or Qatar and Kuwait in the

In 2018, Stuckey landed a job with FedEx, where he currently works transporting freight all over the world.

He now flies a Boeing 777 — known as the “triple.”

Middle East.

In 2018, Stuckey landed a job with FedEx, where he currently works transporting freight all over the world.

He now flies a Boeing 777 — known as the “triple.”

“That’s one of their international airplanes that goes all over the world,” Stuckey said.

The Memphis resident travels for work to far-flung places have also given him the opportunity to explore different parts of the world on his days off.

There are times when he will have up to five days between flights.

“It’s important for me not to get complacent and stuck in a hotel room,” Stuckey said.

“When I first started traveling, it was fun just to check off a box — ‘Ah, I’ve been here.’”

Then he wanted to see sights, followed by tasting the local cuisine.

Now his aim of travel is to immerse himself by meeting new people and learning the local culture and language of wherever he’s at.

He’ll do research ahead of time of the places he’s about to visit. Using the web application Google Maps, Stuckey will drop pins at various locations to mark what he wants to see.

“When I land in an area, all I have to do is connect the dots,” he said.

“It’s easy to meet people, especially if you’re running around by yourself, by just talking,” he said. “I love hearing about how people live their lives.”

The 42-year-old bachelor has been so far to 40 countries and every continent except Antarctica. He’s been tempted to visit that frozen continent recently just to check it off his list. He’s logged over 11,000 hours of flight.

The long and numerous flights can wear down a pilot, he said.

“The biggest battle for pilots is fatigue, dealing with all the time-zone changes. It’s very difficult. It’s something I struggle with on every trip.

“The best advice I’ve gotten

from a lot of the older guys is sleep when you get tired, eat when you get hungry.”

Though Stuckey has lots of travel stories, one trip that’s deeply resonated with him was his visit to Mumbai, India, at the beginning of 2019.

He hired a driver to show him around town.

“At one point, I just asked him to drop me off at a neighborhood,” Stuckey said. He instructed the driver to pick him up within an hour.

On foot, Stuckey walked around, shaking people’s hands.

“I attracted a lot of stares,” he recalled.

Stuckey met a man, dressed in raggedy clothes and shoeless, who appeared to have little to his name.

Still, the pilot, that man bought Stuckey a cup of masala chai, a local tea. It was a lesson in how generosity and contentment are not derived from a person’s wealth.

“In Mumbai, the average life is rough, but they all smile and they’re all happy,” he said. LI

“It’s easy to meet people, especially if you’re running around by yourself, by just talking. I love hearing about how people live their lives.”

Hunter Stuckey

OS / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / OT

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Balloon pilot Mike Hanson of Greenwood fires gas burners to inflate a hot air balloon. He says he caught the ballooning “bug” during his first flight when he was a teenager.

ike Hanson’s been up in the air about flying hot air balloons for 30 years, and really before that.

“Oh my, gosh. I am 57 ... I was 16 when Johnny Jennings gave me my first hot air balloon ride. That one flight put such a bug in me, and I always wanted one,” said Hanson.

A Greenwood native, he’s the IT director at Wade Inc., and he runs a sideline business, Delta Breeze Adventures, and travels to hot air balloon events and competitions throughout the South and other parts of the country. Normally, he’s busy with hot air ballooning every weekend from April into November.

Jennings, a Greenwood City Council member, did a lot of ballooning back in the day, starting in the early 1970s. He remembers Hanson’s first flight and his participation in the sport for years afterward.

Jennings described the effect as infectious.

“Ballooning was a novelty back then,” he explained. “I took hundreds of people flying around Greenwood. It’s a bug, it really is.”

Hanson caught it and helped out all the time as one of Jennings’ crew members, OU / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

Above: Mike Hanson stands beside the basket of a hot air balloon.

v v v Right: One of Hanson’s balloons is at the forefront at a balloon glow.

The pilot has owned nine balloons and currently has three.

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / OV

learning many of the fundamentals of piloting the colorful aircrafts.

At one point, at least nine or 10 balloon pilots lived in Greenwood, and their interest helped to generate the Mississippi International Balloon Classic, headed by Robert Hardin, now a former Greenwoodian. That festival and a later successor were held for 15 years in Greenwood, attracting up to 100 pilots from other parts of the country and the world and thousands of visitors. The first one took off in 1990.

“I didn’t fly in the very first one,” Hanson said, although he went up with a friend in his balloon, the Mardi Gras Magic.

But in later Balloon Classics, Hanson was one of the pilots.

Over the years, he has flown nine balloons and currently has three. One is shaped like a teardrop, and he uses it to manage quick ups and downs during flight, which is an advantage during timed contests.

“I am still competing, and I compete in the Balloon Federation of America nationals, in the Longview (Texas) race, and I do my ride business. Last year, I went to Thailand,” Hanson said.

He and another pilot, Wil LaPointe of Greenwood, were there for two weeks in May 2019. Hanson said he had never participated in anything like the festival in Hat Yai, a city near the Malaysian border.

Hat Yai has a huge ballooning event yearly, except this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival features numerous balloons in the shapes of animals, coordinated balloon glow lighting, music, competitions and more.

“We flew over Hat Yai in the morning, and in the afternoon we would be put on a shuttle to a stadium. I bet there were 20,000 people every night. It was truly amazing.

“Every man, woman and child wanted to greet you. I have never felt so welcome in any place as I did in Thailand.”

It was interesting to fly in a different country, he said. First, there’s the problem with language. “You have your whole PM / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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crew speaking Thai, so they give an interpreter.” He was surprised when the promoters provided two vehicles for transportation — one for the crew, and another for the pilot. He also enjoyed the challenge of navigating in Thailand. He was so familiar with the places to fly and land at competitions, events and festivals in the United States, such as those in

Oklahoma, San Diego or Orlando, Florida. Thailand provided the challenge of unfamiliar territory over a landscape that included jungles.

Truly, he loved it and will return to Thailand when he can. Hanson said the trip was one of the better experiences he has had in ballooning.

But there was another closer to home for the Grenada School

District. He was hired last year for a flight for which four video cameras were posted around the balloon’s basket to create a 360-degree video of what it is like to fly in a balloon and observe the landscape below.

Jamie Kornegay of Grenada, formerly the proprietor of Turnrow Book Co. in Greenwood, handled the videography. He is employed in communications by the school district, and he teaches journalism at Grenada High School. He is one of the team working on Balloon Quest, a type of museum that the district is setting up in a former National Guard armory. The footage is being used to create an interactive experience for students of what it is like to travel in a balloon and learn almost directly about the science of the flight, the atmosphere, the land, the plants and animals and more.

“I set up the cameras and rode along to make sure they were operating right,” Kornegay said. The balloon, as planned, traveled over various ecosystems, including Grenada Lake and Chakchiuma Swamp. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “I took it back and wrote the script that goes along with it. The narrator is telling you how the science of balloon flight works.

“It’s a little science lesson, but also it’s a fun thing to see the place — home — from above. ... In a balloon, you don’t quite know where you are going, so you don’t really know where you are going to land.

“What struck me about it is that to do that from an airplane, you only experience that from a very closed space.” But the basket of a balloon is open on all sides. “It is the closest thing to flying that, I think, humans can do.”

Hanson said, “I love flying airplanes, helicopters and balloons. I love to fly. But ballooning has another aspect to it.

You’ve got people. I send my balloon up and have people come out to talk, smile and enjoy the balloon. Every balloonist will probably tell you that. ... You are sharing something you love with everybody else.” LI

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A lifelong labor of love

omeowner Erica Culpepper is blessed with strong, clear preferences and the ability to articulate her vision of the design for her family’s “forever home” all the way down to the last detail.

She’s organized and methodical, open-minded but laser-focused, and any designer who can’t follow Erica’s vision will need to look elsewhere for work.

Sixty-something years ago, another woman had a clear vision for her new home but kept running up against architects who simply didn’t get it.

While dining at Lusco’s in Greenwood one evening, she and her husband, by chance, met an architect who listened to the woman’s ideas, translated them into a sketch on a Lusco’s napkin and was awarded the residential design project — all 8,600 square feet of it — on the spot.

Different times.

Different homeowners.

Different designers.

Same house.

In the early 1950s, Charles and Alleta Billups Saunders moved into their “dream home,” as they described it, which had been designed by architect Robert E. Brown of Memphis based on the sketch he made on the napkin that night at Lusco’s. The house — they named it

On the veranda of their “forever home” are, from the left, JJ, Jay, Erica and Hailey Culpepper.

STORY BY JO ALICE DARDEN n PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / PN

Bellashon, Scottish for “beautiful castle” — remained in the Saunders family until 2012, when it was sold by their son, Rowell, to Don and Romney Brock.

“I’ve always liked the look of antebellum houses,” Erica said. “When we started searching for a house in Greenwood, I think we were shown nearly every house on the market, but we always came back to this one.”

The Brocks sold it to Dr. and Mrs. Culpepper in 2015.

v v v Erica, 36, was born in Greenwood, but her family moved to Winona when she was a child, later to Brentwood, Tennessee, and then to Pace, Florida, near Pensacola. She earned her undergraduate degree in speech pathology at Florida State University and moved to Oxford, where she pursued a graduate degree in the same field at the University of Mississippi.

Jay, 37, was born in Athens, Georgia, and lived there until he was in high school, when his family moved to Madison. He and Erica met at Ole Miss, where he secured his undergraduate degree; he went on to medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and took his orthopedic surgery residency in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The couple married in May 2012. Their first child, a daughter, Hailey, now 6, was born in Shreveport. Upon completion of his residency in 2015, Jay was offered a position as an orthopedic surgeon practicing at Greenwood Orthopedic Clinic and Greenwood Leflore Hospital. He accepted, and the young family moved to Greenwood in 2015, when Erica was eight months pregnant with their son, JJ, who’s now 4. Hailey and JJ, both attending Pillow Academy, want to be, respectively, an artist and a firefighter.

In February 2019, Jay and Erica took an opportunity to open Grenada Nutrition, a health foods store that offers teas and meal replacement shakes. At first, Erica said, she worked there “all the time,” but since the business became established and a great team was hired, she no longer needs to be constantly on site.

And that’s probably a good thing. Jay and Erica have plans for their house.

v v v The Culpeppers’ white-trimmed, redbrick house, built in the Neoclassical Revival style, is among the largest private residences in Greenwood. Facing Poplar Street, the east elevation presents a twostory veranda with a fieldstone floor lined with eight massive white fluted Corinthian columns. Centered on the ground floor is PO / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

Above: This remarkable home on Poplar Street in Greenwood started with an architect’s sketch on a napkin at Lusco’s Restaurant in the early 1950s.

Right: Muted neutrals and pastels, soft textures, the absence of clutter and a light and airy ambiance are characteristics of Erica Culpepper’s design toolbox. The sunny family living room enjoys western exposure all day.

Left: Just about anyone could make a “grand entrance” on this handmade staircase. The floor of the foyer is French blue marble. The original French blue and gold Shanghai silk wall covering had to be removed because of age, but restoration of elegance in this space is on Erica Culpepper’s project list.

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / PP

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the double front entry with a fanlight transom, flanked by three sets of French doors on each side of the entry, each with a pocket screen door to catch breezes. On the second level are seven doors, each complemented with a black wrought-iron Juliet balcony.

Inside, ground-floor rooms include the foyer with its French blue marble floor and curving hand-carved and handmade stairway; a cozy walnut-paneled library with a full bar that Erica sees perhaps as Jay’s office, eventually; a bright, airy living room; a formal dining room; and the guest suite comprising a large bedroom, dressing room and full bath. At the far south end of the main floor is a vast drawing room running the length of the house, front to back.

“We’re not sure yet what we’ll do with that room,” Erica said. “It’s a beautiful room, but it’s extremely for-

mal, and we just don’t live that way.” Time will help them decide what the room will become in the 21st century.

Upstairs are the other four spacious bedrooms, each with its own en suite dressing room and full bath.

Additionally, there are two half-baths downstairs, and the pool house has two full baths.

“We knew we’d be doing substantial remodeling,” Erica said. “The house is built so well, but things need updating. From the start, we’ve looked at this house as a lifelong project.”

Plans were prioritized, and work began.

The couple dipped their toes into the first reno wave by replacing all the windows, upstairs and downstairs, on the back of the house (west elevation), which overlooks the back terrace, the pool and the pool house. That

PQ / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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went well, and the new windows should last a few decades.

Work on the north end of the house was more involved.

“We basically gutted and redid the whole north end,” Jay said. Included in this phase were the kitchen, the family dining room, the laundry room and the pantry.

Erica knew exactly what she wanted in this part of the house, and Jay was fully onboard, but the contractor they had started working with could not follow Erica’s vision, so the couple had to find another contractor.

“I wanted a traditional white kitchen,” Erica said, “with marble countertops and an island. We needed to pull up the original dark linoleum flooring and replace it with hardwood and replace the dark-stained trim with white painted trim to brighten everything up.”

Finding the exactly right

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piece of marble can be a challenge, but the Culpeppers were fortunate. Jay said all the

marble on the countertops in their kitchen came from one slab.

They also reconfigured the utility space to enlarge the laundry room and expand the

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / PR

pantry from a small closet to a shelf-lined walk-in room.

The effect was magic.

“We actually do most of our living in here now,” Erica said. She added soft textiles to the open-concept family dining room — white upholstered dining chairs, a soft-colored rug under the table. And she applied the color scheme she’s using throughout the house — dove gray, a blue that’s just barely blue, a misty hint of pale green — to bring a sense of calm and peace to encourage everyone take a deep breath and start unwinding at home after a hectic day.

“We’re always finding interesting things as we move through this process,” Jay said.

When they started taking down walls to expand the open concept space, for example, they found concrete-wrapped rebar in every wall. They learned that Mrs. Saunders, the original owner of the house, had every wall built that way in case a fire started in a room, so the fire would be contained there and wouldn’t spread.

Jay also learned the house was built on a “floating foundation” to protect the structure from the effects of an earthquake.

“And we are still finding buttons and switches that we can’t figure out what they do,” Erica said. When that happens, they might call Charlot Saunders Ray, daughter of the original owners, to help them solve the mystery.

So what’s next in the Culpeppers’ longrange planning catalog? Erica listed three major projects under consideration: figuring out what to do with the drawing room space — and then doing it, freshening up the exterior woodwork and renovating the pool house.

There’s no rush to try to complete everything right now.

“This is our forever home,” Erica said, “and we want to do things right.”

There’s time to show the house all the love it deserves. LI

PS / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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Crafted from stainless steel with proprietary triple insulation, it keeps contents cold and refreshing for nine-plus hours and hot for three. Stays cold even longer with drinks containing ice. Plus, it comes with a sliding, shatterproof, see-through lid. A perfect gift for your favorite Rebel or Bulldog. At Clevenger Jewelry & Gifts. 504 West Park Ave., Greenwood. 453-0710

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The Museum of the Mississippi Delta has the largest selection of cotton vehicle tags in the Delta. Choose from over 20 different colors and varieties. $20. Available at the Museum of the Mississippi Delta. 1608 Hwy. 82 West, Greenwood. 453-0925.

With a tool pocket on the right leg and a hammer loop on the left, our washed 12-ounce 100% cotton duck work shorts help you get the job done. Washed to create a softer look and feel, while retaining its exceptional durability. Find them at Kornfeld’s Department Store. 318 East Johnson St., Greenwood. 453-1352.

Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated / 37

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Chamber steps up during crisis

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ÜÉëÉ=~êÉ=íÜÉ=íáãÉë=íÜ~í=íêó ãÉåÛë=ëçìäëK=Author and philosopher Thomas Payne wrote those words on Dec. 23, 1776, and they couldn’t be truer than they are right now.

I remember reading his work, “The Crisis,” when I was in high school, but of course, I didn’t appreciate it the way I do now. I recently revisited this classic motivational piece that Payne wrote to inspire and challenge the colonists to remain strong and vigilant during the American Revolution. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Our community, our country, even our world is experiencing its own kind of “revolution” right now. If you had told me just a few short months ago that our world would soon be turned upside down by a pandemic, I probably would have laughed.

We all would have. “Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country,” Paine wrote.

Now I’m seeing families separated and quarantined, nurses and doctors working around the clock to fight an unseen enemy, elected officials not sure of what their next step needs to be, workers being sent home because they have been labeled “nonessential,” business owners trying to figure out how to make their next payroll and even keep the doors open, school students denied a classroom education for the foreseeable future, athletes denied their opportunity to shine on a national stage and advance their careers, seniors denied the opportunity to have a proper graduation experience, weddings and funerals with no guests to celebrate and mourn, and the list goes on and on. I’ll admit, it’s gotten to me. I’m sure you can relate.

I’ve seen the best in people lately. And I’ve also seen, well, QM / Spring 2020 ibcilob Illustrated

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But it’s the best that encourages me to press on. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in leadership over the years, it’s to define reality. For me, right now, that means I want to see what humanity is doing to bring out the best in each other during this unprecedented time of uncertainty. I’ve seen our community rise up and fight for and support each other. I’ve seen quiet heroes emerge. I’ve seen more creativity and ingenuity in the last month than I’ve probably seen in my entire lifetime.

“Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before,” Paine wrote.

As the director of an organization that the community looks

to for stability, sound advice and information, I spent the first week or so of this crisis dismissing it and waiting for everything to get back to normal. When that didn’t happen, I quickly launched into survival/preservation mode. Not for our organization — the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce — but for our community and what makes us who we are: the citizens who make up the fabric of this place we call home, the businesses that dot our landscape with uniqueness and generosity.

I found myself reading and watching everything I could get my hands on in order to “arm” myself with knowledge and resources. I knew that our chamber had a role to play, and this was our time to step up and play it. “Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth

of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.”

All of a sudden, the chamber evolved from being the fun-loving, feel-good, event-planning organization of our city and county, to one that was proving invaluable to business owners as they asked questions and sought answers about survival for their livelihoods.

I don’t know yet what all of this looks like on the other side of this crisis. None of us do. I do imagine that we will find out what our new normal will be, and it won’t be what it was three months ago.

An organization such as the chamber is more important, more critical now than ever for a community. I know that this organization will work to evolve into something that we may not have been or thought about being before. I suspect all of us will, both individually and collectively. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”

I’m not saying all of this to toot our own horn — or maybe I am. I am passionate about community. I know many of you are as well. I have said it so many times over the past few weeks, but we really are all in this together. I hope that when our “normal” returns to us, we don’t take a single thing for granted. And my hope is that you know your chamber was there every step of the way, fighting for this community and for all who live, work and play here. n _ÉíÜ=píÉîÉåë=áë=íÜÉ=ÉñÉÅìíáîÉ ÇáêÉÅíçê=çÑ=íÜÉ=dêÉÉåïççÇJiÉÑäçêÉ `çìåíó=`Ü~ãÄÉê=çÑ=`çããÉêÅÉK LI