Leflore Illustrated Spring Summer 2008

Greenwood, Mississippi

A River Country Journal / Spring and Summer 2008

The Money Road Cycling Club ready to ride

Rescue and reward

Leflore Folk Art on display in Itta Bena

Bill Malouf Master designer

Illustrated

table of contents

people 4. Councilman Charles McCoy has fruitful jobs.

The church bell and steeple at Salem Missionary Baptist Church on Leflore County’s Racetrack Plantation.

14. Dr. Arthur Kinnard enjoys taking photos for any occasion.

16. Ladies in the Red Hat Society just want to have a little fun.

21. Eric Cole, a local disc jockey, says his occupation is a dying art.

23. Blueberry farmer John Ashcraft enjoys raising this tasty fruit.

37. Students commute to Greenwood to get an education.

38. Designer Bill Malouf is creating furniture that’s authentic and timeless.

40. Murray Kornfeld kept family business alive in big and tall niche.

places 11. Timmy T. Fisher turns lawn into folk art.

25. Salem Missionary Baptist Church is deeply rooted in family.

43. Lumpkin and company are staying busy at Astro Manufacturing.

features

Members of the Money Road Cycling Club cross the Tallahatchie River. Members of the club are, from left, Richard Beattie, Johnny Smith, Zane Hodge, Jacob Clark, Bret Freeman, Davo Pittman and Harrison Powers III.

6. Andy and Karen Pinkston carry on the family tradition at Lusco’s.

18. The Money Road Cycling Club is enjoying the thrill of the ride.

28. The home of Aubrey and Billy Whittington is a story of rescue and reward.

34. Jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller is following his dream.

ON THE COVER: Great blue herons adorn the lawn of Aubrey and Billy Whittington on Money Road just north of Greenwood.

more

3. From the editor.

44. Calendar.

47. Index to advertisers.

48. The Chamber of Commerce is putting an emphasis on education.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 1

L

eflore

Illustrated

Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich

Managing Editor Jenny Humphryes

Associate Editor David Monroe

Contributing Writers

Bob Darden, Charlie Smith, Rachel Hodge, William Browning, Ruth Jensen and Jo Alice Darden

Advertising Director Larry Alderman

Advertising Sales

Kim Clark, Linda Bassie, Erica Fisk, Kim Badome, Susan Montgomery

Photography/Graphics Anne Miles, Joseph Cotton, Johnny Jennings

Production

Lee Palmertree

Circulation Director Shirley Cooper

Volume 3, No. 3 —————— Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050 329 Highway 82 West Greenwood, MS 38935-8050 662-453-5312

—————— Leflore Illustrated is published by Commonwealth Publishing, Inc. 2 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Greenwood is...

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From the editor

A war of wills

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

with Chubbs

barrow after wheelbarrow My wife says there’s of dirt into his fenced-in nothing that makes me territory. Chubbs kept me happy like a pile of dirt. company, abandoning his Betty Gail may have post only when a vehicle something there. bumping along the gravel Certainly I get excited atop the Tallahatchie when a bob-truck load of River levee proved too fine Delta soil is dumped irresistible not to chase. in the yard. Since my day He heard me grunt as I job is heavily sedentary, filled the wheelbarrow, working outdoors is one of shovel by shovel. He folmy stress relievers. I’m lowed at my heels while I not much of a handyman, pushed it to the unloadbut I can push a lawn ing spot. He observed mower, clip a hedge and while I meticulously plant a tree. raked the dirt with the This spring, as I do passion of a ballpark about every five years or groundskeeper. He slobso, I decided to tackle bered on my cheek when some low spots in the I kneeled down to apply yard. That’s a perpetual the finishing touches by challenge in this part of hand.

Mississippi, since everySurely, I thought, he’d thing is low. Drainage is a have some respect, if not matter of getting the for the diligent creation water to flow from low to he just witnessed, as least lower. for the neck and back It’s particularly difficult muscles I had strained. to create a level plain By nightfall, Chubbs when there’s a dog around had begun to dig. Within that is genetically proa week, he had pushed grammed to dig for oil.

It’s hard to get mad almost every cubic inch I have such an animal. of the new dirt back out As much as I enjoy fillat a companion who would of the holes. There was ing in the holes in the no hiding his guilt. A light landscape, Chubbs – my follow me into an inferno. brown patch of the evipart yellow Lab, part yard dence had dried on the dog – enjoys creating top of his nose. them even more. It is worse during the heat of the summer, I didn’t scold him. It’s hard to get mad at a companion who when he is searching for a cool spot in the earth. would follow me into an inferno.

Years ago, I planted some bushes in the side yard, where I didn’t give up either. I took my rake and pushed the dirt Chubbs resides. The main purpose was to give him some back into the holes – or at least that which didn’t somehow disshade. I also hoped that as long as he was sheltered from the appear into the atmosphere. I smoothed over the ground and sun at its hottest, he would be less inclined to dig. Fat chance. pledged that once time and weather permitted, I’d be back The bushes have become useful mostly as a chest-high screen with another few wheelbarrows to bring it back to level. so that the neighbors don’t have to look at the unsightly craters Chubbs was unmoved. I had hardly put the yard tools away Chubbs has created behind the shrubbery. before he started to undo my labors again.

Now 11 years old, he should be outgrowing this digging A weaker man would concede defeat. I’m not such a man. fetish, I thought. After all, 11 dog years is supposed to be someI’ve got enough dirt left in the mound – and enough stubbornthing like 77 of ours. I don’t care what supplement they’re takness – to keep up this war of wills for a while. We’ll see who is ing, how many 77-year-old males have that kind of energy? the dumb beast.

Chubbs does.

Betty Gail thinks she already knows. – Tim Kalich I spent a good part of one Saturday morning moving wheelSpring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 3

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS Greenwood City Councilman Charles McCoy tends to the vegetables at Greenwood Market Place.

Councilman has fruitful jobs McCoy can talk

city business while tending to the produce

BY JENNY HUMPHRYES

“Mr. McCoy, how do you tell when a melon is ripe?” one shopper might ask.

Then another may come down the aisle and ask, “Mr. McCoy, what is the city going to do about all these potholes in our roads?”

Charles McCoy wears two hats. He has worked as produce manager at Greenwood Market Place since 1995, and he was elected in 2005 to serve as councilman for Ward 4 in Greenwood.

So it’s not uncommon for him to be asked about city business as he stands among the tomatoes and greens at Market Place.

But do his managers at the grocery store mind? McCoy says no.

“The Market Place is like a family, and we support each other in anything we do,” he said.

“They have been very supportive of me being a city councilman and encouraged me to run,” McCoy said.

The Clarksdale native moved his family – wife Linda, two 4 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

daughters and a son – to Greenwood in 1995 so he could work at the grocery store. There he enjoys serving customers and meeting the public.

That serving spirit and a need to give back to the community led him to the City Council seat 10 years later.

“It is a service job. I render my service to the citizens of Greenwood,” McCoy said.

“Both are really the same,” he said of his two jobs. “Whether shopping in the store or out in the community or at City Hall, everybody is concerned about Greenwood.”

Because he works at Market Place, McCoy says people always know where to find him. “I stick out like a red thumb,” he said with a laugh.

And no matter where he is when people approach him about city business, McCoy quickly notes that no concern is small. “What may seem small to me may be big to “I render he said. my service them,” The most comto the mon concerns he citizens of hears about are street repairs, Greenwood.” sidewalks and the Charles McCoy cleanliness of the city.

McCoy said all citizens can help improve the latter issue by cleaning up in their neighborhoods and around the community.

He presents a monthly beautification award to encourage residents of Ward 4 to clean up and improve their property.

“It is good to encourage people,” McCoy said. “That’s a plus for the community.”

The city councilman laughed as he shared one of the most interesting concerns brought to him by a citizen. “They said, ‘Councilman McCoy, is there anything we can do about these dogs barking?’”

Unfortunately, he said with a laugh, there is no way he can prevent a dog from doing what comes naturally.

McCoy is a member and deacon at New Zion Missionary Baptist Church, which is led by the Rev. Calvin Collins.

McCoy said he firmly believes in putting God first in everything he does.

Some highlights of McCoy’s tenure as councilman include starting a Neighborhood Watch program, which he says brings the community together.

McCoy said the group gave out fruit baskets to the needy, shut-ins and elderly, and cards are sent out when someone has died or is ill.

McCoy worked with State Farm agent Tom Ainsworth to get smoke alarms for

residents in his district.

Now he is working on plans for a picnic for city employees that will be held in June.

McCoy said he is glad to be part of a great team in Greenwood, which includes all the councilmen and the mayor.

“We welcome everybody with open arms, and everybody is on the same page working together,” he said.

When the community becomes one, the impossible becomes possible, McCoy said.

“That’s what we must continue to strive for.” LI

Charles McCoy at Greenwood Market Place.

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PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Celebrating

75 Y EARS

Pinkstons carry on the

Family TRADITION

6 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

BY JENNY HUMPHRYES

When you walk through the doors, it’s like walking back in time.

Lusco’s, an old store-front building turned restaurant, is a throwback from the Prohibition days with its private booths and curtains.

It’s nestled along Carrollton Avenue next to a church and across the street from one of the city fire stations, just a bit off the beaten path in downtown Greenwood.

“The atmosphere has been maintained, and the uniqueness and character of the building, which is a throwback from Prohibition, has been maintained.”

Karen Pinkston But the location has not hindered famous chefs, actors and musicians, as well as a healthy clientele of locals, from enjoying its famous steaks and seafood.

As you make your way through the front corridor, to the right is an old counter with bottles of Lusco’s sauces lining shelves and memorabilia hanging on the walls.

Just to the left is a seating area. The old furniture fits nicely with the ambiance of the establishment, which is celebrating 75 years at its current location.

Owner Karen Pinkston describes Lusco’s as “a family restaurant that has been in my husband’s family for 75 years, and it’s now owned and operated by the fourth generation of the Lusco family.”

“The atmosphere has been maintained, and the uniqueness and character of the building, which is a throwback from Prohibition, has been maintained,” Karen said.

“And, hopefully, the quality of the food has been maintained if not improved,” she said.

Karen said Lusco’s is just a mom-andpop restaurant operated by “two people making a living doing what his family always did.”

She describes her husband as a perfectionist. “He has a quality that he expects, and he won’t settle for anything less,” she said.

And that keeps the customers coming back for more. v v v Charles and Marie Lusco started the business in 1921 at the corner of Johnson and Main streets with the help of their three daughters.

“It was a grocery store in the front, and Papa had a rolling store,” Karen said.

Lusco’s still has a picture of Papa, with his store, hanging on the wall of the main dining room.

“He would load up the wagon and take it out to all the plantations and sell groceries,” Karen said.

While he was away, Marie and her daughters would cook. People would gather around the big round table in the back

Andy and Karen Pinkston hold up fingers representing Lusco’s 75 years of business at its current location on Carrollton Avenue.

and eat.

“They started having all the cotton people and the business people from downtown showing up to eat, so that was the beginning roots of Lusco’s,” Karen said.

The original building burned in 1929, and to Karen’s knowledge, there wasn’t a Lusco’s for a few years. “They didn’t open here until March 4, 1933,” she said.

Sara Gory, one of the Lusco daughters, had lost her husband and a daughter and was left with three children to support, so she used her insurance money to buy the building and reopen Lusco’s on Carrollton Avenue.

“It started out really similar to the other one, where it was a grocery store in the front, and they had a kitchen and these two booths back here,” Karen said.

Gory was partners with her sisters, Marie Correro and Mary Portera, and Charles and Marie Lusco were still there to lend a hand. They ran the business from 1933 until 1976, when the Pinkstons took over

with Andy’s mother, BeBe Gory McAdoo.

“She bought the business, and we came into it with her,” Karen said.

But in 1981, the Pinkstons bought out Andy’s mother, and they are carrying on the family tradition.

A few things remain from the original business that burned. The big table people gathered around to eat is now used in the kitchen. Karen said it’s so heavy she is not sure it could be moved. There also is a meat box, in which the Pinkstons store their steaks. v v v A few changes have been made through the years, Karen said, but the family has tried to keep it as original as possible.

The Pinkstons added the foyer to help heat and cool the building.

“We try to keep it clean and paint in different places,” Karen said. “I don’t want it to look too new because it would take Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 7

away from the uniqueness and charm and the fact that it is an old restaurant.”

Besides, people don’t like change, Karen said. When she sent out a survey seeking input from customers on the restaurant and what changes might be needed, one customer gave her some very sound advice that she adheres to today.

“I don’t know who said it, but one person said, ‘Whatever you do, make sure you make your changes gently.’”

The Pinkstons have done that. Some changes were made so slowly that Karen said people probably didn’t even notice.

The Pinkstons have seriously entertained thoughts of moving the business from its current location only about three or four times, but they didn’t work out. “I look back on that as it wasn’t what God wanted,” Karen said. v v v When you visit Lusco’s, you never know who might be dining there.

Karen said numerous movie actors and actresses have eaten at the restaurant.

Steve McQueen and some of the cast from “The Reivers” ate there while filming in Greenwood in 1968. Film producer Max Baer and actress Alfre Woodard have patronized Lusco’s at various times.

The late novelist Willie Morris was a reg-

8 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Andy and Karen Pinkston stand in the lobby of Lusco’s. The furnishings are much like they were when the business opened at its current location on Carrollton Avenue 75 years ago.

ular customer, Karen said. The day Morris died, a note was found that said, “Gone to Lusco’s.”

Karen said he had a reservation and was planning to eat at Lusco’s the day he died.

The restaurant also was featured in the 1991 film “Mississippi Masala,” which starred Denzel Washington. Karen said not

only did they film in Lusco’s, but director Mira Nair wrote part of the movie’s script in booth No. 6.

“She wrote it along with a friend,” Karen said. “She had been a customer of Lusco’s over the years, so when she got ready to write that, she and a friend actually came and sat at No. 6 and wrote the part

that incorporated Lusco’s and the Delta.

They came here to do their writing, so they could make sure they were keeping things true – the way they were supposed to be.”

One of the biggest celebrities who loves Lusco’s is ZZ Top’s lead vocalist Billy Gibbons. He held one of his landmark birthday parties there, flying in friends from around the country, Karen said.

“He always sends people to eat with us even now,” she said. “He sent us Dan Fogerty and other people who are just acquaintances of his in the music business.”

Chefs Emeril Lagasse, Justin Frey and Blake Brennan all ate at Lusco’s on the same night, Karen said, and they were all with different parties.

“To me one of the biggest compliments that we’ve ever had has been when we have had chefs eat with us,” she said.

When Andy and Karen learned that they had three of the top chefs in the South in their dining areas, Karen looked at Andy and said, “Well, the pressure is on.”

Karen said it never fails that when a chef dines with you, either before or after the meal, the chef will want to see the kitchen.

They just seem to gravitate there, because that’s what they do, she said.

The kitchen at Lusco’s is also well-seasoned, Karen said. Equipment has been replaced, but there are still many original things back there, she said.

Lusco’s also sells a variety of sauces.

The Pinkstons do all the cooking themselves, along with a prep cook and a person who does the garnishing. But the Pinkstons have never had professional training. They learned from Andy’s grandmother and two great-aunts, but they have learned a great deal on their own by trial and error. v v v

Lusco’s seats about 115 to 120 people. If you plan to eat there on the weekend, it would be wise to make a reservation, especially if you want to sit in one of the booths.

The restaurant is open from 5 until 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and serves a variety of steaks and seafood. There also is a pasta dish that was Andy’s grandmother’s. Karen said she has added some specialty salads and desserts.

One of Lusco’s famous dishes is the pompano, Karen said. “That has always been one of our most popular fishes.”

And they serve catfish as well as chicken strips for the kids.

As you check out, Lusco’s offers various bottled sauces. The current lineup includes Lusco’s Broiled Shrimp Sauce, Lusco’s Vinaigrette and Lusco’s Fish Sauce.

“I have some other things that I want to bottle, but right now, Andy and I make every bottle ourselves, and we put the label on every bottle, the top on every bottle and either ship them out or deliver them ourselves,” Karen said.

“Between that and running the restaurant, there is just not enough hours in the day.”

She hopes that when they get a little older and slow down a bit with the restaurant, they will be able to bottle some more favorite recipes. LI

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Timmy T. Fisher, left, and his wife, Kassandra, stand in front of their home on Lakeside Street in Itta Bena. A selftaught artist, Fisher has turned his home into an example of folk art.

Fisher shares love of folk art

BY WILLIAM BROWNING

In both miles and demeanor, Timmy T. Fisher is a decent stretch from any refined, aesthetic airs.

He’s a security guard, husband and Itta Bena native who doesn’t lay claim to much more.

“I do it because God has given me a gift.”

That 10-word sentiment is all he offers when asked where he draws inspiration

from. When pressed harder, he swats his hand at the question, saying, “You do stuff because your heart tells you to.”

For 17 years Fisher’s heart has been turning his Itta Bena home’s lawn into a roaring specimen of folk art.

Had Howard Finster never ventured into a preacher’s pulpit, never tried to explain himself and lived at 800 Lakeside St. in Itta Bena, you’d have Fisher.

Every foot of space on the lawn, it seems, has an ornament. He’s got bicycles

nailed up high in pine trees. He’s got lots of car tires spray-painted green and pink.

He’s got wooden oars and plastic flowers fastened all around. There are bird baths galore. In some places, you find concrete angels. Some of them are mournful; others brim with joy. And the statue lions that are everywhere – they’re spray-painted pink, too. The little frogs, though, are mostly apple green.

“I struggled a while trying to figure out the colors I wanted, but I think I ’bout got Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 11

it now,” said the 40-year-old Fisher while surveying his creation.

Taken together in one gulp, one eyeful, this kaleidoscope affair, this wonderful carnival of confusion, appears to breathe.

Though you’re tempted to draw conclusions and themes out of the eclectic gathering, it’s best not to try. Is it an unconscious dispute between the secular and the religious? Or is it a response to English poet William Blake’s ache and plea, “To see a world in a grain of sand”? No bother, let’s move on; knowing those answers might spoil the fun.

“Folks stop sometimes. They’ll say, ‘Why don’t you try this or that?’ Sometimes I listen.

Sometimes I don’t,” Fisher said.

His is the folkiest folk art imaginable with a mind-set to match: “If somebody likes it, great. If they don’t, oh well.”

And he’s born this baby in the middle of nights.

“He’ll wake me up and say, ‘Come look and see what I’ve done,’” said Kassandra Fisher, his wife.

“He’s out here at 2 or 3 in the morning doing what he does. I don’t know, but he’s put a lot of time and effort into it. I can’t take any of the credit.”

The artist himself tries to not take credit. He adheres to no school or vision. He has more shoulder shrugs than explanations. He says the silliest question people ask is the obvious. “Where do you get the ideas?”

Ask that and Fisher, grandson of cotton pickers and tractor drivers, flatly responds: “I’ve always believed that one man’s trash is another’s treasure.” LI

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12 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Itta Bena native Timmy T. Fisher says he is a firm believer in the notion that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. A visitor to his home on Lakeside Street in Itta Bena will understand what he means.

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PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

From funerals to weddings, Kinnard has it all on film

BY CHARLIE SMITH

“Like, you don’t shoot a The philosophy behind picture right in the light.”

Dr. Arthur Kinnard’s phoHe has picked up quite tography is simple. a bit of practical knowl“Anything that I think edge. may be interesting that “Some people don’t nobody’s told me not to, I’ll know exactly when to start snapping,” he said. shoot a picture. You have Kinnard takes pictures to practice on that,” he everywhere – at happy occasaid. “If somebody’s speaksions, such as weddings, ing at a podium, you don’t football games and parades, just snap them. You try to and at sad ones. wait until they look up and “Every funeral I go to, get a picture with their unless they tell me I can’t, I eyes open.” will take a shot of the funerEven if he misses the al,” he said. shot, he takes more so he’ll People have even paid get what he really wants. him to take pictures at Kinnard still takes his funerals. At first, that felt a photographs on film. little strange to him, but that “I’m still in the horsefeeling wore off over the and-buggy days,” Kinnard years. said. “I do have a digital, “I guess I’ve gotten used but I haven’t ever picked it to it,” Kinnard said. “People up and learned how to use see me and they’re used to it.” me taking pictures.”

He files his pictures in Kinnard, 75, is a retired notebooks that he has history professor at throughout his home in Mississippi Valley State Greenwood.

University.

“Most people like to The list of his honors, look at an album,” he said. memberships and awards is “Some people come to my long, including being a past house and look at it over president of the Mississippi Dr. Arthur Kinnard enjoys taking pictures for any occasion. He an hour – go over and over Historical Society. said he takes pictures of anything he thinks is interesting and over again.”

What the community prob- unless someone tells him not to.

Visitors often are surably knows him best for, prised by how many phothough, is his unofficial role tographs he has. as photographer for the university. Anyone who attends “They ask, ‘Dr. Kinnard, where did you get all those picmany events at Valley eventually will see Kinnard popping tures? You must have so many pictures,’” he said. “I say, up with his camera.

‘Yeah, I’ve got a lot of them boxed up. I should have orgaHe did not take up photography heavily until 15 or 20 years ago, when a woman asked him to photograph her wed- nized them more.’”

He has used many brands of cameras over the years, ding. including Canon, Pentax and others, but the type of camera “I’m not a professional photographer,” he said. “I just is not really important to him. As long as he has some campicked it up.” era, he’s happy.

People sometimes ask him how he takes such good pic“I just take my camera everywhere I go. I take that camtures and whether he has training. era so if there’s a photo op, I can get it,” he said. LI “I say, ‘No, I just learned over the years,’” Kinnard said.

14 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

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The Purple Pansy Chapter of the Red Hat Society held a birthday celebration at Yianni’s for girls in the club with March birthdays.

Members of the club are, front, from left, Janice Aust, Jan Fletcher, Vicki Pittman and Gena Mattox; back, Kay Daves, Rachel Frost, Valley Ricks, Brenda Pernell, Diane Nunley and Nancy Flanagan.

BY RUTH JENSEN

Lofty goals – forget about ’em. Mission statements, business meetings, charitable endeavors? Please. When they don their red hats and purple outfits, there’s only one goal in mind for the members of the Red Hat Society. These girls “just wanna have fun.”

“We’re not civic-minded or anything,” explained Brenda Pernell. “We’re actually a disorganization,” said Jan Fletcher.

Valley Ricks, a/k/a “Baroness of Behaviour,” said the girls “have fun even when we don’t get along.” Janice Aust described the group like this: “We do shopping trips. We eat all the time.”

There is actually one goal of the group other than having fun, and that is to look “as gaudy and glitzy as possible,” said Fletcher, the first “Queen Bee,” so designated because she held the first meeting at her house. Getting together on this particular evening, they “ooh” and “aah” over a new accent piece, handbag or pin someone has found to make her attire ever glitzier before playing “Happy Birthday” on their kazoos, the official instrument of the society.

Each person creates her own hat, which must have a pansy on it, along with whatever else is desired, since Purple Pansy is the chapter’s name. As the Red Hat Society is national and even international, the members find accessories and clothing on eBay, as well as at conventions. The group has been to a convention in Boston, one in Nashville and a regional gathering in Kosciusko.

Pittman got the idea for the group after reading about another chapter in Madison.

“I read several papers from the places my children live,” she said. “One day I saw a group of Red Hat Ladies in Madison. It 16 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

The Red Hat Society:

GIRLS g n i v a h

FUN

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

“We become divas.

We leave our problems at home.”

Nancy Flanagan Aust said her husband “can’t believe we said the group was for over-50 ladies, and it one to Wayne Pittman and another to Lee wear those hats. It’s fun getting together Mattox, who “got up at the crack of dawn looked like they were having a good with the girls – like a spend-the-night and drove us to the airport.” time.” party – at Camp of the Rising Sun.” A few group members say putting on She shared the idea with Fletcher, who Actually, party is a major theme of the the red hat and purple clothes changes agreed they should hold a tea and invite Red Hat girls. They held a Mardi Gras their personalities a little. “We become some friends over. The idea appealed to party at everyone, and a new Pernell’s home club was born. and a swim Everyone has a title party at Ricks’, – though, as you though they might imagine, didn’t actually they’re a little more swim. “It creative than the rained. But we usual club officers’. had a good LaDonna Landers is time,” recountthe Contessa of ed Fletcher.

Travel; Diane For the Nunley is the Red November and Snapper (photograDecember pher); and others meeting they have their own spetook a class cial designations. together at Fletcher said the Viking Cooking group bonded well, School. “It was and it’s been mostly wonderful,” full steam ahead Daves said. with the fun, like However, the time they rode Pernell’s not so in a limousine to eat sure. “They at the Bourbon Mall kept pouring near Leland, a going Jan Fletcher and Vicki Pittman perform a kazoo duet during a birthday party at that wine. We away party for Pam Yianni’s. really don’t Mack, and the time know what we they line danced at divas,” said Flanagan. “We leave our prob- did.” the Crazy Horse Saloon in Nashville. To If they have any business, it seems to be prepare, the ladies took lessons from dance lems at home.” planning the next outing. The divas of the Pittman agrees. “You don’t worry about teacher Betty Aden before they left town.

Red Hat Society don’t let too much time what anybody thinks. You just have fun.”

Photo albums are full of such good times. pass between get-togethers. When they do As to something she wouldn’t ordinarily They danced with the Rockettes while in assemble, there’s definitely going to be a have done, “going to breakfast in a major Nashville. hotel in Boston wearing pajamas” tops the lot of laughter, a lot of conversation and a Rachel Frost remembers the time she whole lot of fun. LI list, at least so far, Fletcher said. and Flanagan modeled their purple at a district meeting called A Hoot. “I had on purple from top to bottom and down to my underwear,” she bragged.

There have been some serious moments, when anyone in the group has some type of difficulty. Everybody is very supportive, said Kay Daves.

Two years ago, the group joined the Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and won an award for their float. “After the parade, we had a Hunk of the Year banquet to give awards to the men who ‘did our bidding,’” Flanagan said. Dennis Upchurch was the first recipient.

After going to Boston for convention, the group gave out two awards that year – Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 17

The Money Road Cycling Club

Thrill of the ride PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

BY RUTH JENSEN

It’s funny what can put a gleam in some men’s eyes.

For the members of the Money Road Cycling Club it can be pages of bicycle accessories -- from GPS systems to heart rate monitors. In fact, Richard Beattie gets almost giddy talking about it. “It’s sexy to us. It’s downright fascinating,” he said with a wide grin.

The club of 15 – currently all men, but they say they’re open to all – has recently sort of formally organized under the name “Money Road Cycling Club” after riding together, some of them for as long as 15 years.

Davo Pittman and Bret Freeman had ridden together for about five years when they met up with Richard Beattie “riding on the wrong side of the road,” according to Freeman. After a few conversations, Beattie became a regular with the two, and others have 18 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Members of the Money Road Cycling Club are, front to back, Davo Pittman, Zane Hodge, Johnny Smith, Jacob Clark, Richard Beattie, Harris Powers III and Bret Freeman.

been added since then.

They recently came up with the club name, now being emblazoned on a cycling jersey, with a map of the state and “Tour de Mississippi” on it.

For the club’s creative types, it wasn’t enough to attribute the name to a favorite riding spot. This group had to invent a story explaining the origin of the name. Called the Legend of Luigi Pelotoni, it’s a story of an Italian immigrant who founded the first Money Road Cycling Club.

One of the group’s most experienced riders is Pittman, who bought his first bike in 1979. “Mark Faircloth was a cyclist and talked me into getting a bike. I paid $1,000 for the first one,” he said. “My family thought I had lost my mind. I was so proud of that 12-speed.”

Pittman kept that first bike until a couple of years ago, when his cycling friends insisted he get a new one.

“We had to twist his arm,” said Freeman. “His was still in good shape, but newer technology now makes climbing that hill a little easier. The old bike has 12 speeds. The new one has 30.” And do you really need 30 speeds? According to Pittman, every one of them. “I use them all.”

Most of the club members got into cycling from other sports. They admit age has played a role. Others got burned out on other forms of exercise. “As more of the ’70s running generation got older, some of us took up cycling,” Beattie explained. “You can’t hurt yourself as much.” Cycling has many benefits, they agree. “You ride 30-40 miles. It gives you an incentive to train, to work. You feel good. You just sit on back of a bike for hours. It’s a stress reliever for me,” Pittman said.

Johnny Smith, who recently joined the group, says he is interested in the sport as a hobby and exercise. “I quit playing golf, took this up. It’s better for me physically.”

And in addition, he enjoys the comradeship. “They’re a great bunch of guys – very supportive.”

Brian Waldrop joined the group last year after Freeman and Beattie recruited him. “I was too fat to run,” he joked.

In the beginning there were some difficulties, including a fall that broke his helmet and roughed him up, but that didn’t discourage him. “I got back on and rode all the way back with blood running down my leg.”

Falling seems to be a fact of cycling.

volunteers. Lise Foy, director of Main Street Greenwood, is helping to promote the event.

Waldrop thinks the appeal of cycling on flat Delta land will bring in groups from around the state. “They can go really fast.”

The club hopes to make a profit for Main Street Greenwood and introduce some people to Members of the club continue the city. The cyclists also a ride along Money Road. want to educate the public about bike safety. “We have the right of way just like a car,” Beattie said. “But lots of people don’t know that.”

In addition, they want to encourage development of biking pathways like the “Rails to Trails” path currently being debated in the area. And they’d like to add members to their group.

Most cycling events are connected to An itinerant chef from Italy who some charitable cause, Beattie said. One came to Mississippi in the 1880s, of his personal favorites is held in Luigi Pelotoni saw his first bicycle in Memphis each year to benefit multiple Natchez. Fascinated, he returned to sclerosis. Last year Freeman and Beattie the Delta, determined to have one of completed the 150-mile ride along with his own. He spent his life savings for 600 riders, which raised a million dollars a bike, which he carried with him as for MS. “Many MS patients were volunhe went from plantation to plantateers. They were very grateful we were tion, several of which were on helping,” Beattie said.

Money Road. Along with making Adventure biking trips are also a fabulous feasts, he extolled the favorite activity for Beattie, who has travvirtues of biking. At one point, he eled with his bike to faraway places. In organized several fellow Italian immi1999, he and friend Johnny Jennings grants into the Money Road Cycling biked from China into North Vietnam.

Club, which continues today.

“To go there and be with people who were once mortal enemies was really something. They were some of the most Freeman said there are only two kinds of hospitable people you’ll ever meet – so bike riders – those who have fallen and gracious,” Beattie said. those who will. Sometimes a fall discourHe and wife Christie also biked in ages a new rider. Mike Barranco, team Russia and rode by the Black Sea. “It was director, said he took a few falls and decidthe beginning of the tourism boom, and ed cycling wasn’t for him. He’s the one Gorbachev was letting people in. It was they call when there’s a problem and they incredible.” need help. “I prefer to rescue them in bad Member Tom Flanagan participated in weather.” the 400-mile Great Bicycle Ride Across Along with other club members, Iowa after a challenge from some friends.

Waldrop participated last year in the “Give me a week to get in shape,” he told “Heart of Dixie” triathlon event that them, recounted Freeman. “Tom is a big starts at Lake Tiak-O’khata near man. I saw him out on a bike one day and Louisville. “I saw how much fun it could was surprised. I said, ‘Tom, is that you?’ be, and how many people participated, He started riding and lost 50 pounds the and thought about having something like first year.” this in Greenwood.”

With the new cycling jersey and the The other club members agreed, so on first Greenwood biking event coming up Aug. 2, the club will host the first “bikes, this summer, it looks like the Money blues and bayous” event, inviting other Road Cycling Club is just hitting its stride. clubs to come and ride a 100-kilometer Running shoes for wheels has turned out (62-mile) course being laid out by Todd to be not a bad trade. Not bad at all.

Fincher, course manager. The course will Pittman said of his bike, “Of all the toys have rest stops equipped with water, food I’ve ever bought, it’s the best.” LI supplements and blues music, staffed by

The legend of Luigi Pelotoni

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 19

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Greenwood native Eric Cole, a DJ for more than 25 years, says he is happiest when the crowd is “feeling” what he’s feeling and everyone is moving in the moment.

The Disc Jockey:

A

DYING

AR T

BY WILLIAM BROWNING

Honestly, Eric Cole doesn’t listen to the radio while driving.

“I want to try to enjoy the serenity,” Cole said in that sincere and laid-back, near-comatose whisper of his.

For those who know Cole, that sentiment may seem odd. Since he was a 15year-old roaming the hallways of Greenwood High, Cole has been a disc jockey.

“It’s a dying art form. I really believe that,” he said of his profession, which has been thinned out and threatened since the advent of iPods and homemade ripped compact discs. “But when am I the happiest? When I know I’ve figured a crowd out and they are feeling what I’m feeling.”

Merriam-Webster defines a disc jockey as “a person who announces and plays popular recorded music.”

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“You can learn to read that crowd.

That’s where the art comes in.”

Eric Cole But Cole, whose usually calm voice registers unbridled passion when talking about disc jockeying, knows that what he does is much more.

“You can learn to read that crowd,” Cole said. “That’s where the art comes in.

If you know what you’re doing and have learned to pick up on subtle hints, you can make the crowd do what you want them to do.”

Obviously, the 42-year-old is a huge fan of music. He’s got thousands of records (“It’s hard to get vinyl these days; everything’s gone digital.”) and compact discs that cover the spectrum. From gospel to rap, from old country (which he loves) to electronica, from old-school R&B to top40 hits, Cole has the flavor a crowd might need.

“Look, if you’re working an urban crowd, you better not try to slide in some Conway Twitty or some Willie – ’cause that’s a fight. If it’s a corporate thing, don’t try the Run-DMC or the Tupac – ’cause that’s a fight.”

Cole started serving tunes up for a small circle of friends at Greenwood High. From there, he progressed to school dances after football games – “I remember telling the principal, ‘Hey! I can do these dances, too.’”

Cole brings that same adolescent spirit – for the good times and the music – with him today when filling air with music at everything from weddings to country club parties.

“That’s what I bring to the table, if you ask me – professionalism and a respect for the art that I’m proud to be a part of; you can really be a part of it,” he said. “It’s like playing in the big game, hearing the crowd call your name. For me, that’s the motivating factor.”

He averages 75 to 100 events a year, some as far away as Houston, Texas, and New Orleans. And after every single show, Cole, by himself, loads his gear into his GMC Yukon and trailer. “That’s one part that no one ever sees,” he said laughing.

Then he heads back home to Greenwood, his windows down and the radio off – a man just enjoying the serenity. LI 22 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

John Ashcraft:

King of

Blueberries Farmer enjoys raising this tasty fruit

RACHEL HODGE

As many farmers switch to corn to keep up with the biofuels boom, John Ashcraft Jr. deals in a crop of a different kind.

Ashcraft, 79, who has been involved in farming in the Mississippi Delta since the 1930s, is now well-known for his 11-acre blueberry plot, which he runs with his two sons, Gilliam and John III. Ashcraft moved as a child to Mississippi from northern Alabama with his family during the Great Depression. They first settled in Grenada, where Ashcraft’s grandfather owned a farm, but recognized greater opportunities in the Delta.

“People in the hills lived on what they made; people in the Delta made a living,” Ashcraft said.

His blueberry farm is about three miles outside of Sidon, near Roebuck Plantation, where Ashcraft raised cotton and soybeans until he retired in 1977.

Ashcraft now lives in Greenwood with his wife, Joanna. Their two sons also live in Greenwood, and their three daughters,

Leflore County families, some of whom return year after year. Still, Ashcraft insists his reason for starting a blueberry farm was not all about fun and games.

“According to Mississippi State, you make more (money) off blueberries than anything else,” Ashcraft said.

The pickyour-own blueberries are sold for $1.25 per pound – a price recently raised from $0.85 because of increased fuel and chemical costs. The rest of the berries are sent to the MissLou Blueberry Growers Cooperative in Purvis, where they are frozen and distributed as needed.

Ashcraft said blueberry farming is less timePHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS consuming than The family allows the public to come many other types of farming, and he enjoys the work and the opportunity to to its farm and pick blueberries every interact with the public. year from about mid-May to mid-July.

“It’s definitely more fun. There’s not “It’s kind of an honor system. For any comparison,” he said. most of the people, I won’t even know As an added attraction to the blueberthey’ve been there until they mail me ry picking, Ashcraft hopes to renovate a check,” Ashcraft said. “I figure if you The Oaks, his family home on go out there in the heat and pick, Roebuck Plantation, and eventually you’re not a bum.” turn it into a bed and breakfast.

It is a popular activity for many Frances Ashcraft, Ryan Austin and Josephine Austin, have moved on, but are still not far away. The couple also has nine grandchildren.

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 23

Outside of farming, Ashcraft and his wife also enjoy crafts. He started making baskets and other woven items about 10 years ago after learning the trade during a trip to the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee.

“I’m not real active, but that’s what I like to do,” Ashcraft said.

He said his wife, who does stained glass and other crafts, is the “real artist” in the family.

It is clear Ashcraft enjoys hands-on projects. He once used an old lawn mower to make a machine that painted designs on pieces of cardboard.

“Children loved it,” Ashcraft said.

He hopes to demonstrate this creation at the new Downtown Greenwood Farmers Market. Ashcraft is very interested in this project and also plans to participate as a grower.

Having visited farmers markets in other towns, he believes a market need not be huge or overly ambitious in order to succeed.

In addition to selling at the farmers market, this self-proclaimed “Blueberry King” is constantly looking for more ways to get his product into new markets.

On a recent trip to Alabama, Gilliam met a blueberry farmer who was making wine out of his crops — something Ashcraft is now interested in exploring.

Ashcraft also hopes to begin using freezer containers to ship his blueberries around the country. Dr. Arnold Smith, a Greenwood cancer specialist, has approached him about teaming on this effort because he often deals with freezer containers in his work.

Ashcraft has remained involved in the community through the years. He was the first chairman of the board for Cities in Schools, which is now Communities in Schools.

He now is chairman of the Historic Preservation Committee, a position he earned through his knowledge of various buildings and structures around town.

He is more modest about the appointment, though.

“It’s because I’m old,” he said. “I’m not an expert.” LI 24 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

From the left, John Ashcraft Jr. and workers Hosea Robinson and Torrance Cary inspect some of the crops at Ashcraft’s blueberry farm outside of Sidon.

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PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

From left, Jerry Lowe, a deacon and member of the choir, sings with choir members Bertha Williams and Doshia King. Mary Young is singing into the microphone on the upper right as Stacey Regular West plays the keyboard.

Salem Missionary Baptist Church

Feeling the Spirit

BY RUTH JENSEN

It sits on one of the loveliest locations possible for a church — next to a flowing river, with beautiful old trees around it. And like the trees, the members of Salem Missionary Baptist Church are deeply rooted in its history.

Many members have ancestors — parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles — buried in the cemetery there on Racetrack Plantation off U.S. 49 East, northwest of Greenwood. But beauty and gravestones with familiar names don’t explain a vibrant, relevant church that draws its members as well as visitors whenever its doors are open for Bible study or worship. While some country churches struggle to survive, the 127-year-old church moved into a beautiful new building in February and added a second service.

It now meets on the second and fourth Sundays each month, along with weekly Bible studies and youth programs.

Samaria Stevenson, who is current choir president and active in the Sunday School, said the church’s staying power can be attributed to family and God. “It’s a strong family church. We have seen a lot of miracles in our church family. God has blessed us.”

Even young people, whom many churches are struggling to retain, seem enthusiastic about Salem. Stevenson said she was pleased after she and husband, Ronnie, were out of town recently and her 18-year-old son told her on her return, “I went to church, Mom.” Another son, Quenton, 13, sings in the choir, and 7-yearold Justin is the youngest usher.

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 25

Another 18-yearhave moved away old, Cedric to later return, Brewer, said the many never left. church means a lot “This is where we to him. “I go all got our foundathe time. There’s a tion. There’s no spirit there.” reason to change,” Brewer, who said Willie Young. serves as an usher, Bobby Williams said the church has was baptized in been instrumental the Tallahatchie in turning his life River, as were around. many other mem“It comes bers. He has two straight from my grandparents heart. I don’t hang buried at Salem, around troubleand he remembers makers any more. the tradition of the I read my Bible mourning bench and pray,” he said. during revival Carl Cates, 14, time, where young said he likes being people who wanta part of Salem. “I ed to join the Members of Salem Missionary Baptist Church include, front, from left, Howard Lowe, like praising God. church would Roosevelt Roach Sr. and the Rev. Lewis Cedric Reed; back, Bobby Williams, Ulysses It helps me in life. stand “until they Carl Cates, Minister Elaine Tolbert, assistant pastor, Johnny Scott and Jimmy Lee I’m going to confelt God’s spirit.”

Johnson; standing back is Jerry Lowe. tinue coming to Then they would church.” shout, and at that point they would be taken into the church for Several words come out repeatedly when you talk to the membership. Nowadays, those who join are baptized in the bapchurch’s members about the reasons for the church’s vibrancy – tistry of the new building. family, roots, spirituality and friendliness. Carl Cates Sr., a deacon Even for those who don’t have a family history at Salem, it still and lifelong member of the church, said family makes Salem feels like family, according to Stacy Weatherspoon. Carolyn what it is.

Johnson, who married into the church, said the members are Many people are related. And while some of Salem’s members “real kind.”

“This is where we got our foundation.

There’s no reason to change.”

Church member Willie Young

Jennings Photography Members of Salem Missionary Baptist Church enjoy the Sunday morning worship service in the church sanctuary.

26 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

662-299-3400 Greenwood

“In 55 years, I’ve never even had a desire to move anywhere else, although some churches have wanted me to.”

Church member Mary Young Jerry Lowe, who’s been at the church 43 years, said he likes the atmosphere at Salem. “There’s no hostility. You can come in and worship, feel a warm welcome. I like to come in and fellowship with the members and visitors.”

Lowe said he strayed away from church while he moved around as a younger man – to California, Chicago, Florida – but when he returned, he connected with the church again. He said it helps him in many ways. “I do missionary work in nursing homes, and I work with youth all over town.”

One of the elder members, Mattie Tang, joined the church in 1949 and still attends. Mary Young, who was choir president for 45 years, said she joined Salem at age 12, and it’s the only church she’s ever belonged to. Her parents, Walter and Willie Mae Scott, lived in the area until they got old and moved to town. “In 55 years, I’ve never even had a desire to move anywhere else, although some churches have wanted me to.”

Johnny Scott said the church members are helpful in times of crisis or difficulty.

“If I have a problem, I can go to brothers in Christ and talk to them.”

He adds that the church has good leadership. The Rev. Cedric Reed is the current pastor, and Elaine Tolbert is assistant pastor. Tolbert, the first female minister at Salem, admits there was some resistance at first to the change, but she feels it has worked out well.

Lorna Roach Meeks, who has been a part of Salem all of her life, along with her family, said there isn’t a disagreement they can’t work through: “We serve God together. We’re of one accord.”

Salem M.B. Church has a favorite Bible verse as its theme, Psalm 1:3, which seems to sum up what the church is about: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” LI

From left, twins Justin and Lennie Stevenson pose near the piano at Salem Missionary Baptist Church. Justin is a junior usher and Lennie is in the choir.

They are the children of Ronnie and Samaria Stevenson.

S ERVICE AND I NTEGRITY IN E VERY B ALE

214 W. Market Street Greenwood, MS 662-453-6231 www.staplcotn.com Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 27

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Rescue

The entry hall and parlor of the Whittingtons’ home contain many family antiques. The oil-on-canvas swag border depicts the coat of arms of the original owners, the Kimbrough family.

28 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

and Reward

Cleaning the dining room walls above the rail revealed rural scenes all the way around the room. The dolls are part of Aubrey Whittington’s collection.

Much of the contemporary artwork was done by Lisa Hoefl and Shawn Whittington, Aubrey and Billy Whittington’s eldest daughter and son. The furniture and oriental carpets are family pieces.

From ‘Rubblefield’ to elegance

BY JO ALICE DARDEN

orful items bought on the family’s trip to Africa.

“Collections can be suffocating,” she said. She has gone online to check out eBay but has learned to keep her distance from the popular Web site. “That site is way too addictive!” she said.

But Whittington’s house can accommodate all these collections.

That’s a rescue story, too.

Aubrey Bell Whittington rescues things. Cats and dogs. Old toys and dolls and stuffed bears. Stained glass.

Her house.

As president of the Leflore County Humane Society, Whittington volunteers at the shelter on Ione Street in Greenwood and is responsible for rescuing v v v many animals herself. She currently has five rescued dogs at Aubrey Bell married Billy her house. The numbers vary; Whittington in 1968, and by 1975 the care is always heartfelt. their family had expanded by five She also owns and operates children. The couple had been Outer Limits on West Park planning to build a home on a Avenue, where children gather to piece of Whittington land on dance and exercise and enjoy Money Road, just north of gymnastics, get physically fit, Greenwood. They envisioned a host parties and have fun. rustic Spanish-style house, someShe can’t resist a doll or a thing sprawling and casual for teddy bear. their growing family, but they just “There’s just something about couldn’t make the plans feel right. toys and children and animals,” Driving on River Road one she said. “I’m totally drawn. I day in 1975, Aubrey Whittington can’t leave a little bear or a little was alarmed to find that the old Aubrey Whittington cannot resist a doll, a bear or a stuffed anidoll alone that someone has just Judge Allen McCaskill mal someone else has “abandoned.” She has collected thouused and then abandoned. I find Kimbrough house was being presands, most of them antiques, displaying them throughout the them everywhere, but especially pared for demolition. When house. in ‘junktique’ stores.”

Whittington was growing up on A wall in a downstairs hall is covered with plaques of multi-milRiver Road, she frequently passed this house, which she had lion-year-old fossilized fish she and her daughter Lisa gathered on a always found intriguing. Built in the Greek Revival style, as so trip to Wyoming years ago. Other areas contain collections gathered many large Southern homes were, it was a reassuring, always-there during other trips. The breakfast room, for example, showcases col- element in the landscape of her young life.

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 29

And now it would be destroyed.

Whittington worked fast to contact the current owners, heirs of the W.A. Gilpin family, who had bought the house from the Kimbrough heirs in 1935.

The owners said it was being demolished to make way for condominiums. Whittington asked what they would charge for it, and the owners said the Whittingtons could have the house for nothing if they would just move it off the property – quickly.

It took about three days to finalize the deal.

The house was theirs.

Adiós, hacienda.

According to an article by staff writer Kay Barksdale in The Greenwood Commonwealth dated Oct. 5, 1975, the relocation was undertaken by House Movers Inc., owned by Bo Branch of Morgan City, and supervised by Robert Utroska of Greenwood. Workers removed the porches and pillars and broke the house into four sections, cutting along wall lines whenever possible.

Whittington recalled that she could hardly bear to watch any of the moving process, but she heard plenty about it from friends who worked and shopped in downtown Greenwood and had to contend with traffic snarls caused by the slowly traveling house parts.

Meanwhile, the former owners of the house put Whittington in touch with people who had been buying pieces of the house before it was to be razed – brass doorknobs, an oak staircase, pocket doors and other interior parts. She was able to buy back many of those pieces.

With the house in its new home, in the middle of a cotton field, it took about a year of “sewing up the seams” and reconstruction and restoration and utilities work to get it to the point where it would be safe for the Whittingtons to live in it.

“We called it ‘Rubblefield’ once it was sitting on the property,” said Billy Whittington.

Now the real work for Aubrey Whittington would begin.

30 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Aubrey and Billy Whittington retire to their bedroom suite each night to relax in the plush upholstered chairs to talk over their day and watch TV.

v v v “Before we moved,” she said, “we were living in a four-room house, with five kids at that point – and one bath. On the day we moved in, the older ones ran upstairs, and each one claimed a bedroom and went in and closed the door.”

Whittington surveyed her new home, prioritized the projects, and then set about doing as much as she could by herself and with the help of her children as they grew old enough. Today, the Whittingtons have six children – Lisa Hoefl of Hot Springs, Ark.; Shawn Whittington of Saltillo; Phaedre Cole of Schlater; Kelly Whittington of Hattiesburg; Will Whittington of Tupelo; and Lacey Nash of Northfield, Ill. – and seven grandchildren.

At one point or another, they’ve all lent a hand.

From the beginning, it was most important to Whittington that the history of the house be honored. In the 1975

Commonwealth article, she said, “We owe something to the house.

I want to keep it as it was. We are not going to modernize it or knock out walls to change the room arrangement or anything.”

The entry, parlor and dining room offer the best evidence that she remains true to her conviction.

The Whittingtons learned the house was built around 1904 to 1906 by Judge Allen McCaskill Kimbrough.

In 1908, Mrs. Kimbrough commissioned a European artist in residence in Greenwood to decorate the walls and ceilings of the entry hall, the parlor and the dining room of her home.

This Swedish artist created a border in oil on canvas, hanging from the crown molding, in the entry hall and the parlor.

Before the house was moved, Whittington number-coded each piece of hanging border and took it down so that it could be repositioned correctly when the

Facing Money Road, the Whittingtons’ house has a wide porch wrapping around three sides from which “the most beautiful sunsets in the world” can be seen, according to Aubrey Whittington.

Displayed in a lawyer’s bookcase in the upstairs hall are many of Aubrey Whittington’s collections of arrowheads and Indian pottery. Her reflection is caught in the mirror over the vase.

of maintaining all those chimneys. But rather than leave the stately oak mantels hovering awkwardly over empty space, she moved them to the bathrooms, where they provide architectural interest and shelving space over the vanities.

From the wreckage that was their “Rubblefield,” Whittington has transformed the house and lawn, carved out of a cotton field, into a functional, livable home that is at once stately and comfortable, imposing and inviting.

“You have to do what the house tells you,” Whittington said, “and I enjoy doing what this house tells me to do.”

It has been yet another heartfelt rescue effort. LI

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house was in its new setting. The border in the entry hall was found to be a design incorporating the Kimbrough coat of arms.

The artist also created and applied ornamental plaster designs to the walls and ceilings of the three front rooms, as well as many of the other rooms in the house.

Whittington is still repairing and restoring these intricate designs. She was working with artist James King on the restoration, but he died before he could complete all the work that needed to be done.

“He was phenomenal,” Whittington said. “Even now, you can’t tell what’s old and what he did.”

The dining room walls had rail molding about two-thirds of the way up, and the area above the rail had darkened into an almost-solid smoky black. Whittington and her daughter Lisa used cotton cleanser on the mural to reveal a series of lush, leafy-green pastoral scenes likely designed to be conducive to the agreeable digestion of Victorian-era dining guests.

The front rooms, while beautiful, are hardly used except on special occasions.

One is the legendary Thanksgiving dinner the Whittingtons throw each year, and Aubrey said they do entertain occasionally, although less now than when their children were living there.

“The kids come home for holidays and weekends,” she said. “Somebody’s always buzzing in and out.”

The master bedroom suite is downstairs.

Upstairs, the house has six bedrooms, along with four baths, each of which has a white tile tub surround. As she was tiling the baths, Whittington asked Greenwood artist Lalla Walker Lewis to paint different Southern scenes on several of the fourinch tiles – “like miniature oil paintings,” Whittington said – and she placed three or four of these tile paintings in each bath.

Whittington said each bedroom had a working fireplace, but she made the decision to close them off in the interest of her children’s safety and to avoid the expense

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Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 31

E AT?

Hungry?

You’re at the right place.

Whether you’re searching for traditional Southern fare or something more exotic, restaurants in Greenwood and the surrounding area offer a delightful experience for every palate.

The immigrant influences — Italian, Greek, Chinese, Lebanese, Hispanic — and the cooking traditions of the AfricanAmerican population blend to create a savory menu of dining options.

Take a look.

2

WHERE

China Blossom 917 Hwy. 82 West Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Chinese & American Full Bar Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Sunday), 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday), 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. (Friday & Saturday) Price range (per person ):

Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Children’s menu

Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 453-3297

Crystal Grill 423 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American Full Bar Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Tuesday - Sunday)

Price range (per person ): Lunch: $10-$20 Dinner: $10-$20 Children’s menu

Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 453-6530

Giardina’s 314 Howard Street Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Steak, Seafood, Italian Full Bar Hours of operation: 11a.m.-2p.m. (Lunch), 5-10p.m. (Dinner) Price range (per person ): Lunch: $4-$12 Dinner:$9-$30 (per Children’s menu entree) Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 455-4227 Web site: www.giardinas.com E-mail: giardinas@giardinas.com 32 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Carroll County Market 607-608 Lexington Street Carrollton

Type of cuisine: BBQ, Steak, Seafood, Wood-Fired Pizza Wine Menu Hours of operation: 5-9 p.m. (Thursday), 5-10 p.m. (Friday & Saturday) Live Entertainment: Saturday, 8 p.m. -midnight Price range (per person ):

Dinner $10-$15, Children’s menu Reservations recommended Outdoor smoking patio, Handicapped accessible

Phone: (662) 237-1131

North Carrollton Fish & Steak House

Veronica’s Custom Bakery

North Carrollton

Greenwood

202 1/2 Hemmingway

Type of cuisine: Seafood, Steaks, Fried Catfish Hours of operation: 5 p.m until Wednesday thru Saturday, special parties

Price range (per person ): Dinner: $10-$15 Children’s menu Handicapped accessible Occasional live music Outdoor smoking patio Phone: (662) 237-0370

222 Howard Street Type of cuisine: Soup, salad, sandwiches and pastries.

Signature entree: Sourdough Breads Hours of operation: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Tuesday-Saturday)

Price range (per person): Lunch: under $10 Children’s menu Outdoor smoking patio Phone: (662) 451-9425 E-mail: 3deuces@bellsouth.net Web site: www.threedeuces.net

Tackett’s Restaurant 922 Hwy. 82 West Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American, Southern Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-10p.m. Daily

Price range (per person ): Lunch: $8 Dinner: $8 Children’s menu

Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 455-4095

Mai Little China 617 West Park Ave.

Highland Park Shopping Center Greenwood

Type of cuisine:Fusion Wine Menu Hours of operation: Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Dinner: 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$30 Children’s menu

Lusco’s

Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 451-1101

Blue Parrot Café 222 Howard Street Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Fine Latin Cuisine Full Bar Hours of operation: 6-10 p.m. (Friday & Saturday)

Price range (per person ): Dinner: $15-$25 Handicapped accessible Occasional live music Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 451-9430 Email: 3deuces@bellsouth.net Web site: www.threedeuces.net

722 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American with an Italian flare Beer and Setups: You may bring your own wine or liquor.

Hours of operation: 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

(Tuesday-Saturday)

Price range (per person): Dinner $10-$30 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 453-5365 Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 33

Mulgrew Miller

x

Following his dream

“I realized that I would become a ‘name’ after I’d worked with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.”

Mulgrew Miller

BY JO ALICE DARDEN

A little boy not long out of diapers – maybe 3 or 4 years old, his mother says – used to drag a stool over to a window to help him reach it. Was there a compelling view outside? Did he want to catch someone’s attention? No, he wanted to “play piano” on the window sill.

Arlene Miller of Greenwood said those little performances were the first hints that her son, Mulgrew Miller, might have some musical talent.

By the time he was 8 years old, little Mulgrew was taking music from Albert Harrison in Greenwood. Miller remained Harrison’s student through his graduation from Greenwood High School, except for his junior year, which he spent in Michigan.

Mrs. Miller said Mulgrew played for their church and others, starting when he was about 12. Miller said he and other talented friends played for cocktail parties when they were in high school.

34 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

And in an extraordinary display of clairHe was officially introduced to the New voyance and character assessment, his York jazz scene when singer Betty Carter GHS Class of 1973 voted Miller both asked him to join her touring group. At that “Most Talented” and “Most Likely to time, in the 1970s, the twice-GrammySucceed.”

Today, at 52, Miller still purMulgrew Miller was sues his art as a composer, the voted Most Talented leader of two jazz ensembles, a in his senior class world traveler and performer, at Greenwood High and the director of the jazz studin 1973. ies program at William Paterson University in New Jersey. There, he works with students who want to follow his guidance as he continues to follow his dreams.

Miller attended Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) for a couple of years and then went to Boston to study with a classical piano teacher for three months.

He then moved to Los Angeles for a year of performing – “paying my dues,” as he said.

Word gets around when you’re good, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra was listening. Miller joined the orchestra, based in nominated Carter, renowned for her improNew York, and performed with it for three visational jazz vocals, was recruiting and years. The orchestra was constantly on the developing young musicians of promise, road; Miller didn’t even have a real address and Miller filled the bill. in the city, as he was never there long He moved to New York and spent sevenough.

eral years in Carter’s and other musicians’ bands, playing small clubs and establishing a reputation and a track record. While playing with Carter’s trio, Miller met his future wife, Tanya, from Cleveland, Ohio.

“One of my colleagues, the bass player, was a first cousin of Tanya’s, and she came out to hear us play when we were in Cleveland,” said Miller. The rest is happily-ever-after history.

Through the 1970s and early 1980s, Miller’s work kept him busy traveling and performing in groups led by other musicians. He was constantly learning, soaking up knowledge, experience and inspiration that would serve him generously later, building his repertoire and growing as a musician. In the mid1980s he eased out on his own, forming his own group and doing his first recordings as a leader in 1985.

“Making it” as a professional musician has many levels, Miller said.

“Being able to work enough to pay your bills is one level. Being recognized and able to work under your own name as a leader is another. Making history is yet another level,” Miller said.

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“I realized that I would become a ‘name’ after I’d worked with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,” he said, referring to a group he was with in the 1980s. “I knew I was making history through certain recordings that I’ve played on, such as the historic pairing of trumpet stars Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw.”

Miller said his music might be described as “progressive mainstream jazz,” although he confesses no single category accurately describes what he and his groups do.

Currently he leads two ensembles – The Mulgrew Miller Trio, which is the more indemand group, with him on piano and two others on bass and drums, and Wingspan, a sextet that incorporates the trio and adds horns and vibes. He has appeared on more than 500 recordings.

While Miller made a name for himself and more than just a living for his family, Tanya was a stay-at-home mom, rarely traveling with her husband. The family moved from the New York City area to Easton, Pa., about 18 years ago. Now that the kids have grown, Tanya works part time in a clothing store.

Son Darnell, now 29, is an assistant manager at a restaurant in Cleveland, and daughter Leilani is 20 and a psychology major at William Paterson University. Both studied music, and Leilani studied dance, as well, but each decided to pursue nonmusical interests.

Miller entered a new phase of his professional life when he became a member of the Paterson faculty in the fall of 2005.

Initially asked to be the interim director of the jazz studies program at Paterson, he was officially given the director’s title in January 2006.

As director, he teaches three classes each Tuesday and Wednesday, basically coaching six jazz combos each semester. He calls the classes “supervised jazz sessions.” He said the students are talented and respectful, and the classes are not limited to music lessons.

“We talk about music,” he said, “but I give a few anecdotes relevant to the moment.”

He also teaches a course in performance practice, which is about life on the road and the business of being a professional musician. Since the Paterson campus is only about 20 miles from New York City, as well as short distances from cities in New Jersey where jazz is appreciated, he said there are “a lot of situations (my students) can get into.”

“It’s my time to give back,” Miller said, and he is eager to share his knowledge with those who are so eager to learn.

It’s not as if Miller has put himself out to pasture, however. Teaching only Tuesday and Wednesday leaves Thursday through Monday as an enviably long weekend for a 36 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

musician who has no plans at all to retire any time soon.

“Thursday through Monday, I tour,” he said.

Miller conducts workshops, clinics, seminars and music camps throughout the United States during the school year and continues this kind of work in places around the world during the summer, when he has more time to travel. And he still enjoys performing.

“I like going anywhere people are interested in hearing my music,” Miller said.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was interested in hearing his music. The Washington, D.C., landmark opened its intimate roof-level concert venue, the KC Jazz Club, in the fall of 2002, choosing to feature the Mulgrew Miller Trio on opening night. The group’s performance there was recorded live and released in two volumes, to critical acclaim.

Samples of Miller’s work can be heard on his Web site, www.mulgrewmiller.com.

Miller’s full schedule allows him to return to Greenwood only about once a year. While he enjoys visiting with his family and seeing how the city has changed, he said he is thankful that he has been able to follow through on his dreams to become a professional musician, to actually make a good living doing the thing he truly loves.

And he no longer has to pull up a stool to beat out a tune on a window sill. LI

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Commuting

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

kids

BY CHARLIE SMITH

School draws students from near and far

traditional Southern-style frying.

Robert likes science and math best but New Delta Preparatory School cast a said he tries to focus on every subject and wide net over the Delta in its first year. keep his grades high. He would like to Students came in from places such as study physics in college or do work to Cleveland, Sumner and Tchula. One boy cure diseases such as cancer and AIDS – even moved from Memphis to live with something that will have a worldwide his grandmother in impact.

Greenwood so he could Strickland said the attend the Viking school is looking for Range Corp.-sponsored that type of achiever. school.

He intends for the These “commuting school to be a conkids” came for the tinuation of what school’s academic chalViking is all about: lenge and its unique The company makes courses, such as its culihigh-end kitchen nary arts program at the appliances, and New Viking Cooking School, Delta aims to be a said Headmaster Buddy high-end academic Strickland. school.

He said the school’s Taylor Clemons initial marketing effort made perhaps the within Leflore County biggest move of any spread throughout the of New Delta’s stuDelta by word of dents. mouth.

The junior left a “I think they were public school in From left, Robert Collins, Sophie Clay and Taylor Clemons travel from outside North Carolina that looking for something Leflore County to attend New Delta Preparatory School. Collins moved from had 2,000 students different,” Strickland Memphis to go to New Delta, and Clay and Clemons commute from Sumner when her father took said. and Cleveland, respectively.

About 25 percent of a job as an engineer the school’s 25 students with Viking. come from outside Leflore County.

That has been an adjustment for Robert Collins moved from Sophie Clay, a seventh-grader from Taylor, but she appreciates the one-onMemphis, where he attended public Sumner, rides 30 minutes to school in the schools, to Greenwood to live with his one with teachers and extra help that morning, always with her dad. small classes provide. grandmother so he could attend New “My mom’s not an early riser,” Sophie Spanish class, which uses Rosetta Stone Delta. said. software, stands out among New Delta’s The eighth-grader said New Delta is The seventh-grader enjoys the cookofferings. “a lot better than I expected.” ing school and thinks her French lan“It’s not anything that you would find in He gets individual attention that he guage studies will pay off because she is another school,” Taylor said. did not get at public schools, and he interested in moving to the south of Her family lives in Cleveland but is enjoys the personal relationship that the France. looking to move closer, she said. students have with the teachers and New Delta is more diverse than a typi- administrators.

Classes at New Delta were first held in cal Delta academy, Sophie said.

August 2007.

“You can’t be the outcast,” Robert It also encourages creative thinking.

Strickland said as the school continues said. “We all just get along.”

Disturbed by the construction-created to grow it will look to recruit within a 30Preparation of dishes such as sushi “desert” behind the school, Sophie drew has expanded his cooking skills beyond to-40-mile radius of Leflore County. LI up a design for a courtyard behind the school. She then submitted her proposal to Strickland.

Strickland said he welcomes that type of input and initiative from students.

“We want our students involved in what we’re doing,” he said.

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 37

Bill Malouf

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

The spirit of a designer Creating furniture that’s authentic and timeless

BY CHARLIE SMITH

Bill Malouf’s furniture reflects his personality – relaxed, genuine, unhurried.

“It evokes the spirit of the craftsman,” Malouf said. “And it’s not some new, shiny something that somebody made 3,000 of. It has that one-off look.”

Malouf owns Port Eliot, a high-end furniture operation with retail and wholesale companies run out of one office in Greenwood.

The Port Eliot team – which Malouf says deserves as much credit as himself – makes aged reproductions of classic European furniture.

Furniture design is probably not a career that many former SEC quarterbacks would choose.

However, Malouf, who played at Ole Miss from 1971 to 1975, had family connections in the furniture industry. His late father, Alex Malouf Sr., opened Malouf Furniture in 1946.

He said his football experience has had a definite impact on his management style. He looks for pieces of the puzzle that fit together and relies on his associates’ strengths to offset his weaknesses.

He still plays a little football with his son Matt, who is a quarterback at the University of Memphis.

“I do enjoy going out in the back yard and still throwing with him,” Malouf said.

“I can’t catch it quite as well as I used to, but I work on some small things and talk about what’s important in life.”

After Malouf’s Ole Miss days, he worked for 24 years with his father and brother at Malouf Furniture before starting Port Eliot in 1999.

38 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Above, Bill Malouf, left, and Judith Martin work at the drawing table at Port Eliot. The furniture maker will remain in downtown Greenwood but will move its offices and retail space in June from Walthall Street to Howard Street. Left, most of Port Eliot's furniture is designed by Malouf. He says Port Eliot tries to be different from other furniture retailers by having a comfortable setting and limited-run handmade pieces.

The showroom at Port Eliot's Greenwood store displays its collection of reproductions of classic European furniture. The company has had worldwide success as both a retailer and a wholesaler in its 10 years of operation.

Port Eliot’s look began as Old World English and is now moving into English and French country. It has also started having updated, transitional designs.

“We want to be authentic and relaxed, but we don’t want to be dated,” Malouf said.

“We want to be timeless, but it’s important to be on the cutting edge of today. So it’s a combination of looks.”

Malouf started with about 40 shops in England. Then he moved the production outside England so he could save money by paying in U.S. dollars.

The furniture is still made by eight English finishers, polishers and cabinet makers who use all European materials.

Malouf does most of the designs himself.

They are chosen based on what he calls “the gut instinct of the merchant.”

“I’m not a highly intellectual guy, but I do have certain instincts and talents that I’ve tried to rely on over the years,” he said.

Malouf tries to create furniture that differs from what the commercial furniture industry is bringing out of China.

Port Eliot’s furniture is made in relatively small quantities, fewer than a hundred.

Over time, Malouf grew tired of the high markup on his furniture by the distributors who sold it under their own names.

“About two years ago I introduced Port Eliot to the nation myself through my own showroom,” Malouf said.

That showroom is in High Point, N.C. Port Eliot’s headquarters and showroom in Greenwood are scheduled to move in June from Walthall Street to a building at 211 Howard St. owned by Viking Range Corp.

The current location does not have a lot of display space, so when Viking decided to take over the building, Malouf jumped at the chance to move to Howard Street, especially since Viking agreed to renovate the vintage 1899 building.

Regardless of how successful his business becomes, Malouf said that is not what really matters to him. Family and happiness are more important.

“I’ve tried to have balance in my life. I want to live life the right way,” Malouf said. “I certainly don’t want to live for money.”

That philosophy extends to his decision to keep Port Eliot in Greenwood, even though he could make more money by moving to a bigger retail market such as

Memphis or Jackson.

“I’ve considered it greatly, but this is our hometown,” Malouf said.

Viking’s efforts have inspired Malouf and shown him what is possible in Greenwood.

“They’ve given all of us an opportunity to have a wonderful community that’s admired by many,” he said. “If Port Eliot can be one more thing to assist in the renaissance of Greenwood, then we want to be a part of it.” LI

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319 Howard St. Greenwood 662-455-9678 russellthomasant@bellsouth.net Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 39

Kornfeld’s

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

BIG BUSINESS Department store has niche in big and tall

BY BOB DARDEN

More than 30 years ago Murray Kornfeld found his niche.

Today, Kornfeld’s niche is XXX-large.

Kornfeld, 61, remembers a pivotal conversation he had with his late father, Leslie, in the 1970s over the direction of Kornfeld’s Department Store.

“I said, ‘Pop, this is our future. This is big and tall,’” Kornfeld said.

“Daddy looked at me and said, ‘We don’t have that kind of business. There’s not that many big and tall people,’” Kornfeld “I told “Had I not put recalled. him, ‘Pop, you us in big and ran the store, tall 30 years and you’re still it, but ago, we’d have running it’s a different been out of world today. We may not have business.” the big and tall Murray Kornfeld business, but we’re going to put it in and create the demand for big and tall.’”

Kornfeld said his father responded, “You’re out of your mind” — but that didn’t affect his determination to take the business in this direction.

“Had I not put us in big and tall 30 years ago, we’d have been out of business,” he said. “The big and tall business is what is keeping me alive right now.”

All these years later, Kornfeld boldly proclaims his big and tall store is the state’s biggest. It has sold merchandise to people from every Mississippi county and also has sold to Tennessee, Arkansas, Canada, England and Australia, he said.

He said it surprised his father when the traffic for this merchandise began to trickle in.

“A guy comes in, he’s 375 pounds, he’s 6-foot-6. He wasn’t used to a size 86 pair of blue jeans and a 12X shirt. He’d say, 40 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Murray Kornfeld, owner of Kornfeld’s Inc. on East Johnson Street, stands out front with some of his biker friends.

Kornfeld enjoys riding his motorcycle when he has time away from his store, which specializes in clothing for big and tall.

‘Where are they coming from?’ I said, ‘This is what I created,’” Kornfeld said.

America’s waistline was expanding, and that’s where Kornfeld made his mark.

“In those days you had a lot of people living on the farm. Their khaki pants were getting too tight in a 42 waist. Their X-large shirt buttons were pulling when they were sitting on their tractors. That’s what started this,” he said. v v v

That’s a far cry from Kornfeld’s Department Store’s humble beginnings back in 1920 or 1921. The company was started by Kornfeld’s grandfather, Wolfe, a German immigrant known to everyone in the Delta as William. He came to Greenwood after marrying local merchant M. Diamond’s daughter. Wolfe Kornfeld was a born merchant, his grandson said.

Once he got established, Wolfe Kornfeld opened his own store, right next to his father-in-law.

when people start looking for you – especialIt’s been at 318-320 East Johnson St. ever ly the companies – instead of you having to since. “The building is the oldest on this go to them,” he said. “That’s really a shock.” block,” Kornfeld said.

Still, the business also gets customers who Wolfe “never had any formal education, walk in for the first time. and yet he could literally take a column of The company still doesn’t have a Web figures as big as this book and he could go site, but it does take phone orders for callers down them that fast,” Kornfeld said. with major credit cards. Once a woman in Kornfeld’s was quite a different store California called needing size-18 tennis when it was starting up. shoes for her grandson for Christmas.

“It wasn’t a clothing store. In those days, Kornfeld had them. they were referred to as a general store.

Later she wrote him a thank-you letter They had socks, they had food and they had saying that he was the only store she’d called hardware,” he said. that had shoes in that size. Kornfeld says he Railroads were part of the store’s early gets such letters all the time. success – and they were also a key player in part of Greenwood’s racy, bawdy past, he said.

“You’ll notice the building across the street with all the windows up on top?

That used to be a house of ill repute when my daddy was a child,” Kornfeld said.

The railroad men would visit Kornfeld’s, he said.

“They would come over here and my grandfather would give them a soda for a nickel and a can of sardines for a nickel – he provided the crackers and the hot sauce for free – and the girls would hang out the PHOTO BY BOB DARDEN windows across the way,” Kornfeld said.

Murray Kornfeld holds up a size Pretty soon, Kornfeld’s 86 pair of bluejeans. His family started handling requests business found its niche in carryfor pink peignoir sets from ing big and tall sizes. the women literally on the other side of the tracks, he said. v v v After World War II, Kornfeld’s father came back and helped Wolfe run the busiKornfeld said Greenwood’s leaders don’t ness. “He had a business dropped in his lap fully understand the financial significance of – kind of like I did,” Kornfeld said.

For many years, Kornfeld’s was run by his his store’s impact on Greenwood’s economy and tax base. father, his mother, Gertrude, and his aunt, “Let’s take a guy. He lives in Rosedale.

Jeanette Kornfeld.

He comes over to my store and in the process he asks, ‘Where’s a good place to v v v eat?’ and I’ll say, ‘the Crystal Grill,’” Kornfeld said.

Kornfeld’s success regionally, nationally “This is the magnet that’s bringing them and internationally got a big push in March to Greenwood,” he said.

2003 when the tabloid National Examiner If Viking Range Corp. is the industrial diareprinted a Clarion-Ledger story on the mond of the Delta, Kornfeld says, his operaGreenwood merchant featuring a photo of Kornfeld holding an enormous pair of ladies’ tion is the “ruby of the retail business.”

The store also has other distinctions. He bloomers. said it’s the “biggest cotton promoter in In all, he said, 450,000 copies of that town,” and its motorcycle department has tabloid were sold worldwide. As a result of expanded to fill yet another niche. The the publicity, his sales took off. department offers bikers a variety of boots, On many occasions, people will spot the leathers and accessories. Kornfeld said he building’s sign as they pass through has 75 motorcycle helmets in stock.

Greenwood and identify it as the store with It draws customers from Dumas to Lake the big underwear, Kornfeld said.

Village to Greenville. “Nobody else is doing “I guess you know when you’ve arrived

that,” Kornfeld said.

Niche markets are the future for small retailers, he said. “If you don’t find a niche today, the big box stores are going to eat you up and spit you out,” he said. v v v Kornfeld said retailing is invigorating to both the heart and the mind.

“At 61 years old, this is what keeps me sharp. I can tell you everything that’s in this store, this building, the next building and the warehouse two buildings over,” he said.

“Two years ago, I had a woman looking for a red shirt for Halloween in a man’s medium long-sleeve. I said, ‘I’ve got one,’” Kornfeld said.

He momentarily closed his eyes and, in his mind, based on his memory, walked the store. When the woman asked what he was doing, he replied, “I’m trying to find the shirt.”

There, hanging on a rack beside a scale in the back of the building, was a red medium long-sleeved shirt, Kornfeld said.

“I know every item in this store, and I keep it all in here,” he said, pointing to his head.

Kornfeld grew up in the business. His sisters, Susan Hillner of Chattanooga, Tenn., and Wendy Simmons of Madison, Ala., were spared from living the retailer’s life.

“I’ve had 21 days off in 35 years,” Kornfeld said.

Kornfeld and his wife, Kackie, have been married for 17 years.

“People say to me, ‘You can retire next year.’ No. 1, I love to ride my motorcycle, I love to go fishing but you can do so much of that and then you’ll get bored with it,” he said.

No, Kornfeld said, he’s in business to stay, and that’s because his big and tall customers need him.

“I owe the big and tall people a place to buy their clothing. I feel obligated. If I go out of business, there’s nobody else,” he said.

While retail giants such as Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney are trying to get into big and tall sizes, Kornfeld considers them puny competitors.

“I’ll forget more big and tall than they’ll ever remember.” LI Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 41

Business Directory Our Passion Is Working With Animals!

Dr. Debby Myers 1909 Leflore Ave. • Greenwood, MS. • (662) 451-7799

Greenwood Animal Hospital Dr. Andy Johnson...

� Your other family doctor�

• Surgery • Dentistry • Medicine • Wellness • Pet Supplies • Grooming • Boarding

Your Glass Specialist

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705 Hwy. 82 Bypass • Greenwood, MS 453-7672

Glass for Every Purpose RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

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1811 Hwy. 82 W. Greenwood, MS. (662) 453-5745

Come worship with us!

SUNDAY

8:30 a.m. Contemporary worship 10:55 a.m. Traditional worship 5:45 p.m. Group singing & worship St. John’s United Methodist Church 1001 Grand Blvd.

Greenwood, MS

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Crystal Health & Rehab of Greenwood, L.L.C. “Every day of life counts�

907 Highway 82 West, Greenwood ¡ Phone (662) 453-9173 42 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Charles Peel, Jr. Manager

Wilson & Knight Funeral Home 910 Highway 82 West • Greenwood, Mississippi • 662-4453-33636

Astro Manufacturing

Lumpkin and company

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

— Alex Tsema

staying busy

BY DAVID MONROE

Tip Lumpkin was retired before he came to work for Astro Manufacturing, but he soon discovered something about retirement.

“From 8 to 5, there’s nobody to talk to, because they all went to work,” he said. “So I had to go find something to do. There’s just so many times you can hit a golf ball.”

Lumpkin retired from a long career in law enforcement – “34 years, nine months and 11 days,” he said – after suffering a stroke. He stayed out of work for a year and a half before joining Astro.

Since then he has done a little bit of everything at the facility, located a mile and a half east of the Leflore County line. Now he is its general manager. He says business is going well, and he is pleased with the employees he has.

“The people we have are good people,” he said. “They know what they’re doing. They’ve been at it a long time. They know

Business Directory

An employee does some welding at Astro Manufacturing.

how to do it, and they don’t require much supervision.”

The business was started by Charles Robinette and initially was named Robinette Sheet Metal Works. It manufactured items such as agricultural chemical holding tanks and storm shelters.

Robinette’s daughter, Gerry Huggins, and her husband, Robert “Bunky” Huggins, bought Robinette out in the 1970s and renamed the business Metalcraft Inc. In 2003, the company was sold to Elmer Lorenzen, owner of Astro and based in Cudahy, Wis. Lumpkin was a longtime friend of Bunky Huggins, who served in the state House of Representatives for 12 years and in the Senate for 22 years before his death in 2006. Lumpkin said Huggins was a friend to many other people, too: “The people 631 West Park Ave. Greenwood, MS. that he represented, put1010 their needs 662 he 453 Cell: first 662– always.”

457 1922 Edwin Moorman, owner

Georgeous never looked so good!

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201 W. Park Ave. • Greenwood • 455-2575

Charles Peel, Jr. Manager

631 W est P ark A ve. • Greenwood, M S. 662-4 4 53-1 1 010 • Cell: 6 62-4 4 57-1 1 922 Edwin M oorman, o wner

Wilson & Knight Funeral Home 910 Highway 82 West • Greenwood, Mississippi • 662 453 3636

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 43

Keep an eye out

for these!

May 8 – 1st Annual Chamber of Commerce Golf Scramble, 1 p.m., Greenwood Country Club TBA – Business After Hours at Monograms & More, 5-7p.m.

June 27 – Stars and Stripes in the Park Festival, 5 p.m. Activities include games, children's corner and inflatables, children's parade, live entertainment, food vendors and giant fireworks show at dark. Admission is FREE!

August 2 – Citywide Sidewalk Sale, all day.

21 – New Teacher Reception, 4 p.m.

September 20 – 27th annual 300 Oaks Road Race. Online registration will be available in May at www.greenwoodms.com.

Online registrations are available for individuals and families of four only.

All other registrations, including teams, should be done through the Chamber of Commerce office. Call (662) 453-4152 for more information.

44 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

Astro North, the company’s Wisconsinbased tool-and-die site, makes the parts, and the Mississippi location does the assembly.

“We take all the little parts, and we make a big part – and then we send that to the people who need it,” Lumpkin said.

In addition to building tanks and storm shelters, Astro repairs farm equipment and is getting into building grain trailers, among other things.

Lumpkin said he had to learn a lot on the job, such as running the equipment and quoting jobs.

“I had learned a lot from the older men that were here, watching and observing,” he said. “But most everything I’ve learned since I’ve been here I’ve taught myself. I’ve had to.”

Astro does a lot of work with Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. and Viking Range Corp.

Other customers have included Scott Petroleum, Gresham-McPherson Oil and some as far away as Alabama, Arkansas and the Gulf Coast.

Lumpkin said Astro has attracted skilled employees who each bring unique qualities to the work. They have done some crosstraining so that the workers can fill in for each other if needed. Turnover is low, he

said.

The machinery at Astro also is in relatively good shape and doesn’t need to be updated much. There are newer machines elsewhere that can do the same jobs faster, but the quality is just as good with what Astro uses, Lumpkin said.

Lumpkin said Astro has plenty to do these days and benefits from having repeat customers. “We could be doing better,” he said. “But with the economy we’ve got right now, we could be in a lot worse shape than we are. We feel blessed and fortunate.”

He and Lorenzen have discussed some opportunities for the future, but no decisions have been made – and, in any case, Lorenzen will have the final word.

Lorenzen also doesn’t come to the site unless he’s needed. “If it’s not broke, he’s not going to try and fix it,” Lumpkin said.

“He doesn’t micro-manage this place. He lets me manage it like I want to.”

Because of the stroke, Lumpkin’s shortterm memory is not what it once was, but in general his health is good, and he plans to stay on for a while.

“I guess I’ll do it as long as I enjoy it,” he said. “I like people, and it’s not hard to do.

It’s not stressful at all.” LI

what’s hot

Where to find the latest items that you shouldn’t do without.

ENGAGING. There’s something especially

fine about the new collection of platinum and 18-carat diamond engagement rings at Lynbar Jewelers, 325 W. Park Ave., Greenwood. 662-453-2741

SO HANDY. As seen in Southern Living, these towels speak to what the South really means — good food and hospitality at its finest. ($15) Available in a variety of colors at the Mississippi Gift Company, 300 Howard St., in downtown Greenwood.

662-455-6961

CROSS THIS WAY.

CLEAR STONES. Jewels make these Yellow Box wedge sandals so much fun. ($42.99) They are available in black leather as well as white at Ola’s Shoes, 417 Howard St., Greenwood, 662-453-1462, and Anthony’s, 331 W. Park Ave., Greenwood, 662-455-2145.

IT’S SMOOTH.

Joico Humidity Blocker shields hair from humidity. You can find it at Legends Salon, 300 W. Claiborne Ave., Greenwood.

662-455-2626

A 15-karat, yellow gold Etruscan-style cross has a diamond in the center. You’ll find it at Russell’s Antiques and Fine Jewelry, 313 Howard St., Greenwood.

662-453-4017

BE SEATED. This Port Eliot tufted leather chair and ottoman definitely will become treasured possessions. They’re available at Port Eliot in downtown Greenwood. 662-453-5070.

SO MANY COLORS.

Everyone’s favorite knit shirt comes in more than 100 colors at Smith & Company, 211 Fulton St., Greenwood.

662-453-4411 Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 45

46 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

SPRING AND SUMMER 2008

The index of advertisers Ad page

Ad page AGRICULTURE Staplcotn

FINANCIAL 27

Bella Flora

Get Away Rental

back cover

Williams & Lord Funeral Home 42 Wilson & Knight Funeral Home 42

44

BEAUTY SALONS Legends Tangles

10 43

CHILDCARE Learning Tree, The Susie M. Brooks Childcare Center

15 31

CHURCHES Episcopal Church of the Nativity, The North Greenwood Baptist Church St. John’s United Methodist Church

13 24 42

CLOTHING Anthony’s Caterpillars & Butterflies Kornfeld’s, Inc. Ola’s Shoes Puddleducks Smith & Co. Sweet Pea, The

20 35 42 20 35 10 15

CONSTRUCTION Malouf Construction, LLC

8

CORRECTIONAL FACILITY Delta Correctional Facility

17

Print Shop, The

REAL ESTATE

GIFTS

RESTAURANTS

Mississippi Gift Co., The

GLASS Mobile Auto Glass

Greenwood Hearing Services 42 Mississippi Breast Center, LLC 46 North Central Mississippi Ear, Nose and Throat 5 Northwest Regional Medical Center inside front cover

HOME APPLIANCES

J.D. Lanham Supply Co.

13

HOME IMPROVEMENT Home Front Professional Metal Roofing & Home Repair

42 42

HOTELS Alluvian,The

15

JEWELRY Lynbar Jewelers Russell’s Antiques & Fine Jewelry Viking Range Corp.

Leflore Steel

21

42

HEALTH CARE

Crystal Health & Rehab of Greenwood, L.L.C. Indywood Golden Age Inc. Wade, Inc.

10

36 26 13 13

Bowie Realty DuBard Realty

9 20

Blue Parrot Cafe Carroll County Market China Blossom Crown, The Crystal Grill Giardina’s Honest Abe’s Donut & Deli North Carrollton Fish & Steak House Lusco’s Mai Little China Tackett’s Restaurant Veronica’s Custom Bakery Webster’s

33 32 32 44 32 32 43 33 33 33 33 2, 33 31

SCHOOLS Mississippi Valley State University St. Francis School

inside back cover 22

STAFFING SERVICES 15

EMI Staffing Services, Inc.

39

TOURISM 22 12 43

MUSEUMS Cottonlandia Museum

42

Jacky Campbell CD’s

43

MUSIC

20

PRINTING

Ashley Furniture 35 Port Eliot 24 Russell-Thomas Antiques, Ltd 39

MANUFACTURING

42 36 43

B.E. Shaw, LLC Jennings Photography Lamb’s Photography

FURNITURE

ELDERLY LIVING

FARM EQUIPMENT

20

FUNERAL HOME

AUTOMOTIVE RENTAL

Greenwood Commonwealth

PHOTOGRAPHY

20

AUTOMOTIVE Cannon Motor Company

NEWSPAPER 31

FLORISTS

ATTORNEYS Upshaw, Williams, Biggers, Beckham & Riddick

First South Farm Credit

Ad page

Greenwood Convention & Visitors Bureau Main Street Greenwood

2 36

UTILITIES Greenwood Utilities

27

VETERINARIANS Greenwood Animal Hospital 42 Four Paws Animal Health Center 42

· index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers ·

· index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers ·

index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers

index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers · index of advertisers

Spring and Summer 2008 Leflore Illustrated / 47

Chamber of Commerce

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Emphasizing education

Leflore County’s program is intended not only to teach leadership skills but also to show young people how to use them There’s a simple reason why the practically. They would learn goal setting, Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of conflict resolution, problem solving and Commerce puts so much emphasis on other skills and perform a community sereducation. vice project.

“Education is economic develop“We will put them out there in ment,” said Beth Stevens, the chamthe community a good bit,” Stevens ber’s executive director. said. “We’ll have them doing things Having high-quality schools makes such as identifying community a community more attractive to new resources and have them going on companies, who want trainable fact-finding missions.” employees, she said.

The grant also requires that the The chamber already has a very chamber find a way to sustain this active education committee and a program once the grant money has number of school-related projects in been used. Stevens said the Golf place. Each year, it presents the Scramble should be a good financial Student Achievement Awards and recsource for this. ognizes teachers with Excellence in The first scramble will be held Education awards. It holds an annual May 8 at Greenwood Country Club. reception for new teachers.

Stevens said it has received a great There also is the Choices dropout response from sponsors as well as prevention program for ninth-graders, team entrants and should be an which might be extended one day to enjoyable social event. include juniors.

“Golf is just one of those activities But more efforts are in the works. that just bring people together, and “I just think raising the community a lot of business deals get done over awareness of the importance of educagolf,” she said. tion is a mission of the chamber,” The plan is to have the event on Stevens said. “And I think we’re defithe second Thursday in May every nitely committed to doing whatever year and use money from it for the we can do as a proactive role in the Y.E.L.L. program. community to put a positive spin on The chamber also is addressing education.” the problem of school dropouts.

The chamber is looking at reinstatIn February, about 15 people ing the Y.E.L.L. (Young Emerging from the education committee went Leaders of Leflore) program, which to the “Get on the Bus” dropout was first established in 2004 by the prevention summit in Jackson, as chamber’s Leadership Tomorrow Beth Stevens is executive director of the did representatives of the county class. It operated for one semester for Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce. and city school districts, Mississippi each of two school years before being The chamber focuses on education because it real- Valley State University and other discontinued in 2006. izes that education is economic development. segments of the community.

Stevens said she hopes the program After the main session, all of can reach out to all types of young Leflore County’s attendees were put in a South. The proposal is being reviewed people. before it is sent to the Walton Foundation, room together for about three hours, and “I think we’re reaching the youth who Stevens said they had candid discussions which would provide the funds. Stevens we know are going to succeed,” she said. about the state of education. said the chamber hopes to find out some“But I think there’s some opportunity She said they want to bring a similar there for us to reach students who not nec- thing within a few months. type of summit to Leflore County, and the As part of the grant process, the chamessarily are your high academic achievers chamber will lead it. ber was asked to find a nationally recogbut who have some leadership potential “When education doesn’t get the attennized leadership program to emulate. and have some leadership skills.” tion it deserves, we all suffer from it,” she Stevens selected the Points of Light She would like to start the program in said. LI Foundation leadership program.

2009 and run it annually from August

BY DAVID MONROE

48 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2008

through April. For that to happen, she said, a lot of elements will have to be put in place this fall.

The chamber has applied for a grant from the Communities of Opportunity program of the Foundation for the Mid-

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