Jan 2017 - Dec 2018

WIN A WEEKEND TO GULF HILLS RESORT IN OCEAN SPRINGS! SEE INSIDE!

Delta Bohemian Tours

DEC. 2017 / JAN. 2018

From the Land of Cotton

A New Generation of Southern Cuisine

MUSEUM OF MISSISSIPPI HISTORY AND MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

O n e . s M i m s s issippi. u e s u M o w T M I S S I S S I P P I ’ S A W A R D - W I N N I N G C O N S U M E R T R AV E L P U B L I C AT I O N W W W. R E A D L E G E N D S . C O M

We’re rollin’ on the river all right.

Come re-boot your energy with a full lineup of revelry to renew your spirit.

Authentic Delta blues, food, festivities—dare we say paradise? » JANUARY «

» JUNE «

» OCTOBER «

Greenville Heritage Rodeo

Steve Azar Delta Soul & Celebrity Golf Event

Delta Hot Tamale Festival

» FEBRUARY « Mississippi River Marathon

Snake Grabbin’ Rodeo

“Jim Henson” Frog Fest Monuments on Main Street

» MARCH «

Warfield River Fest & BBQ Competition

Southern Traditional Archery Shoot Winterville Mounds

» JULY «

Native American Days at Winterville

WWISCAA Food Festival

Glen Allan Antique Tractor Show

» AUGUST «

» DECEMBER «

Praise Fest

Christmas on Deer Creek

Mississippi Delta Black Rodeo

» APRIL « Greenville Speedway Open Season

» SEPTEMBER «

Ole Miss / Mississippi State Tennis & Golf Tournament

Delta Blues & Heritage Festival

» MAY «

Sam Chatmon Blues Festival

The Leland Crawfish Festival & Blues & Brews

Mighty Mississippi Music Festival

YMCA Cotton Classic 10K/5K Run

» NOVEMBER «

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PUBLISHER AND PRESIDENT ��������������������Marianne Todd VP OF MARKETING AND SALES ����������������������������Chris Banks LEAD GRAPHIC DESIGNER ��������������������Shayne Garrett WEBSITE DESIGNER ������������������Kevin Chertkow

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Contact LEGENDS 601-604-2963 Editorial/Advertising - 601-604-2963 | Editor@ReadLegends.com Contributing writers: Meghan Holmes, Sean Murphy, and Julian Rankin Contributing photographers: Rory Doyle and Eli Bayliss LEGENDS welcomes your calendar submissions.

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Copyright 2017/18. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or reprinted without express permission from the publisher. The opinions and views expressed by our contributors, writers and editors are their own. Various views from other professionals may also be expressed. Neither LEGENDS nor Blue South Publishing Corporation is endorsing or guaranteeing the products or quality of services expressed in advertisements. All advertisers assume liability for all content (including text representation and illustration) of advertisements printed and assume responsibility for any resulting claims against LEGENDS or its affiliates. Materials, photographs and written pieces to be considered for inclusion in LEGENDS may be sent to P.O. Box 3663, Meridian, MS 39303. Unsolicited materials will not be returned. Blue South Publishing Corporation provides thousands of free copies in its coverage area to tourism offices, welcome centers, hotels, restaurants, theaters, museums, galleries, coffee shops, casinos and institutions of higher learning. If your business, agency or industry would like to be considered as a LEGENDS distribution point, please contact us at Editor@ReadLegends.com.

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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

CULTURE 11 Delta Bohemian Tours

From the Land of Cotton, true Mississippi hospitality

24 COVER STORY: THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE Two Museums. One Mississippi. December 9, 2017

37 The Lofts at 517

A Boutique Hotel in Greenville

CULINARY 19 Suds in the Mississippi Delta The Mighty Miss. Brewing Co.

32 The Rainey

A New Generation of Southern Cuisine

42 La Provence WIN A WEEKEND TO GULF HILLS RESORT IN OCEAN SPRINGS! SEE INSIDE!

Delta Bohemian Tours

DEC. 2017 / JAN. 2018

From the Land of Cotton

A New Generation of Southern Cuisine

MUSEUM OF MISSISSIPPI HISTORY AND MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

ABOUT OUR COVER This luminary sculpture titled "This Little Light of Mine" serves as the centerpiece for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opening Dec. 9 alongside its sister museum, the Museum of Mississippi History, in downtown Jackson.

(Photograph by Marianne Todd)

eums. One Mississippi.

Two Mus M I S S I S S I P P I ’ S A W A R D - W I N N I N G C O N S U M E R T R AV E L P U B L I C AT I O N W W W. R E A D L E G E N D S . C O M

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A Delicious Destination

EVENTS 48 What's Shakin' in the Cradle Calendar of Events

of a ed

chase

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Frank Jones Blues Challenge hosted by Dexter Allen

N

Natchez

PILGRIMAGE TOURS

LONGWOOD

LONGWOOD

New South Spirit, Old South Hospitality

• Historic House Tours & Curator Tours

• Historic House Tours & Curator Tours

Every Thursday • Musical Events in Historic Properties & Houses 10pm-until • Cooking Classes • Natchez Style Brunches, Lunches, Teas & Dinners in Historic Houses

New South Spirit, Old South Hospitality

Style and Brunches, Opening the doors for more than 30 years to an insider’s• Natchez view of History Hospitality “Natchez Style,” Natchez Pilgrimage ToursLunches, is your one-stop the Teas for & Dinners 2016 Natchez Festival of Music in May. Whether you’re traveling alone or as part of a in Historic Houses group tour, you’re sure to enjoy any of our 18 events this year, including fully-staged productions of the opera “Carmen” and the musical “Show Boat.”

& Mixology Classes

• Musical Events in Historic

Properties & Houses Visit www.natchezpilgrimage.com to purchase festival or event tickets or to purchase tickets for year-round home tours that are open to the public.

• Cooking Classes & Mixology Classes

STANTON HALL

• Wine & Candlelight Tours, Distillery Tours, Carriage Tours, Outdoor Adventure Tours

Enjoy over 120 years of automotive history!

• Wine & Candlelight

1 Otis Blvd., Tupelo,Tours, MSDistillery Tours, Carriage Tours, Outdoor 662-842-4242 STANTON HALL Adventure Tours www.tupeloautomuseum.com 601.446.2478 • 800.647.6742 • www.natchezpilgrimage.com

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The husband and wife team hosts blues tourists and culture-seekers from across the world, but neither is like any hotelier or tour guide you've met before.

10 • DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

STORY FROM CLARKSDALE, MISS

From the Land of Cotton

Delta Bohemian Tours

By JULIAN RANKIN Photography by RORY DOYLE

C

ell service is weak in the Mississippi Delta, but the characters are strong. Madge and Billy Howell of Clarksdale have built their business on that truism. The idea for the enterprise, Delta Bohemian, came to Billy from God. The two words encompass the grit, adventure and personality of this most Southern place. The husband and wife team hosts blues tourists and culture-seekers from across the world, but neither is like any hotelier or tour guide you’ve met before. They proudly defy labels, but one thing is certain: from the moment a visitor arrives on the doorstep of the columned Clarksdale White House for an overnight stay, or sits down in Billy’s red Jeep for a jaunt through local history, the traveler has found a trusted friend.

“It’s important to me that people that are coming here connect with someone that’s from here,” says Madge. “Someone who can show them Southern hospitality and what makes us so unique and real here in the Delta.”

Delta Bohemian is emblematic of the Clarksdale paradox, a

town experiencing a modern cultural renaissance while holding fast to its historic past as the crossroads of the blues. The Delta Bohemian brand celebrates both the constancy and diversity of the Delta, epitomized by a year-round live music circuit at upand-coming local venues and timeless juke joints alike. Madge and Billy, Delta natives with their own global adventures under their belts, reconnected and married in 2009. They had a pirate wedding in town at the historic (and very traditional) Clark House that blew neighbors’ minds and set the tone for their individualistic perspective. The Delta Bohemian began as a humble website of stories giving tourists an authentic road map to a region that can otherwise seem a conundrum. It evolved from there to include the Clarksdale White House B&B and Delta Bohemian Tours, an expression of Clarksdale’s “come as you are” mantra.

“I relish the things we have in common but I also relish the things that make us different,” Madge says. “It’s okay to be friends with people that aren’t just like yourself. Go do something READLEGENDS.COM •

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different. Meet someone new every week. And it’s all spontaneous.

We don’t do anything very planned.”

The two produced an impromptu Clarksdale documentary with their friend and blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite.

The film opens with Billy sitting in a folding chair in the middle of the railroad tracks surrounded by overgrowth. “If you’ve been here, you’ll get it,” he says of the Delta outback’s rural magnetism.

“You’ll come for the blues, but you’ll come back for the people.”

The couple bought and renovated the historic Clarksdale White House on Second Street and filled it with Mississippi artwork and local color. Up and down the staircase, Madge displays a collection of stunning black and white photography from her years as a model in New York, Texas and Memphis. She does it, she says, because of the men behind the shutter, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lucian Perkins and Pulitzer Prizewinning cartoonist Berke Breathed among them.

“Everything in the Delta is subjective, including time.” ~ Billy Howell

ABOVE: Photos along the staircase of the Clarksdale White House tell the story of Madge's modeling days in New York; Madge rides a bike in downtown Clarksdale during Juke Joint Festival; Billy takes a break on a tour. He's given more than 200 tours since beginning the touring company two years ago.

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A picture of Madge as a child was taken by celebrated Southern artist William Eggleston. Madge is in tune with what legendary street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson dubbed the decisive moment. “I live my life very much in the present,” she says. “And this is where I’ve found myself. I get to connect with people. To show them a quirky personal home of mine. I like giving them a home to come into that they feel comfortable in.”

The house sits at the intersection of time and place. Madge has loved it since she was a child. The structure retains its turn of the century charm while the interior is a dynamic cacophony of lush furniture, blues ephemera, rustic Southern accent and deft design. Each piece has a story. A painted portrait of family friend Morgan Freeman plays off the antique sideboard which, in turn, resonates against an antlered deer skull – the meat from which Madge and Billy have stored neatly in their freezer.

Delta Bohemian Tours was born in response to guests’ repeated queries about where to go and what to see. Billy, like a silver-tongued f latland-Sherpa, gives a raconteur’s unauthorized history lesson that includes: playwright Tennessee Williams’ former home (and the real-life inspirations for some of his iconic characters like Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire); the Riverfront Hotel where John F. Kennedy Jr. once stayed and where

LEFT: Madge relaxes with her dog, Dandy, at the Clarksdale White House.

BELOW: After a long Delta tour guests can relax back at the bed and breakfast.

The couple began their business with an online presence that grew to include the B&B and full Delta tour in a red Jeep.

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Ike Turner wrote and rehearsed “Rocket 88” prior to recording the groundbreaking record in Memphis with Sam Phillips; the real story of Robert Johnson and the devil at the crossroads; and everything in between.

“Any day is a beautiful day to go riding in the Mississippi Delta,” Madge tells a soon-to-be-guest on the phone, her dog Dandy on her lap. “Because it’s like no place else you’ve ever been.”

Billy has given more than 200 tours over the past two years. It's never the same tour twice.

“Everything in the Delta is subjective, including time,” says Billy, driving past a misty cotton field on the way to Muddy Waters’ home at Stovall Plantation. Large-scale corporate agribusiness now accounts for the majority of cultivated farmland, whether cotton, soybeans, corn or wheat. But in the creative economy, Clarksdale – and by extension, the Delta Bohemian - resists the monoculture of chain stores and packaged experiences. On his tour, Billy stops by the Shack Up Inn and Hopson Commissary, where one can find accommodations in refurbished sharecropper shacks and retrofitted grain bins. He points out Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, run by transplant and blues promoter Roger Stolle, as integral to the music scene here as the venues that host the musicians.

Levon’s Bar & Grill has music on Sunday afternoons, Madge and Billy instruct, and at night, you can’t beat Red’s Lounge and the iconic Ground Zero Blues Club.

Every building here seems to have been a half-dozen things over the last century. “We had about 150 Jewish families here up until about the '70s,” Billy says, passing the former synagogue, now owned by an African-American congregation. Billy stops at the late bluesman Wade Walton’s barber shop, now only open for festivals. “Wade used to do four things out of this building: he cut hair, cooked barbecue, he was a civil rights activist and he played guitar, harmonica and percussion on a razor strop.” Billy laughs reverently.

New developments in Clarksdale emerge at a steady pace, more often than not, preserving the historically-rich real estate through partnerships with local entrepreneurs. Case in point is the New Roxy, once a thriving theatre that now hosts blues concerts in the open air. On the way out of the historic New World District, so integral to generations of Clarksdale’s black and immigrant communities, a hand-painted Habitat For Humanity sign calls out: “You be the Change.”

People wave. Billy waves back. He turns off the avenue and pulls his Jeep down the hill to the banks of the Sunf lower River.

This is Quapaw Canoe, the revolutionary endeavor of John Ruskey,

© Delta Haze Corporation

HAUNTING, SOULFUL, SPIRITED. THE FIRST STRAINS OF THE BLUES BLED FROM ROBERT JOHNSON’S VOICE AND FINGERS.

A legendary musician who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, Johnson’s mysterious death and burial in Greenwood has intrigued and inspired many from around the world.

From the Blues, to Country and Rock and Roll, Mississippi is home to America’s music, but the Mississippi Delta lays claim to where its story begins. Discover your Delta rhythm.

Find what moves you, in Greenwood.

225 Howard Street | Greenwood, MS 38930 662.453.9197 www.visitgreenwoodMS.com

Paid for in partnership

by Visit Mississippi.

CLOCKWISE: The Crossroads in Clarksdale; Billy and Madge on a tour; yard ornaments outside the Hopson Plantation.

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pioneer, boat builder and philosopher-artist, who’s so at home on the water he ought to have gills. No one knows as much or cares as much about the waterways of the lower Mississippi as Ruskey, who uses the river as a tool to teach young and old about the power movement, creativity and exploration of the natural world.

Back at the Clarksdale White House, a couple from the Northeast sits in the common area f lipping through coffee table books, at home as if this were their own living room. On the wall above the sofa, Madge proudly displays maps of America’s waterways by John Ruskey. They are hand-painted and inexact compared to a surveyor’s atlas, referenced primarily from his personal experience in the Mississippi wild. They are not unlike the drawn maps that Madge places in each bedroom for her guests, her personal rendition of of Coahoma county’s must-see sites, with roads that she admits aren’t to scale. But what difference does it make, as long as you know where you’re going and where you belong?

If Madge and Billy are the standards, then a Delta Bohemian is his or her own cartographer. Someone who moves with grace through and in harmony with life’s changing currents. Their personal eccentricities make sense in Clarksdale, a perfect fit like the winding tributaries, creek beds and esoteric footpaths carved into the Delta land so long ago. L

Want to go?

For more information, or to book your trip to the Mississippi Delta, visit deltabohemianguesthouse.com or deltabohemiantours.com.

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18 • DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

STORY FROM GREENVILLE, MISS.

Brewing in the Mississippi Delta

By SEAN MURPHY Photography by MARIANNE TODD

T

he small community of Onward, Mississippi, sits about 30 miles north of Vicksburg where the Mississippi Delta really becomes the Mississippi Delta. It was in that town, which now consists of a store situated along Highway 61, that then-President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a black bear that had been captured for the president’s hunting trip.

Lore is that the event led to the creation of the Teddy Bear as an ode to the 26th president’s famous hunt.

Locals refer to towns such as Onward as “plum and a poke towns” — poke your head out the window and you are plum out of town. They dot the Delta landscape like freckles in a sea of cotton and soybeans. Kinlock. Sledge. Arcola. Pace.

The owners and brewer at Mississippi’s most recent addition to the craft beer world — Mighty Miss. Brewing Co. in the Delta city of Greenville — see Onward as an exemplification of what they are striving to do: honor the uniqueness that is the Mississippi Delta.

The Delta’s figurative boundaries are Interstate 20 to the south, I-55 to the east and Old Man River ambling by to the west. Autumn is snow white with thousands of acres of cotton.

A drive up its arteries along the historic Highways 61 and 1 find catfish ponds.

It is those little towns that make up the branding for the brewery, which is pumping new life into downtown Greenville.

“There are a lot of forward-looking people here who want to turn Greenville around for the better,” said head brewer Scott Hettig. “A brewery is a cool thing for a city to have and there are other developments around downtown. It’s a time to be excited about Greenville again. We can only make things better, too.”

Hettig, the face of the brewery, is a recent transplant from beer-happy Wisconsin. Like the brewery's founder, Hettig began his craft as a home brewer, begging for his first job as an intern at a brewery in his hometown of Milwaukee.

That summer gig to tone his hobby became an obsession.

“I was in a career that had nothing to do with brewing,” Hettig said. “At one point, I realized I wanted to turn that hobby into a career. There was not one aspect of brewing that I didn’t like."

His summer internship led to an assistant brewer position with the same company, but in Cleveland, Ohio, where Hettig worked full-time. He eventually returned to Milwaukee for a READLEGENDS.COM •

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full-time head-brewer position, where he spent nine years.

“My wife, who is originally from California, came to me one day and said she was tired of Wisconsin winters,” Hettig said. “We started looking around and saw an opportunity here at a brand new brewery in a state where craft beer is in its infancy.

“We really never considered Mississippi a place to live, but it was an adventure for my wife and I. We came down, met the people and really liked it. There were so many friendly people with a lot of civic pride.

“I got here in May and my wife joined me in July. We have bought a house and are dedicated and committed to Greenville.” And in Greenville, “You don’t have to shovel sunshine,” he said with a laugh.

Hettig brought a few of his recipes, while brewery owners contributed their recipes into the six company staples.

Each beer is named for a town in the Delta — some quite hard to find on most maps. Each can contains a map of Mississippi with a star by the featured town's location. A small bit of history about the town is printed on the can as well.

Scott Hettig came to Greenville's Mighty Miss. Brew Co. from Wisconsin. There, he and his wife were tired of shoveling snow. Hettig brought his years of brewing experience to Mighty Miss., along with a couple of recipes. The couple has since bought a home and are dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Delta city.

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The six everyday selections are: • Arcola Amber is named after a town of 352 people 18 miles southeast of Greenville off Highway 61.

“Our Amber style ale is a well-balanced offering featuring notes of sweet caramel with a touch of roast, giving way to a citrus and spice hop bite.

The brew features a carefully selected variety of caramel, wheat and a hint of chocolate malts paired with four distinct Noble hops. The result is a gorgeous gold-red hued pour with a beige head.”

The four Noble hops are Hallertau, Saaz, Spalt and Tettnang.

• Kinlock Kolsch is named after an unincorporated community southeast of Greenville. “Our Kinlock Kolsch-style ale is the color of fresh straw. At first sip, you’ll find hints of honey and bread, which will then give way to a soft, spicy character of European hops. Perfect for Delta summers, this cold-fermented ale will satisfy craft beer lovers, both new and seasoned.”

• Mighty Miss. is the company’s f lagship brew.

“This American Pale Ale is designed to be an easy entry point to craft beer. Developed with an eye to cleanliness and less-than aggressive hop f lavor provided by All-American Cascade hops, this beer

won’t overpower any meal and will fit the taste of beer drinkers who appreciate simple, clean beers.”

• Pace Porter is named after a town of 256 people on Highway 8 between Cleveland and Rosedale in the northern part of the Delta. “This beer will prove to anyone dark beers can be easy drinking, with lower ABV than a typical Porter. Use of a Patagonian specialty malt removes any of the harsh, tannic f lavors often associated with dark beers. It’s lightly hopped with a strong, malt-forward aroma and f lavor.”

• Sledge Saison is named for a town of 510 residents northeast of Clarksdale. “High in alcohol and low in color, this saison is an easy-drinking entry point to the world of farmhouse beers. Fermented at temperatures more closely related to ale fermentation, this saison lacks many of the sour farmhouse notes characteristic of these beers and takes well to fruit in secondary fermentation.”

• Onward Amber Ale, “A hearty beer as brown as the water running through the big river just over the levee. This American Amber Ale is a malt forward example featuring American-variety hops, medium hop bitterness and f lavor with smoky aromatics.”

The naming of the beers is part of a strategy to pin the moniker The Delta’s Brew on the only brewery in the Delta.

The next closest brewery is Water Valley’s Yalobusha, which is 114 miles away.

The genesis of the brewery began more than a decade ago and came into the budding Mississippi market at just the right time.

Ten years ago, Jon Alverson, now the publisher of the Delta Democrat-Times, started home brewing. Each batch got better and better.

As an investment in a refurbished downtown building, Alverson led the effort to begin Mighty Miss. In March, it brewed its first beer. Coming up with the company’s name was pretty simple, said Melia Christensen, brand manager for Mighty Miss. The Mississippi River lumbers south through Greenville on its slow roll to the sea. The river has nicknames aplenty, but it’s often referred to as the Mighty Miss. Every name suggestion had to do with the river, Christensen said.

The first batches were made off site — commonly known as contract brewing — but every drop was made in Mississippi.

The timing of the initial batch was of good fortune. The Mississippi Legislature was on the cusp of passing a beer bill that would allow breweries to sell beer from their taprooms. It

AMERICAN HISTORY Visit the site of America’s defining war. Learn about the defense and siege of Vicksburg in our unique collection of museums and historic tour homes. Surrender yourself to the luxury of our bed and breakfast inns.

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Mississippi Music ~ Southern Charm

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was the third major step for brewing in a state that still has more than 20 dry counties.

In 2012, the cap on alcohol in beer was raised from 5 percent by weight to 8 percent by weight, which is equivalent to about 10.8 percent by volume. Before the change, the only production brewery in Mississippi was Lazy Magnolia from the Gulf Coast.

Breweries began sprouting almost immediately.

Two years later, home brewing beer became legal — although home brewers rarely paid attention to the law anyway.

But the biggest change happened July 1 when Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill allowing beer sales from taprooms. That also was the day Mighty Miss. opened its taproom doors to great fanfare on Washington Street.

“Business is starting to pick up and the beer we brew is fantastic,” Hettig said.

The beers are made to attract new drinkers to the market.

Mississippi is still in its craft beer infancy. The state is home to 10 breweries — a minute portion of the more than 5,000 craft breweries in America. Mighty Miss is the latest entry into the Mississippi market and is already being distributed throughout the state. It recently made its way to Hattiesburg and the Gulf Coast.

“Craft beer is kind of a new thing here,” Hettig said. “Most of the people are grabbing Michelob Ultra or Bud Light. We offer an alternative to that, which a lot of people have never had anything like it.”

Hettig uses a 15-barrel system, which allows for the production of just under 470 gallons per batch. The word seems to be getting out, too. On a recent weekend, Hettig was crisscrossing the state to beer festivals from Jackson to Memphis.

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“I am excited about craft beer in Mississippi,” Hettig said.

“I haven’t run into that in Mississippi. I have loved what’s out there. I would personally drink most anything that I have tried.”

It is that second city, at the head of the Delta, where Mighty Miss. has set its sights as the next market the company will target for distribution.

For aesthetics – and an experience like few others in the state – visitors will have to go to the taproom. Most Mississippi breweries are in industrial type areas, not in downtowns. In the Greenville building the brewery shares space with an upscale restaurant, The Downtown Grill. The Loft at 517 are located upstairs.

The refurbishment is a step toward returning people and commerce to downtowns across the state, brewery officials said.

The taproom is climate-controlled, unlike many in the state, which certainly aids the taproom experience.

It is the beer that shines, though, and continues to not only bring in people but to keep Hettig busy.

“We are waiting on paperwork to get into the Memphis market now,” Hettig said. “Then we will start looking at Little Rock (Arkansas) and Louisiana. Wherever we can get our beer into the market.” L

Want to go ?

For more information, visit mightymissbeer.com.

For more information about Greenville, visit visitgreenville.org.

Coffee Pot Café at Creekside

Creole Cuisine Step back in time and enjoy the atmosphere and music while you eat, then browse the Creekside Merchantile filled with antiques and new merchandise, including gourmet food items.

120 West Bridge Street • Enterprise • Mississippi • 601.659.0500 • https://m.facebook.com/CreeksideMercantile

3505 8th Street • Meridian, MS 601.483.4868

HUNTING AND FISHING OUTFITTERS

Serving Meridian and it’s neighbors since 1972.

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STORY FROM JACKSON, MISS.

This Little Light of Mine

Two Museums. One Mississippi. December 9, 2017.

By JULIAN RANKIN Photographs by Marianne Todd

W

hen a young Pamela Junior attended segregated Jackson schools in the 1960s, she shared a cramped classroom with students from first through tenth grades. When the teacher gave the older students their lessons, Junior listened and gleaned what knowledge she could. Her passion for learning and her career of truth-telling equipped her to lead the new opening Mississippi Civil Rights Museum as few can. A Jackson native, Junior has devoted her life to educating the community about the voices of the Movement, most recently as the director of Jackson’s Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center.

Junior was an extremely shy child. Incessant bullying made her timid. But at home, she was an actress. She wanted to be in front of the crowd. The stories gave her strength to step forward.

Stories by luminaries like Richard Wright, whose writing she fell in love with at 10 years old. She’d gone to the black library in west Jackson and asked the librarian, “Do you have any books

24 • DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

on black people from Mississippi?” The lady took her over to the stacks. “Right here,” the librarian said. “I want you to read Black Boy.” “I was just thirsting,” says Junior. “Wanting to know this knowledge about history and black folks. And to be the director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is an honor for me. An honor for me to be here and to get children excited about the history.”

Next door to the Civil Rights Museum, in the Museum of Mississippi History, the clock is three and one-eighth inches wide and one and five-eighths inches tall. A small brass cylinder, the top slides open to reveal the clock face, frozen in time at nine o’clock and thirty-five seconds. It belonged to Edmond Boudreaux, who had been a member of the Community Advisory Committee for the Museum of Mississippi History since 1998.

He retrieved it from his demolished Biloxi home in 2005, after the f lood waters of Hurricane Katrina rose up and stopped the

OPPOSITE: On a wall in the Civil Rights Museum hangs the photographs of Freedom Riders, who came to Mississippi in bus loads and who were arrested on their arrival, to protest the unfair treatment of black people.

THIS PAGE: A display featuring protests during the 1966 March Against Fear.

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hands. “It makes me want to cry,” says Lucy Allen, Director of the Museums Division for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), who project-directed the agency’s ambitious 2 Mississippi Museums initiative.” Edmond called a few days after the storm, Allen recalls. “We’ve lost everything,” he said. “But I have some artifacts I want to give you because you have to tell this story.”

As the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum open in conjunction with the state’s bicentennial, they are not just marking history, but making it.

The state-managed project has been an immense undertaking by countless committed Mississippians. It is the culmination of nearly two decades of planning and $90 million in public and private investment. It has garnered support from four Mississippi governors, guidance from an advisory council representing more than 20 cultural, ethnic and religious groups and expertise from a consortium of three Jackson architecture firms, enabling the museums to tell 15,000 years of triumphant and turbulent history through artifacts and voices large and small.

The museum buildings, located in the heart of downtown Jackson, are physical manifestations of reconciliation. They share an entrance, a lobby, a history and an unf linching commitment to doing justice to Mississippi’s rich and complicated past.

“When these two museums open, the eyes of the world will be on Mississippi,” said Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “People will see that we're telling our own stories, through our own voices, and that we're telling these stories in all their complexity, shying away from nothing. Thousands of voices have been contributed to these stories. We have built these two museums together, and we're proud of it. And that's a powerful and positive message for Mississippi to share with the world on the occasion of our bicentennial.”

“Welcome to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, where you walk in awed and walk out changed,” says Junior. Her dedication has been rewarded, but she recognizes the challenge ahead. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the first statefunded Civil Rights museum in the country, confronts viewers with unadulterated and often painful truth. Standing sentry at the museum’s entrance is an enormous wall-sized photograph of a young black child taken during Freedom Summer 1964, an initiative to register black voters that became a pivotal point in the Movement. The boy, Jerry Oatis, looks down with a The reflection of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer is seen in a museum display, honoring people who died as a result of racial hate. The display is next to a model of the Philadelphia church that was burned during Freedom Summer, an initiative to register black voters that turned deadly.

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fierce, unbroken gaze beneath a 1958 quote from Medgar Evers: “There’s something out here that I’ve got to do for my kids, and I’m not going to stop until I’ve done it.”

Some of the more difficult moments in the Civil Rights Museum address lynching, murder and assassination. A jail cell. A partially burned church. An experiential space where an unseen racist voice warns visitors to step off the sidewalk when they see a white woman approaching. These moments force confrontation with the past, further contextualized by powerful artifacts like the screen door from Bryant’s Grocery in Money, Mississippi, where justice was obscured after the torture and killing of Emmett Till, and the rif le that Byron De La Beckwith used to assassinate Medgar Evers. Earlier in the tour, visitors will have seen a photograph of a teenage Medgar Evers in military uniform, preparing to serve his country. Like so many other African Americans, he returned from heroic action in the European Theater (Evers fought at the Battle of Normandy in 1944) to find the ideals of the nation he sacrificed for withheld from him and his brethren – like the right to vote.

The Movement is given local color through the voices of homegrown change makers, like activist Charles McLaurin, who helped lead the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s voter registration in Sunf lower County in 1962 alongside icons like Fannie Lou Hamer and Charlie Cobb. “We’re gonna start in Ruleville,” McLaurin’s quote reads, “because these folks will stand up. And we’re gonna change Sunf lower County. We’re gonna light a lamp in Ruleville, and it’s gonna shine all over the Delta.”

“You’re going to need to breathe,” says Junior as she exits one of the immersive spaces into the central, vaulted gallery, titled “This Little Light of Mine.” Natural light pours in from large exterior windows, with a dramatic 37-foot-tall sculpture in the middle of the room. When just a few visitors gather around the sculpture, “those lights will f licker a little bit,” Junior says.

“More people, the lights will start dancing.” At first, the voices of children will start singing “This Little Light of Mine.” As the crowd grows, so too does the volume, a subtle chorus blooming into a heavenly choir.

Across the lobby, on the north side of the building in Gallery One of the Museum of Mississippi History, visitors venture deep into the Mississippi woods, encountering a massive 500-yearold Native American dugout canoe, a vehicle for travel that sets the tone for the journey to come. Exhibits open with a series of films, set in a darkened virtual forest around a campfire. As the f lames f licker, smoke rises and a series of screens begin the Mississippi story. Walk along the Natchez Trace and retrace the footfalls of the state’s earliest stakeholders. Reach out and touch READLEGENDS.COM •

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the cross-section of a ceremonial mound. At junctures like these, “Explore Mississippi” panels encourage visitors to seek out sites across the state – like Emerald Mound or the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. “We’re hoping to be an outpost,” says Rachel Myers, director of the Museum of Mississippi History.

“People will come here and get a taste for the sites and then go see the real thing.”

In one of three thematic breakout galleries, the museum juxtaposes this history with contemporary stories of the thriving Native American tribal traditions in Mississippi and Oklahoma.

From the second-f loor overlook of the Museum of Mississippi History, one can see the entire spread of the state’s 20th century history galleries below. At the far end of the space, a collage of faces composes a giant outline of Mississippi, overlaid with the text, “One Mississippi. Many stories.” This theme permeates the museum, in wall text and object labels and multimedia interactives, including the final gallery, Ref lections, where visitors are prompted to record their own stories, some of

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which will be showcased in a continuously changing selection of collective memory. Many of the voices in the museum come from the state’s extensive archives. “These are women and immigrants and Native Americans and enslaved people,” says Rachel Myers.

“Voices that haven’t necessarily been elevated in the past.” Voices like Betsy Love Allen, a Chickasaw woman who argued in court that Chickasaw custom allowed women to own property even though it was prohibited under American law, and whose case resulted in the passage of the 1839 Married Women’s Property Act, the first in the nation to bestow property rights to married women. Or Abdul Rahman Ibrahima, a nobleman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery. Or Vera Anderson who worked at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula when she won the National Women’s Welding Championship in 1943.

The Herculean feat of planning and building these museums has taken a generation. Not long after the state began discussing the Museum of Mississippi History – which predated plans for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum – a group of architecture

Simus consceps, senium fuem.

Sentem atuidervit vasdam aventeriam que consul utes con viris; Catus aciis hum us ipicae ren nonsulto ia nonverum morum ad conesuludet que poendes! Ore, nos non nit vis co tabenductuus hil hacides rentrum mora sed audet; non Ita opubliq uitemus bone ad facchi, noricoe naris, sulem

firms prepared for the task by forming ECD Architects & Engineers: a Joint Venture. Eley Guild Hardy, Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons and Dale Partners collaborated in myriad capacities through the conception, design and construction phases. When the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum came online in 2011, renowned architect Phil Freelon of Perkins+Will soon followed; his prior work includes the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Washington, D.C. Mall.

The team of architects collaborated with a slew of other designers, fabricators and technology engineers from around the country: exhibit designers The Design Minds on the History side and Hilferty and Associates for the Civil Rights exhibits; 1220 Exhibits and Exhibits Concepts fabricated the History and Civil Rights exhibits, respectively; audio/visual specialists Northern Light Productions and Monadnock Media; Thrash Commercial Contractors; and others. For the individuals at these firms and companies, it was as much about pouring their passion into the project as it was about pouring concrete.

“The museums mean a lot to our family,” says Chris Myers of Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons. “When MDAH broke ground on the museums, my wife Rachel and I were there for the ceremony.

It was an important moment for our state and our city, and we wanted to witness it. Five years later, I'm the project architect on-site several times a week, and she's sitting in the director's office of the Museum of Mississippi History.” He calls the project “one of the greatest investments our state has ever made to its future.” (Years ago, before Rachel was director, she remembers Chris poring over plans spread out on the dining room table and agonizing late into the night over design decisions about interior staircases.)

“I’m proud to have my name associated with this project,” says Russ Blount of Dale Partners. “I can only hope that this building stands the test of time so that I can continue to see it as I drive into town for a long time to come, thinking back on the years I spent with all the people who helped to make it happen. As an architect, I see buildings as a place for people and READLEGENDS.COM •

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an opportunity to tell a story.”

Having worked on his prescribed piece of the project, Duane Landes of Exhibits Concepts looks forward to experiencing the full story as a visitor. “When we are immersed in a project … it’s easy to get tunnel vision,” he says. But even when they were in the weeds of the full-bore production schedule, Landes felt the importance of his contribution. “As you can imagine, the experience of working on a story like the Civil Rights and the continued struggle of America to understand what it means, stirs deeply in our hearts and minds.”

“The Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum are world-class facilities that will make our state stronger and better,” adds Governor Phil Bryant. “Everyone involved in making these projects a reality should be proud of their efforts.”

The directors hope that every school child, at some point in their K-12 career, will tour these museums. At the very least, they will leave with the knowledge that Mississippi did hard work on their behalf; the work of telling the truth. Rachel Myers thinks about her young son, Eli. “I’m so excited for Eli to grow up in a place knowing that this is always how we talk about Mississippi history. That Jackson always had a Civil Rights museum. He’ll always know that the state committed the amount of time and energy and resources to preserving and presenting this history. A lot of kids can’t say that.”

Michael Morris is a lifelong resident of Jackson, who now works in the public information office at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Young professionals of his generation came through school without such a visible and comprehensive resource as the Civil Rights Museum. “I am looking forward to finally honoring the brave individuals who, under very difficult circumstances, challenged our state – and the nation – to recognize the dignity and rights of all its citizens.”

Words from Oseola McCarty conclude the Civil Rights Museum experience: “If you want to be proud of yourself, you’ve got to do things you can be proud of.” Mississippians should be proud of what has happened here. Proud of all the people, of every stripe, background, color and creed, who made it happen.

As these museums were toured a few months from opening day, artifacts were still being installed. Work crews were everywhere, drilling and measuring and hammering. As they worked, one crew had a radio tuned to a classic rock station.

Cheap Trick’s 1979 single was strangely juxtaposed against an exhibit on the life and death of Vernon Dahmer.

LEFT: Reflections of the passage of time as the Civil Rights Movement enters the 1960s.

RIGHT: Designers discuss the museum in a theater depicting the plight of civil rights activists Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner as workers put the finishing touches into place.

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“I want you to want me … ”

“Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I see you crying?”

Dahmer, a Civil Rights leader and President of the Forrest County chapter of the NA ACP in Hattiesburg, was lightskinned. He could have passed for white, but he chose otherwise.

He fought, as a black man, for the rights of those whose humanity had been rendered second-class.

These lyrics, from an upbeat tune by a band from Rockford, Illinois, with no connection to Mississippi, suddenly took on new meaning. History was piled up atop itself, its fragments and threads inseparable and intertwined. Every single second from thousands of years of past tick-tocked across time in unison. Like a heartbeat. Or a call to action. An invitation to stand and be counted. Count with me.

“I need you to need me…”

For his voter registration efforts, he was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, who attacked his home and set it ablaze with gasoline. Dahmer returned fire with his shotgun, kept the KKK at bay and helped his wife and daughter escape. He later died from burns and smoke inhalation. Shrapnel taken from his bullet-holed pickup truck sits under glass. A mural-sized graphic shows Dahmer’s four grown sons still dressed in their military uniforms, standing at the edge of their charred family home.

They had all been away serving in the military on the night of the attack.

One Mississippi ...

L

Want to go ?

For more information on the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, visit mcrm.mdah.ms.gov.

For more information on the Museum of Mississippi History, visit mmh.mdah.ms.gov.

READLEGENDS.COM •

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STORY FROM NEW ALBANY, MISS.

A New Generation of Southern Cuisine

By MEGHAN HOLMES Photography by MARIANNE TODD

N

ew Albany, a community of around 9,000 people in north Mississippi, has long been appreciated for its quaint downtown situated alongside the Tallahatchie river and the entrance to the Tanglefoot Trail. The trail preserves a former rail corridor constructed in the latter part of the 19th century that connected New Albany to nearby towns like Ecru, Pontotoc, Algoma and Houston. Like many Mississippi towns, the development of railways served as an economic driver, bringing rich men to the region like Paul Rainey, who built a bottling works company, a furniture store and a clothing factory in New Albany in the early 1900s.

An eccentric multimillionaire, Rainey lived on a 16,000acre estate with a trophy building for his taxidermied African big

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game, horse barn and swimming pool (among other out buildings).

Every building had electricity at a time when virtually no one in Mississippi was afforded the luxury. Rainey was known for his extravagant parties and eventually built a hotel and ice house in downtown New Albany for rich guests to relax in luxury before or after travel to his estate.

A new restaurant downtown, The Rainey, pays homage to that history and brings elevated Southern and coastal cuisine and cocktails to New Albany’s burgeoning dining scene. “This all started when Tom Shands bought an old building ten years ago,” says Gayle Rutledge. “My husband, Bill, and Tom are great friends, and they talked about opening up a restaurant for years.

Finally, they got together with two other partners, Adam Martin

OPPOSITE: The 23-foot-long pine bar serves as the restaurant's focal point and was built by New Albany doctor Tom Shands. ABOVE: Chef Stephens Flagg heads the kitchen and creates dishes such as this glazed pork chop and beer battered onion rings. The Rainey isn't short on cocktails after having brought in David Wilson, a former bar manager in Oxford.

and Chuck Cooper, and decided they were going to do it two or three years ago.”

The Rainey sits across the street from the location of Paul Rainey’s hotel, now a city parking lot built after a fire in the 1970s severely damaged the building. The 100-year-old space, formerly Catt’s drug store, but long vacant, changed dramatically following a significant renovation process. “We put in new plaster walls, new rooms … we were cutting through concrete,” says Gayle. “My son, Bob Mercer, is a landscape architect who helped us draw out the restaurant, and I have a degree in interior design.” Tom Shands, a woodworker (as well as a doctor of internal medicine), constructed a 23-foot-long pine bar that now serves as one of the interior focal points, along with antique bar elements Gayle and Bill acquired in New Orleans.

As renovation neared completion, owners recruited Chef Stephens Flagg to helm the kitchen and David Wilson, former bar manager at Boure in Oxford, to develop the restaurant’s cocktail program along with Chelsea Davis. Davis also serves as the restaurant’s general manager and Wilson is director of operations.

Flagg grew up in Clarksdale, and started his culinary career at The Crystal Grill in Greenwood, eventually being promoted to executive chef at Alluvian Hotel’s restaurant Giardina’s after completing culinary school at Mississippi Delta Community College.

“Stephens is a wonderful cook, and we’re so happy to have him,” says Gayle. “He’s cooked at events for the James Beard Foundation and the Southern Foodways Alliance and has a reputation for really understanding Southern cuisine and its history.”

Flagg’s menu includes a number of approachable regional dishes including catfish with four cheese grits, seafood gumbo and broiled shrimp, as well as interesting and flavorful outliers uncommon in Mississippi restaurants. “We want to have something for everyone,” says David Wilson, “and that means comfortable and familiar flavors but also new things that people may not have tried. We have burgers and macaroni and cheese, and these dishes have low price points, but then we also have citrus quail and an eight-ounce baconwrapped filet with sauteed greens and a sweet potato hash, topped with a catfish and crawfish creole cream sauce, and that’s $43.”

The quail is house-smoked and served with a mango salsa. Other READLEGENDS.COM •

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menu highlights include a double-cut bone-in pork chop with a pepper jelly glaze and horseradish mash, bronzed Delta catfish with a lemon cream sauce and golden asparagus with sauteed crabmeat and Béarnaise. Desserts include house made pies and cobblers and are also available in liquid form as a specialty cocktail, like the Loaded Cheesecake – rum, amaretto cream, vanilla bean syrup and muddled fruit.

“We want to build up New Albany’s cocktail scene,” says Wilson. “Not a bar scene, but something very nice. We want people to stay out later and have a couple of drinks as part of their night out. We have some of the nicest scotches and bourbons available and meticulously craft our cocktails. Right now we are focusing on classic cocktails. I don’t know if I can go into any other place in New Albany and get a correct old fashioned or martini. I also have to credit Chelsea Davis, who is working with me to create our craft cocktail menu that we will be introducing in the coming months."

Since their May opening, The Rainey has seen consistently busy weekends with locals as well as people driving from nearby Oxford and Tupelo who are interested in checking out the growing number of restaurants and opportunities for entertainment in New Albany’s downtown. “We want people to come out later, and stay out later, and really enjoy their evening. Figuring out how to make that happen has been a fun and interesting process,” Wilson says.

“We are in the midst of change,” says New Albany’s director of tourism, Sean Johnson, “We have always had a great downtown, but for years it’s like the streets would roll up when the sun went down, and now that’s changing with our new restaurants and our downtown concert series. The Rainey is also pioneering the brunch effort downtown, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about.”

Johnson sees what he calls a cluster effect – the proximity of restaurants and shops to one another means that they work together to draw in customers. “On the weekends there are as many people downtown at night as during the day, which is exciting to see, because it’s a big economic engine. Downtown is becoming a destination where people want to relax and spend an evening out,” he says. L

The Rainey is located at 104 N Railroad Ave. in downtown New Albany. For more information, or to make reservations, visit raineyna.com or phone (662) 539-7732.

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36 • DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

STORY FROM GREENVILLE, MISS

A Boutique Hotel in Greenville

The Lofts at 517 Story and Photographs by MARIANNE TODD

W

hen he started his project, Bill Boykin's vision was much larger than the two walls and 1940s Sears building he repurposed into a full-service restaurant and upscale loft apartments.

“The roofs had fallen in, and there wasn't anything but standing walls,” says the Greenville developer outside the newly built Downtown Grille and accompanying The Lofts at 517.

Until then, Boykin had spent his time as a mechanical contractor and was a pharmaceutical representative before that. “My passion has always been real estate and rental property,” he says. The 28room boutique hotel, with 14 rooms serving as hotel suites and 14 serving as apartments, The Lofts and adjacent Downtown Grille were a welcome sight in Greenville, whose once sluggish economy

had for years hindered downtown development. The properties sit next to another new downtown venture, the popular Mighty Miss. Brew Company. Standing outside his 517 Washington Ave. properties, Boykin remembers acquiring the first building in 2012.

“It had been a city-owned building for 20 years … it was put up for auction, and I was the lucky winner. But I was like a dog chasing a car. I had caught the tire. Then I had to figure out what to do with it next. I thought about upscale apartments and retail, kept working on that idea, then bought the building next door.” As the years ticked by, so did the purchases. In 2015, he bought the property on the west side. “We're now putting a butcher shop and old time grocery store in and hope to have it open by spring.”

In January 2016, construction started on The Lofts. By July of READLEGENDS.COM •

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the following year, The Lofts opened to its first tenants moving in.

Units are equipped with spacious living rooms, kitchens and baths and complemented with luxurious furniture, fixtures and linens.

The appeal of The Lofts is the modern-day updates and clean, sleek lines coupled with original brick walls and hardwood flooring. The old freight elevator has been updated for use, adding a nostalgic feel to the property.

The initiative came on the heels of burgeoning downtown revitalization at the urging of then Mayor Chuck Jordan, who was also a friend of Boykin's. “He had a plan and a vision for Greenville,” Boykin says, “but nine months into office he died.

He had gotten so many things started in that nine months – a $40 million federal courthouse – we're seeing his ideas come to fruition.”

“People bought into my vision early on.

They rented the four corners sight unseen.

I've been blessed by the good Lord.

The rooms are booking and the restaurant is phenomenal.”

– Bill Boykin

Boykin said he drew the plans for The Lofts himself.

“The carpenters, the cabinet people and builders, I'd bring them the plans I drew and say, 'This is what I want' and they could see my vision,” Boykin says. “People bought into my vision early on. They rented the four corners sight unseen. I've been blessed by the good Lord. The rooms are booking and the restaurant is phenomenal.”

Outside the hotel, 5x5 foot photographs of some of Greenville's residents pay homage to the locals. The photos represent 10 documentaries on residents of Greenville and Washington County commissioned by Gov. Phil Bryant to depict the state during its bicentennial celebration.

“The Sears Building in its heyday was the anchor point. It was the building that stood tall and strong in downtown Greenville,” Boykin says. “That's what always intrigued me about the building and even wanting to pursue this project.

“I grew up here. My vision is to see revitalization of not only the downtown but our entire community. It'll never be what it once was, but that's okay. We're looking at what it can be.”

The Downtown Grille opened to huge fanfare, Boykin said.

Chef Alan Sanders, Boykin's cousin, left his job at an Oxford restaurant to return to his Greenville home with his family to be part of the venture.

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“The Delta brings you back,” Boykin says. “I invited him and he came for a visit and immediately shared the vision.”

Now the restaurant and hotel plays host to people visiting for Greenville's popular music festivals – like the Mighty Mississippi and the Delta Blues Fest. “People come from everywhere, a lot of foreigners, and we didn't anticipate that. People come who are on the Delta Blues Tour. We're drawing a big crowd from all over – Arkansas, Louisiana, and of course, the Mississippi Delta.”

The restaurant's offerings include pastas, seafood and steaks, and signature dishes like Potato Crusted Salmon, Stuffed Catfish and Chicken Marchand. Desserts include bourbon pecan pie, chocolate cake and a heavenly white chocolate bread pudding. The restaurant also offers a full-service bar and catering, and extended dining rooms for larger parties.

“We can only help ourselves,” Boykin says of the project.

“There's not a board meeting in Chicago or New York today that men and women are saying 'Let's go down to Greenville and see if we can help them.' What it takes is those of us living here, leading this community, those of us that have elected to stay here and make this home, we are the ones that have got to make the choice that we want it to be better. You can't see the forest for the trees a lot of people say, but the forest is tall and green right here in Greenville.” L

40 • DECEMBER 2017 | JANUARY 2018

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41

STORY FROM LACOMBE, LA

A Delicious Destination

LA PROVENCE

By MEGHAN HOLMES Photography by ELI BAYLISS

N

estled in a wooded area just west of Big Branch Bayou “At the end of the day, my wife and I fell in love with the tradition on Louisiana’s North Shore, La Provence restaurant has that is La Provence, and we want that to still be here for the next served Provencal inspired cuisine with a heavy dose of generation,” says Chef Eric Hunter. south Louisiana ingredients and f lavors for more than 40 years.

“We’ve been coming here for years whenever we’d come in The restaurant sources menu items from a farm directly behind the town to visit family,” says Eric, who lived in Mandeville during his restaurant, where pigs, chickens and beehives surround a variety childhood. “The first time we came in and they gave us pâté and of fresh vegetables and fruit trees. What toast as a complimentary welcome … I doesn’t come from behind the restaurant “At the end of the day, my wife and I knew I loved the restaurant before I’d comes from responsible regional growers fell in love with the tradition that is even seen anything else, and then I saw like Covey Rise Farms.

La Provence, and we want that to still the farm. That was something Jennifer Recently, husband and wife team and I wanted to do at our restaurant be here for the next generation. ” Eric Hunter and Jennifer Pittman Hunter in Weatherford, but we didn’t have the – Chef Eric Hunter took over the restaurant, purchasing real estate with our downtown location, it from John Besh’s restaurant group. and that also isn’t conducive to the (Besh trained at the restaurant under its original owner, Chris climate of North Texas.”

Kerageorgiou). The duo plans to continue La Provence’s long

Eric and Jennifer returned to the North Shore after they sold established traditions, and introduce a bit of their own perspective. their Texas restaurant Blue Oak Barbecue. That restaurant was a

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“Eric has been working on his charcuterie board for more than five years, and we did some of this at our restaurant in Texas.

We have changed ingredients to work with what’s available here, and we plan to offer our charcuterie products at the farmer’s market in Covington.”

– Jennifer Pittman Hunter

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culmination of decades of combined experience between the pair. farm, and yes they all have names” says Jennifer Pittman Hunter.

Jennifer attended culinary school in South Carolina and worked “It’s a blessing to know where your food comes from. I grew up on as a sous chef at an inn in Yellowstone for several seasons before a dairy farm in Georgia, so it’s something I’m used to.” moving to Texas and working front On a recent fall menu, pork of- house at Del Frisco’s Steak House. makes an appearance in several appetizers, Meanwhile, Eric started out in catering in including a harissa braised pork belly Augusta, Georgia, before moving to a fine with romesco, eggplant and rapini, and dining restaurant in Buckhead (outside of an ample charcuterie board with dirty Atlanta) and then to the Lonesome Dove rice boudin, andouille, speck, bresaola, Bistro in Fort Worth. carrot chow chow and lightly pickled “That’s where we met. I was a sous vegetables. “Eric has been working on chef, and Jennifer was a server, which of his charcuterie board for more than five course is something you aren’t supposed years, and we did some of this at our to do. We tell the staff do what I say, not restaurant in Texas,” Jennifer says. “We what I do,” he says laughing. The pair have changed ingredients to work with worked together at Lonesome Dove for what’s available here, and we plan to years before striking out on their own, offer our charcuterie products at the always returning to Mandeville for farmer’s market in Covington. visits with family, and to see the farm Eric and Jennifer have been appearing and enjoy the food at La Provence. at the market regularly for the last Joyce Bates, who managed the bar couple of months, working to connect at La Provence for more than 30 years, with area residents and spread the news remembers the restaurant’s beginnings. that La Provence has new owners, and “It was an old roadhouse. Truckers used they want to know their neighbors. to come through, and you can see the “We’ve been selling out of pâté every slats outside where the old hotel used to week,” Eric says. “We’ve also been be. Mr. Chris thought it reminded him taking a smoker and doing briskets and of France out in the middle of nowhere, ribs that have been really successful.” so he bought it and he built it into a five

Other recent menu items at La star restaurant,” she says. “Chef Chris Provence include a roasted heirloom was something. He would sit down at beet salad with cold smoked shrimp, the table with the guests and eat right charred onion vinaigrette, pickled off their plate.” peppers and mirliton, as well as a Eric and Jennifer worked with the hickory smoked bone-in pork chop former La Provence chefs for several with charred belgian endive, citrus and months prior to opening to ensure a honey crisp apples, drizzled with a pork smooth transition. “Some of the recipes jus. Seafood abounds, with soft shell are very special and unique to the crab, mahi-mahi, shrimp, oysters and restaurant, like the pâté. Typically it’s tripletail all making an appearance in ABOVE: A roasted heirloom beet salad with cold smoked simmered in a pan, with cognac or some various dishes. Chef Chris’ quail gumbo shrimp, charred onion vinaigrette, pickled peppers and sort of alcohol added. We only use dry remains as an appetizer - featuring a mirliton; a hickory-smoked bone-in pork chop with charred Belgian endive, citrus and honey crisp apples, drizzled with spices and we sous vide cook it. The end dark, satisfying roux and a whole quail pork jus, is prepared by La Provence's 25-year-old sous chef product is fantastic, and it’s something stuffed with dirty rice.

Cooper Schut; animals raised behind the restaurant are sourced for cooking. everyone associates with La Provence.”

La Provence makes a delicious

The restaurant also has a reputation assortment of ice creams, with f lavors for its high quality pork with some dishes featuring the mangalitsa that accommodate the lingering heat of Louisiana Octobers, variety that live on the farm. “Yes, we do use the pigs from the including rosemary vanilla, spiced cherry, peach, rum raisin and READLEGENDS.COM •

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lime. Other desserts include crepes with cream cheese and fruit compote, as well as a creme brulée topped with melt in your mouth madeleines. Cocktails lean toward the classic, but with Provencal inspiration like a lavender syrup added to the French 75. A half price wine night on Wednesdays also entices visitors.

“That’s part of the message we want to get out, that La Provence isn’t just for special occasions,” Chef Eric says. “This place was built because Chef Chris came out and sat at the tables and everyone knew him, and we want to be that kind of a fixture here, too. We want people to know that we are a part of this community.” L

Want to go?

Located in Lacombe, Louisiana, La Provence is a charming destination for fine French-Creole cooking in warm, country style quarters on lush grounds.

For more information, visit laprovencerestaurant.com.

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Corinth, Miss.

Dec 2 ... The Fairy Tale Christmas Parade is a great opportunity for everyone to get into the holiday spirit. Parade starts at 5 p.m. on Fillmore Street. Come by and see the magical Christmas floats with the whole family. Parade is free to the public. For more information visit mainstreetcorinth.com or call (662) 287-1550.

Dec. 8, 10 ... Corinth Theatre-Arts presents A Christmas Story. Don't miss your chance to see Ralphie, the Old Man, Black Bart and more this holiday season. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets on sale soon. For more information visit corinththeatrearts.com or call (662) 287-6272.

Greenville, Miss.

Dec. 2 ... 53rd Annual Christmas on Deer Creek. Enjoy a Delta Christmas like no other as the community gathers on the banks of Deer Creek to welcome Santa’s floating sleigh. Deer Creek comes to life as the traditional Christmas floats are lighted and special music performances get you in the holiday spirit. Event starts at 5:30 and is free to the public. For more information visit lelandchamber.com or call (662) 379-3764.

Dec 2 ... The 2017 Greenville Christmas Parade. This year’s parade theme is A Toyland Christmas. Come to this family friendly event and watch as Santa and Mrs Claus usher in the Christmas season for Downtown Greenville. Parade starts at 10 a.m. on Main Street Greenville and is free to the public. For more information visit mainstreetgreenville.com or call (662) 378-3121.

Greenwood, Miss.

Dec 1 ... Delta Band Festival and Christmas Parade in Downtown Greenwood. This is Mississippi's oldest Christmas parade. The parade route stretches for more than two miles beginning in historic downtown Greenwood and makes its way across the Yazoo River and passes down Grand Boulevard. The evening ends with a spectacular fireworks show over the Yazoo River. Free fun for the entire family. For more information visit greenwoodms.com or call (662) 453-4152.

Jackson, Miss Dec. 1-17 ... Christmas Wonderland at Trustmark Park. This family-friendly outdoor holiday event includes ice skating, a double ice slide, inflatables and more. Tickets are $2 for ages 12 and under, and $3 for ages 13 and up. Individual activity prices vary. For more information visit christmaswonderland.ms or call (601) 212-8810.

Memphis, Tenn.

Through Jan. 6 ... Christmas at Graceland includes hundreds of blue lights along the driveway, a life-size Nativity scene, Santa and his sleigh and much more originally displayed by Elvis and the Presley family. Santa will be available for pictures with the kids throughout the evening's festivities. Tickets range from $17 to $159. For more information or to book tickets visit graceland. com or call (901) 332-3322.

Meridian, Miss.

Dec. 2 ... Merry Meridian Christmas Parade in downtown Meridian. Come see the 2017 Christmas Parade as it passes through beautiful Downtown Meridian. This year’s theme is “A Christmas Story,” and local businesses, organizations, churches and school groups are invited to participate in the one of the area’s largest nighttime Christmas parades. Holiday magic for everyone! Parade starts at 5 p.m. For more information and for applications visit meridianms.org or call (601) 485-1944.

Jan 16 ... Gladys Knight at the MSU Riley Center. Gladys Knight, the Empress of Soul and winner of seven Grammy Awards, possesses one of the richest voices in pop music. She loves to perform, beaming her trademark smile as she connects with audiences on an intimately emotional level. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $74. For more information visit msurileycenter. com or call (601) 696-2200.

New Orleans, La. Dec. 21-31 ... NOLA Christmasfest at the New Orleans Convention Center. NOLA ChristmasFest is home to a wide array of fun things to do and sights to see. Featuring carnival rides, an ice skating rink, ice slides, mazes, snowball fight areas, children's arts and crafts, holiday characters and decorated christmas trees.

Vicksburg, Miss.

Dec. 2 ... Downtown Christmas Parade of Lights. The parade will begin at 5 p.m. along historic Washington Street between Belmont and Jackson streets. This event is sponsored by Vicksburg Main Street Program. For more information visit downtownvicksburg. org or call (601) 634-4527. Tickets are $20. Times vary by the day. For more information visit nolachristmasfest.com or call (855) 477-8756.

Yazoo City, Miss.

Dec. 5 ... Rock ‘N' Roll Christmas Parade in Yazoo City. Come see the floats, marching bands and antique vehicles. Participation is FREE thanks to the City of Yazoo City. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Parade begins at 5 p.m. from the Police Station to Jackson Avenue. For more information visit visityahoo.org or call (800) 381-0662.

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CHRISTMAS

UNITY GALA

featuring The Oxford All Stars INDIVIDUAL TICKETS $25 OR $40 PER COUPLE

12.02.17 7 - 12 pm FIRST & GREEN SATURDAY

BLACK TIE OPTIONAL

97 FIRST STREET

TO ORDER TICKETS CONTACT THE GRENADA TOURISM COMMISSION 662.226.2060 OR VISITGRENADAMS.COM

222 North Street Jackson, MS 39201 HOURS Tuesday–Saturday 9AM–5PM Sunday 1–5PM Closed Mondays GENERAL ADMISSION $8 each museum or $12 for both For information about discounts, visit our websites: Museum of Mississippi History museumofmshistory.com Mississippi Civil Rights Museum mscivilrightsmuseum.com 601-576-6800