BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
‘A DASH OF LOVE, PINCH OF PASSION’ SWEET HOLIDAY TREATS ARE HER SPECIALTY
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
MAGAZINE
‘A DASH OF LOVE, A PINCH OF PASSION’
PUBLISHER Luke Horton EDITORIAL Donna Campbell
SWEET HOLIDAY TREATS ARE HER SPECIALTY
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BROOKHAVEN Magazine is produced and published by The Daily Leader, 128 N. Railroad Ave., Brookhaven, MS 39601. The magazine is published six times a year. For additional information on this issue or other publications or for copies, call 601-833-6961. To inquire about story content, email donna.campbell@dailyleader. com, or to inquire about advertising, email advertising@dailyleader.com.
On the cover: Becky Walden creates sweet memories and memorable desserts for her clients as The Cake Lady.
Copyright 2019 © The Daily Leader
The Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us for
two wonderful Christmas events: A CANDY COATED CHRISTMAS PARADE
December 5th • 6:30 PM MOVIE ON THE LAWN, SELFIES WITH SANTA, & TUBA CHRISTMAS AT LAMPTON AUDITORIUM (FREE EVENT)
December 7th • 5 PM Entry Forms are available at the chamber or online at www.brookhavenchamber.com
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FOOD
A DASH OF LOVE AND PINCH OF PASSION
FEATURE
LIVING WITH A LEGACY
HISTORY
A MODEL OF THE PAST
FEATURE 8
A HAVEN FOR THE GEEKY
ARTS 14
‘IT’S A LOST ART’
DAYTRIP 22
TRAVELING THE TRACE
28
GIFT GUIDE
44
THE REST 32
36
PHOTO ESSAY SOCIAL SCENES GARDEN WHY I LOVE BROOKHAVEN
47 49-54 57 58
HOME
THE MORE TEXTURES, THE PRETTIER 42
BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 7
food NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
‘A dash of love and pinch of passion’ 8 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
Story and photos by Donna Campbell
B
ecky Walden can bake anything — from a simple red velvet or a chocolate raspberry cake to an elaborate marbled, tiered wedding reception centerpiece with a homemade buttercream icing and a chocolate ganache filling. But her most popular creation is a gone cake. “I tell people, ‘I can do pretty cakes, but to me a ‘gone’ cake means it was good,” she said. “The plate is empty and there’s just crumbs on it. That meant the cake was not just pretty, but it was good, too. And to me that’s the most important part. I tell people that I promise pretty, but I guarantee taste.” Walden, 36, is The Cake Lady both in business and pleasure. Whether she’s filling orders for customers or whipping up something sweet to take to church fellowship, Walden always adds her secret ingredients —
passion and love. “I like to tell people that my favorite ingredients to cook with is a dash of love and pinch of passion,” she said. “You can taste whether or not you enjoy what you’re doing. I think when you are able to share your God-given gift, it shows.” Walden lives in Loyd Star with her husband Sam and their 14-year-old son, Drake. She works from home so she can homeschool Drake but also because she learned from her mother that she enjoys the freedom baking in her own kitchen gives her. Walden started cooking long before she could peek in her pans without help. “I’ve been cooking since before I could reach the stove,” she said. “I can remember being a little girl and getting in trouble for pulling a chair up to the stove to BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 9
cook breakfast for my parents while they were still asleep.” She grew up in the kitchen. It was her comfort zone, her happy place and her classroom. Her teachers were her grandmother and mother. She remembers at age 11 her grandmother measured her hand while they were fixing Thanksgiving dinner. “She took a measuring cup and put a fourth cup of flour into my hand and she told me that my hand would always be a fourth cup, so I didn’t need measuring cups,” she said. “And it’s still to this day a fourth cup. I can grab a fourth a cup with my hand and know it’s about right.” She also learned baking as a business from her mother, Janie Hart, who owned The Cake Lady in downtown Brookhaven years ago. Hart also co-owned Mrs. Bea’s in Brookhaven by First Baptist Church. She eventually sold both of the businesses, but Walden never stopped cooking and baking. And neither did her mother, who now helps out as her assistant. When Walden was about 18, she started working for a catering company in Bogue Chitto, Annie P. Goodies, which was owned by Annie Ticklesimer. Walden was Ticklesimer’s catering manager for about six years. “Between her and my mother, they really molded my cooking career,” she said. Baking is the majority of her business, but for pleasure she cooks for elderly members of her church, Friendship Baptist, and a few others. On the second Monday each month, Walden and others ladies at Friendship prepare a feast for the “Golden Oldies” and serve them after their devotion and entertainment. “Our elders have given up and sacrificed so much. Sometimes the only thing they have to look forward to is their next meal so I feel like it should be fabulous,” she said. Besides her big heart, Walden is known for her sweets — cakes, cookies and candy. She’s popular with area brides for her wedding cakes and she kept her mom’s business name, The Cake Lady. For her business — and most everything else — Walden uses recipes from a treasured family
cookbook. “We’ve got a cookbook from the early 1930s that was my greatgrandmother’s, which she gave to my grandmother, who my mother got it from. She has it now,” she said. They have the original that’s falling apart from years of use, so Walden found a more recent edition on eBay that’s in better shape. They use that one now, hoping to preserve the hand-medown for future generations. Some recipes she uses didn’t come from the book. “We’ve got one family recipe for the old fashioned tea cake that’s been in our family for right at six generations,” she said. Her pecan pie came from her third great-aunt, a German woman her uncle met overseas and married after World War II. Old recipes are her favorite. “It’s the simplicity of them. It’s the love you put into them. It’s simple ingredients. They’re five ingredients or less. And you can’t beat the flavor,” she said. Most of the old recipes were written in a time before instant everything. “One of my favorite compliments I get is, ‘Oh my gosh, this tastes just like my grandmother’s,’” she said. Walden’s year is divided into baking seasons. March, April and May is birthday cake season. August, September and October are also busy birthday months. Valentine’s Day is a popular time for red velvet sweets and dipped strawberries. She’s busy with weddings June through October. Candy season starts in November. When she’s baking for customers, she’ll make a bit extra so she’s got a steady supply for her family. Her nephews always ask her for ugly cookies that don’t make it into the customers’ orders. “A lot of times my family gets the scraps,” she said, laughing. The holidays allow her to be extra creative with candy. She enjoys experimenting with flavors, especially with fudge. Popular holiday fudge flavors include banana cream, pumpkin, peppermint and eggnog. She’s got about 16 in her repertoire. BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 11
She uses two fudge recipes. Her go-to is a marshmallow fudge, but she also makes a fudge that her stepfather Earl Hart learned from his mother and passed on to Walden. It’s cocoa powder and peanut butter. “You have to cook it. From start to finish you cook it and then you stir it. You’ve really got to know what you’re doing or this fudge will not set up. It’s an oldtimey fudge,” she said. Christmas season sees Walden producing rack after rack of coconut pies, cookies and cakes. Before the new year, she’ll roll out hundreds of chocolate peanut butter buckeyes — Drake likes them with white chocolate and calls them doe eyes — and slice up dozens of fruit cake bars.
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However, her favorite holiday treat is biscuits at her mom’s on Christmas morning. Like everything measured and mixed in Walden’s life, the recipe is a family keepsake. It’s a sausage and cheese biscuit — made from her mother’s recipe — that’s been a staple on Christmas mornings for over three decades. Walden, her sister and their families gather at the Harts’ house at 5 a.m. on Christmas morning for the cheesy and meaty biscuits and homemade hot chocolate. Then they’ll open gifts left from a jolly ol’ elf who stopped by during the night. Believing in Santa is also a family tradition. “Santa Claus still leaves us presents under her tree,” she said. |||||
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feature NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
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LIVING WITH A LEGACY
VALERIE ELLIOT SHEPARD SHARES STORY WITH LOCAL CHURCH
A
ctress Kim Novak may have graced the cover, but a story tucked away on page 23 of the November 24, 1958, issue of LIFE Magazine still garners attention. The headline? “Missionaries live with the Aucas. Child among her father’s killers.” That child was Valerie Elliot Shepard, and she’s the daughter of two of the most famous missionaries of the 20th century, a fact that wasn’t lost on me when I interviewed her in September. How Shepard came to be seated on a couch in the sunken den of a Caseyville home less than 15 miles from my own was a puzzle I wanted to piece together. She started at the beginning of her story, when as college students her parents first heard about Ecuador’s Auca Indians, a primitive, hostile tribe in the depths of the Amazon jungle: “My father wrote in his journal that he wanted to sing over the Aucas, meaning he hoped to see them come to Christ, and he’d be able to sing praises to God.” Her father, Jim Elliot, died at the hands of those Indians when she was 10 months old. But when Shepard was 3, she and her mother, Elisabeth, went to live and work among those same people, and eventually they did get to sing over the Aucas. “Once they learned the gospel, they said, ‘We did badly badly.’ They didn’t have a word for sin. They didn’t have a word for very. So, ‘We did badly, and we will not kill people again.’” Shepard is now 64. Like her mother who died in 2015, she’s tall and trim with the same steady blue eyes. Her dad’s dimples show up in her quick smile. But Shepard’s biggest inheritance is her parents’ story—a story of Christian zeal and sacrifice and forgiveness. The pastor’s wife and mother of eight is asked to tell it at colleges, churches, conferences, even on TV.
STORY BY KIM HENDERSON PHOTOS BY KIM HENDERSON AND CONTRIBUTED
BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 15
Once, Shepard confided to her mother she was concerned about being repetitive. She smiled while recalling her response. “She said, ‘Val, that’s the story God gave you to share. So don’t ever feel badly that it’s the same story over and over again.’ And of course, different places, different people haven’t heard the story. So I’m glad to be able to carry it on, to carry on the legacy that way.” And the Elliot legacy is substantial, if only in tangible terms. “Gateway to Joy,” Elisabeth Elliot’s syndicated radio show, ran more than a dozen years. Her book, “Through Gates of Splendor,” spawned two documentaries and a 2005 film, “End of the Spear,” that grossed more than $11 million dollars. Then there are some 30 other books written by Elisabeth. And Jim Elliot’s published journals. Piles of their letters. Audio files. A trunk of collectibles from Ecuador. As the Elliots’ only child, Shepard decides what goes to the archives at Wheaton College and what to keep as family heirlooms. She and Elisabeth’s later husband, Lars Gren, own the copyrights to all the books. But Shepard kept one set of memorabilia to herself, if only for a while – her parents’ love letters. “My mother gave my father’s letters to me in the 1980s when I had all eight children at home, and she said, ‘You don’t have time to read these now, but someday you’ll want to.’”
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Her mother was right. After her youngest child left for college in 2011, Shepard started looking for the letters. While searching through a storage bin, she was thrilled to see a big packet clearly labeled “Jim Elliott, letters to Elizabeth, 1948 to 1953.” The letters offered a riveting account of Jim’s devotion to God and to Elisabeth, and of Elisabeth’s determination to obey Christ first, rather than follow her heart. Shepard realized they could flesh out some answers to questions raised by her mother’s book, “Passion and Purity.” She also felt she shouldn’t keep them to herself. She decided to publish them. Since Shepard didn’t have Elisabeth’s love letters to Jim, she planned to use parts of her mother’s journals for material. But that changed when she happened upon an old trunk in her mother’s attic. At the bottom was a stack of letters, neatly tied with a blue ribbon. Valerie was stunned to recognize Elisabeth’s penmanship, because her mother was convinced Jim had destroyed them. Shepard’s new book, “Devotedly,” covers the Elliots’ lengthy long-distance courtship – they only saw each other five times in five years. It’s a piece of the story their followers are eager to discover, and since February, Shepard has been on a book tour, telling her story on university campuses, to Fox’s Lauren Green, and for an assortment of audiences in between, including a group of 300 at Brookhaven’s First Baptist Church on Sept. 17.
Shepard’s link to Lincoln County — Maureen Sellers — sat smiling at her side after the event, handing her books to sign as attendees lined up the length of the hallway. The pair became friends in the 1980s, when both of their husbands were young pastors in Laurel. “We had them over for dinner, and Valerie and I made an immediate connection, much like David and Jonathan in the Bible,” Sellers told me. As mothers of small children, their time together was limited. Sellers described early a.m. phone calls as part of their effort to memorize Scripture together: “Tuesday at 5 we’d recite Hebrews 12. The rule was no talking about anything else.” Through the years and many moves, they maintained the relationship. One of those moves brought Sellers to Brookhaven, where her husband pastored Macedonia Baptist Church from 2001-2006. Their son and his family still live in the area. “No matter where she was, I knew I could pick up the phone and talk to her about church situations and family issues. It’s a spiritual connection. We love talking about the Lord,” Sellers explained. The depth of their friendship was evident in 2012 when Shepard trusted her mother’s care to Sellers for several weeks. Elisabeth Elliot became a temporary resident at Woodland Court, an assisted living facility in Newton. These days, Sellers enjoys handling Shepard’s correspondence and accompanying her to speaking engagements. She told me, “People stand in line with tears streaming down their faces, telling Valerie how much Elisabeth’s books mean to them. I’m humbled to be part of it, just to hold her purse.” Both Sellers and Shepard drove three hours to attend the Brookhaven event. But someone in the audience — Tennessee resident Sunday Holmes — had driven four. “When I was growing up, Elisabeth Elliot was like a mentor to me through all her books,” Holmes said. “When I heard that Valerie was coming, I just couldn’t miss it, and I wanted my daughter to hear her as well.” IIIII
Above: Shepard, center, stayed at the Caseyville home of Ruth Calcote, left. Sitting next to Shepard, and pictured with her at left, is Maureen Sellers, who accompanied Shepard to an engagement in Scotland early in their friendship. Below, Shepard autographs copies of her latest book.
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BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 19
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history NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
A MODEL OF
THE PAST 22 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
BROOKHAVEN MAN BUILDS MODELS WITH GREAT DETAIL STORY BY BRETT CAMPBELL PHOTOS BY DONNA CAMPBELL
A
visit to Trey Norton’s Brookhaven house — or, rather, the part he calls “my end of the house” — is like a visit to a museum. More accurately, like a visit to a back room where models are assembled, displays are built and glimpses into history and other worlds are crafted. Battleships, a submarine, aircraft, alien warships, guitars, pedals and amps, tools, weapons and as-yetunidentifiable materials fill large areas. Norton has built a large number of these items himself — some from kits, some from scratch. Norton has been building models since he was about 7 years old. His first model was a biplane like that flown by Waldo Pepper, a fictional World War I-era pilot who was the title character of the 1975 film “The Great Waldo Pepper.” As he progressed to building other models, Norton says he got into more and more detail. That’s what made the projects worthwhile to him. When his family traveled, they’d stop at military museums and such, and he’d see large, intricate scale models of military ships. He fell in love with them and wanted to have one of his own. “I knew the only way I was ever going to get one was to build it myself,” he said. The USS Alabama, in Mobile, Alabama, was the site of many of Norton’s childhood visits, and he was always interested in it and other military ships. The sheer size of these sea craft fascinated him. So in 2011, Norton decided to purchase model-building plans for the Alabama — a South Dakota BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 23
Class battleship — from a company called Floating Dry Dock, which transfers original ship-building plans into versions specifically for scale modelers. At 1/96th scale, the plans and boat each measure more than 9 feet long. He spent four years working on the model as he could, in the evenings while watching TV and on off days. Because he’s selfemployed, his hours are rather flexible, allowing him more time to spend on his hobbies. He purchased some parts to guide him, but crafted most of the parts himself. He made molds and poured resin. He cut wood and metal. He built what he wanted to see in a model as accurate as it could be. It’s now on display in Norton’s home in a lighted glass case he constructed for it. “While I was working on the Alabama, I was thinking of doing an aircraft carrier,” Norton says, “because it’s the biggest thing.” So he purchased plans for the USS Lexington CV-16, a World War IIvintage Essex Class aircraft carrier. After two years and 10 months of work on the Lexington, he’s finished with the ship itself. “It’s just little odds and ends that are left, details,” he says. “If I had everything I needed right now, I could probably be done in a couple of months.” Fourteen quad .40 mm antiaircraft guns were just shipped to Norton from a supplier in England. He began mounting them as soon as they arrived. When everything else is complete, he’ll construct a lighted glass case for this model, as well. Norton has also built a model of the HMS Victory. He wanted the challenge of building a large-scale, multi-gun ship. The Victory was built from a kit — a box of sticks and some instructions, as Norton described it — rather than from scratch, as were the Alabama and Lexington. What made the Victory project unique was not just the 104 carriage guns, arranged on three decks, each with 14 parts. It was the paint. A paint company in England had taken samples from the actual ship, using razors to scrape down through 24 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
layers of paint to what they believed was the actual paint on the Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. They then matched that paint perfectly. Norton purchased some of the paint and used it for his model. So the model HMS Victory — on display in a glass case — bears the same paint on its hull as its namesake. “Once I get going, it’s hard for me to stop,” he says. “Everything I’ve done, I did on my coffee table.” Its scarred surface bears testimony to the thousands of hours of work put in on the modeler’s collection. Several people have asked Norton if he would consider selling one of his ships. “I’ve thought about it,” he says. “It would have to be for the right money. I’ve put so many hours into them. I wouldn’t take less than 30 grand for the USS Alabama.” “I like to build models at as large a scale as I can because you can get the most details that way,” Norton said. The 1/96th scale is the museum scale, Norton says, and the scale used to present models to admiralty. His wife, Roxanne, commented on the size of his modeling projects. “We’re going to have to build on to the house if he keeps making these,” she said. Norton doesn’t limit his model- or replica-making to ships. He has science fiction-themed models — including a studio scale version of an X-wing fighter from the “Star Wars” original film, with parts made from original molds — and has created a playable replica of Eddie Van Halen’s famous Frankenstein guitar, authentic in parts, appearance and sound. One of Norton’s future projects he hopes will be of a different kind of ship — not a historical seaworthy ship, but a hunk of junk from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. “I’d like to do the Millennium Falcon,” he said. “But I’d want to get the biggest model I could.” IIIII
Previous pages: Norton adjusts a fighter plane on the deck of the USS Lexington, and points out details on the ship. Opposite page: A detail from the USS Alabama. At right, Norton shows the 9-footplus long modeling plans he purchased for the Lexington.
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26 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
HOMEGROWN • HOME-OWNED • HOMETOWN
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www.betsysmithproperties.com BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 27
feature NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
A HAVEN FOR THE GEEKY 28 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
I
t’s a place for anyone who has ever curled up with a good book, immersing themselves in a world of fantasy or science fiction and imagined themselves taking a more active role in the adventure. It’s for anyone who has spent evenings at home playing video games alone, growing tired of the toxic anonymity on the other end of an online headset and wishing for the days of good friends around a table and a handful of dice. It’s for parents who remember the days from their childhood, reading comics with all the classic heroes and hoping to share that experience with the next generation. It’s Hero’s Haven, a comic book and game store in Brookhaven that doubles as a growing community. Whereas other stores are filled to the brim with shelves upon shelves of products, fully two-thirds of Hero’s Haven’s floor space is taken up by empty tables and chairs. The key to Hero’s Haven is right there in the name. It’s a haven — a sanctuary for people coming in after school or work to take on the role of a hero.
STORY & PHOTOS BY AARON PADEN Derek Graves carefully paints details on a miniature on paint night at Hero’s Haven. Above right: Brody Coley acts as dungeon master for a charity Dungeons and Dragons event that ultimately raised approximately $1,400 for Alzheimer’s Research.
If it sounds a little bit geeky, that’s because it is — unashamedly so. For founder and coowner Chris Morris, the stigma of being a geek is something he’s been dealing with all his life. “Since I was a kid in the 80s, there was quite a stigma,” Morris said. “In slow-to-catch-up places like Mississippi, there still is to a degree. But certainly back then there was a widespread stigma against geeks — people who were really into fandoms or really into certain games.” There are many games in Hero’s Haven that you won’t find locally in other stores. Some shelves are lined with board games. Not your standard family classics like Monopoly or Scrabble, but high quality original titles that expand upon older game designs, innovate and build something new. On another shelf, there are the RPGs, or roleplaying games — games like Dungeons and Dragons, with rules for acting out a character in fantasy adventures full of dangerous monsters and devious traps. There are miniatures to be painted, cards to be collected, tournaments to win and adventures to have at Hero’s Haven. There are even a few video games to play. The one unifying element to everything at Hero’s Haven is the social element. From painting to Mario Kart, everything at Hero’s Haven is done sitting next to each other or across a table. People there are always interacting face-to-face. “Our little store is more of a community that a store,” store manager James Bardwell said.
STORE BREAK DOWN
Hero’s Haven is open Tuesday through Saturday from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. Tournaments at the store generally start at 6:30 p.m. with an $8 entry fee. There are Magic the Gathering tournaments of varying formats held every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There is a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament on Wednesday. Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh are collectible card games, where players build up decks over time and duke it out in a competitive format. In Magic the Gathering, players take the role of a powerful Planeswalker, magicians who draw mana from the world around them to summon monsters. The story in Yu-Gi-Oh is more meta. The players take the role of a duelist playing a trading card game. “It’s kinda fourth wall,” Bardwell said. Wednesdays alternate between board game night and paint night. On paint night — and most other nights, according to Bardwell — people gather around a table to paint the miniatures used in War Machine and Dungeons and Dragons. War Machine is a miniature-based war-game, something like chess, but with magic and monsters. It’s played on a table with an array of custom hand-built terrain. Movement is in inches instead of squares. Not every game played in Hero’s Haven is a tournament. Casual games of War Machine and Magic can be found there, and it’s also the place to go to find a group for Dungeons and Dragons. BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 29
“Pretty much every night of the week, you can play War Machine, Magic the Gathering Commander, or any of the other things we play here in a nontournament environment for free,” Bardwell said.
GATHER YOUR PARTY
Dungeons and Dragons — unjustly maligned throughout much of the 80s when Morris was growing up — is more popular now than it has ever been. Morris, like many others, was drawn to the Red Box, a starter kit for Dungeons of Dragons that has continued through its editions. “I kind of think I was drawn to the pictures and the artwork on the boxes,” 30 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
Morris said. “When you see a bright red box with dragons on it, you’re going to want to know what it’s about.” What it’s about, it turns out, is adventure. Players form a party of heroes and are pitted against the Dungeon Master, the player who designs the dungeons with encounters against monsters and traps. It’s an open-ended game. Unlike an RPG on a computer, a tabletop RPG like Dungeons and Dragons involves plenty of improv storytelling in-between the dice rolls. Some campaigns continue on for years, one play-session at a time, following the player-character’s major life events as the real players also experience theirs. Public perception for the game has come
a long way since the 1980s. Video-games and the internet have demystified the game and brought it into more hands. And even during the lowest point in game’s history, when people spread fearful propaganda against the game far and wide, it still brought people together, many of them social outcasts. For Morris, his shop is a way to keep that tradition alive. “So many of these kids would be sitting at home by themselves playing video games,” he said. “Their only interaction would be on a headset talking to someone anonymous in whatever game they’re playing… (At Hero’s Haven) they get to meet like-minded peers in their own community.” IIIII
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arts NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
‘It’s a lost art’
STORY BY ROBIN EYMAN PHOTOS BY DONNA CAMPBELL
T
he fascination of watching pine needles woven into baskets at a Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia years ago later gave Katherine Griffin an idea for staying productive and alert after retiring. The Lawrence County woman, a longtime home health worker, says she watched YouTube videos over and over until she figured out how to start making baskets in 2017. She could crochet, but pine needles offered a different way to make use of her time. “It’s a lost art,” Griffin said. “My first couple of baskets weren’t that good, but I kept trying and trying and, thank the Lord, he’s given me something to do that I enjoy doing.”
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She has refined her craft and shows off her work on her Facebook page, Pine Needle Baskets & Crafts by Katherine. Her baskets come in all shapes, sizes and contours, and she’s now doing other types of crafts, such as dream catchers and pine needlework around gourds. “It’s just amazing the way the Indians have used pine needles and sinew from deer to make baskets for whatever purpose they needed, even to waterproof them and use them to carry water,” Griffin said. “Baskets were their Tupperware. They would use a bone or seashell as a needle to sew the pine needles into coils in different shapes and sizes using the sinew from deer legs. I’ve thought to myself, ‘How on Earth did they think of all this stuff?’”
The ingenuity of the Choctaws still amazes her, yet reminds her of growing up on a farm “and making do with whatever you have. Today, if you want something, you just go to the store and get everything you need. Some people don’t have a clue that you can put things together that you have on your farm or wherever you live.” Griffin, describing herself as “a country woman,” retired at age 55 after being diagnosed with bursitis and an immune deficiency. She’s now 68 and lives in a log cabin in Monticello with her husband Mikel and two dogs. They’ve been married 52 years, wedding at the ages of 15 and 16. Katherine said she quit school in the 10th grade but later got her GED in her early 20s. “I told my two children they couldn’t get married until they had a high school diploma and a college degree,” she said. “They accomplished that, and have given me five grandchildren.” Her husband also is retired and disabled from spine problems. But they try to make the best of their lives, she said.
It’s tedious work
Griffin began her hobby by collecting dead long-leaf pine needles with her husband in the DeSoto National Forest from Hattiesburg to the Gulf Coast. More recently,
the couple found a landscaper in a nearby community who sold them bales of pine needles for $7.50 a bale. They bought two and still haven’t finished with the first bale. She removes any broken needles before she begins her work. The actual starting process is tedious: Washing pine needles in soapy water, rinsing them and allowing them to dry 30 minutes to an hour. Any less and the pine needles become brittle. Next, she places them in a glycerin bath. “I bought a turkey cooker to use for the glycerin bath,” she said. “I heat it on 275 for two or three hours and let the needles soak overnight. They’re cool the next day, so I put on gloves, rinse them, spread them out and let them dry outside, turning them every three or four hours. “It takes a good two weeks for them to dry in our humid climate. If it’s rainy, I bring them inside and lay them out in those trays that delivery men use to deliver loaves of bread.” The most difficult part of coiling a basket is actually getting started, she said. Griffin buys artificial sinew, which is flat and ribbon-like, to stitch the pine needles together, or sometimes uses Irish linen thread. The pine needles are stitched together in coils and by adding additional rows while manipulating the needles and stitches into the desired direction or shape. BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 33
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She’s learned more by experience. On her first couple of baskets, she used her sonin-law’s hay-baling string and green needles. The green needles shrunk and the baskets didn’t hold their shape. She still has one of them and gave the other to a neighbor. She was proud of a particular basket, with a bowl shape and a wide lid, until family and friends told her it looked like a spittoon. “I didn’t plan it that way,” she said. Griffin worked on the piece to make it less spittoon-ish. She’s also proud of her dream catchers (with local feathers), but her favorite pieces are those made from coasters she had ordered. They have an agate slice in the bottom, so Griffin decided to get creative with them. She poured some resin around the coasters, drilled some holes and made a basket around them. She uses the term “coiling” instead of “weaving” after watching numerous video tutorials by Tennessee basket maker Carol Busto. Griffin has also tried making baskets out of water grass, 2-foot long clumps of grass in their pasture. She’s also used stones, feathers, pinecones and shells in her crafts. She often walks in the woods around her cabin, off a gravel road, to look for pine needles, but the pine needles on her property are short and don’t work as well except in small projects. “It’s a chance to get out of the house and get some exercise,” she said.
She doesn’t mind the pay
Griffin said it can take her one or two hours to make a tiny basket an inch high and the width of a silver dollar. A basket that’s five inches round takes her about six hours. Larger baskets can take up to 30 hours. Griffin charges $10 to $125 per item, and is well aware that she’s not getting fully paid for her work. “It’s just a God-given thing that I can do this and it’s a hobby,” Griffin said. “There’s that and my son is a physical therapist who helps keep me going.” She has a sense of modest pride in telling others about her baskets and crafts. “I hope other people will see how easy it is and start a new hobby,” she said. “Handiwork is good for your mental state.” Griffin grew up believing her “fourth grandmother back” was Choctaw. “My sister checked on our ancestry and says we came from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Maybe the Indian came in way later. They need to go back and check on that.” In the future, Griffin looks forward to experimenting with willows and wisteria. She has also heard you can make baskets with kudzu. “I thought, ‘Beaucoup vines,” Griffin said with a laugh, “But my husband said, ‘Do not bring kudzu on our property.’” IIIII
Opposite: Katherine Griffin is joined by a one of her assistants as she works on her hobby in her favorite chair. Above: The pine needles for Katherine Griffin’s baskets take at least two weeks of preparation before she makes the first stitch.
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daytrip NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
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Take your time on the Trace W
e got up early to head out toward Natchez that hours into our day. morning. My wife and I drove toward 84 Chevron Our first stop on the parkway was Emerald Mound. to get fueled up with some bacon, biscuits and Located off the Natchez Trace Parkway just a little to the tomato gravy before plunging into our plans to travel a west of milepost 10.3, this mound is the second-largest portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway and see what we could Mississippian period ceremonial mound in the United States, get done in a day. and the largest mound along the parkway. We had a few loose guidelines. One, we planned to begin When I took my children to the mound many years at “the beginning” of the parkway. The actual historical ago, visitors could climb to the top and look across it. My beginning point of the Trace is at Natchez Under the Hill, but youngest son even took a dare to roll down its side. He kept the parkway begins a bit further east, just off Liberty Road. hitting bumps, rocks and limbs. It was definitely more fun for We’d be starting there, because the trip was about what we us watching than it was for him. Now, however, the mound could see and do along the parkway. is closed to visitors who would attempt to climb it. It’s for Two, we’d keep the cost reasonable — well within what viewing from ground level only. Still, it’s a very interesting an average-sized family could comfortably spend for a few stop. hours of relaxation and family-centered fun. Our next parkway stop was Mt. Locust Inn. Three, we’d do whatever we wanted to do — no strict Set back off the parkway to our left at milepost 15.5, rules that dictated where we’d stop, what we’d do where or the long driveway loops into a parking area where visitors what we’d avoid. will find clean restrooms and a small information center. And four — the most important guideline — we’d take our A volunteer can answer pretty much any question about time. With a maximum posted speed limit of 50 Mt. Locust and provide a pamphlet and parkway mph all along the parkway’s 444 miles, there’d map. You can also pick up a souvenir of your trip STORY BY BRETT be no buzzing along like a bat out of … well, — to either the parkway or the inn, in particular CAMPBELL the woods. Plus, on any given day, rain or shine, — and buy your children a harmonica or oldPHOTOS BY DONNA people will be bicycling, motorcycling and even time mouth harp to play in the back seat for the CAMPBELL walking along the parkway, so it pays to take it a entire remainder of your journey. Or until the little slow, anyway. next stop when said noisemakers mysteriously With a tanked-up car and full bellies — plus a turn disappear. around to hit the ATM because we forgot — we pointed our My wife and I walked along the pathway from the headlights toward the Mississippi River and cruised along information center up the hill to the inn — restored as much Hwy. 84. Along the way, we listened to a couple of our as possible to how it would have looked during the midfavorite podcasts. First up was Sean of the South, helmed 1800s — along a path known to be a portion of the original by Sean Dietrich, a North Floridian who contributes to Natchez Trace. The original Trace ran from the Mississippi our weekly newspaper. His shows are always funny and River north to modern-day Nashville, as a route home for heartwarming, and a must if you love bluegrass or old school Kentuckians — or “Kaintucks” — who’d taken flat boats country music. down the river to sell goods — and the boats — at the port. I had just started another favorite podcast featuring one The route was also used for other traders and for postal of my favorite classic rock-n-roll singers when we turned riders. south at Washington and my wife stirred from the nap Sean’s The inn was decorated and furnished appropriately for a soothing voice sometimes casts upon her. 19th-century family, from the homemade candles near the “What are you listening to?” she asked me, surprised it fireplace, to finer dishes in a cabinet, handmade dolls on wasn’t still Sean. beds, a hand-carved hobby horse and two long smoking “It’s Robert Plant, from Led —,” I started, but her look pipes on their wall holder. Spider lilies and a chipmunk assured me it was a good time to turn it off and focus on greeted us as we exited the rear of the inn. A circular path getting the meat of our trip underway. continues from the inn past two cemeteries — one for slaves Very shortly we were at Liberty Road, about to exit onto and one for family — and the remnants of a brick kiln. the beginning of the Natchez Trace Parkway, coursing The family that originally built the home on this site between hot air balloon crews and observers and witnessing operated it as an inn, of sorts, as travelers passed along the the beautiful magic of a hot air balloon rising into the Trace, just yards from its front porch, having walked about a morning fog as the Natchez Balloon Festival kicked off. We day’s journey from the port. For 25 cents, a traveler could get waited as a crew quickly moved their balloon and basket a cup of whiskey — for warmth and medicinal value, as well from the center line of the parkway … an interesting launch as any other reason — with a cup of corn mush and milk, point … and eased past several athletes on bicycles. and permission to unfurl his bed roll on the ground near the Counting breakfast and the quick turn-around, we were 1.5 porch for the night. BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 37
Though not nearly old enough to recall those days, Brookhaven resident Bruce Chamberlain does remember what life was like on this property. He is a descendant of the original owners. His family lived in the home while his father was overseas during World War II, and a couple of his family members still have unused plots in the cemetery there. The inn is open for visits from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Check the National Park Service website — nps.gov — before you go, however. Just after our visit, NPS closed the inn itself in order to repair the roof. Though repairs were anticipated to be completed prior to Thanksgiving, it’s always a good idea to put a little research in before traveling to any destination. From Mt. Locust we continued north along the winding Trace, crossing over or passing nearby several creeks, each with its own picnic area and place to rest. Because there are no gas stations, convenience stores or other such retail outlets along the actual parkway — you can exit off into nearby towns, of course — we recommend a family prepare a picnic lunch and take advantage of any of the picnic tables 38 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
dotting the way, especially if it’s nice weather. Around milepost 30, we exited the parkway at the Alcorn State University exit, and turned right toward Lorman. It was not quite 11 a.m., so lunch wasn’t being served yet at The Old Country Store and Restaurant just off the highway. So we waited. Owner and fried chicken savant Archie Davis put his arm around my shoulders and serenaded my wife just after we were seated. “Sugar pie, honey bunch,” he sang, pointing to my wife. “You know that he loves you. He can’t help himself. He loves you and nobody else.” The chicken was even better than the “show.” This place — where celebrity chef and foodie Alton Brown declared the fried chicken to be the best he had ever tasted — served up smothered pork chops, pig tails, greens, sweet potatoes, dirty rice, cornbread dressing, peas and beans, cornbread made with white cornmeal, biscuits, four types of fruit cobblers — with or without ice cream — and chicken that was fried to perfection. It was juicy on the inside, crispy on
Previous pages: Signs at the beginning of the Old Natchez Trace and Emerald Mound give a little of their history. Above, the fried chicken at The Old Country Store and Restaurant in Lorman made the lunch detour worth the time and expense.
the outside and not a drop of grease anywhere. As I write this I’m wishing I had a piece of it in front of me now. Business cards — some more than 100 years old, the cashier told me — adorn the walls and cabinets in the store. With permission, I add mine to the “new” section and we head back out to the parkway. I should have suggested to Mr. Davis that he add a room with easy chairs for naps after an all-you-can-eat buffet meal like that. Full and happy, we got back onto the parkway. We stopped next at The Sunken Trace, at milepost 41.5. The Sunken Trace is just that — a portion of the original Natchez Trace that has sunk down into the earth — due to glacier activity and long-term use, according to official parkway guides. It looks much like the gulleys in the woods I grew up near in Northeast Mississippi. If you plan to walk along a portion of the Sunken Trace, I suggest a walking stick. You can pick up medallions for your stick at Mt. Locust, too. Our next stop was a remnant of an abandoned town. At milepost 54.8, what remains of Rocky Springs can be seen at the end of a short trail, including an old cemetery. A picnic area, restrooms and campground are available, also. Like all other campgrounds along the parkway, campsites are primitive, with no hookups, and are available on a first-come, firstserved basis. Reservations are not available. The final stop for the day trip was a sign off the parkway at milepost 61. It’s the Lower Choctaw Boundary. Established in 1765, it marked the eastern limits of the Old Natchez District. I took a photo of myself in front of the sign and sent it to my sister, who works for the Choctaw Nation. From there, we piloted home through Utica. All together, we spent money on gas and lunch, and made it home to Brookhaven by 3 p.m. We took our time, and we enjoyed the day. When was the last time you did that? IIIII BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 39
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home NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
STORY BY GRACIE BYRNE
THE MORE TEXTURES, THE PRETTIER 42 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
Decorating tips from a design pro
O
ne local designer believes in pushing the envelope when it comes to decorating for Christmas. Cathy Pigott, a designer for J. Allan’s Furniture, takes her passion for interior design and brings it to the forefront when decorating for the holidays. She loves Christmas, and she certainly loves decorating for Christmas. “There’s no limit with decorating,” Pigott said. Even before she was a designer, she loved decorating. As an Army wife living on military bases, Pigott took part in annual Christmas contests during their time in Alaska and Colorado. The wives would decorate their houses and a winner would be chosen. “And I would win,” Pigott said. “We would ride around to see if I won.” For her, it wasn’t about winning. It was about doing a good job. “I just wanted to get it the very best I could,” she said. Now, as an interior designer, decorating for Christmas is still an important part of the season. For her job at J. Allan’s, Pigott is brought in by her clients to decorate their homes. When Pigott is decorating on the job, she follows one simple rule: “I just use what they love,” she said. As for design aspects, she has all sorts of ideas. Pigott brings things from the outdoors and incorporates those elements into the existing décor. Cutting limbs and branches off trees is just one example. “I believe in using as much of the outside as I can,” Pigott said. “I just utilize nature.” Plants such as pine trees, nandina bushes and magnolia are just some of what Pigott uses to decorate with. “I love everything to look natural, to have a meaning,” Pigott said. “I cut limbs, I cut branches, I just use it.” Color is a major aspect when it comes to decorating, and Pigott has her favorites. From gold and silver mixes to bright reds, there’s nothing she loves to use more during the holidays. “Gold is my go-to,” Pigott said. Texture is another vital aspect of decorating, and it’s one Pigott loves incorporating into her designs. Glass, sterling silver and fabric are some of her favorites. “With the more textures you use, the prettier it becomes,” Pigott said. She believes a mistake many people make when decorating for Christmas is not completing the design. This prevents the design from being effective. When decorating, she believes in going big. “I don’t know how to go little with things,” she said. “Don’t skimp on completing the design.” As for decorating her own home, she doesn’t buy anything new, as she’s collected things
over the years she uses time and time again. The main thing Pigott decorates with is greenery. “It’s warm and welcoming,” Pigott said. “I’m not a knick knack person.” Pigott enjoys making arrangements that don’t quite go together. As a designer, she doesn’t shoot for picture perfect. “I don’t like everything perfect, so that may be why I like using things from outside,” Pigott said. While she believes in going big, she doesn’t decorate every room in her home. Some of the places Pigott decorates include her front door, mantle and outdoor fireplace. When it comes to statement pieces, Pigott has plenty. From her collections of Santa Clauses and teddy bears and a German sled, to a baby basket used in WWII, Pigott has an array of vintage pieces she uses to make a statement for her arrangements. As for smaller pieces, she uses sterling pieces such as trays and buckets. Centerpieces can have function, and some change the light in a room. Candlesticks are one example. “I love candles,” Pigott said. “Candles give a lot of ambience and coziness. If I could, I would have enough candles to not need the lights on.” Another statement piece is a table centerpiece. Pigott likes to make these, and she uses things one normally wouldn’t expect. Apples and artichokes are just a couple. “I love anything that grows,” she said. Pigott is all about decorating unconventionally, and Christmas is no different. One Christmas, she stood her tree up in a silver, galvanized trash can. Pigott loves silver, and a decorating tool she likes to use for her tree is silver tinsel. It’s often one of the few things she puts on her tree now. “It’s the most simple time of the year to decorate,” Pigott said. Something else she likes to do is to put a candle in a hurricane lamp with bleached oyster shells. At one time, Pigott would get her Christmas decorations out on Thanksgiving night. Now she waits until the weekend after. “I love to decorate for Christmas, but it’s a job,” No matter who you are, where you are or what you have, decorating for the holidays can be a challenge for even the craftiest. For anyone who is struggling with decorating their home for Christmas, Pigott has a tip that can be applied universally, no matter how big or small one’s home is: Just tell the story. “Christmas is a storytelling, and so decorating is telling the story of their Christmas,” she said. |||||
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gift guide NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
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Wishing our friends in Brookhaven a
“DOUBLY” MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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photo essay NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
OLE BROOK FESTIVAL
Photos by Donna Campbell
Hundreds enjoyed the contests, games, car show, foods and crafts at the 45th annual Ole Brook Fest Oct. 4-5.
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social scenes NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
OLE BROOK FESTIVAL
Johnathan Dickerson, Mishay Dickerson and Rylen Hilliard
Ella Powell, Erika Case, Annie Mae Case, Lyndsay Powell, Emersyn Powell, Beth Clark and Caroline Clark
Kate Brister with Lillian Brister and Madison McCarroll with Jax McCarroll
Isabelle Nelson, Anna Cate Hall, Carlee Case and Reagan Newman
Above: Buffy, Zach and James Ezell
Derrick Mobley, Quianti Merchant and Derrien Mobley
At right: Darian and Audrey DeLaughter
BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 49
WILLING HEARTS CIRCLE
Dott Cannon, Sherra Smith, Gerri Roberts
Jackie Abrams, Sylvia Campbell, Virginia Case, Shirley Estess
Sarah Foster, Pat Duckworth, Sherra Smith
Pat Duckworth, Ellen Williamson, Kay Gatlin, Bonnie Palmer
Mary Lu Redd, Sonya Moore, Sylvia Campbell, Harriet Proffitt, Cathy Ditcharo
Sarah Foster, Veronica Richardson, Robin Aker
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‘MATILDA’ BY BLT
Jeff McEwen and Kim Rippy
Race Griffith , David Phillips and Lucas Phillips
Janette and Jimmy Morris
Lydia, Shannon and Wyatt Warren
LYNYRD SKYNYRD MEMORIAL UNVEILING
Above: Nick and Tyler Bridge At right: Judy Van Zant Jenness, Pat Nelson and Sally Doty
LilAnn and Dave Pace, Chuck Paes and Kevin Laird
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JUNIOR AUXILIARY SHRIMP DINNER
Bethany Ballard, Lisa Breazeale, Anna Grider
Summer Williams, Jillian Ricceri, Erin Culpepper
Heather Martin, Whitney Clark, Amy Mason
Madolyn Dickey, Allie Grace Crosby, Caroline Douglas
Lisa Shann, Ashley Choudoir, Miranda Smith
Mary Clare Hemleben, Kristina Mason, Paula Welch, Mary Catherine Franklin, Laura Broxson
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BETTY ANN PERKINS BIRTHDAY PARTY
Tracey Ferrell, Betty Ann Perkins, Hadyn Ferrell
Sally Doty, Pat Nelson
Don Jacobs, Carlene Stribling, Tommy Clymont
Jeff Perkins, Betty Ann Perkins
Travis Mills, Marla Toman
Sam Malvaney, Bill Perkins
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BARL CELEBRITY DINNER
Breanna Ard, Dana Fleming, Jordan Kennedy, Lori Perkins
Shelley Harrigill,B.B. Hemphill, Mikki Crawford, Nona Trout
Jill Conner Browne a.k.a. “The Sweet Potato Queen,” George Ewing
Aimee Harris, Heather Martin, Stephenie Sullivan
Nathan Peavey, Rebecca Peavey, Abigail Peavey, Alene Smith, Sarah and Asa Reynolds
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Find us online
www.dailyleader.com BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE 55
We love a good
PARTY And so do our readers.
Keep the party going and the memories alive by submitting your pictures to the Social Scenes section of the Brookhaven Magazine! When submitting your photos, please keep the following guidelines in mind: • The higher the resolution of your pictures the better! • Include names and a brief description of your event.
That’s It!
Email them to: editor@dailyleader.com or for more info call us at The Daily Leader - 601-833-6961 56 BROOKHAVEN MAGAZINE
garden NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
Winter cassia brings late-season blooms By Gary R. Bachman MSU Extension Service
Earlier this year, we were enjoying a cool and wet spring, and then one day, WHAM! We were thrown into a fullblown hot and dry summer that seemed never-ending. This past week, we went from still pretty warm summer temperatures one day to lows in the 30s and 40s the next day. I had a shock when I was out of town visiting family and woke up to 27 and 29 degrees. Now everyone has decided it’s time to start planting cool-season colors using pansies, violas and leafy greens like kale, cabbage and Swiss chard. But there’s a hardy shrub, found mainly in coastal counties, that always draws attention in the fall of the year with the bright, yellow flowers it displays. Not many gardeners actually know its name, but the selection I see most is commonly called winter cassia. This is an easy-to-grow plant that requires little maintenance except for some pruning to tidy it up. Cassia’s large flower clusters form towards the ends of slender branches. They can be so heavy that the branches are pulled down, giving many plants a distinctive, vase-shaped form. This effect can be accentuated after a rain or heavy dew. The leaves are pinnately compound, which means a row of leaflets forms on either side, with three to five pairs of oval-shaped leaflets. The foliage is a deep green in the summer, but with falling temperatures, these leaflets display a greenish-yellow color. While the leaf shape and color do have landscape interest, winter cassia primarily fills in garden gaps and provides a consistent backdrop for more showy summer plants. Good drainage is a must, as cassias do not like wet feet. Nor do they tolerate droughty soil conditions. Growing cassias in containers would
be a great idea. I’ve never actually seen anyone do this before, so you have the opportunity to be the first. Growing in containers is also a great option for gardeners in north Mississippi to enjoy this plant. It is easy to provide good winter protection when the plant can be brought indoors. There are several selections of winter cassia available in the nursery trade, but be sure to plant all of them in the full sun to ensure the best flower production.
One pretty location I’ve found that works well is planting them in the edge of a shady landscape bed, especially one with western exposure. This type of location allows the plant to get enough sunlight, and it looks great when the flowers suddenly pop out in the fall as other plants are starting to wind down for the year. If you don’t have this hardy shrub in your landscape, plan now to include it in the future.
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voices NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 19
Why I love Brookhaven I love small town living and Brookhaven not only has the small town feel but it has some of the most amazing people. People are the community just like people are the church. In Brookhaven, people greet strangers with a wave as they pass by in their cars. They say “Hey” to strangers as they meet in passing. They hold doors open for people they don’t know. Sometimes it’s a smile as your eyes meet in passing, a nod of the head or a straight up “Hey, how are you today?” And they pull over on the side of the road for a funeral procession. Believe it or not, these small gestures of kindness aren’t something you will see in all areas of the United States, especially in large cities or northern areas. Sometimes you won’t even see it in others areas of the South. The school systems, including city, county and private, are all great educational institutions that offer our children great academic and athletic experiences. The school spirit and rivalry are very present but when one school suffers a tragedy or loss they all rally together and pray for and support their rival schools. This is the type of community atmosphere that I grew up in and loved so much. Growing up in this kind of community is what has given me the desire to serve others and choose careers that allow me to serve others.
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The saying “It takes a village to raise a child” rings true in Brookhaven. But this village not only pitches in to help with our children, it helps in all walks of life. Brookhaven has no shortage of benefits, fundraisers and raffles but that’s what makes it a true treasure. People helping people in any way they can, big or small. It’s not a perfect place. We have our trials, our hard times and our disasters. But what happens after those difficult times shows me the true heart, dedication and passion of Brookhaven. I have had the pleasure of meeting prominent business leaders, politicians, the working class and many other Brookhavenites from all social and economic backgrounds. The common denominator is the heart of these people. The people and businesses of Brookhaven take pride in its appearance and continue to update and improve the aesthetics and function of this lovely community. I enjoy serving Brookhaven and the surrounding area. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for us as we invest in our youth and instill in them the same sense of community and service that Brookhaven was founded on. — Alica Gill Warren
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