SUMMER 2016
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Love +Lance Bass focusing on love, unity and peace in his beloved home state
AMERICAN IDOL
TRENT HARMON Amory singer takes win for Mississippi on show's last season THE COAST
THE SHED
Family creates unique experience with barbecue
Also: Widespread's JoJo
• Hernando's Area 51 • Raymond Battlefield
the‘
PHOTO BY MELANIE THORTIS
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CONTENTS
features Page 24
Page 8
Page 36
The Shed BBQ
Home Place Pastures
Ocean Springs family takes barbecue to a whole new level with good eats, tunes and unique decor.
Como native starts a hog farm to keep family land operating in the 21st century.
Page 32
Page 46
On Stage in Vicksburg
Widespread's JoJo
Vicksburg draws generations of actors for live stage performances by two theater groups.
JoJo Hermann, keyboardist for Widespread Panic, reflects on his life-changing stint in Oxford.
Lance Bass Mississippi-born celebrity promotes positive change in his native land. COVER SHOT
Lance Bass poses outside his Los Angeles home. Photo by Melanie Thortis
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Summer 2016
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CONTENTS
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departments
DUKE
VANDERBILT
IN EVERY ISSUE
4 « Editor’s Note
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5 « Sipmag.com
EMORY
MILLSAPS COLLEGE
7 « Spotlight: Contributors 1 6 « ‘Sip Trip: Ocean Springs
AUBURN
23 « ‘Sip Kitchen: Tomato Aspic U OF FLORIDA
50 « ‘Sip of Nature: Black Walnut 62 « Small-Town 'Sip 64 « The Last ‘Sip
30
RICE
TULANE
FOOD 20 | Area 51 Ice Cream 'Out-of-this-world' ice cream in Hernando Contents page photo by Lauren Wood
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LIFESTYLE 30 | More Than a Tourist Jackson business owner offers tours in her own "backyard." Contents page photo by Ron Blaylock
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Local farm families 'milk it' statewide
52 | Whole Hog
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Nathan Beane takes his quarry to the smoker. Contents page photo by Nathan Beane
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Amory native takes the American Idol crown. Contents page photo submitted by Trent Harmon
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Summer 2016
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EDITOR'S LETTER
THESIPMAG.COM
from the Front Porch
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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank
PHOTO BY MELANIE THORTIS
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I know a secret. It's that love is a powerful force and whatever you want in life you must give love to it. It's the law of attraction, and it's become an important tool for me on my journey as a publisher, business owner, mom, wife and as a Mississippian. This issue of The 'Sip centers on love — love for this state and for each other as fellow Mississippians. Lance Bass, an old friend (and, a-hem, I guess I should mention, my ninth-grade homecoming date), has become a light of love for our state as he uses his celebrity status to bring positive attention to Mississippi. I remember Lance when we were both young and, even then, he was full of love, acceptance and positivity. Just a few weeks ago, he was gracious enough to allow me, photography director Melanie Thortis and my sister Katherine to visit him at his beautiful Los Angeles home for a photo shoot. There, I saw first-hand what love has brought into Lance's life as we met his husband and their two sweet rescue pups. Although our time together was brief, Lance and I talked about some of his favorite things about Mississippi. Lance's love of our beloved state was so apparent and reflected the people, places and culture we celebrate here within the pages of The 'Sip. Though we are worlds apart, our mission to promote a better Mississippi has re-connected us, and for that I am grateful. In talking about his favorite things, food was, perhaps, at the top of Lance's list. We gave him a goody-bag full of some musthave Mississippi-made items, including one of my Aunt Laurin Fields Stamm's cookbooks, From the Kitchen of the Cypress House. She died several days before the photo shoot, so it was nice to pass on her legacy and love of food in that way. My aunt was a local food legend, so I was inspired to create a new section in honor of her. In each issue, we will now feature 'Sip Kitchen, a regular offering of recipes and other food-related tidbits with a 'Sip flavor. Speaking of food...We have plenty of it in this issue, including The Shed BBQ, some tips on going "whole hog" with your feast and a story on ice cream. It's another 'Sip showcasing the wonderful things happening here. I hope each of you will continue to support what we're creating with The 'Sip — a chance for the world to see who we are and what we stand for. e
Want a bigger ‘sip? Check out our ALL NEW 'Sip website, complete with additional content you don't want to miss! Our new responsive site gives a much better behind-the-scenes experience. Buy all your must-have artwork, T-shirts and more at the 'Sip Shop and enjoy our all-new 'Sip Chats with exclusive interviews and videos and more online extras. Subscribe, find rack locations, read stories online and find out what's happening across The 'Sip. We have all the tools to enhance your experience between issues. Don't miss a 'Sip! PHOTO BY KATHERINE RHODES FIELDS
Cheers — and love — y'all, thesipmag.com
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Publisher/Editor Lauchlin Fields
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Festivals and fun. Grand historic
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homes. Birthplace of America’s greatest playwright, Tennessee the scenic Riverwalk,
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winding around and over the Tombigbee River. Shop, dine, and savor in the ultimate Southern experience.
Tennessee Williams Home & Welcome Center 300 Main Street • 800-920-3533 www.visitcolumbusms.org
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a big thanks to this issue’s talented contributors RON BLAYLOCK PHOTOGRAPHER Photographer Ron Blaylock has been shooting professionally for more than 16 years for editorial, commercial and individual clients. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Le Monde diplomatique, Real Simple Magazine and numerous advertising campaigns. His photographs have been shown in the New Orleans Museum of Art and are in the permanent collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. His studio/gallery is in the historic Fondren neighborhood of Jackson.
MAGGIE INGRAM WRITER A native of McComb, Maggie started writing for her hometown newspaper at 13. She studied print journalism at the University of Mississippi and worked as a features reporter at The Enterprise-Journal and The Vicksburg Post. Maggie has had work featured in The ClarionLedger, Mississippi Christian Living and Parents and Kids Magazine. She and her husband live in Madison with their three children.
Marketing/Sales Director Cortney Maury
Williams. Run or bike along
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SPOTLIGHT
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JuLY 1 Fireworks on the Water Year-round Daily Historic Home Tours June Juneteenth | JuLY 1 Fireworks on the Water JuLY Southside/ Townsend Park Blues Festival • Crawford Cotton Boll Fest | auguSt Artesia Days • Possum Town Triathlon | SepTember Tennessee Williams Tribute Save the date: MarCH 30-aPrIL 8, 2017 77th Annual Spring Pilgrimage Go to www.visitcolumbusms.org for complete attraction & event listings.
The ‘Sip is a registered trademark of Front Porch Fodder Publishing, LLC. The ‘Sip magazine is published four times a year.
Owner: Lauchlin Fields 1216 National St. Vicksburg, MS 39180 601.573.9975 www.thesipmag.com editor@thesipmag.com
MARY KALUSCHE ILLUSTRATOR Mary is a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham seeking a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in graphic design. She graduated from St. Aloysius High School in Vicksburg and has been providing illustrations for The ’Sip as an intern for nearly two years. Her artwork has been featured in multiple 'Sip of Nature and 'Sip Trip sections.
Copyright 2016 The ‘Sip by Front Porch Fodder Publishing, LLC Reproduction of any part of this publication is strictly prohibited.
Summer 2016
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Lance Bass is very comfortable in his own skin — more so than many of his counterparts
LANCE BASS M I S S I S S I P P I Love
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in Hollywood. He’s proud of all the things that make him who he is, including his Mississippi roots. However, Mississippi has not made Bass, one-fifth of the former pop group *NSYNC, proud in recent months; he has felt personally slighted by the political agendas being pushed and wants to use his celebrity platform for the betterment of the state, pushing his own agenda of love, unity and peace. “I hate politics. It has divided our country. But as a concerned Mississippian, I have to speak up when I know something is wrong,” he said. Bass, a Laurel native, attended Clinton High School until 1996 when he left to join the multi-platinum boy band. He very publicly came out as gay on the cover of People magazine in 2006. Shortly after, he received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award and has become a huge advocate for LGBT rights and equality. In 2015, Bass married artist Michael Turchin in a highprofile event that was televised on E! Entertainment Television. “I am proud to say I have educated myself on several issues and have an open mind to listen to every side of an issue. I'm lucky to be in a position where people know me, and they trust me. I have a huge heart and will always try to do the right thing,” Bass said. With the passage of House Bill 1523 (the “religious freedom” bill) during the 2016 Legislative session, Bass is afraid politicians in the state are causing Mississippi a great deal of irreparable damage. “The passing of this bill has once again reminded me how far we still need to progress in Mississippi. The rhetoric behind this bill is overwhelming, and I can understand why some Mississippians could be fooled into believing it actually does good,” he said. The bill, blocked by U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves minutes before it was to take effect, would have allowed Mississippi residents — including state employees, religious groups and private companies — to refuse certain services to LGBT people, protecting them from penalties or retaliations. Supporters claim it would have protected religious freedoms by not forcing those who have strong moral convictions against homosexuality to provide services to same-sex couples. But opponents saw it as a blanket permit for discrimination and a violation of civil rights. “It's hard to articulate to someone not willing to listen how this bill is plain and simple discrimination. If people actually took the time to educate themselves on how it is, no one with a heart would agree with it. Minds are sadly made up once they hear the words 'religious freedom,'” Bass said. 9
LOVE& A C C E P TA N C E
Lance Bass relaxes in the backyard of his Los Angeles home, which he shares with his husband, Michael Turchin (with Bass, right) and their two dogs, Lily, left, and Dingo, right.
Celebrities, artists, government leaders and corporate executives nationwide have boycotted the law, which was set to go into effect July 1, by refusing to do business with or in Mississippi. Bass is one of the few who has not turned his back on the state and is instead encouraging residents to speak up and fight for equality. “It is very well known that I am from Mississippi. I get attacked every single time something like this happens in my state. Once again, I am made fun of because I'm from such a ‘backwards state.’ And the sad thing is, I can't argue with them. Our people have let the state government get away with really ignorant laws,” Bass said. “The people of Mississippi have to have their voices heard. They have to call their representatives and express concern about this bill. There is no reason at all to waste our taxpayers’ money on passing legalized discrimination. It's just wrong,” he said. Bass, who has become a household name as a TV and radio host, actor, producer, writer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has even tried to work with
“ I T I S V E RY W E L L K N O W N T H AT I A M F R O M
MISSISSIPPI I G E T AT TAC K E D E V E RY SINGLE TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS IN “
MY S TAT E
.
- Lance Bass
MISSISSIPPI M I S U N D ERSTO O D
Celebrity Lance Bass has never turned his back on his home state and hopes to help raise awareness and promote change.
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“ M I S S I S S I P P I I S S P EC I A L T O M E B EC AU S E I T I N F L U E N C E D W H O I B EC A M E A S A P E R S O N . I F E LT V E RY SA F E G R O W I N G U P H E R E ."
- Lance Bass
entertainment promoters to organize what he calls a love concert that would raise money to fund lobbying efforts against the bill. But, sadly, the damage has already been done. “Unfortunately it was impossible to get any artists to come set foot in Mississippi for this. I spent months begging acts to do it. They all have such disdain for what has passed that they have completely given up on our state. It is so sad,” he said. Bass, however, said he can't give up on the state he loves so much. “I could never turn my back on the state that raised me. It's my blood. You can disagree with family and still have love. It's up to me to help educate my home that it needs to change,” he said. It’s time for Mississippi to reclaim its moniker as the Hospitality State, Bass said. Growing up here, that’s exactly how he felt about the state. “Mississippi is special to me because it influenced who I became as a person. I felt very safe growing up here,” he said. “I loved the feeling of community and giving back, which I learned from growing up in the church. The older I get, the more I understand we
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need to get back to that mentality. We need to help the underdog. We need to love our neighbors no matter what their background.” Bass practices what he preaches. For the past several years, he has been an active board member of the Environmental Media Association, an organization that has helped build gardens in inner-city schools throughout L.A. In April, Bass helped expand the program to his own elementary school in Clinton. “With the help of the EMA and sponsors like Kellogg, we have planted our first community garden. It gives a place for the town to come together. It also gives kids a chance to learn about nature and nutrition. They get so excited getting their hands dirty and have a sense of accomplishment when they see something grow. It's never too early to teach kids about what they are putting into their bodies. We are what we eat,” he said. Change starts with the younger generations. Just
like instilling hands-on knowledge of good nutrition in children helps fight the obesity epidemic in the future, teaching young people about love and acceptance paves the way for better understanding and tolerance for all differences. “Our lawmakers are living in the past. We need our young people to get excited about the future of our state. They need to learn about politics and run for office. Open minds and open hearts are needed to combat the hate so many have in their hearts,” Bass said. “We can actually change the way the world looks at us. We can't be so proud that we think everyone else is the problem.”
STORY Elizabeth Grey PHOTOGRAPHY Melanie Thortis
Summer 2016
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PHOTOS BY KATHERINE RHODES FIELDS
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ANOTHER LOOK
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'SIP TRIP
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The GreenHouse on Porter 404 Porter Ave. (228) 238-5680 greenhouseonporter.com Brings people together with coffee and snacks and keeps the engagement going through gatherings, markets and art
2
Walter Anderson Museum 510 Washington Ave. (228) 872-3164 walterandersonmuseum.org An enchanting and unique experience dedicated to the works of Walter Anderson
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Southern Bound BookShop 1218 Government St. (228) 2150-3611 southernboundblog.net Offers new and used books in numerous genres and community author events Lovelace Drug Store 801 Washington Ave. (228) 875-4272 The soda fountain cafe is decorated in '50s style with Elvis memorabilia. Stop in for an authentic cream soda, sandwich and ice cream.
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Mary C. Cafe 1600 Government St. (228) 818-2878 themaryc.org Provides the community with lessons and demonstrations in the culinary arts 6
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The Inn at Ocean Springs 623 Washington Ave. (228)875-4496 oceanspringsinn.com Charming boutique inn featuring beautifully appointed guest suites Chester M. McPhearson Jr., Pier 499 Front Beach Drive A favorite fishing spot for locals and visitors alike
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Area 51 Ice Cream
Family, community fair ‘an affordable luxury’
T
The United States Air Force’s facility commonly known as Area 51 in Nevada historically has been surrounded in secrecy. Not so for its sweet and creamy namesake situated on busy Commerce Street in Hernando. The community was all abuzz about Area 51 Ice Cream even before its May 3, 2014, opening. The business, clearly one that’s all in the family, was rooted in necessity. Steve and Karin Cubbage, Kansas City natives — and their five children — settled in Hernando three and a half years ago when Steve’s job in the casino industry moved him to the Isle of Capri in Lula, near Clarksdale. But the economy was not at its best and the casino downsized, leaving Steve without a job. With their Hernando home on the market and about to sell, the family had second thoughts about leaving Mississippi. “We liked the area,” Steve said. “Our kids wanted to stay.”
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Those kids – ages 9 to 26 – and their happiness mattered much to their parents, so Steve and Karin made the decision to start their own business and stay put. However, what that business would be was a mystery. “He told me to think about what we could do,” Karin said. “I thought for a long time and then I offered up an idea.” “It’s something I felt we could have a lot of control over,” Steve said of his wife’s idea. “And we all love ice cream.” It was a sweet idea the entire family got behind. “It came about out of desperation,” Steve said. “And a little inspiration,” added his wife. Only 10 weeks passed from concept to the opening of Area 51, but it was 10 weeks filled with hard work and intense planning. They thought about doing a food truck instead of a brickand-mortar building, but then they found the space now home to Area 51 Ice Cream. Equipment had to be purchased, flavors
chosen and recipes tried. Wanting to keep things local, the Cubbages spoke with local farmers and dairies. And the soon-to-be family business needed a name. That’s where Steve’s marketing background came in handy. “I just played around with some ideas and landed on Area 51,” he said. “It’s easy to remember. Not necessarily ice cream-related, but I saw it in my head and it looked cool. “I’ve always been fascinated with UFOs, so probably in the back of my mind somewhere, that contributed to the naming of the shop.” If the name and the flying saucer logo don’t stay with folks, the ice cream most definitely will. Before Area 51 opened its doors, Karin practiced making ice cream in a 2-quart freezer on the back porch of the family home, which, by the way, they’d taken off the market. “I sat with a notebook and tasting spoons and tried everything I made,” Karin said. “I took it to our neighbors to try. “It was not until two weeks before we opened that I tried making the ice cream in a batch freezer.” As opening day approached, Karin and Steve said they both were “completely freaked out.”
“We’d used all our savings, put everything on credit cards,” Steve said. “We put all we had into it. So, if we were going to go down, we’d go down in a blaze of glory.” Karin had additional anxieties. “All I could think was what if we had no customers,” she said. It was a concern she needn’t have had. “Obviously there was a pent-up need for ice cream around here,” she said, laughing. “The week we opened, we were out of money. But we have been so blessed. It took off from the start.” On any given day at Area 51, anyone hankering for ice cream will find 12 delectable flavors, all made completely from scratch. “We’ve offered 200 flavors in the two years we’ve been open,” said Karin, the chief ice cream maker and baker of other confections often offered at Area 51. Some flavors are seasonal – only fresh fruits are used in ice cream. The fruits and berries come from local farms, such as Cedar Hill Farm. Two flavors Karin came up with in the very beginning were Japanese Green Tea and Blackberry and Goat Cheese.
#
Summer 2016
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the ‘
Laurin Fields Stamm in her kitchen
OUT OF THIS WORLD
Our first 'Sip Kitchen is dedicated to my Aunt Laurin, my father's only sibling, former Vicksburg Post food editor and a local foodie legend, known for her weekly column, From the Kitchen of the Cypress House. Laurin's death last month and her profound love of food and entertaining inspired this special section. Our first recipe comes from her cookbook, which carries the name of her beloved column. As noted in Laurin's 1980 column, the featured recipe belonged to my grandmother, Lucy. I never met my father's mother — she died when he was only 13. And, even though I think I might be the only member of my family under 60 who loves tomato aspic, each bite of congealed goodness connects me to memories of the annual summer luncheons my mom hosted for her mother's birthday. All the Vicksburg ladies attended, and it's one of the few times throughout the year I remember my Aunt Laurin coming to my house to enjoy food that wasn't prepared in her own kitchen. Aspic was always a star. It's funny how food evokes such memories and connects us to the people who gathered at the family table before us.
Enjoy!
Karin Cubbage, left, her son, Ethan, and husband, Steve, stand behind the counter of Area 51 Ice Cream.
“The green tea flavor just didn’t appeal to me, so we don’t sell it,” she said. “And I was doubtful the Blackberry and Goat Cheese would be popular.” She was happily wrong. “We sell buckets of it,” Steve said. “We cannot make it fast enough.” A few best-sellers are always available, like Bourbon Butter Pecan and Cookies and Cream. There’s also a sorbet among the daily offerings. Other flavors one might find in the cooler at Area 51 from time to time are Lemon Ice Box, Mint Chocolate Chip (Karin makes her own chocolate chips), Dutch Chocolate and Salted Caramel, just to name a few. And in keeping with its name, the Cubbages offer such specialty treats as their signature The Roswell Float made with ice cold Orange Crush, Lemon Ice Box ice cream and a splash of grenadine. On a sunny spring Saturday, the line of ice cream lovers hankering for some of Area 51’s gourmet cream was constant. Son Ethan Cubbage manned the scoop that day. “Do you eat ice cream all the time?” Ethan was asked, more than once. His answer was always the same. “I’m not at liberty to say.” Clearly, it’s a job the teenager enjoys. Two couples arrived together and took their time deciding which flavor each would try.
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“What kind are you getting?” one woman asked her husband. “If I get a different kind, can I have a bite of yours?” A couple passing through from Chicago on the way to the Gulf Coast proclaimed the ice cream to be the best they’d ever had and promised they’d be stopping by on their way home. The ice cream is sold by the scoop or by the pint. And Steve said they’ll also sell by the gallon if that’s what a customer wants. Clearly, the Cubbage family loves ice cream. They also appreciate that Area 51 became almost instantly a place with a sense of community. “Sure, people come in for ice cream,” Steve said. “But they’ll see someone they know and stay a while, gathering over ice cream.” The Cubbages call their product a “high-end ice cream.” “It’s an affordable luxury,” Steve said. “Everyone seems to love ice cream.” His wife and business partner agrees. “Some of my favorite childhood memories involve ice cream,” she said. “It’s certainly proved to be a blessing for us.”
STORY Leslie Criss PHOTOGRAPHY Lauren Wood
-LF
Mother's Tomato Aspic
3 cups tomato juice 1 stem celery 1 small onion, sliced 2 slices lemon 1 small bay leaf 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin 2/3 cups cold tomato juice 1 tablespoon vinegar 3 or 4 good shakes Tabasco 2 tablespoons Worcestershire 2 (3-oz.) packages cream cheese
Combine 3 cups tomato juice, celery, onion, lemon, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 20 to 30 minutes. Strain, pushing through the strainer as much pulp as possible. Meanwhile, mix cold tomato juice, vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire. Sprinkle gelatin over the mixture, stirring to soften. Stir gelatin mixture into hot mixture until dissolved. Check for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, etc., until it suits your taste. Pour into a mold or molds and refrigerate until slightly set. Soften cream cheese (season lightly if you like with pepper, lemon juice and onion.) Drop by teaspoonful into aspic. Return to refrigerator until completely set. Serve on lettuce leaves topped with homemade mayonnaise.
* Recipe courtesy of From the Kitchen of the Cypress House, selected recipes by Laurin Fields Stamm, available at Peterson's in downtown Vicksburg
Summer 2016
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TOP LEFT: A customer takes barbecue to-go from The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint in Ocean Springs. TOP RIGHT: Five-year-old Sophia Webb enjoys her lunch at The Shed. BOTTOM: Ribs from The Shed OPPOSITE PAGE: The Shed owners Brooke Lewis and Brad Orrison show off some of the restaurant's key menu items.
“WHEN YOU THINK OF YOUR FAV O R I T E B A R B E C U E , IT'S NOT JUST THE FLAVOR AND TEXTURE OF THE MEAT, IT'S ALSO WHERE YOU WERE AT THAT POINT IN YOUR LIFE. IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR, AND IT TAKES TIME.” B R A D O R R I S O N
Y’All in the Family L I V I N G H A N D - I N - H A N D -T O - M O U T H W I T H F A M I LY & F R I E N D S A T The She d “Barbecue” isn’t a verb to Brad Orrison. It’s not something you do. And it goes far beyond what ends up on a paper plate next to potato salad and baked beans. “When you think of your favorite barbecue, it's not just the flavor and texture of the meat, it's also where you were at that point in your life,” said Orrison. “It's a family affair, and it takes time.” With The Shed, the Ocean Springs barbecue and blues joint Orrison founded in 2001 with his siblings, Brooke and Brett, he staked his vision of barbecue nirvana — part juke joint, part restaurant with a family picnic vibe — and ran with it. Serving up pecan-wood smoked baby back, spare and full-rack pork ribs, as well as brisket, sausage, chicken, pulled pork and a spread of sides and desserts, The Shed's menu is stacked for fans of Southern barbecue. The Shed now claims a season of its own Food Network reality show. They've also racked up a nationally distributed sauce and rub line — and perhaps drawing the most pride, the 2015 Grand World Championship title from the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest — in just 15 years. The roots of The Shed go back to the communal food-andmusic experiences Orrison had as an Ole Miss student in the ‘90s 24
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FA M I LY A F FA I R
Above: The Shed BBQ & Blues Joint offers a sauce line. Left: A waitress serves up BBQ at The Shed. Bottom Right: The Shed offers juke joint style decor.
A L L T H E F I X I N ' S (OPPOSITE) Top Left: Bacon and pork rinds cured Top Right: Fresh catfish plate Left: Pulled pork sandwich, pasta salad and homemade potato chips Bottom Right: The Shed sampler platter: sausage, brisket and ribs
when he and friends would tear up Highway 4 through Marshall County to attend Junior Kimbrough’s Sunday night jams. “My first overnight cook of large, primal cuts of pork was at Junior's,” Orrison said. “I got a lesson in cooking, music and life at the juke joints, especially Junior's. You'd pay a dollar to get in and watch R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, Kenny Brown, everybody. I knew there was a place where I was welcome, where anyone was welcome. It was like a huge family reunion.” Although things could get dicey at the real juke joints as the evenings wore on — the refrigerator at Junior’s, he remembers, was chained shut and padlocked, and they'd have to open it every time someone wanted a beer — the experience stuck with him and informed his philosophy for The Shed. “I wanted people to have that same perpetual smile,” Orrison said. “There's music, things to look at on the walls, nice people having fun, dancing and enjoying barbecue and food and camaraderie. But I wanted to do it in more of a family atmosphere. Live music [at The Shed] is always free and wraps by 9 or 10 o’clock at night, so the kids can enjoy it.” The eatery’s kitschy, trash-as-treasure aesthetic appeal comes honestly. Orrison found his inspiration in college, where he would spend his free time searching for 26
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thrifty finds along the roadsides and in dumpsters. Every semester, students moved in and out, leaving behind furniture and personal belongings for the taking. Some of the corrugated tin he collected made its way to The Shed, but less obvious finds also helped the cause. Orrison would sometimes pay $50 to go into derelict houses before demolition, mostly looking for kitchen appliances and building materials. In one house, he came across a large collection of old vinyl records. He didn’t know the value of what he had, but it came in handy later when they needed money to open The Shed. He placed an ad in the local Penny Pincher classifieds offering the lot of 3,000 albums for $3,000. “This collector bought them as soon as she laid eyes on them,” said co-founder and chief financial officer Brooke Lewis. “Being an avid collector, she knew what she had. She sold one of them for like $4,500 — an Elvis Presley 45 rpm promotional record. But we needed that money to open. That $3,000 bought our opening meat inventory. It was a win-win.” The sense of family at The Shed extends beyond bloodlines. Although the restaurant took on more than seven feet of water during Hurricane Katrina, it reopened within two weeks. The work brought stability to The Shed’s 50 employees and their families. “We tried to keep the spirits up as much as we could,”
BEST MEATS IN MISSISSIPPI WITH THE SHED Barbecue masters like to compete, but at the end of the day it’s all about community — and from Olive Branch to Ocean Springs, our state’s pitmasters stick together. When The Shed’s Brad Orrison and Brooke Lewis are out spreading the barbecue gospel, here are a few of their other favorite places to get fed. UBON’S 801 Jerry Clower Blvd., Yazoo City The Ubon’s recipe goes back five generations and takes the title of The Shed’s “favorite slow smoked” barbecue. They’re not alone. NFL star Warren Sapp is an avowed Ubon’s fan, and their BBQ Bloody Mary sauce earned a spot on Good Morning America’s Top 13 picks for summer 2013. DARWELL'S 127 East 1st St., Long Beach If you find yourself down on the West side of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Brad and Brooke recommend stopping at Darwell’s in Long Beach for his "slow and low barbecue" as well as a variety of other yummy eats, nightly live entertainment and BYOB option.
D O E ’ S E AT P L AC E 502 Nelson St., Greenville Housed in the grocery store where Dominick “Doe” Signa’s father opened in 1903, the original Doe’s Eat Place is The Shed crew’s top spot to grab a steak in the Delta. The shop did well until the Great Flood of ’27, when Big Doe went to bootlegging to turn the family’s fortunes. After reopening as a honky tonk in 1941, steaks became his specialty and he scuttled the bar to become a full-time restaurant. CAPTAIN AL'S STEAK & SHRIMP 11268 Lorraine Road, Gulfport “Who doesn’t like steak and shrimp?” The concept conceived by Captain Al proved a sure-fire win. Billed as an open-pit steak and shrimp house, Captain Al’s recipes were passed down from his father, Jim Magnusen, a successful chef and restaurateur himself. Today, you can get more than the two advertised menu specialties, but why not go with the sure thing?
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said Lewis. “Ninety-nine percent of The Shed employees lost everything, including myself. We felt it was our duty to get open as quickly as we could to protect our crew members. They needed income.” The crew members kept their heads down, “slinging Q” as she says, and worked until December, when The Shed took a month off for Christmas — with pay. Many of them used that time to finish cleaning up their homes and help each other’s families get on with life. But where Katrina brought the community to its knees, the fire that consumed most of the original Shed structure in 2012 brought it together. The “remodeling,” as Lewis described it, drew barbecue friends from around the country as well as local folks to help rebuild. The kitchen they operate today served a different purpose in the original restaurant, and overall the new Shed gravitated farther back from the road around the lean-tos and pieces that weren’t destroyed. The ShedHeds, the joint’s loose community of loyal customers, also got involved. With many of Brad’s original reclaimed treasures gone, ShedHeds brought pieces from their own homes to help decorate the new space. “We reached out and said, ‘Bring your stuff! Bring your tacky chandelier out of the attic, bring your old license plates,’” said Lewis. “We love seeing people come in and say, ‘See that license tag there? That's mine.’ Or, ‘See that piano? I played on that as a child, and I didn't have any use for it so I brought it here to The Shed.’ “It lets the community know that The Shed is their home. Even though it may look to the blind eye like a bunch of random things, that's not the reality of it. Every piece of décor at The Shed has a story.” Through flood and fire, the family has grown the original 330-square-foot Highway 57 establishment, which opened with six bar stools and a pair of two-top tables, into a franchise brand. Despite the growth, Orrison and company haven’t lost sight of the original vision. The menu hasn’t changed much. They still have fun and push through the hard times happily. And some of those musicians Brad met at the juke joints in the Hill Country, folks like Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm, stop by to entertain regularly. “Every week since we've been open, we've had at least two blues bands, and it's always been free,” Orrison said. “It's over a million bucks when you do the math. That's our way of saying this is where it came from. It all started on that blues record collection.”
“IT LETS THE COMMUNITY KNOW THAT THE SHED IS THEIR HOME. EVEN THOUGH IT MAY LOOK TO THE BLIND EYE LIKE A BUNCH OF RANDOM THINGS, THAT'S NOT THE REALITY OF IT. EVERY PIECE OF DÉCOR AT THE SHED HAS A STORY.” - BRAD ORRISON
STORY Jim Beaugez PHOTOGRAPHY Melanie Thortis
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The Shed is full of knickknacks knacks from the community - ShedHeds. Every piece has a story.
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More Than a Tourist
Belhaven tour gives locals look at their backyard
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Want More Than a Tourist? Follow More Than a Tourist on Facebook and visit Jane's website for information on upcoming tours and events. More-Than-a-Tourist-LLC morethanatourist.net
Wind rustled the leaves of the 100-year-old oak trees that tower over the homes in Belhaven while the sun hung low in the sky. The soft Friday afternoon light streamed through the branches, spilling onto the bright white and blue porch at Keifer’s, a Greek eatery that opened almost 40 years ago on North State Street in Jackson. Dolmas, hummus and Keifer’s famous pita mozz, a warm pita topped with melted mozzarella cheese and side of feta sauce, seemed like the perfect start for a progressive dinner and historical walking tour. Jane Jones, owner of More Than A Tourist travel agency, started organizing the tours as a way to connect people in the area to the rich history of the Magnolia State. “We have a history here in Jackson that spans so many decades, and it can be easy to miss the forest through the trees because you pass by it every day,” she said. Jane has found that, while many people think of a historical tour as something a visitor from out of state would take, many locals are missing out. “Local tours for locals sums it up well. There are so many hidden gems in Mississippi that need discovering,” she said. A neighborhood known for charm and standing the test of time makes an easy place to start Jane’s dream of building a touring hub in the area. Her guests meandered through the old streets, tasting a little here and a little there and getting their fill of yesteryear. “During an event like ours, you’re walking the streets Eudora Welty used to walk and seeing homes and buildings that our grandparents used to frequent, places and events that are unique to us in Jackson,” Jane said. “We’re seeing and learning about the things that make Jackson stand out in the Southeast.” And, of course, the food. After appetizers at Keifer’s, the group headed south to The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen, a restaurant that opened just three years ago. “Their short ribs are to die for,” Jane said. Also on the menu were lasagna, salmon and half-Greek chicken. The evening ended with blueberry cake cobbler or praline tiramisu served up at Lou’s Full-Serv, in the former Jitney 14 on Fortification Street. Jane has long-dreamed of taking people out of their routines and introducing them to new foods, experiences and cultures. At 19 years old, she began traveling to France and lived there off and on until moving back to Mississippi
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in 2008. Now 37, Jane’s time abroad stirred a desire to share experiences with people from home. It also gave her a keener eye to find the beauty and riches in her own backyard. She created More Than A Tourist in 2011. She aims to devote her time to helping people experience not only Europe but gain a greater appreciation of their own communities. “We have so many great restaurants, both old and new, things you can’t find in other cities like Memphis, Birmingham or New Orleans,” Jane said. “It’s neighborhoods like Belhaven and these restaurants that give Mississippi its charm. I want people to experience all the sights, sounds and tastes of that charm, especially people who are from here.” Dinner guest Sarah Warnock most appreciated how Jane incorporated the history of each stop and loved that restaurant owners shared their own story about their locations. “Jane really went the extra mile asking us trivia questions about Belhaven and greater Jackson history,” she said. “She included an extra special stop at the former Shady Nook service station on Poplar, where we saw the coolest vintage map of the neighborhood. She’s truly a gem in the crown of Jackson.” Jane has plans. “I’m hoping this can grow into a food tour of the Jackson area,” Jane said. For now, Jane caps the dinners at 12 guests, hoping to create an intimate evening. She also said that while she loves having groups who all go in together, one of the best times is when strangers walk away as friends. “I love bringing people together,” she said. “A smaller crowd of 10 or 12 fits all sorts, the extroverts and the introverts. “So many people throughout Mississippi don’t realize what a gem we have right here in the heart of the city in Belhaven,” Jane said. “The restaurants are top-notch, the people are so warm and friendly, and there is so much history in the community. “Right now, it’s just places that are walkable,” she said. “I hope it grows and grows.” Jane also schedules tours for professional groups or clubs throughout the year. “You don’t have to wait until our next progressive dinner,” she said. “A particular businesses or civic organization may be interested in a particular part of Mississippi history, and we can certainly provide those tours as well.” Guest Mary Zimmerman echoed Warnock. “The whole experience was delightful, informative and fun,” she said. “I learned a lot about Belhaven and the city of Jackson. The food at each spot provided just the right taste from each restaurant.” STORY Maggie Ingram PHOTOGRAPHY Ron Blaylock
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O N STAG E · T H E AT E R G R O U P S S PA N T H E G E N E R AT I O N S · VICKSBURG — As a child, Dr. Walter Johnston Jr., sat in the crowd on a retired steamboat named the Sprague and cheered along with audiences for his father, a physician by day who played the onstage hero in a Vicksburg community theater show by night. By the time the younger Johnston was in high school, he had been promoted to play the role of the hero himself. Rowdy crowds continued to pack the theater to cheer for the good guy, heckle and throw peanuts at the bad guy and clap and sing along to the world’s longest running melodrama, Gold in the Hills. In the early 1970s, Johnston switched to the role of Big Mike the Bartender, a role he still portrays today. “It’s about tradition — my father participated for years and years,” Johnston said. “He enjoyed it, and I enjoy the theater, participating in and helping out with shows.” In addition to being an original cast member for Gold in the Hills, Johnston’s father was one of the founders of the Vicksburg Theatre Guild, the oldest chartered community theater in the state. With roots dating to 1936, the group got its start trying to emulate a tourism push in Natchez. They saw the theater as an effort to bring more visitors to Vicksburg and offer them more things to do. “People needed something to do at night, this being 1936, so they started performing Gold for evening entertainment,” said Mike Calnan, immediate past president of VTG. “It became a recurring play, because everybody liked doing it, and it developed an audience.” Since its first run 80 years ago, actors returned to play their parts year after year, and, as time went by, their children also became involved. To date, the Johnston family has had three generations act on stage in Gold in the
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Top: The late Syd Johnston, left, and brother Walter Johnston carry on a family tradition in Gold in the Hills. Middle: Can-Can Cuties from Gold in the Hills pose in front of the Sprague. Right: Linda Hadale & Buddy Hallberg perform a scene from Gold. Bottom: A cast of Gold in The Hills.
ABOVE
Actors perform at the Strand Theater as part of Westside Theatre Foundation.
Hills and other VTG productions. “People will start as children, and, as they age, they’ll move up to teenager and adult characters and just keep performing,” Calnan said. The River City is also home to another community theater — the Westside Theatre Foundation. The group was established in 2008 with its first performances being shown in the Coral Room on the mezzanine of the old Hotel Vicksburg. A few years
later, producer Jack Burns stumbled upon the Strand, an abandoned theater just two doors from the hotel. After restoring the Strand, as well as building a stage and lighting for live stage shows, the group moved their acts. “We pretty well have at least one event every weekend,” Burns said, adding that the group shows movies as well as performs stage shows. “We try to keep busy, and we try to keep providing opportunities for actors, singers, dancers and musicians to hone their crafts.” For Burns, offering a channel for talent is just as important as offering entertainment for audiences. “A lot of times, the audience is friends and a family of performers, like any small town,” Burns said. “But we grow our audience a little at a time. There tend to be theater-goers who attend every production at both theaters because they love it. They love cultural opportunities in their town.” “It really serves two purposes; one to entertain audiences that see our plays and another to provide an outlet for the amazing talent we have here in Vicksburg,” Calnan said. “It’s
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THE STRAND
Westside Theatre Foundation actors perform Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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Westside Theater Foundation puts on regular live performances at The Strand Theatre.
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a function of the education system, not just schools, but the music teachers, the dance studios, basically just the way kids are brought up here in Vicksburg to have a broad exposure to the arts. Community theater gives them that outlet to be able to get on stage and show off their talents.” The Vicksburg community theater scene is made up of all walks of life — from Johnston, a family medicine physician, to a cook at a local restaurant, lawyers, engineers, teachers, retired military and many others. But locals aren’t the only ones interested in the community theater scene in Warren County. Last spring, an amateur actor from Columbus, Miss., reached out to VTG because acting in Gold in the Hills was on his bucket list. “He came down for auditions and appeared every weekend in the six performances we did,” Calnan said. “He was delightful to work with. It was something that he had dreamed of doing since he had spent some of his childhood in Vicksburg. We have that kind of interest.” Westside Theatre Foundation’s talent is almost “exclusively local,” Burns said, unless the production is high-profile and well-known or particularly edgy, in which case performers from Clinton, Jackson or even eastern Louisiana make the trek to be part of the show. Committing to a show is no joke, as rehearsals for Westside Theatre Foundation’s production of the musical Chicago lasted four months. “It’s funny, though, when the theater bug bites people, sometimes this becomes almost an obsession,” Burns said. “When the show wraps up, it’s bittersweet. Yes, we did all this work and produced a wonderful production that was well-received critically and financially, but it’s like ‘quick, cast me in another show, or what do I do with my time now?’” And at the Westside Theatre Foundation, they’re always looking ahead to what could be done next. “A case could be made for only doing shows that
are popular on Broadway, but we like to explore new material and revisit traditional shows,” Burns said. “We have acquired a reputation of being rebels, but we don’t mind that. We know we can sell out every time with Steel Magnolias and Chicago, but we don’t want to keep doing that. “I’ve lived in Vicksburg for about 15 years, but I’ve lived in big cities for most of my life and I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy a whole spectrum of cultural opportunities,” Burns said. “I found myself living in a small town, and I didn’t want to give that up. Instead of giving it up, I’m doing my part to create the kinds of opportunities in a small way that people could find when they travel to a city.” At VTG, upcoming shows will include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, On Golden Pond and, of course, Gold in the Hills. “Vicksburg just has amazing talent,” Calnan said. “It’s not by accident, I think the talent is cultivated.” And every summer, VTG does its part to harvest that talent through Fairy Tale Theatre, a monthlong event for ages 7-18. “The idea is to give the kids hands-on experience for the full theatre experience,” Calnan said, noting that the youth handle everything from acting to set construction and lighting. “Children who start in Fairy Tales usually continue to be involved as adults.” And through the years, though the location, talent and sometimes subject matter of community theater have changed, the main idea remains the same. “Every audience is different, but it’s always fun,” Johnston said. “Everybody who does it enjoys doing it … I’m looking forward to the fourth generation of my family participating.” STORY Mary Margaret Halford PHOTOGRAPHY Submitted
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Home Place
Pastures
ROW CROPS TO HOGS AND MORE, 5 · G E N E R AT I O N F A R M C O N T I N U E S T R A D I T I O N
COMO – When Marshall Bartlett was a young boy, he felt the place he called home was paradise. But his father felt strongly about his three children growing up and leaving the farm. One by one, they did. Brother Jemison studied economics at the University of the South and agricultural finance at Texas A&M’s business school. These days he works at an agricultural investment bank in Charlotte, N.C. Sister May Leinhart lives in Albuquerque, N.M., but will move with her husband and daughter this summer to Greenville, S.C. Marshall majored in environmental studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He did an internship at the Virgin Island
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Sustainable Farm Institute in St. Croix. But then, the youngest of Meg and Mike Bartlett’s children had a hardy hankering for home. “I wanted to come back to the South,” Marshall said. “I wanted to work on some ideas I had to bring this place into the 21st century.” “This place” is 1,800 acres of land in Como that has been in the Bartlett family for five generations. In its earlier decades, the Bartlett farm boasted of traditional row crops, such as corn and cotton. Mike Bartlett continues to grow and gin cotton on much of the acreage. “Several years ago, I came home thinking I’d have some pensive, reflective time to decide what I wanted to do,” Marshall said, laughing. “But
Dad threw me into the cotton gin as soon as I got here.” Even while working for his father in the cotton gin, Marshall continued to make a plan for his future, which included the family farm. “No matter where I was, subconsciously I always seemed to circle back to the farm,” the 27-yearold Marshall said. For the past two and a half years, he’s watched his plans come to fruition on 170 of the 1,800 acres of family land. At Home Place Pastures, Marshall raises pigs — “north of 400” — and recently he’s added 26 steers and 40 sheep to the mix. His father was skeptical at first, “but now he is 100 percent behind me. In fact, the whole family is on board.”
TOP: A new litter of Tamworth piglets is tagged to help trace genetics. BOTTOM LEFT: Marshall Bartlett operates Home Place Pastures on 170 acres of family farm land. That includes Jemison as Home Place Pastures' chief financial officer, May “mediates, counsels and offers grant writing assistance and research support,” dad, Mike, is a mentor and fount of agricultural wisdom in addition to managing the family cotton gin. And mom Meg? “She is the sweetest woman in the world,” Marshall said. “She makes all our bank deposits, cuts out articles, helps keep us organized and is a voice of reason, taste and decency.” Marshall is co-founder and president of Home Place Pastures. “It’s a family effort all the way around,” he said. In one part of the pasture, just across Home Place Road from the Bartlett family home, the sows and boars — the “baby makers,” as Marshall calls them — reside. On a sunny Saturday in March, the piglets were plentiful — some running and romping with litter mates, others lined up beside mama’s belly for a meal. Home Place Pastures boasts “happy and healthy” pigs. Though most are being raised for food, Marshall and employees have given names to some of the pigs. Debra and Doris, Renetta and The Screamer are among the sows. Socks and Chuck Boris are the boars.
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Of course, not all the pigs have names – there are far too many. “You gotta like a pig a lot to name it,” Marshall said. The hogs on Home Place Pastures are primarily Tamworths and Red Wattles. “We raise purebreds and hybrids of these two breeds,” Marshall said. Both breeds are known for their red coloring; and the Red Wattles, of course, boast a wattle or tassel near the underside of the neck. The wattles, which serve no purpose, make the animals look a little strange, but their dark red meat is some of the best around, he said. Visitors also might see some Berkshire, Large Black and Hampshire breeds among the “Tams” and “Reds.” One litter might be 10 piglets strong, and there was one 12-piglet litter, but “We try to shoot for seven in a litter. “Early on we lost a lot of pigs,” Marshall said. “We made mistakes, but we’re learning. There’s a pretty steep learning curve.” The ears of the pigs are tagged for the purpose of tracing genetics and helping with all the farm’s record keeping. And, of course, there’s some color-coding to make it easy to quickly tell the males from the females — the boys are blue, the girls are yellow. The piglets are weaned when they’re 6 weeks old. At that point, they’re moved to another portion of the pasture and continue to grow while eating a specially formulated feed mixed on site and including non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) corn grown at Home Place Pastures. “We are serious about what our pigs eat, not only for their good health, but also for ours,” Marshall said. The farm also has a unique watering system set up for the pigs. “They drink the same water we do,” Marshall said. “Straight from our well to stainless steel nipple dispensers that they bite to drink from. The water is always fresh. There’s never any harmful contamination.” The small boars are brought up to replace the aging population. And four to six weeks before slaughter, the
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feeder pigs roam freely on four acres of pasture and hardwoods, eating roots and acorns. “This is what makes the difference in their flavor and texture that is not found in hogs that are confined,” Marshall said. “They have pretty good lives here.” When the hogs hit 270 to 280 pounds, they are loaded for processing by a humane handling system designed and built based on the work of Dr. Temple Grandin, an American professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. Soon, the animals raised at Home Place Pastures will no longer travel far from the farm for processing. Marshall’s dad is building an on-farm slaughter and processing facility. When it’s completed, it will be USDAinspected so the products can be distributed across state lines. Marshall said the facility, which he and his father designed, is a labor of love. The building will include an office overlooking the kill floor which will belong to the USDA inspector. “USDA inspectors have to have their own bathroom and office,” Marshall said. “And there will be other office space upstairs as well.” The processing room will be “where the magic happens,” and a smokehouse will be where the meats will be smoked and cured. The facility also will have a walk-in cooler and a retail store where neighbors, chefs and others can purchase the Home Place Pastures products. The facility will be available to others as well. “Other farmers will also be able to have their animals processed with us under USDA inspection to help them reach profitable markets outside the state,” Marshall said. “I believe we will be the only USDA facility in the state processing beef, lamb and pork.” Amazingly, Marshall, three full-time employees and a few part-timers take care of the bulk of the labor on the farm.
"WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT WHAT OUR PIGS EAT, NOT ONLY FOR THEIR GOOD HEALTH, BUT ALSO FOR OURS." MARSHALL BARTLETT
OINK! OINK!
Piglets are weened at six weeks old and then moved to another portion of the pasture where they relax in the mud and help themselves to water. Home Place Pastures has upwards of 400 pigs on the farm, including Red Wattle and Tamworth hogs, as well as Hampshires, Large Blacks and Berkshires.
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PIG BUSINESS
Marshall Bartlett moved back home after attending college to raise pigs on his family’s farm. Marshall is the co-founder and president of Home Place Pastures. He does everything from tending to and feeding the animals to transporting them and connecting with local and regional businesses that would like to use the Home Place product.
Though Marshall tries not to make the farm a 24/7 job, sometimes it seems that way. “It takes so much time to maintain it all,” he said. “We mix five to six tons of feed a week, manage the breeding and the piglets, and so much more.” Sometimes at Home Place Pastures, however, the work pauses for a bit and it’s time to celebrate. At least twice a year, the Bartlett family hosts a party for friends, neighbors and the community. Front and center at the parties is an old yellow school bus, with one long side cut away to make a covered stage for gospel groups and other bands that might take a turn offering music. It’s all part of the mission of Home Place Pastures — community involvement, economic sustainability, land stewardship and ethical treatment of the animals. “It’s a fun way to farm,” Marshall said. “Much more engaging and fun than crops. Farming row crops, you hope for a good crop so you can pay back your loan and make a living.” A lot has changed on this acreage in Como since Marshall’s double-great-grandfather Dr. Archibald “Archie” Yarbrough became the owner of what was then called Yarbrough Farms. A doctor for the Confederacy in the Civil War, he purchased the farm after the war. Tended with loving care and hard work and held onto tenaciously by one family since 1870, the legacy of Home Place Pastures continues today in the hands of yet another generation. STORY Leslie Criss PHOTOGRAPHY Lauren Wood
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Trent Harmon, the 2016 American Idol, performs for a crowd at Elvis Fest in Tupelo.
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Trent Harmon
From ‘small town Mississippi boy’ to American Idol Any choice or decision that we make can prove to be life-changing. But imagine if one decision that would transform life as you knew it rested not in your own hands, but in the hands of 10 million other people.
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Trent Harmon knows the enormity of that reality all too well. One minute he was waiting tables at his family’s restaurant in small-town Mississippi, and the next he was launched into instant stardom in April as the winner of American Idol’s 15th and final season. With the title came an immediate whirlwind of activity from radio and television talk show appearances to interviews and promotions. “Life has not changed a whole lot other than I’m just a lot busier than I was before. I’m still trying to do the same thing – I’m still trying to make singing my career. Just because I won a show doesn’t necessarily mean that I have a career of singing in the bag,” said the 25-year-old Amory native. After his graduation from the University of ArkansasMonticello in the fall of 2014, Harmon was spending most of his time back in Amory helping with his parents’ farm and working at their yard-to-table restaurant, the Longhorn Fish and Steakhouse, a favorite local dining spot since the Harmons opened it in 1995. He had no plans to audition for any kind of singing competition again. He had tried his hand at both Idol and The Voice in previous years with not much success. In fact, he had already decided that he might just be done with singing all together before he learned that fate had other plans. “Last summer, I decided on the spur of the moment to audition the same morning I returned from a mission trip to Belize,” Harmon said. “Oddly enough, I had just talked with the mission group the night before about what all of our future plans were, and I said, ‘Guys, I don’t think I’m going to sing anymore. I’ve been going real hard at it for a long time, and nothing’s really becoming of it. I think I’m going to quit doing music.’” Later that night, three young Belizean boys came into the camp where the group was staying and begged Harmon to teach them how to play some music. “None of them spoke a lot of English, but they wanted me to teach them a song on the guitar. I kind of took that as a
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sign that maybe God had other plans for me than to give up on music,” he said. The next morning Harmon’s connecting flight landed in Little Rock, one of the five larger city audition stops for the Idol producers. “I literally changed my clothes in the bathroom and went to the audition. It was just supposed to happen,” he said. The world as he knew it would never be the same. “I had someone tell me a scary statement the other day. They said your life that you used to have is over any way you look at it. You kind of have a second birthday — the day you won the show,” Harmon said. “At first, I thought that was fine; I wasn’t really doing anything anyway, but it’s nice to be able to go home when you want, and I don’t have that right now.” Harmon has been living out of a suitcase for almost a year now with time spent recording in Nashville and Los Angeles, and when he starts to get overwhelmed, he makes it a priority to step back and take a deep breath. “It’s easy to get exhausted. It really helps to have organized people around me. By nature I’m very routineoriented. Usually by midnight or 1 a.m. I finally turn my phone off and go to bed. If you don’t go to bed and go to sleep, as I learned on the show, it doesn’t matter how well you can sing if you’re too tired to do the job,” he said. At heart, Harmon still is — and hopes to always be — that small town Mississippi boy. He strives to stay humble and grounded, even though knowing he holds the American Idol title still feels extremely surreal to him. “What I do throughout the day, if there’s a conversation I’m having, or a person I’m talking to, or an outfit they want me to wear, or a place everybody’s going to, I say “Would Trent a year ago do this? Say this, wear this, be seen with this person in public, or go to this place?’ If I wouldn’t do it a year ago, I’m not doing it now. It’s the little stuff that changes you,” he said.
It’s also the “little stuff” that Harmon misses most about Mississippi. “I really enjoy going home, even though I haven’t been able to do it as much as I would like to. I like being able to see my friends when I want to, and, living in Amory, it’s not hard to get in touch and do things with your friends. But in Nashville, New York, L.A. — you can’t really do that,” he said. “Now that I’ve been on the road, I realize that’s something not to take for granted. I don’t get to just call somebody up and hang out with them right now. We have to have a conference call to make plans, and then follow up with an email to confirm. It’s not easy.” Harmon said life is much different in Mississippi. “In Amory, you can just text a couple of buddies and say, ‘Hey, my grandma is cooking tonight. Do y’all want to come over for dinner and then let’s go watch a movie or something?’ You just take for granted how easy-going it is. Living in a hotel, I don’t get to go eat at someone’s table every night. I go out to eat or have food delivered. It’s not the same. It’s the things you don’t think about until you don’t have it,” he said. Harmon also misses having time to himself, but he also understands that the lack of personal space just comes with the territory. “When most people go home for the day, they go home. They don’t have 20 to 30 people come over and want to borrow a cup of sugar. People aren’t wanting to borrow sugar from me, but they want this or they need that. That sometimes gets a little frustrating, but that’s part of it. Don’t expect to win a national singing competition and not have some of those things come with it,” he said. But that’s when a support group comes in handy, and, fortunately for Harmon, he not only has the support of his family, but also a kindred Mississippi spirit who was beside him every step of the journey on Idol.
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VISIT History is only half our story …
“What I do throughout the day, if there’s a conversation I’m having, or a person I’m talking to or an outfit they want me to wear, or a place everybody’s going to, I say 'Would Trent a year ago do this?' If I wouldn’t do it a year ago, I’m not doing it now. It’s the little stuff that changes you.” ~ TRENT HARMON
La’Porsha Renae, a McComb native, was a competitor on the show and finished strong as runner-up. The pair made history as the first two Mississippians to make it as far into the competition as they did. “We were the only two who could honestly critique each other. Not that we didn’t take advice from the other contestants, but we could have conversations about certain things, jargons and viewpoints that none of the other contestants could have because we were from the same home state,” said Harmon. The unlikely duo with different backgrounds but the same goal became close friends throughout the competition, fostering a relationship built on constructive criticism and encouragement. “Just by default, we had each other’s back a lot because we knew that things like this don’t happen to people from Mississippi very often,” he said.
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By making it to the final round of completion, Harmon and Renae were both awarded a 2016 Ford Fusion and a contract with a major record label. Standing on the stage on the final night, Harmon said that whatever happened, he knew they would remain friends long after the confetti had fallen. “We just hugged. We both understood the importance of where we came from and how far we had come,” he said. And today, despite their busy schedules, Harmon said they still find a way to stay in touch. “We keep a group text going,” he said. “Several of us from the season are on it. We try to keep up with what’s going on with each other. And we laugh. It’s fun.”
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STORY Elizabeth Grey PHOTOGRAPHY Courtesy of Trent Harmon
Summer 2016
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HOW WIDESPREAD PANIC’S JOJO HERMANN FOUND A NEW START IN A SOUTHERN COLLEGE TOWN
STUCK IN OXFORD WITH
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OXFORD — Ever since Faulkner brought fame and occasionally shock to the community, Oxford has attracted a free-spirited bunch. That community of writers, musicians and artists is alive even after the passing of such lynchpins as Barry Hannah and the opening and closing of the scene’s gathering spots. The locations change, the people change, but the gravity remains. In the late 1980s, John “JoJo” Hermann was just another down-and-out New York musician picking up gigs in Greenwich Village where he grew up, living in his mother’s apartment. Although there were worse places to be — he lived three blocks from Folk City, where Bob Dylan got his start, and a short walk from Washington Square Park — when his own piano playing got his mom evicted, he knew it was time to leave. Hermann, who grew up dreaming of a South set to a soundtrack of Professor Longhair and Dr. John, boarded a plane straight to Memphis. He planned to crash with friend and Deep Blues author Robert Palmer in Oxford for a few weeks before making his way to New Orleans. Instead, he found himself standing alone at 10 o’clock at night on the curb outside Memphis International Airport. “I had just assumed there would be a train or a bus, something that would take me to Oxford,” said Hermann. “But there was nothing. I was stranded.” The lifelong New Yorker’s next move was bold, even for a city boy. He caught sight of a woman he remembered from the plane, whom he had overheard talking about the law school at Ole Miss. As she drove away with her husband, he threw his duffel bag in front of their car and stuck out his thumb, hoping to land the 90-minute ride to Oxford. It worked. “They had no idea who I was — this stranger, this bum on the corner — and they were so nice!” Hermann said, still astonished. “He was like, ‘Sure, come on in!’ That was my first experience with Mississippi. I just couldn’t believe it. I’d never experienced people being that nice and friendly. I think that pretty much sealed the deal.” Hermann’s couch-surfing tour grew into a permanent gig. Although he eventually visited New Orleans, he decided to stay in Mississippi. The newly minted Oxfordian found the Hoka, an artsy movie theater, café and all-around “center of gravity” in town known to host writers Willie Morris and Hannah, and convinced owner Ron Shapiro to let him play on the piano in the back for tips.
MISSISSIPPI AT HEART
JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic has fond memories of Oxford and Mississippi.
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“WITH Widespread, THE ROLE OF THE PIANO IS DIFFERENT THAN IN BEANLAND. THE BASIC IDEA WAS FOR ME TO JUST STAY OUT OF THE WAY." JOJO HERMANN “I had a little cigar box, right at the entrance to the movie theater there,” he said. “He would give me a cheese sandwich — I’d work for a sandwich and tips, and that set me going. Back then you could go to Jitney Jungle and eat for a week on five dollars between hot dogs and mac and cheese.” Oxford was a small scene, and from The Hoka to The Gin across the street, he soon got to know local bands like The Hilltops, which included future Blue Mountain frontman Cary Hudson and Wilco bassist John Stirratt. He also met the guys in Beanland, a rhythm-and-blues band that played Ireland’s and Forrester’s, the town’s two other music venues. “About six months after moving there, [Beanland] drummer Rob Laird invited me to come by,” he said. “They were playing (Grateful) Dead covers at the time and had one or two originals. I sat in with those guys and I just fell in love with the band.” Beanland also featured guitarist George McConnell, who would later play a pivotal role in Widespread Panic, first filling in the sound behind Mikey Houser during his bout with pancreatic cancer, and then joining the band full time after Houser passed away in 2002. The band was a big factor in Hermann’s decision to stick around. “I didn’t come down with any preconceived notions of what I was going to play,” he said. “I knew that as a piano player I loved Professor Longhair and Dr. John and boogie woogie. It never even occurred to me to start playing in a rock and roll band. I just fell into it.” Hermann soon found a new musical passion, and another reason to stay — he discovered hill country blues pioneer Junior Kimbrough’s juke joint north of town and began taking in the hypnotic music of Junior and R.L. Burnside on Saturday nights. “It wasn’t really blues, you know, like the kind of stuff you would hear in the Delta or Chicago,” he said. “There was just one riff, and it would go on and on and put you in a trance. Some of the best days of my life were going up to Junior’s. Anybody who’s ever heard or seen Junior, it just instantly takes over.” As Beanland’s audience grew, the band crossed paths with like-minded groups on the SEC club circuit. One of those was Widespread Panic, which had just put out its debut record, Space Wrangler. When the members of
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Beanland started going in different directions, Hermann wasn’t sure what he might do next. He contemplated moving. Then, his phone rang with an invitation to go on the road with Panic. It wasn’t much of a promise at first — Houser later told Hermann he got the job mainly because he knew their set and wouldn’t have to rehearse — but his presence grew on keys and vocals. He flavored the band’s repertoire with Dixieland boogie piano and rolling Hammond B-3 organ and began writing songs, starting with “Blackout Blues” on Ain’t Life Grand and fan-favorites “Tall Boy” and “Greta” on Bombs & Butterflies. “With Widespread, the role of the piano is different than in Beanland,” he said. “The basic idea was for me to just stay out of the way. [Laughs] I thought I should at least write a song, to contribute, so I took a Professor Longhair song called ‘Red Beans’ and basically added a bar, turned it into a 13-bar blues, added a little chorus and wrote ‘Blackout Blues.’” Hermann’s Mississippi Hill Country influence and love of Fat Possum Records artists seeped into his music, as well. Once, he holed up in an Indianola hotel for a week with a tape recorder, emerging with “Dyin’ Man,” the funky clavinova-driven hit from Til the Medicine Takes, as well as other album tracks “One Arm Steve” and “All Time Low.” He paid tribute to Junior with a namesake medley on Ain’t Life Grand, mashing the bluesman’s “Stay All Night” with “All Night Long.” “I think we might have been the first rock band that actually took a Junior song and did a rock and roll treatment of it,” he said. “I remember playing it for him. I think he sincerely liked it. I think it made him feel really good.” These days, now that Widespread Panic’s famously solid touring schedule has lightened, Hermann gets to see Oxford more often. He frequents campus and has his favorite spots — Barnard Observatory, hanging out with the Southern Studies folks, Proud Larry’s. But mostly, he visits with many of the friends he made at The Hoka who, like him, found reasons to stay. STORY Jim Beaugez PHOTOGRAPHY Melanie Thortis
Summer 2016
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'SIP OF NATURE ILLUSTRATION BY JAMIE RUNNELLS
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N BLACK WALNUT: A WELL-ROOTED TREASURE
Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is one of eastern North America’s finest trees, valued for its prized wood and hearty, nutritious fruits. Black walnuts are native to Mississippi, but scarce — loving the most fertile of soils. While the fruits are highly prized by wildlife, few folks are willing to stain their hands peeling away the thick husk only to find inside an almost unbreakable husk with the oil-rich kernel we call the walnut. In fact, the difficulty of cracking and shelling black walnuts is why commercially available walnuts are produced from Persian or English walnuts (Juglans regia). However, like most valuable things in life, hard work pays off if you’re willing to work for your food. In Warren County, black walnut trees are more common than in other parts of the state. The few mature walnuts on my property are highly sought after by squirrels each fall as they scurry about in search of protein for winter. Black walnut trees, particularly when not open-grown, can reach heights of 75 feet or more with deeply grooved bark that is grey-black. That and a large compound leaf, composed of 7-23 small, yellowish
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green leaflets, make identification a breeze. In addition, black walnut trees have a chambered pith, making identification in winter easy. The chambered pith entails a dark center with papery partitions creating small air chambers at the twig's center. This unique pith attribute is a tell-tale sign you have a walnut twig in hand and not one of its close relatives, the hickories. In addition to the tasty treats from the fruits of black walnut, I have found an even tastier utility. When extreme weather surrenders a large limb from one of my walnuts, a blessing from above is truly granted, as I highly value seasoned walnut wood for smoking meats, particularly wild game. And while many believe the walnut smoke is too intense, I have found it perfect for many wild meats. From deer to wild hog and combinations of both, I have had unrivaled success in smoking wild meats using walnut wood.
So, get out into nature!
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Whole Hog
PHOTO BY NATHAN BEANE
From the woods to the table to the woods
Summertime at Beane Farm is full of excitement. Honeybees are flying, garden vegetables are ripening and — on the best days — pillars of smoke are bellowing from the meat smoker.
PORTRAIT BY MELANIE THORTIS
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NATHAN BEANE THE ‘SIP OUTSIDE EDITOR
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I’ve smoked an assortment of wild meats over the years, from alligator sausage to black bear roasts. I’ve also experimented with an assortment of woods used for smoking. In this issue, I’ll share my favorite pulled pork recipe and the wood I use in my meat smoker that makes wild game, particularly pork, mouth-watering and delicious. Although I’m afforded the luxury of hunting and harvesting wild hogs, my smoking method can be applied to commercially available pork, too. I realize everyone doesn’t have a “from a hunter near you” source for wild meats. Hunting is my passion, and I love providing sustenance throughout the year. Coupling that with using wood chips I style from trees growing in my backyard truly brings me closer to nature, which I love. I raise heritage hogs in my own backyard, but I still count the days each year until archery season opens and the stalk for wild hogs through the sloughs and backwaters
of the Mississippi Delta can recommence. I search for hogs in dense cover, like palmetto thickets, which allow me to sneak more effectively but also demand the hunt be a close encounter, as you can’t see more than 25 feet in any direction. With bow and arrow, this is ideal. I test my mastery as a hunter when I’m able to pause the rush of excitement to steady myself to draw my bow and wait for the shot. When I successfully sneak up on a dozen hogs or more and wait patiently for a perfect shot, it’s a sensory overload. I feel a rush just hearing hogs feeding all around me and not being able to see a single pig because of the dense vegetation. Stalking from the ground as a hunting method is primal — complete with a looming uncertainty whether or not I will become a target to a large boar protecting his harem or getting between a sow and her piglets. What, perhaps, is even worse is the possibility of making a bad shot and having a hog go into defensive mode. Although I’ve never had such a close encounter, I’ve heard scary tales of such excitement when a hog goes “wild.” Although pigs have eyesight no better than humans, their ears and noses are sharply attuned. Hunters must use the wind as a tool and be light on their feet. One wrong step or shift in wind and the deal’s off. This is why stalking wild pigs is such a thrill. It’s a test of wits, patience and faculties as a hunter. For me, getting into the woods is the best part, but pursuing and harvesting a wild hog isn’t even half the work. The aim is for a product that doesn’t taste gamey or dry, but, rather, is an enjoyable feast. It is where the skill set of a hunter is really tested. I’ve been hunting hogs in Mississippi for five years and enjoy smoking pork, with pulled pork being my favorite. Knowing how to make a tasty meal to truly be savored makes the experience of the hunt all the more valuable. And since wild pigs are an invasive species, hunting allows me to do my part in controlling their population. When preparing pulled pork from a hog, the shoulder or hindquarter of a hog is what’s used. Collectively, these are termed quarter sections, and I age each quarter in salt and ice for a few days and then wrap them in freezer paper and freeze. These sections are easy to handle, require minimal work to prepare and allow for a ton of meat to be cooked. An average size hog I strive to harvest weighs about 125 pounds. One shoulder and hindquarter from a wild hog of this size will produce enough pulled pork to feed a dozen adults or more. Two days before smoking I take the meat out of the freezer. The day before smoking, I unwrap the meat, wash and pat it dry. Each quarter section is then rubbed with mustard and stored in the refrigerator overnight. On the day of smoking, the meat is set out and a rub seasoning is coated on the mustard base of each quarter section.
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Since wild pigs don’t possess the fat-to-meat ratio of domestic swine, the following step is important. Using an injection needle, I prepare a marinade that includes a dark beer, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and a few household seasonings. This mixture aids in keeping the meat moist during cooking and is a step I would never leave out. I mix the marinade thoroughly with a small whisk and inject the marinade into all portions of the hog quarters immediately before heading to the smoker. The wood used to produce the smoke plays a major role in the flavor and aroma of the end product. Light woods, such as apple and maple, are often a simple choice and produce a mild smoke flavor. As you sample with spicier marinade and sauces, smoking meats with heavier woods, such as mesquite and hickory, produce a stronger smoke flavor. I’ve found black walnut, a close relative to hickory, to be ideal for wild meats, particularly pork. I procure walnut wood, season and chop into small pieces and soak overnight before adding to my smoker. I take handfuls of soaked wood chips and wrap up in foil to create a “smoke packet” with small slits at the top. This allows the wood to slowly combust and create copious amounts of smoke.
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infiniteimpactmsu.com
As the world population rises, new methods of sustainability and increased production in agriculture are needed to feed growing nations. Through the application of precision agriculture, a highly detailed practice driven by modern equipment and remote-sensing satellite technology, the industry is forging a path into new territories. Mississippi State University offers a precision agriculture certificate program, furthering the land-grant charge to provide vital research and education for society. Visit our website at infiniteimpactmsu.com to give now and help further our endeavors worldwide.
wild dining... rub • 1 cup meat rub seasoning •½ cup yellow mustard as base
injection marinade • One 12 oz.. dark beer (e.g., stout) •¼ cup apple cider vinegar •1 tablespoon olive oil •¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper •1 teaspoon garlic salt •1 teaspoon onion powder
“Summer just isn't summer without getting outdoors for some home smoking. The process itself is gratifying, but to taste the food is exhilarating.”
MSU is an AA/EEO university.
IIC-Global-2016_Ag_Sip-Half.indd 1
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Are you made in the ‘sip?
featuring:
~ NATHAN BEANE Using this heavy smoke method, I add one foil packet every 45 minutes to an hour and after four hours of smoking, each quarter section is wrapped up in foil, with any leftover marinade poured atop each section and wrapped tightly. The meat is set back in the smoker and cooked at 230 degrees until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 210 degrees. I have found this temperature to produce meat of excellent pulled-pork consistency. When removing each foil-wrapped quarter section, I am careful not to tear the foil so the broth created during cooking can be collected in a small glass dish. Once the meat has rested for about an hour, the meat is pulled, with bone, sinew and excess fat removed. Once the meat has been picked and is ready to eat, some of the leftover broth can be added to the meat and mixed well to keep the meat moist and flavorful. Eaten by itself or accompanying a spicy BBQ sauce, this pulled pork method is sure to please. I love it and have convinced many people who thought wild pork to be
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not ideal to eat to change their views. Summer just isn’t summer without getting outdoors for some home smoking. The process itself is gratifying, but to taste the food is exhilarating. It’s fun to experiment with different species of wood, too. I’ve heard tales of walnut wood considered too spicy or bitter for smoking meats and would have never experimented with it had I not owned a few trees. I steer clear of softwood species, such as cedars and pines. The best ribs I’ve ever tasted came off my smoker and were from a home-raised pig. So the closer to home the food and the wood for smoking, the better I believe it will taste. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email to outside@thesipmag.com. If not, get that smoker warming up — there’s good eating up ahead.
STORY Nathan Beane PHOTOGRAPHY Nathan Beane
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Labor of Love
Volunteers purchase, save, restore Civil War ‘hallowed ground’
“We started with a leap of faith and a bank account of $200,” said the mayor of this Hinds County town, Isla Tullos.
TO GET THERE To visit the Raymond Military Park, take Highway 18 south from Raymond. The park is on the right just south of Old Port Gibson Road.
battleofraymond.org
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She was talking about the Friends of Raymond, an organization formed in 1998 with the main purpose of saving the town’s Civil War battlefield from commercial development and preserving it for its historical significance. Now, 18 years later, FOR has the deed to about 150 acres where much of the battle was fought in 1863, and, on that land, are walking trails, interpretative plaques, a limber, a caisson and 25 cannons — 22 Union and 3 Confederate — on the locations where the originals belched forth iron and smoke on May 12, 1863. The battle was fought just southwest of Raymond and was one of several between North and South during Gen. U .S. Grant’s invasion of Central Mississippi. Confederate troops — they were a 3,000-man brigade under the command of Gen. John Gregg — marched up from Port Hudson, La., to Jackson and were headed to reinforce Gen. John C. Pemberton’s army when they ran into Union Gen. James B. McPherson’s 12,000-man 17th Corps. “So, guess who won?” summed up Parker Hills, a retired general and five years president of FOR. The battle began about 10 in the morning and lasted six hours with the Confederates retreating toward Jackson. Confederate troops also were amassed at Mt. Moriah near Edwards,
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and Grant, with enemies on both flanks and knowing that Confederate Gen. Joe Johnston would arrive in Jackson on the 13th, changed his plans. Hence, the fight at Raymond was a major part of his decision. When it came to casualties, Hills said, the reports are always questionable “because you never want to admit your losses.” The South probably had about 400 killed and wounded and the North, about 375, “but it was not as onesided as figures show,” he said. “The Rebels put up one hell of a fight, but they were lucky to get away with their breeches.” Their escape, he explained, was a stroke of luck, though it hadn’t been planned that way. The ladies of Raymond had cooked a sumptuous meal of chicken and biscuits for the victorious Confederates. Tables on the courthouse lawn were filled with food and water and decorated with flowers, but when the Confederates began their retreat, they didn’t even pass the courthouse. Instead, they hit the road toward Jackson. In pursuit was the 20th Ohio, whose troops couldn’t resist the aroma of Southern cooking. They stopped to partake — and Gregg’s army got away. Wounded Confederates were taken to the second floor of the Raymond courthouse. At nearby St. Mark’s Episcopal Church the pews were removed and burned for firewood, cotton was rolled out on the floor, and the Union injured were placed there, their blood soaking through the cotton and staining the floor. More than a century later the only pieces of evidence that there had been a battle at Raymond were 140 graves of Confederate soldiers in the town cemetery, a monument erected in 1908 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and blood stains on the floor at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. There was a marker at Fourteen Mile Creek and another on the Natchez Trace. Parker Hills recalls speaking at a meeting of the Raymond Chamber of Commerce in 1995 when someone made the statement, “There’s one thing they can’t take away from us, and that’s the battlefield.”
Hills’ response was “I’m not sure who ‘they’ are, but they can, because not one square foot of that battlefield has been preserved.” He pointed out that the land was ripe for development — service stations, K-Marts, Walmarts, whatever. The importance of the battlefield had caught the attention of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and a study completed in November 1997 identified it as one of the 50 most significant and endangered Civil War battlefields in the country and urged “immediate action to save this hallowed ground.” Mayor Tullos, elected to office only a few months earlier, asked Doug Cubbison, author of the study, to address the Board of Aldermen. Both he and the mayor pointed out the potential for economic growth and historic tourism. On Nov. 17, 1997, Mayor Tullos called Dick Kilby, president of the Merchants and Planters Bank in Raymond. There was a tone of urgency in her voice. “I said that if we were going to commit to saving the property, we had to act immediately,” she recalled. “He agreed completely, and he and I named the original ‘cast of characters’ to begin discussing the purchase of the property.” The desired land was 40 acres, which comprised an important portion of where the battle had been fought. Interested citizens met in the winter and spring of 1998, and, on April 13, Kilby, Tullos and David McCain discussed forming Friends of Raymond. The owner of the land said he would sell it for $4,000 an acre, and Tullos recalls that the consensus was that FOR acquire the property, not the city or county governments. On Oct. 30, 1998, with a few members signing their names and promising to repay the $156,000 loan plus interest, the first step in preserving the historic site was achieved. In the years since, the land ownership has grown to about 150 acres, but more is needed. Creating the scene as it was in 1863 has taken untold hours of research before any items, such as cannons, could be put into place. Artisans were hired to reproduce cannon barrels to the specs of 1863. When the
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cannon carriages in the Vicksburg National Military Park were replaced in 2002, the old ones, made of cast iron in about 1900, were headed for the scrap heap. FOR asked for the old ones, and the answer was “yes,” if FOR would haul them off. Members began the task, and today 22 cannons point toward Raymond, exactly where the originals were, and across the way are two on the Southern side. A Whitworth is being constructed to make the scene complete. Funding for the cannons, at $2,500 each, came from individuals whose names appear on plaques on each gun. Hills told of one man who wouldn’t donate unless his name could be on a Southern gun, and Hills told him, “These aren’t Yankee cannons. They’re Friends of Raymond cannons.” Money also has come from Civil War roundtables, MDOT, the Civil War Trust and other donors. When a 90th birthday bash was given for Ed Bearss, retired chief historian for the National Park service, he specified that the $10,000 plus amount be given to FOR. “You set a goal and then you do it,” Hills said. Memberships in FOR also have brought in the cash. Thirty-eight individuals have donated $5,000 each and are designated generals. Other memberships include several categories starting at $25. Members aren’t just from Raymond — some of the generals are from California and Pennsylvania. Though the development and preservation of the battlefield is FOR’s primary goal, the organization also participates in the annual pilgrimage and sponsors a Raymond Cemetery Tour. Hills and other leaders of FOR know that eventually the battlefield will be part of an overall Vicksburg Campaign series of parks. Congress has already approved the move and FOR has agreed to it, but completing the interpretation is all-important to FOR leaders. Hills said, “We are intimately associated with that battlefield. We can feel it. We want it done. We will have it done” when the time comes. There is still plenty of work to be done, and Hills advises to be active, “Put on a pair of work gloves. We get dirty.” And if you can’t be active, send donations or memberships to Friends of Raymond, P.O. Box 1000, Raymond, MS 39154. Ben Fatheree, retired history professor and current president of FOR, noted that “The great thing about FOR is that we have not gone to Uncle Sam for anything. Nobody had to do this. It’s all volunteer. It’s a labor of love.”
LIFESTYLE
investigating history The study of history sometimes includes sleuthing. With a GPS in hand, Parker Hills and friends went to explore newly acquired land on the battlefield in 2010. It recently had been bush-hogged and was easy to search. Hills found a gold-plated button — an officer's — decorated with an eagle and an anchor. Only one man among the Union forces had a naval background — Ed McCook, who went to Annapolis. Theodore Davis, a Union army artist, sketched the above scene and identified McCook, who had been shot in the foot. He was using inverted rifles as crutches and was limping off the field. "Can't you picture that rifle butt pulling that button off his jacket?" Hills asked. Also on the drawing is a fallen horse (to the right). A Union soldier who was an aide wanted to see some action, and he wrote in his diary about riding his horse to the site just in time for an artillery shell to hit right in front of the horse. The scared animal fell to its knees and threw the soldier to the ground. A bridal buckle was found on the spot. "This is uncanny," Hills said. "We'll reproduce exactly what's on the drawing — rail fence, cannon and so forth."
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Also: Smyda Woodworking • Jackson Bassist Nellie Mack • Tom's on Main in Yazoo City
STORY Gordon Cotton ARTWORK Courtesy of Old Court House Museum
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LIFESTYLE
O F C U LT U R E
Join us today! info@printmattershouston.org www.printmattershouston.org
We promote traditional and non-traditional printmaking, encourage print collecting, and further the professional growth of our members through citywide outreach, public art functions, and annual member exhibitions.
“...printmaking is clearly a vital contemporary art form, events like PrintHouston are important to keeping the medium alive. And it’s getting bigger.” Houston Chronicle, 2013
Our events include:
Saturdays on MississippiToday.org
PRINTHOUSTON
A biennial summer-long celebration of original prints, the artists who create them, and the people who collect them. The city-wide calendar is filled with print related exhibitions, lectures, workshops, & special events at museums, galleries, non-profit organizations, and alternative spaces.
Rockin’ Rollin’ Prints
a partnership between:
Rockin' Rollin' Prints is an annual themed steamroller printing event organized by PrintMatters. Artists from all parts of the grand state of Texas line up to get their over-sized woodblocks inked and printed under the drum of a 2-ton steamroller.
The 'Sip has partnered with MississippiToday.org, Mississippi's first nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news site, to provide weekly stories on culture in Mississippi.
NEXT: A Juried Exhibition
Visit MississippiToday.org every Saturday morning to read original stories on music, art, food, lifestyle and much more.
A national juried print exhibition biennial selecting innovative and challenging works that transcend process and materials and present printmaking as versatile and adaptable medium.
Impressions
Impressions is our Artist Members’ annual group exhibition that displays the talent within our organization. PrintMatters is funded by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance, Capacity Building Initiatives.
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PrintMatters, founded in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
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MAGAZINE
Summer 2016
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SMALL-TOWN 'SIP
SMALL TOWN 'SIP
'Tis the Season By Alexe van Beuren Chilton County peaches, Moon and Stars watermelon, Hal Vaughn’s tomatoes. Figs from Sam and blueberries from Joe. These are the markers of summer for me: various Mississippi men bringing me five-gallon buckets of goodness through the front doors of the B.T.C., or pulling their invariably faded but pristine pickups parallel to the curb and calling me out to see the bounty, carefully arrayed in the bed of their trucks. I’m crazy about farming men — not one of them fools with produce for the money. It’s a wonderful thing, when people don’t do things for money. It frees folks up to pursue art. That’s more what the shining buckets of berries and tomatoes and figs on a flat basket with a paper towel to blot the juice are. They are art, the gifts that these mostly old, often grizzled men can summon into being in this world. And let me tell you, their art is delicious. One of the joys of my life is that in the summer, I can stock my little grocery store with fresh everything, because people will buy it. Those last words are more limiting than you might imagine. I’d love to go nuts with Louisiana citrus in December, Virginia apples in October and locally grown mushrooms and pencil-thin spears of spring asparagus, but, for whatever reason, freshly grown food-stuffs don’t grow legs and leap out of the store like
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they do in the summer. I sell vegetables all day long in the summer without even trying. It’s a heady feeling, and I savor every second of it. Mississippi summer can be a lot like the summer where I grew up — in Virginia. Until it’s not. I was lucky the first year I lived here. It was warm, sure, but nothing nutty. Year two? Year two we had an August where every single day was over 100 degrees — with not a wisp of cloud and with not a single thunderstorm. All month. I’ve never felt so house-bound in all my life. I’d take the dogs and the baby out for a walk right before dark, in the balmy 80-something degree nights, with the day’s heat radiating off the asphalt and the large cockroaches out for their nocturnal wanderings. Twenty-something minutes a night and every other minute spent inside the air conditioning or scuttling to and from the air conditioning. I thought I’d lose my mind, but really, I shouldn’t be complaining. My buddy Eddie Ray told me that back before air conditioning, Water Valley could be a pretty grim place to be the morning after one of those endless, hot, sticky nights. Folks would set a fan on front of the slowly dripping end of a hose so that the water-cooled air would blow on them, but it wasn’t always enough to keep the heat away in the midnight
hours. So, they’d wake up tired and sweaty and trudge into a new day, and every single adult in town would be grumpy. Time has marched forward, and most Mississippians have progressed past interminable nights of discomfort. Progress, right? But some instincts are bred deep inside the bone and can’t be chilled out by any amount of a/c. When the days lengthen and the end of school nears, people stagger into the B.T.C. like salmon swimming upstream, intent on picking up a mess of squash to fry or a sack of red fat tomatoes for a sandwich or shelled peas to boil. Peaches for cobbler. Sweet corn to cut off and cook with cream. You get the picture. It’s over 80? Apparently, it’s time to fire up the stovetop. What’s odd is my cooking and gardening impulses are never lower than in the summer. My husband tells me I am a contraryminded creature, and I guess so, because just about when everyone else in the state has their section turned over and the stakes in the ground and the first flush of growth propelling the vines across the ground, I up and walk away from my garden. It’s on its own in the summer. I venture out in the dusk to clip herbs and cut zinnias, but that’s about it. I plant a fall garden, and I scheme like mad all winter. And, in the spring, I’m a whirling dervish with a spade in my hand, but in the summer, I’m content to drag the hose around to my juvenile shrubs and keep things hanging on until cooler weather rolls down the pike. I suppose I’m too busy selling everyone else’s garden bounty to worry about my own. Here’s hoping that this summer tastes like the heart of a watermelon straight out of an ice bath. So sweet and so cold, it’ll make your teeth ache.
Alexe van Beuren grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She moved to Water Valley, Miss., in 2006 with husband Kagan Coughlin of Vermont. They have two Mississippi-born children, Annaliese and Caspian. In 2010, Alexe opened the B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery, which has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Southern Living, Garden & Gun and, most importantly, Miss Betty's Week. Alexe and her business partner, Dixie Grimes, authored the B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from A Southern Revival in 2014. She contributes to The 'Sip regularly as a columnist for SmallTown 'Sip.
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LAST 'SIP
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THE LAST ’SIP
city of angels
It’s a beautiful state. Enjoy the drive.
MDOT Travel Resources gives you the info you need for a smooth, carefree road trip. From traffic alerts and road conditions to weather forecasts and more. And you can access it from our mobile app, your computer or by calling 511. Find out more at MDOTtraffic.com.
photo by Melanie Thortis TH OR T I S P HOT OGRAP HY.C OM
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