Leflore Illustrated Spring Summer 2007

Greenwood, Mississippi

A River Country Journal / Spring and Summer 2007

NORRIS BOOKBINDING: The world’s largest Bible restorer

Margaret Carl: The woman behind the Viking legend

Leflore Illustrated

Stepping back in time at Tallahatchie Flats

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Leflore

A purple martin enjoys one of the martin houses along the Yazoo River in downtown Greenwood.

Illustrated

t able of contents PHOTOS BY JENNIFER MINYARD

people 7 “Moore” than a politician 8 Gladys and Henry Fant have 18 20 28 30 34 37 40

done it all in Scouting Drawing comes naturally to Allan Hammons Margaret Carl has seen Viking become a leader Patricia Parker lives to help others as pastor, nurse Art is personal for Angie Crick Not a wine expert? Ask Horne Baseball coach Doug Shanks has fielded winner at Valley Duo dedicated to design

places

Soybeans crop up in area fields in early spring.

features

4 Where the rivers meet 10 A night at Tallahatchie Flats

14 Hot spots for young adults 23 The beauty of stained glass

26 What’s cooking? Outdoor kitchens are 44

becoming a popular addition to homes Norris Bookbinding

more 2 9 17 36 47 48

From the editor Top 10 employers Cardiac rehab center Calendar of events Index to advertisers Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation

Roses in the garden at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

COVER PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 1

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

From the editor

Large comfort in a small town

T

he short days, barren landscape and gray skies of winter can make a body restless. By the time spring shows signs of reappearing, the urge to do or see something outside of our homes, offices and gyms takes over.

We crank up our lawn mowers when the only things to cut are weeds. We pull out our walking shorts, showing body parts that have not seen the sun in months. If we’re really ambitious, we hit the road.

This spring I shook off the winter doldrums with trips to two wonderful Southern cities — Charleston, S.C., and Atlanta, Ga. They are so different. Charleston is a step back in time, a port city that takes pride in preserving the past. It’s against the law there to remove any structure that’s 75 years old or older. Atlanta is all hustle and bustle, racing to be as big and modern as any city in America. I woke up to the sounds of workers erecting yet another magnificent skyscraper in a city full of them.

Yet, for all the attractions these two cities and others like them possess, they’re not where I’d want to hang my hat for more than a few days.

I have grown accustomed to small-town life, and in particular small-town Mississippi life.

This is a remarkable transformation for someone who was raised in a Midwestern city of 1.5 million people and went to college in an East Coast city of about 6 million. When I first moved to Greenwood 25 years ago, the choice dumfounded not only my col2 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

lege buddies but many of the people I met here. “Why in the world would you move to Greenwood, Mississippi?” was the question I was asked for months.

At the time, I had just one honest answer. I came for a job.

The reasons have multiplied since.

My wife and I enjoy the deep connectedness we feel in this town.

It’s worth the price of giving up any occasional desire for anonymity. We like walking our dog and having passing motorists wave; going to church with people who know us by first name; feeling that the shopkeepers are our friends.

Our children, now in college, were made to feel valued and secure while growing up in Greenwood. As much as we raised them, the community — their teachers, their coaches and their parents’ friends — did, too.

We draw comfort in knowing that should we ever face a crisis, there will be lots of people around who will want to help us through it.

I had to adjust to the slower pace of Greenwood, but I have acquired that taste as well. I like not having to drive on the edge of my seat. I like being able to go home for a sandwich at lunch. I like knowing that cutting the grass is a great form of stress relief.

My family and friends from outside Mississippi may still not understand how I can enjoy living in a place without big shopping malls or professional sports teams. Most of them have those amenities, but they also dream of getting away from the traffic, the pricey real estate, and neighbors who are too busy to be bothered.

They should envy me. I’ve got what I think they’re looking for — some calm, a reasonable cost of living, and plenty of caring faces.

They just don’t know it.

— Tim Kalich

L

Azaleas are a colorful sign that spring has arrived.

eflore

Illustrated

Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich

Managing Editor Pat Kelly

Design Editor Jennifer Minyard

Associate Editors

David Monroe, Rachel Hodge

Contributing Writers

Bob Darden, Amy McCullough, Bill Burrus, Jo Alice Darden

Advertising Director Larry Alderman

Advertising Sales

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

Photography/Graphics Anne Miles, Shanna Taylor, Johnny Jennings

Production

Lee Palmertree

Circulation Director Shirley Cooper

Volume 2, No. 3 —————— Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050 329 Highway 82 West Greenwood, MS 38935-8050 662-453-5312

—————— Leflore Illustrated is published by Commonwealth Publishing, Inc. PHOTO BY JENNIFER MINYARD Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 3

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Point LEFLORE

T

BY BOB DARDEN

hose wishing to understand the history of Leflore County a little better might start with a remote peninsula where the Tallahatchie and the Yalobusha Rivers converge to form the Yazoo.

It is an out-of-the-way place known as Point Leflore.

In the Civil War, the point figured prominently in the region’s history as the site of Fort Leflore in the battle for Fort Pemberton in early 1863.

“Point Leflore was there first. That was Greenwood Leflore’s port for shipping cotton. Cotton went all the way from Malmaison to Point Leflore,” said Henry McCabe, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff, who grew up exploring Leflore County’s Civil War sites.

When Greenwood Leflore, the one-time chief of the Choctaw Indians, created Point Leflore, it was in Carroll County. The chief used the port to ship cotton harvested on his 15,000- acre plantation to market.

It’s estimated that at the time of the Civil War, Leflore had between 300 and 500 slaves to harvest his crop.

It wasn’t until later — in 1870-1871 — that the Mississippi Legislature took 271 square miles of Carroll County and made what are now the counties of Leflore, Grenada and Montgomery.

In the 1830s and 1840s, Williams Landing, named after John Williams, was a port on the Yazoo in the area where downtown Greenwood is today.

According to accounts of the time, reprinted in honor of the Williams Landing Sesquicentennial in 1983, Leflore had a falling out with Williams over some cotton that had been consigned to Williams and left out to the elements. Another account said Leflore did not like the tax that was being levied on each boat that docked there.

4 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Watery landmark has deep Civil War history

Point Leflore, where the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers form the Yazoo River, has had a rich history in Leflore and Carroll counties. Originally an access point for one-time Choctaw Indian Chief Greenwood Leflore’s cotton trade, it also served as a Confederate fortification in 1863 known as Fort Leflore. It became part of newly created Leflore County in 1871.

Point Leflore gave Leflore access to the river and commerce.

According to the history, Leflore spent $75,000 of his own money building a plank road, the first such road in the state, to facilitate moving his cotton from Malmaison to Point Leflore.

By the mid-1840s, the port was thriving, according to the accounts.

Leflore was a shrewd man in that he

played both sides during the war.

“When the war broke out, he claimed neutrality. He entertained both the Union and Confederate troops, but you couldn’t enter his house with a uniform on. You’d have to have civilian clothes or dress clothes,” McCabe said.

When in 1863 Union General Ulysses S. Grant tried to slip into Vicksburg the back way via the Yazoo River, Point Leflore was

Point Leflore is the starting point for the Yazoo River, which is formed by the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers. It is one of the few pristine Civil War battle sites left in the Delta.

quickly transformed into Fort Leflore by Confederate forces.

Fort Leflore was one of a string of forts set up to block a possible Union advance on the besieged Mississippi River town. These included Fort Pemberton, Middle Fort and Lower Fort, all located a short distance from one another.

It was near Fort Pemberton where the “Star of the West,” the Union ship captured at Fort Sumter, S.C., at the start of the war, was scuttled on March 11, 1863, to prevent Union ironclads and troop ships from navigating the Tallahatchie.

Unlike the other forts, Fort Leflore was a rifle fort. It did not have any artillery emplacements, McCabe said.

Because of the firepower of those forts, Grant was unable to attack Vicksburg via the Yazoo, he said.

It was there at Point Leflore, earlier in the war, that the Confederate gunboat “C.S.S. Arkansas” was refurbished for battle.

As a young boy, McCabe remembered exploring the fortification’s earthworks, although he’s unsure how many of them still remain intact.

“Years ago, the power company came in and got right of way and pushed down some of the fortifications,” he said.

McCabe did recall finding clay brick roads out at the site, which today is private property.

Fort Leflore was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979.

McCabe hopes that the National Park Service will act quickly to preserve and acquire the remaining fortifications at Fort Pemberton, something that’s been delayed recently in Congress.

“As of right now, it’s the only fortification in this area that’s complete,” he said. LI

Discover the charm of Downtown Greenwood Downtown offers a superb blend of wonderful dining, fine art, antiques, festivals, special gifts, live entertainment, unique residential opportunities, and a bookstore regularly visited by authors signing their works.

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&

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Defining Robert Moore

W

BY AMY McCULLOUGH

ho is Robert Moore?

Most people know him politically. With the exception of one term, Moore has served on the Leflore County Board of Supervisors since 1986. He has served as president of the board for the past two terms.

Or people may know him as the former director of the social work program and Center for Economic Development at Mississippi Valley State University, the host of a radio show for 10 years and an advocate for home rehabilitation programs and jobs in the African-American community.

Moore, 61, who was born and raised in Leflore County’s Browning community, says, “I’m too old for hobbies” — although he does say he enjoys gardening, planting plum and peach trees and hunting small game such as rabbits. Since he retired from MVSU in July 2006, Moore said he now uses his spare time to “do nothing.”

His friends disagree.

Moore “spends a lot of time thinking about how to help other people,” said Leroy Ware, Leflore County tax assessor.

Ware and Moore are both active members of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Browning.

“A lot of folk would be surprised at this: Robert is very religious,” Ware said. Doing God’s will plays a big part in Moore’s decision-making, Ware said.

Browning resident Richard Fluker also attends church with Moore, who did a lot to welcome him to the community. Fluker said Moore is a good friend who has been “instrumental” in his life.

When Fluker moved back to Browning from California in 1987, he felt disconnected and wanted to head back to the West Coast. Moore befriended him and helped him get involved in the church and other organizations.

“He’s certainly the cause that I’m here,” Fluker said.

Fluker said he has never heard Moore argue with anyone. “He doesn’t talk about

Robert Moore is known for many aspects of his life. He serves as president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors, is retired from Mississippi Valley State University, where he was director of the social work program, and is host of the “Let’s Talk” radio program.

himself,” Fluker said. “He treats everybody the same.”

Moore is divorced and has three grown children. One attends MVSU, one teaches at Amanda Elzy High School and one is a physical therapist in Jackson.

Regarding the development of his interests, Moore said, “That’s how the chips fell.” He spent two years as a math major at Jackson State University but dropped out and went into the Marine Corps. After three years in the Marines, he returned to earn a degree in sociology.

He went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He then worked simultaneously as a youth court counselor on the Gulf Coast and in a delinquency prevention program and later at MVSU. At one point, Moore was director for both the university’s social work program and the Center for Economic Development. He “did lot of community work to help blacks get elected to public office,” he said.

He took a leave of absence from the social work job to direct the center full time for the next nine years. Though retired now, he remains interested in fostering small businesses through technical assistance, development plans, financing and

grant writing.

Moore has also been involved with housing developments, such as Three Rivers Community and Economic Development Corp., a housing rehabilitation program in Itta Bena, day-care centers and youth programs.

“The things we did at the center were strong in economic and community development and housing,” he said.

Moore still enjoys his radio show, “Let’s Talk,” which airs on WGNL 104.3 FM on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. It was originally sponsored by the Center for Economic Development and then taken over by Three Rivers.

“It is a public service and keeps people informed,” he said.

Since it stemmed from the center, the program’s original focus was economic development. The subject matter has evolved.

“Now we find that people have a diversity of issues and concerns,” he said.

People most often call in about “violence and the lack of positive environment by young folk,” he said.

As far as his tenure in politics goes, Moore wants to continue “as long as I can be useful and helpful to people ... but when people see I’m no longer helpful, then they’ll select someone else to do this job.” LI Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 7

Henry and Gladys Fant have been involved with Scouting for 25 years.

BY RACHEL HODGE

W

hen Gladys and Henry Fant’s oldest son Tokia joined the Tiger Scouts at St. Francis of Assisi School in 1982, the couple probably never figured it would become a lifetime commitment for them.

But with Tokia, now 31, living in Ohio and their younger son, Hank, in his senior year at Mississippi Valley State University, the Fants are still very involved in Scouting.

The Fants, who live in Itta Bena, work with five Boy Scout groups in the area, including Amanda Elzy Pack 4384, St. Francis Pack and Troop 4370 and Samuel Chapel United Methodist Church Pack and Troop 4211.

When asked what they do with the Boy Scouts, Gladys laughed and said, “I can’t think of anything we’ve not done!”

“Scouting and sports — that’s our life,” said Henry, who, in addition to teaching American government and economics at Amanda Elzy High School, also coaches football and baseball and serves as the athletic director. He teaches swimming

8 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Living the Scouting life lessons at the public pool in the summer.

Gladys works at MVSU. She said that because of her husband’s job and all the work they do with children, people often assume she is a teacher, but she is the administrative secretary in the Office of Sponsored Programs at the university.

The couple first became interested in Scouting as volunteer parents and den leaders when their sons joined the Boy Scouts. They believe all parents should work with their own children and be directly involved in their lives. Gladys became a unit commissioner when she tried to sit in for her husband at a leadership training session.

Their story is unusual not just because they are still working with the Boy Scouts after their own sons are grown, but because they were more involved than many parents in the first place.

“The hardest thing is to get parents to get involved and go Scouting,” Gladys said.

Henry explains that for some parents, it is not the amount of time required that puts them off, but the activities. It can be intimidating for a parent who may not know much about the outdoors to be expected to take kids camping in the woods.

The Fants said their leadership training has helped them get through all those camping trips. They have faced all kinds of difficulties, from allergies to bad weather to a child who refused to sit on the ground.

They said they also owe much of their success to two Scout leaders, both now deceased, who helped the couple get started in the right direction. The Fants believe that James Cash and Dick Tipton

were the ultimate Scout leaders, and they exemplified the true meaning of Scouting.

Lately, the Fants have been trying to get more involved with other community activities, especially at their church, Samuel Chapel United Methodist. They feel that since they are getting older, older people need them now, but it has caused conflicts with the Boy Scouts more and more.

Though the Fants have kept a positive attitude and make it all seem easy, their choice to make children their priority has required some sacrifice. They have given up much free time and many weekend vacations. Henry especially misses fishing trips, saying he has two boats sitting at their house that have not seen water in almost a decade.

But according to Gladys, there is really not much to her secret of keeping it all together: “I just try to be where I’m supposed to be, do what I’m supposed to do and make sure everyone else knows what to do, too.”

It’s been 25 years, but the Fants have few regrets about the time they’ve spent Scouting.

“If I had to do it all over, I’d do it basically the same way,” Henry said. “Children are our ministry.” LI

Leflore County’s Top 10 Employers 1. Viking Range Corp. — 1,401 employees. Commercial-type kitchen appliances for the home.

2. Greenwood Leflore Hospital — 954 employees. Health care.

3. Mississippi Valley State University — 775 employees.

Higher education.

4. Leflore County Schools — 519 employees. Elementary and secondary education.

5. Greenwood Public Schools — 458 employees. Elementary and secondary education.

6. Staplcotn — 450 seasonal and 248 office employees. Cotton cooperative.

7. Heartland Catfish — 420 employees. Catfish processing.

8. Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp.

— 407 employees. Electric drills, saws, grinders and rotary hammers.

9. America’s Catch — 372 employees. Catfish processing.

10. John-Richard — 350 employees.

Pictures, lamps, mirrors and decorative accessories.

Delta culture

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Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 9

PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN

Tallahatchie Flats: A few miles and about 70 years away

Charles “Mr. Bubba” Carter, the manager of Tallahatchie Flats, is assisted by Bags, a friendly German shepherd.

F

BY BOB and JO ALICE DARDEN

olks interested in doing a little time travel can take a short trip out Money Road, less than a mile beyond Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, where blues icon Robert Johnson is said to be buried, and about 70 years into the past.

Tallahatchie Flats is a row of six tenement houses, each built in the 1930s or 1940s, lovingly gathered from cotton fields all over the Delta, brought to the south bank of the Tallahatchie River and more or less updated inside. For hunters, those following a blues trail, and others who seek an experience as close to that of living in a cotton field shotgun shack as possible but still want access to modern conveniences, Tallahatchie Flats is the place.

This new Leflore County attraction hosted its first guests in November 2006.

Greeting us from the large shack that doubles as an office at the east end of the row was manager/attendant/concierge/tour guide/host extraordinaire Mr. Bubba, also known as Charles Carter. Carter lives on the property with his German shepherd puppy Bags (short for “Bad A** German shepherd”). Carter is a native New Yorker who is retired from the “rat race” and enjoying the peace and quiet his new job affords him.

He checked us in and handed us our guest kit — a galvanized wash tub contain-

10 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

The office at Tallahatchie Flats has the appearance of a country store complete with tin signs.

ing soap, coffee, a couple of dish towels, a bottle opener, the remote control for the air conditioner and the key to our shack – and walked us over to “The Red House,” where we would stay. The Web site for the place, www.tallahatchieflats.com, explains the name of each of the cabins.

Mr. Bubba walked us through the Red House — the name is self-evident — and pointed out its features. It has a living room, a dining area, a spacious kitchen, a tiny bathroom with a shower and a generous supply of clean linens, a large bedroom with a king-size bed, and a small bedroom with a set of twin beds. This house is the largest and most updated; it even has a flatscreen satellite television in the living room.

It also has a bottle of white wine cooling in a bucket of ice in the fridge.

Do all guests receive this elegant a welcome?

“It’s all relative,” Mr. Bubba explained.

Recent guests were a couple who had seen an article about Tallahatchie Flats in another publication. They made reservations to celebrate their wedding anniversary there.

“So I had a bottle of champagne chilling for them, with balloons.” The duck hunters in November, he said, got a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

Each house has a front porch and a back porch. The back porches overlook the river, and at this time of year, they’re where you want to be for the often breathtaking sunsets visible through the trees that line the riverbanks.

As we were getting settled, Tallahatchie Flats co-owner Billy Whittington, on whose property the motor court is situated,

This dining room in the Red House offers a place to spend some time.

A blues marker honoring legendary bluesman Robert Johnson stands on Money Road near Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, which is believed to be his resting place.

stopped by to welcome us and tell us a little about the business venture.

It seemed, we said, that staying in one of the shacks is like going camping or hiking “to get away from it all,” but bringing a lot of “it” with you — electricity, modern plumbing, television and major kitchen appliances, including a microwave oven in each shack.

And it seemed odd that people would want to stay in shacks that likely hold so many memories of struggle and hardship, though the sharecropper shacks are definitely catching the attention of tourists.

“You have to walk a fine line between authenticity and livability,” Whittington said. The farmer and his wife, Aubrey, are partners in Tallahatchie Flats with contractor Stuart Fincher and blues aficionado and entrepreneur Steve LaVere. Whittington said they left as much as possible intact — the original rough plank flooring through which you can see daylight, soot-darkened beaded-board walls, tin roofs — but had to balance it with modern conveniences or no one would want to visit.

His wife, he said, is the chief interior designer, forever scouring antique stores and flea markets for period-authentic furniture and accessories, such as a cotton-picking bag hanging on one wall in the large bedroom and a montage of John Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy given “Roll of Honor” status and identified as “The Three That Set Us Free.”

“This is a work in progress,” said Whittington, “and probably always will be.

This tranquil view of a sunset from the back porch of the Red House is just one of the reasons to make a trip to Tallahatchie Flats.

“Will one air conditioner (for each shack) be enough? I don’t know — we haven’t gotten through a summer yet. And I don’t know whether the tin roof will help or hurt in the heat. We’ll have to see.”

We had brought barbecue from Steven’s in Greenwood and ate it at the little wooden table in the dining area on simple old wood chairs, with plates and utensils from the kitchen.

Later that evening, visiting with Mr. Bubba and Bags on our front porch, we got a small taste of how quiet the country can be.

There was not a sound except for a gentle breeze that whispered at intervals through the treetops. Even cars driving past seemed to give little evidence of their presence.

“Seven telephone poles,” said Mr. Bubba. “That’s how long it takes to get rid of the sound of a car passing.” By the time a car passes the seventh telephone pole in its drive toward Greenwood, it can’t be heard

anymore.

Sleep was deep, peaceful and uninterrupted. Hot water was plentiful. We had to check out early, regretting only that we didn’t have a chance to enjoy a stroll along the river walk carved out by the Corps of Engineers during flood-control work. The walk, Whittington said, stretches almost all the way to Little Zion.

Plans for the place include adding five more shacks and a commissary to be called the Tallahatchie Tavern, according to LaVere, who said the idea for the cabins came from the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale.

LaVere said once the tavern is in place, the owners then will apply for resort status so they can serve alcohol. He said the tavern will be a meeting place, making a nice adjunct to the collection of houses.

Until then, even without the tavern, Tallahatchie Flats is a peaceful, quiet place to enjoy a bit of Mississippi’s rustic past — without having to rough it too much. LI Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 11

An Experience Both Rare and Well Done!

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PHOTO BY AMY McCULLOUGH

MAKING THE ROUNDS

BY AMY McCULLOUGH

I

f you’re visiting or new to town, don’t have kids to tend to and are looking for a social life, what do you do?

In a way, Greenwood’s small size can be an asset, because everything you’re looking for can be found in a handful of places.

Many locals will tell you to start at happy hour at The Alluvian hotel.

On Thursday and Friday nights from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m., one of the premier hotels in Mississippi — which, among many other accolades, has made the list of “56 Hotels We Love” in National Geographic Traveler — provides live music, a martini of the month, hotel guests and friendly flatlanders to greet them.

“We are thankful for The Alluvian happy hour,” said Greenwood native Thomas Gregory, who calls it home base.

During his hometown return between undergraduate and graduate school, Gregory has hosted a Web blog, The Delta Dirt, offering information regularly on what he calls “What’s Good in the ’Wood.”

“The only place I would want to live in the Delta is Greenwood, because it’s the place that’s got the most going for it,” Gregory said. However, he added, “You kind of have to make your own fun. ... You’ve got to actively pursue happiness.”

The Alluvian is a great way to start off the weekend and make connections so you can do that.

When socialites depart the hotel, they often go to Webster’s Food and Drink or the Blue Parrot Café for more live music and some dinner.

Webster’s serves up a wide range of American food — from chicken wings to steak, seafood, pasta or tenderloin — while

the Blue Parrot offers a variety of Latin dishes. Musicians might be pianists, singer-songwriters or jazz trios.

Other diners will flock to The Delta Fresh Market & Deli. Although it usually serves upscale Southern entrees, Delta Fresh Market takes a Spanish twist and adds tapas to its menu on Thursday nights.

The restaurant’s sushi night on Wednesdays is also popular. Just don’t be shocked when you see fried catfish as an ingredient in a rather creative roll. You are, after all, eating sushi in the Delta.

If you’re lucky, Turnrow Book Co. might be holding an author signing, reading and reception.

Instead of just waiting for it to come knocking on your door, Greenwoodians’ advice is to get out there and find some fun.

Otherwise, you might miss out on future crawfish parties, spring festivals, a tennis season — non-club members can play — a bowling league or anything else laid-back Delta residents can cook up. LI

Clockwise, from left, Thomas Gregory, Garry Graves, Ryan Robertson, Peyton Yeoman, Steven Cookston and Wade Litton enjoy a Thursday happy hour on The Alluvian patio before bowling at Leflore Lanes.

14 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

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Healing Hearts

BY AMY McCULLOUGH

T

he Cardiac Rehab Center at Greenwood Leflore Hospital doesn’t just aim to help people recover from heart problems; it encourages them to adopt good health habits for life.

“We don’t want (patients) to just come in and go through a cardiac rehab program for 12 weeks and then stop their exercise,” said John Cook, exercise physiologist and director of the Outpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center. “We want them to continue a lifestyle of fitness and health and taking care of their bodies by continuing their exercise.”

Mississippi has the nation’s highest rate of heart disease, and many local patients benefit from this lab that teaches “lifestyle modification.”

Cardiac patients are the ones who are most devoted to modifying their lifestyles, said cardiac rehab nurse Lee Bell. Because

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREENWOOD LEFLORE HOSPITAL

many of them have been through a serious event or surgery, they are motivated, Bell said.

During a rehabilitation program, which can last four to six weeks, Bell teaches patients about proper nutrition, food preparation, exercise and how their heart disease will affect them.

The Cardiac Rehab Center was created in 1999. It is within the hospital’s Outpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center, which also provides occupational and speech therapy and houses the Wellness Center.

“We are kind of a multi-disciplinary center, in that we have a lot of different services under one roof,” Cook said. “That way people can have one-stop shopping.”

The cardiac unit has earned national accreditation by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Cook and Bell stress the importance of accreditation.

“It ensures that you are providing the highest standard of care,” Bell said.

Bell explains to patients that genetics can contribute to heart disease, but usually there are other predisposing factors.

These are lifestyle habits, such as smoking, being sedentary and eating foods with fatty cholesterol, which build up inside arteries over years. Diabetes and hypertension also contribute to heart disease. Some people have a combination of all of them.

Also, “this area is notorious for people coming in saying, ‘We just love to eat,’” she said.

Bell said she mainly attributes the health problems to eating choices. “I just think that probably has to do with the socio-economic level … it’s a poor region, and it’s

what you eat, and it’s lifestyle,” she said.

In the Delta, people often cook with saturated fats, such as lard, Cook said. The build-up of plaque results in more narrow arteries with less elasticity. This leads to higher blood pressure, as there is more pressure on smaller surfaces, and so the heart must work harder.

Those conditions can lead to chest pains, shortness of breath, arm pains, abnormal heart rhythms or heart attacks, Cook said.

Heart disease patients who are given a doctor’s referral may come to the Cardiac Rehab Center and receive an “initial exercise prescription,” Bell said.

While exercising, their heart rates are monitored, and blood pressure and oxygen levels are checked.

Everything is kept light, Bell said. Patients exercise for approximately an hour to an hour and 15 minutes three times a week.

If they wish, graduates of the program may join the Wellness Center, where staff members are always on hand to help them use various exercise machines.

“The more you exercise, the stronger the heart is. So we tell them, ‘This is for life,’” Bell said.

Everyone is discharged with a home exercise program, so they can work out even if they do not come to the Wellness Center.

Bell, a Greenwood native, said she loves her work.

“It’s rewarding. It’s fun to see people come in and get better.”

The Wellness Center is open to the public. There is a fee to join, and senior citizens receive a discount. LI From the left, Cardiac Rehab Center patients Willola Gray, Inez Raines, Reese Makamson and Roosevelt Hicks use treadmills and other workout equipment while having their hearts monitored.

Nurse Lee Bell challenges patients but never pushes them past anything they think they can’t do.

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 17

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Artist and illustrator: Allan Hammons does it all

BY BOB DARDEN

A

llan Hammons has an eye for detail.

The ability to draw or, more precisely, to illustrate people, places and things is something that Hammons has possessed and honed from his childhood days growing up in Greenwood.

“I’ve done it all my life. I learned to draw — intuitively draw, I guess — when I was very young. I’ve sort of stuck with it,” Hammons, 58, said.

Although Hammons, the president of the Greenwood advertising agency Hammons & Associates, could be called an artist, he prefers to call himself an illustrator.

“When I was growing up, most of the images in the magazines were illustrations,” he said.

Many of the popular magazines of the 1940s and 1950s relied on illustrations for their covers as well as for their articles and ads, he said.

“I guess you could say I had a natural interest in what I saw in magazines, and I wanted to see if I could do that. I had a desire to try and do it,” Hammons said.

Drawing came naturally.

“I’d pull out a pad, like a lot of people might play tic-tac-toe. I liked to sketch and draw, and a lot of it came right out of my head,” he said.

Hammons, the 2004 recipient of the Greenwood Commonwealth’s Community Service Award, said he had the gift of perspective. “The scaled relationships — things that were closer would appear larger.

I don’t know why I saw it that way. I had that visual connection between my eyes and my hands — to take what appears real to us in the third dimension and convert it to two dimensions,” Hammons said.

In fourth grade, Hammons’ teacher at Davis Elementary School, Lucille Johnson, 18 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Allan Hammons, president of Hammons & Associates, likes to call himself an illustrator. Aided by computer software such as Adobe Illustrator, Hammons is able to give a two-dimensional subject amazing depth.

saw potential in his work.

That led Hammons to a long association with Greenwood-based artist Leny Wacht.

“She had moved to this country from Germany at the beginning of World War II, in the late 1930s,” he said.

Wacht had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later came to Greenwood with her husband and “set up shop” giving art lessons to youngsters, Hammons said.

“I enjoyed what she exposed me to and studied with her until I left high school,” he said.

Hammons graduated from Greenwood High School in 1966. He proceeded to go to Delta State University, where he majored in graphic design.

Hammons said his father, William, the manager of a Greenwood Singer sewing machine store, and his mother, Maurine, didn’t have a similar interest in art.

“I don’t know if I can point to anyone in my family that I have ever known that had it. It just pops up every now and again, I guess,” he said.

Hammons was an avid model builder in

his youth. Building and handling objects such as model planes also gave him a sense of perspective, he said.

“You learn a lot about things from model building. If I had a set of blueprints to something, I could look at the blueprints and kind of figure out what this thing would look like as a real object,” he said.

Hammons’ first job out of college was bringing dry architectural plans to life by making artist renderings that reflected how the building would look to the human eye.

“I eked out a living doing that,” he said.

It was during this time that Hammons completed seven or eight commission pieces of Greenwood landmarks, such as the Leflore County Courthouse for the Bank of Commerce and others.

More recently, Hammons has begun to use his computer and the software programs “Photoshop” and “Illustrator” to capture images.

“A lot of times, I’ll create a drawing in Illustrator and then I’ll render it, paint it, in Photoshop. The technique is really not

much different” than working in water colors or with a drawing pad, he said.

“I do use a mouse, though. That surprises a lot of people. It takes some thinking and planning but the results are pretty interesting.”

Regardless of the medium used, he said, planning an illustration is a major part of the finished product.

“Water colors are my medium of choice.

Water color is about 95 percent planning and 5 percent execution because you don’t have many chances with it,” Hammons said.

The technique for water colors also requires a different approach when it comes to light and dark objects.

“In water color, you’re sort of reversing what you do in oil painting. You work from light to dark. In oil painting, you do just the opposite,” he said.

Whether it’s an airplane, a locomotive, a human face or the portrait of the family dog, each illustration presents its own challenges, Hammons said.

“An airplane is very defined. Humans, no two of us are exactly alike. Therein lies a little bit of latitude. I think, when you get into human faces, particularly in water color, you get a little more detail.”

Hammons said there are three rules for

“You learn a lot about things from model building.”

— Allan Hammons an artist or illustrator: Rule No. 1. See the object.

Rule No. 2. Observe.

Rule No. 3. Remember.

“If you see something, that’s pretty generic — we all see. An artist generally makes a lot of observations. By that I mean, how tall is it compared to how wide is it?

How dark is it compared to this object over here,” he said.

Such perspective helps to give illustrations a three-dimensional quality, such as an illustration of a locomotive.

“From studying photographs of this thing, I know what parts stick out. I know what parts recede. Those kinds of things make it or break it in my opinion,” he said.

Hammons said he is always pushing the envelope.

“I almost carry it to the extreme, to see how far I can come to creating the illusion of the real thing,” he said. LI

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Margaret Carl: Her role in the Viking story

BY JO ALICE DARDEN

A

t first, Margaret Leflore’s parents didn’t quite catch on to the kind of force they were dealing with when they told their 15-year-old daughter she would not be allowed to date any boy more than two years older than she was.

The problem? The only boy she wanted to date was four years older — Fred Carl.

“We all know how creative Freddie is,” said Margaret Carl, 54, who has been married to the Greenwood entrepreneur for nearly 37 years. “There’s no telling him no.”

The man who would eventually form Viking Range Corp., launch a global revolution in residential kitchen design, provide jobs for well over a thousand people and lead the economic and, many say, cultural resuscitation of his Delta hometown would first have to charm a set of concerned and highly protective parents.

Growing up in the same neighborhood, Fred and Margaret were always aware of each other, but it wasn’t until Fred saw Margaret at Leflore Bowling Lanes when they were out with other people that Fred expressed an interest in dating the pretty brunette.

Would she see him? He sent a friend of his to ask a friend of hers. “Well, he does have pretty eyes,” she thought.

But they still had to work around that age problem.

“Freddie would have a friend who was one or two years older than I was pick me up for a date, and we’d meet at Lackey’s or Giardina’s (on West Park Avenue) and make the swap,” she explained. At the end of the evening, they’d switch back, and the boy who had picked her up would deliver her back to her parents’ house.

The nights when the friend didn’t show up to complete his responsibilities were a little more complicated, Margaret said.

“There were a few times Freddie had to 20 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Margaret Carl, whose husband Fred Carl revolutionized the residential kitchen appliance industry through Viking Range Corp., said new Viking products are being introduced so fast these days that she no longer gets to be a product tester herself.

take me home, so he would just barely slow the car down enough to let me jump out.”

When she was 16, she told her parents the truth, letting them know the two were serious about each other and wanted to marry, and they relented.

In those uneasy days of the war in Vietnam, when all males age 18 and over had to register for the draft and be assigned a draft number based on their birthday,

Fred’s draft number was four. If he was drafted, which was almost a certainty with a number that low, the young couple was sure he’d be sent to Vietnam.

“He joined the Naval Air Reserve in Millington (Tenn.),” Margaret said. “After training, most of the other guys got assigned to ships. Freddie got Iceland! Iceland?

Where was that?”

The assignment came with good news,

though. Although service wives could not be with their husbands who were assigned to ships, they could often go with those assigned to countries. The couple could be together after they were married.

Fred began serving his time; Margaret graduated from Greenwood High School in May 1970; they were married in July.

Margaret joined Fred in Iceland for the final year of his 22-month tour of duty there.

On their return home, college became a priority for both. Margaret enrolled at Mississippi Delta Junior (now Community) College in Moorhead and earned an associate degree in nursing in 1974. While Fred earned his degree in business from Delta State University, Margaret became a doctor’s office nurse.

For the next several years, Margaret worked as a nurse while the couple lived in Starkville, Oxford and Jackson, as Fred studied architecture and city planning and worked in construction. Margaret acquired experience and training as an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse in Starkville, an operating room (OR) nurse at St. Dominic’s in Jackson and an OR, ICU and recovery room nurse at the hospital in Oxford.

In November 1976 in Oxford, while she was expecting their son, she experienced what she thought was labor. It turned out to be a kidney infection, and she was hospitalized. Once it was determined that the problem was not labor, Fred and other family members who had gathered for the birth left the hospital.

After they were gone, of course, Margaret went into labor.

In that era without cell phones, she had some difficulty reaching Fred, but eventually he was located, and Chris was born shortly after midnight on Nov. 13. In the recovery room after delivery, she found herself, ever the nurse, instructing another new mother on what to do when she thought she was going to be sick.

After about six weeks of maternity leave, Margaret returned to work as an OR nurse.

The couple arranged their schedules so that she worked while Fred was not in class, and Fred could keep their new son. “Fred was a great baby-sitter,” Margaret said.

In 1977, the family moved to Jackson, where Margaret was an OR nurse at St. Dominic’s and Fred was building superintendent with developer Fred Craig; the project was the Eastbrooke Condominiums. On his own time, Fred

Margaret and Fred Carl travel extensively for Viking to company and industry events and conferences, but she always loves coming home. The couple recently had the living and dining areas redecorated in cool, inviting neutrals.

designed homes for individuals.

“He had his drawing table set up in our spare room,” Margaret said.

Back in Greenwood, where the couple’s parents still lived, Dr. Dick Meek had started a construction project, and Fred heard he needed someone to oversee the work. The men talked and agreed Fred was perfect for the job, and the young family was on its way back home.

Together Fred and Dick Meek established the Belmont Construction Co. in Greenwood, named, Margaret said, for Belmont Park in New York, where the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel in horse racing’s annual Triple Crown, is run. The partnership ended in the 1980s.

After a bout with meningitis, when she was unable to work for about two months, nursing at Greenwood Leflore Hospital kept Margaret busy.

“The hospital went from four operating rooms to a large surgical suite while I was there,” Margaret said. “They made tremendous progress.” She left the hospital in 1993 so she could spend more time with Fred.

Viking was taking off, and arranging to take time from nursing to travel with her husband was getting increasingly difficult.

“Even now, sometimes I’ll dream I’ve gone back to nursing,” Margaret said, and she’ll wake up in a panic. “No, my license is inactive,” she’ll think — “I’m not supposed to be doing this!”

The Viking legend By now, practically everyone has heard how Viking Range Corp. got started — that Margaret wanted an “institutional-looking” stove like the ancient Chambers model that her mother had gotten from her grandmother and that was no longer being manufactured. When they couldn’t find anything like it, Fred designed a prototype, and poof!

Viking was born.

It wasn’t quite that easy, Margaret said.

As a fourth-generation contractor and designer, Fred wanted to design “something different” for the house they were building in 1980, she said, but his options seemed limited. He asked Margaret what kind of stove she wanted for their new kitchen, and she told him one like the Chambers that had been in her family.

They could find nothing even similar. “I settled for a Jenn-Air,” said Margaret.

It perplexed Fred that no one made the kind of range he and Margaret were looking for. The closest thing was a true commercial appliance. However, Margaret explained, using one of those in a residential kitchen required extra insulation because of the intense heat, reinforced flooring to support the extra weight, a dedicated sprinkler system and standing pilots – and if you could swing all that, your homeowners insurance would be voided because of the increased Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 21

fire risk.

Fred asked KitchenAid in Oxford if they’d be willing to help. “They thought we were crazy. They said, ‘Why would we want to do that? There’s no money in it,’” Margaret said, referring to the commerciallook trend. “Well, now, of course, every (appliance manufacturer) is doing it.”

As Fred worked on his designs and searched for investors, Margaret took on extra hours at Greenwood Leflore Hospital to help with their living expenses.

Fred found a manufacturer in Los Angeles that was willing to build his prototype, and when it was ready, he and Margaret flew out to see it.

“We couldn’t afford my plane ticket,” she said. “Mama bought it for me.”

The Carls were pleased with the design, but the company said it would not be able to manufacture the product for distribution.

Fred got on the phone immediately and found a manufacturer across Los Angeles that could handle the work. Fred and Margaret rented a U-Haul trailer and transported the 845-pound range across town.

The company started manufacturing Viking ranges in December 1986; the first one shipped from Gardena, Calif., in 1987.

“It took some time to catch on,” Margaret said. But once it did, the commercial look for residential kitchens exploded, changing forever how kitchens are designed. All the major appliance manufacturers now have followed Viking’s lead.

Setting up corporate headquarters in Greenwood was not a difficult decision for Fred; he’d always loved it here and wanted to do good for his hometown, Margaret said.

Herself a Viking employee, helping with the hospitality division, Margaret said, “We have a great town and a great place to live. I do believe it will continue to get even better.”

Her heart is full with respect and love for the people who make Viking successful. “I appreciate all the wonderful people we have working at Viking,” she said. “I know that no matter what Freddie has done or continues to do, it wouldn’t be anything without all the people who make it what it is.”

Did Fred know what Viking would become? Did he actually envision the kind of success Viking has produced?

Margaret laughed. “He had no idea,” she said. “He never dreamed it would be this big. We even had a real back-up plan. If this didn’t work out, we were going to move to Frisco, Colo., so we could ski and Fred could build houses.” LI 22 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

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A sanctuary staple

A

BY RACHEL HODGE

church sanctuary is the type of place that demands a little extra attention in its design. Unlike other types of rooms, every detail, from the vaulted ceiling to the immaculate pulpit, is well thought out because it is being built for the glory of God. Because of this, stained glass windows have long been a staple in churches all over the world.

Greenwood is no exception to this rule.

Walk into any church sanctuary downtown, and you can witness the cross between elegant artistry and brilliant engineering that is a stained glass window.

Some may consider the creation of stained glass a forgotten art form. In Greenwood, for example, many of the church windows are as old as the churches themselves, built more than 100 years ago, and anyone involved in their conception is now long gone. However, other churches have windows that were constructed or restored within the past 20 years — not brand new by any means, but getting closer to it.

Stained glass windows have been around since ancient times, but they first reached the height of their popularity in the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages.

Unfortunately, few medieval windows remain in Europe today. Many were smashed and replaced with plain glass windows during the Protestant Reformation, and others that survived that period later became casualties of war.

One result of the rise and fall — and then subsequent revival — of stained glass artwork is that the methods for creating the windows have changed.

Modern stained glass windows are made primarily with machine-made glass, known as slab glass. The thick glass is broken into pieces and used to make the windows.

Two churches on Grand Boulevard,

North Greenwood Baptist Church and St. John’s United Methodist Church, have windows in their sanctuaries made of slab glass.

Both of the churches’ windows are composed primarily of pieces of glass in various shades of blue and green. The colors, according to information gathered at St. John’s, symbolize heaven and earth or nature, to remind the congregation of God’s creations and the hope for eternal life. Purple, a variation on blue, is a royal color, to symbolize that Christ is the “King of Kings.”

First United Methodist Church on West Washington Street has stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of Christ, which is a common theme for stained glass found in churches. The practice of adorning churches with biblically themed artwork began when churches were trying to spread the word of God to a poor and largely illiterate population.

First United Methodist’s stained glass windows are as old as the church building, which was completed in 1899. They are believed to be designed by German artists Johann Heinrich Hofmann and Bernard

Plockhorst.

These windows are made of leaded glass that was hand-painted and fired. This is another example of how stained glass-making has changed. In the past 200 years, it has become more common to paint the glass, whereas previously metallic oxides were added to the glass to color it.

Another common practice involving stained glass windows in churches is the donation of windows as a memorial to loved ones. This is evident at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity on Howard Street, which has ornate stained glass memorials circling its entire sanctuary.

Several other churches in town — including First Presbyterian downtown, Immanuel Baptist on Medallion Drive, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and First Baptist Church, both on West Washington Street, and New Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Carrollton Avenue — also have lovely stained glass displays. Today’s more literate congregations may no longer need illustrations to tell the stories of the Bible, but they are still inspired by the beautiful works of art. LI

Many Leflore County churches have beautiful stained glass windows. Clockwise from left are panes from First United Methodist Church, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and First Presbyterian Church, all in Greenwood.

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 23

GOOD EATS F

olks around Greenwood, Itta Bena and, really, all of Leflore County tend to talk about good food in the same breath as good times.

Someone will say, “Remember the shrimp that night?” and another person will add, “What about the time we had those steaks?” Then, somebody will start to talk about the grilled fish on the West Coast or a filet of beef in New York. But was this any better than the pompano and steak in Greenwood? The catfish, rolls, greens, cakes and pies? No way, they’ll say. The food in their own hometown sets the standard — for any meal, any place, any time.

The Crystal Grill 423 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American Signature entree: Veal Cutlet Full Bar Some rooms non-smoking Hours of operation: 11 am.-10 p.m. (Tuesday - Sunday)

China Blossom

Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 453-6530

Greenwood

Larry’s Fish

Type of cuisine: Chinese & American Signature entree: Steak & Shrimp Kew

4238 Highway 7 South

917 Highway 82 West

& Steak Cantonese

Full Bar Non-smoking Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday); 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. (Friday & Saturday); 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Sunday);

Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 453-3297 24 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

House Itta Bena

Type of cuisine: Southern Signature entree: Catfish Hours of operation: 5 p.m.-9 p.m. (Thursday - Saturday); 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (Friday) Price range (per person ):

Lunch: $10-$20 Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 254-6001

Lusco’s

722 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American with an Italian flair Signature entree: Steaks & Seafood (Lusco’s Broiled Shrimp, Fried Shrimp & Pompano)

Beer and Setups: You may bring your own wine or liquor.

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

(Tuesday-Saturday)

Price range (per person ): $10-$30 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 453-5365

Giardina’s

Mockingbird Bakery 325B Howard Street

314 Howard Street Greenwood

Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Steak, Seafood, Italian Signature entree: Filet, Grouper, Veal and Pompano Full Bar Non-smoking Hours of operation: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Saturday) 5 p.m.-8 p.m. (Sunday) Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 455-4227 Web site: www.giardinas.com E-mail: fleflore@giardinas.com

Type of cuisine: Gourmet Southern Breakfast, Signature Sandwiches, Artisan Breads, Specialty Coffees & Mouth-Watering Desserts Signature entree: Big Bubba Breakfast, Benji Burger, Donald Dog, The Frozen Mocha & Frozen Vanilla Latte Non-smoking, Handicapped accessible

Hours of operation: 7 a.m.-4p.m. (Monday-Saturday)

Price range (per person ): Lunch: Under $10 Phone: (662) 453-9927

Delta Fresh Market 301 West Park Ave.

Greenwood Type of cuisine:Southern Eclectic Signature entree: Fried Green Tomato BLT, Grilled Salmon Salad, Daily Specials Full Bar Non-smoking Hours of operation: Market: 9 a.m.-6p.m. (Monday-Saturday) Restaurant: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (Monday-Tuesday) 10 a.m.-9 p.m. (Wednesday-Saturday)

Handicapped accessible Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Phone: (662) 455-9575

Mai Little China 617 West Park Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: International Signature entree: Hot and Sour Pompano, Hand-Cut Dry-Aged Steaks (100% Certified Black Angus)

Alcoholic Beverages: Beer and Wine Coolers Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. & 5 p.m.-9 p.m. (Mon.-Sat.) Handicapped accessible Non-smoking Reservations recommended Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Phone: (662) 451-1101

d i n i n g

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 25

Tonya Waldrop, at the grill, and her husband, Brian, always had an outdoor kitchen in mind when planning their house on Dunklin Avenue in North Greenwood. The 600-squarefoot space contains many Viking appliances and plenty of space for guests.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Casual elegance from indoors out

G

BY JO ALICE DARDEN

reenwood folks used to say – some with a twisted sense of pride – it takes a trend about five years to arrive here after it sweeps across the country.

Thanks in large part to the Internet, an explosion in home improvement magazines and, in no small part, to Viking Range Corp., Greenwood is speeding up its trend-getting and has occasionally even broken into trend-setting.

Case in point: outdoor kitchens. Prime example: the new home of Tonya and Brian Waldrop of Greenwood.

The Waldrops have built a state-of-theart, high-tech, computerized-everything house in a style often associated with South Carolina’s Low Country – two stories, built 26 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

with the first floor high off the land, a deep front porch and a respect for both history and nature.

Inside, the comfortable space is open and airy with an abundance of light from windows of generous proportions, many of them with a view to the back deck, where the family’s outdoor kitchen is located.

Driven by the massive lifestyle changes brought on by the residential adoption of commercial-type appliances, which Viking introduced to the world, the enthusiasm over outdoor kitchens has caught families by surprise and delight. Even kids are staying home to help with the cooking now.

“Our whole family loves to cook,” Tonya Waldrop said. Even the boys? They have two sons, Mark, an 18-year-old freshman in aerospace engineering at Mississippi State University, and Matthew, a 16-year-old sophomore at Pillow Academy.

“Even the boys,” Tonya said.

“They like helping, flipping burgers and so on — until it’s time to clean up,” Brian

added. Then the boys become scarce.

An outdoor kitchen was in the couple’s plans from the beginning when they knew they would build their large new home on Dunklin Avenue in North Greenwood.

Moving into the house in August 2006, the Waldrops have been able to personally oversee many of the final-touch details of the project, including the design and installation of the 600-square-foot outdoor kitchen and the outdoor rooms that surround it.

Brian, 46, is the chief financial officer at Viking; Tonya, 43, teaches AP physics and chemistry and honors chemistry at Pillow.

They met when they were attending Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. Brian was with Frigidaire before he came to work for Viking and moved to Greenwood in 1991; Tonya followed in 1992.

“I love being outside and cooking outdoors,” said Brian. “And I love Viking products and using those products. Everything tastes better when it’s cooked outside.”

Not surprisingly, the kitchen is fully

equipped with Viking appliances, including an electric smoker oven, a 41-inch gas grill and side burner, a warming drawer, a searing grill (for quickly searing in meat juices), an ice maker, a wok and a refrigerator. And all the cabinets are Viking stainless.

The outdoor rooms around the kitchen include a counter with bar stools, a dining area under a pergola that overlooks the backyard and a conversation area closer to the house. Tonya has planned a kitchen herb garden at the foot of the stairs leading down to the backyard.

The couple said they grill nearly every weekend. Ribs, beef brisket, steaks and burgers are their outdoor kitchen staples.

The Waldrops agree that one of the best aspects of having an outdoor kitchen is the enjoyment and relaxation of cooking while family and guests sit and visit or help with the process. They’ve done a lot of entertaining since they’ve moved in and plan to do much more. Their church group — they attend First Baptist of Greenwood — is planning a cookout on the Waldrops’ deck in May. “We love to cook, and we love to entertain,” said Brian. An outdoor kitchen lets them do both at the same time. LI

Tonya Waldrop prepares vegetables to toss into one of the family's favorite "throw together" recipes. She said they enjoy cooking outdoors nearly every weekend.

Outdoor Cooking with the Waldrops The Waldrops brought with them several favorite South Carolina Low Country recipes they regularly enjoy putting together in their outdoor kitchen and want to share with their Delta neighbors. They describe these recipes as “throw together” — the kind you build to your family’s tastes, rather than follow with prescribed proportions.

Tonya said this is a recipe from her Low Country childhood that’s great for outdoor cooking. It’s a “throw in” kind of recipe, she said — the proportions of the ingredients are whatever best suits your taste.

Chicken Bog Boil a whole chicken with an onion, hot smoked or kielbasa sausage cut into chunks, some chicken bouillon, Tabasco sauce and seasonings of your choice.

When the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pot and de-bone it.

Discard the bones and return the meat to the pot. About 40 minutes before you’re ready to eat, add uncooked rice, which soaks up the juices and adds volume. Serve piping hot.

Frogmore Stew Fill a large pot with water; add salt and bring to a boil over high heat.

Add potatoes — the Waldrops use whole new potatoes, scrubbed — chunks of corn on the cob, chunks of hot smoked or kielbasa sausage, chunks of fresh onion and a bag of crab boil. Cook until the potatoes are done — you can test them with a fork.

Add peeled raw shrimp and continue cooking just until the shrimp turn pink and begin to float, 3-5 minutes.

Do not overcook the shrimp.

Remove the pot from the heat and carefully dump the contents into a large bowl, with butter, from which guests can serve themselves.

Barbecue Sauce This recipe produces a very sweet, wet barbecue sauce. All ingredients are to taste.

A bottle of honey-mustard-flavored, tomato-based barbecue sauce (The Waldrops prefer Tony Roma’s honey barbecue sauce when they can find it.)

Karo syrup (or other brand of corn syrup) Brown sugar Honey Vinegar Onion powder Garlic powder Apricot preserves Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Slather on ribs as they are grilling.

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 27

PATRICIA PARKER:

Heeding the call

E

BY DAVID MONROE

lder Patricia Parker is both a nurse and a minister, but years ago she could foresee following only one of those paths. When she attended Amanda Elzy High School, she knew she wanted to go into nursing. Her mother has told her that as a little girl, she said she would be a nurse one day.

But even though she grew up in the church, she didn’t feel called to be a minister until about eight years ago. She had watched other preachers and wondered how they did it.

Now she has been pastor of East Percy Street Christian Church for five years while continuing as a nurse part-time, and she loves both jobs.

“People have said to me after the fact, ‘We saw it in you all the time,’” she said of her work in the church. “A lot of times, people see things in you that you don’t see in yourself.”

Parker, 43, was born and raised in Philipp.

She went to Wilkes Elementary School in Money before switching to Amanda Elzy High School. Her father, Tepolian Carpenter, and her mother, Georgia McGee, were great positive influences on her.

Church was always a big part of her life.

She grew up in Hayward Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Money, where she benefited from the wisdom of the older members.

“The seed of God was planted in me,” she recalled. “The more I went to church, the seed was nourished.”

That church had a lot to offer young people, she said, and often they were put in 28 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Elder Patricia Parker says she has always had an interest in caring for others. Now she does that both as a nurse and as pastor of East Percy Street Christian Church.

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

front of an audience. Her father was a singer, and she sang from the age of 6 or 7. She was part of a group, the West Cousins, that performed at many places.

She attended Hayward Chapel until college and later moved to East Percy.

After graduating from Elzy in 1980, she went to Alcorn State University, where she earned a nursing degree. She began working for Greenwood Leflore Hospital in 1985.

She had wanted to be a nurse at least since high school, and she liked being able to care for others. But in 1996 or 1997, she sensed that God wanted her to do something else.

She resisted this feeling for a while, but it became so strong that she had to tell someone about it. Finally, one day in December 1998, after being up all night wrestling with the decision, she decided to enter the ministry.

After that, she felt a great sense of relief.

“It was peace,” she said, “because I knew what He wanted me to do.”

She received valuable guidance from her pastor, Elder Aaron Johnson, who had been an eminent civil rights leader. He already had influenced her both in his preaching and in the way he lived. She knew him as someone who dealt with everyone fairly

and had a way of calming people who were in conflict.

“Elder Johnson was one that was always there,” she said. “Whenever you needed him, you could call on him.”

Johnson told her she would face two obstacles: her youth and her gender. Many people would object to seeing a woman in the pulpit, he said. But he added that if she truly felt God’s call, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

“He said, ‘You have to remember, man didn’t call you; God called you. If God called you, you can’t take that away,’” she said.

Johnson also told her she would need to pursue more schooling, saying, “You can’t teach what you don’t know.” So she enrolled at Exodus School of the Bible, where she found a way to go to class, work and have time for her family. She graduated in 2005.

Parker still remembers her first sermon, in August 1999, from the book of Jonah. She had prayed about it, and she did have experience speaking in front of an audience, but she was nervous at first. But she was determined to speak boldly, with confidence, and her nerves were calmed as the words flowed out of her.

She says the message of that sermon was

fitting to her own life: “You can run but you can’t hide.�

Parker’s job as pastor required some adjustments. People who had known her for years as “Pat� had to adjust to calling her “Pastor.� But she has good friends at the church. “I’ve grown to love them; they’ve grown to love me,� she said. “I have people here I can depend on.�

She has encountered people who disapproved of having a female pastor. Some of them even left the church, although a number returned. She respects their opinions, but she doesn’t let them deter her. She has too many plans for East Percy.

The church now has about 200 active members. It has an active youth group, which leads the service every third Sunday.

Members of East Percy serve at the Community Kitchen every second Wednesday, and the youths participate in that ministry when they are out of school.

There also is a women’s group that travels to nursing homes.

Parker would like to do more. She would like to add a van to help bring more people to church. She would like to take the young people on out-of-town trips every once in a while. At some point, she hopes the congregation can add on to the building to give more space for classes and youth activities.

But for now, she has a greater concern.

Waving toward the area surrounding the church, she said, “My focus now is this community right here.�

She and others periodically distribute fliers about the church to nearby residents. But she wants to get more input on what kinds of families live there and what they need. “That’s what’s on my heart right now,� she said.

Parker also works two 12-hour shifts a week at Greenwood Specialty Hospital.

She and her husband, Walter, live in Itta Bena. Her oldest son, Walter Jr., is in college, and her daughter, Leandra, 14, and younger son, Tepolian, 13, attend Leflore County High School.

She remembers that it was difficult at times in Bible school, working and caring for a family. Then, when she first became a pastor, she was concerned about being responsible for another “family� — her congregation.

But she made time to be alone with God and ask for his help, and that continues today. “I have to pray to Him for guidance each and every day,� she said. LI

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Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 29

Artist Angie Crick installs a triptych she painted in oils on a wall at Mississippi Gift Co. on Howard Street in Greenwood, where her paintings are for sale. Crick's creative murals and faux finishes also can be seen in dozens of businesses and private homes.

W

BY JO ALICE DARDEN

hen she was 9 years old, Angie Horne grabbed her dad’s belt sander and started touching up some furniture for her mom. The racket drew Glynice Horne to the door of the family’s living room, where her daughter was happily sanding the finish off the top of the coffee table.

It was a formative moment in the budding artist’s life.

Many a mom in a similar situation might have run to the scene of the crime, grabbed the tool in one hand and the child in the other, turned the sander off and turned the child over her knee. But Angie’s mom took a different approach.

“You’d better fix it,” Mrs. Horne said from the doorway.

Angie Horne Crick, now 31, has often wondered whether her spirit as an artist might have suffered at that early crossroads if her mom had reacted differently. Instead, Crick’s life, especially as an artist, has become a giant, open canvas of experimentation, gotta-try-its and happy accidents.

30 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

From the artist’s perspective Crick grew up in the Delta, always interested in drawing. But when she got to Delta State University, where she earned her degree in art education, a teacher introduced her to oil painting, which is where she concentrates her personal artistic efforts now.

She taught art in the public schools for a few years and then worked in the design center at Viking Range Corp. for a couple of years, finding it stimulating to work with such bright designers. Now a private art instructor, she shares her talent with more than 60 art students, ranging in age from 3 years old to over 80.

At her Greenwood studio just off West Claiborne, in the alley next to Webster’s, Crick teaches about nine hours a week now, including a 10-week art course for adults.

Her mission is to help her students find their own voices in their work.

“Art is so personal,” she said. “I tell my students, ‘I am not here to teach you how to paint like me. I want people to be able to identify your work.’ And it’s so nice to watch them start to really get into painting and get fiery about it.”

Crick sees butterflies in her high schoolage students.

“Some of them start out shy and timid and lacking in confidence,” she said.

They’ll ask, “Is it OK if I do this?” or “How should I start?” Then they learn what they can do with a little encouragement to try different things. By the end of the course, Crick will set up the space with supplies, and her students will come in and “just take off.”

Elizabeth Woody, 17, a junior at Pillow Academy, has taken art from Crick for three years. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth said what she likes about Crick as an art teacher is this: “She makes it so much fun. She encourages you to use your imagination on paper.”

Watching that metamorphosis — seeing her students grow in ability and confidence — keeps Crick going as an art teacher.

She carries that “what-if” approach to the rest of her life, as well.

She’s married to Scot Crick, an insurance adjuster with Farm Bureau. The couple have two daughters — Michah, 7, a student at Pillow Academy, and Olivia, 4.

“Scot and I are total opposites,” she said.

“For all my ‘what-ifs,’ he comes back with ‘Do you realize what you’re thinking of doing?’ He keeps my feet on the ground, and I need that sometimes.”

The family bought their house on Poplar Street, near Bankston Elementary School, in the fall of 2006. Crick immediately started redecorating, throwing herself into myriad projects with unbounded enthusiasm and bringing her children into the fun.

“I had three days to paint the whole house,” she said, noting the timing between the sale of their previous home and the closing on the new house. And her daughters wanted to help their mom paint. A recipe for disaster? Not with Crick.

“I just put them in the closets,” she said, laughing.

“I gave them white water-based (latex) paint for the closet walls. We were going to redo the floors anyway, so messes didn’t matter,” she said. “They had the best time, and they’ll always remember it. We were washing paint out of Olivia’s hair for two weeks!”

She said she’s not very patient with interior decorating, but she has found that, as in her art, she can do things she didn’t know she was capable of — installing kitchen cabinets and copper backsplashes, for instance.

“You never know what you can do until you start it. I figure if I should be paying somebody to do it for me, I might as well see if I can do it first. Then I’ll call for help if it doesn’t work out,” she said.

Working with the sheets of copper for her backsplashes has taken Crick’s art in a new direction. She loves the color and the way the metal’s appearance and texture change over time, developing a rich patina and reacting differently to everything that touches it. Now she incorporates copper leaf

Greenwood artist Angie Crick discovered the beauties of copper when she installed a copper backsplash during a kitchen renovation project. Now she uses copper leaf extensively in her painting to give her work texture and depth.

into many of her oil paintings.

Crick has always been close with her family members, including her younger brother, Jeffrey Horne, and her mom, Glynice, who both work at the Federal Compress. But she enjoyed an especially close relationship with her dad, Lonnie Horne.

“He was so in tune with nature,” she said, “and he had a gift for remembering little things you like. He saw beauty and possibility in everything. He’d come over to my house at 4:30 every morning, and we’d just sit and talk and have coffee, and it felt like we were getting a jump on the rest of the world every day. It was our special time.”

Lonnie Horne died suddenly of a heart attack in November 2002.

“That was the first time in my life that I realized I couldn’t change something,” Crick said. “I couldn’t make it right again.

I’d have to work through it.”

Her father’s death made Crick realize how short life is. “If you want to do something, you’d better do it today,” she said.

“Soak up everything. Spend time with your children. Make every minute count.

Sit down and watch cartoons with them when you’d really rather watch ‘CSI.’ Don’t put off anything. You don’t have tomorrow.”

She encourages her children to be who they want to be and love what they do.

“Every day,” she said, “I tell my daughters, ‘You be anything but ordinary.’”

It was after her father’s death that Crick started teaching privately, and the delight she feels when she sees her students grow in their art is more than worth her effort.

She also started saying yes to people who would ask her if she could “do” their chil-

Some of Angie Crick’s artwork, including this painting, are available at Mississippi Gift Co.

One of Angie Crick’s paintings.

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 31

dren’s rooms or their furniture or the walls of their stores. Before her father’s death, she would demur, suggesting other people she felt had more skill than she. Afterward, she decided to accept. Why not? If her customer didn’t like her work, she could paint over it.

One of her standout projects is the mural upstairs in the children’s section of the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library, a job the Greenwood Junior Auxiliary commissioned her to “When I’m do.

Beach B u m s , painting, I can F i n c h e r ’s , A n t h o n y ’s feel the tension and the Sweet Pea just ease out of have all benefited from her me.� talent, as have dozens of pri— Angie Crick vate homes — especially their children’s rooms.

Sara Ann Carter, owner of Russell’s Antiques on Howard Street, knew Crick as a customer and had heard she was a talented artist. When Carter moved her business from West Park Avenue, she wanted marble columns, but their expense was way out of line. So she bought plain columns and asked Crick if she’d be interested in giving them a faux marble finish, and Crick accepted. “She worked many a night on those columns,� said Carter, “and they’re just beautiful. She is such a hard worker and so very talented.� Carter said she has had Crick do some other faux finishes for the store, as well.

It’s vitally important to Crick that she spends as much time with her family as possible, so whenever she can, she schedules these big projects for nighttime, after supper, after homework and after her daughters’ bedtime. She’ll work through the night to finish a project if necessary.

After painting murals on store walls, painting faux finishes on other people’s foyers, painting children’s rooms and teaching her students to paint, Crick relaxes by — what else? — painting. “Almost the only time I’m not around children is on the drive between home and my studio,� she said. “I escape into painting, even for just a couple of hours. When I’m painting, I can feel the tension just ease out of me.�

And that refreshes her for whatever’s next in her anything-but-ordinary life. LI 32 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

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Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 33

A matter of taste

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS As the in-house wine expert at Giardina’s, Kevin Horne tries to take some of the mystery out of wine for customers who are not as knowledgeable.

BY DAVID MONROE

K

evin Horne has learned a lot about wines in the last few years, but he knows a lot of people aren’t well-versed in all the varieties.

“Pretty much 80 percent of America really can’t tell the difference between a chardonnay and pinot grigio,” said Horne, manager of Giardina’s restaurant.

Many Americans, or maybe just people in general, are intimidated by wine, he said.

But he tries to take some of the mystique out of it. For example, while leading a wine class at Cottonlandia Museum, he suggested that zinfandel, which has a “jammy” taste, would be a good companion to a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

“I don’t think that wine should be intimidating or wine instructors should be pretentious,” he said. “I just think that it should be something that you should enjoy and not be afraid of.”

Sometimes customers at Giardina’s admit they don’t know much about wine but know what they like — something dry or something sweet, for example.

“Since I’m really familiar with our wines, I can kind of point them in the right direction,” he said.

Horne, 26, started working in restaurants while attending Mississippi Delta 34 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Community College. He went back and forth between there and Clarksdale when Bill Luckett and Morgan Freeman opened Madidi restaurant. Horne worked at Madidi as a server and then returned to Greenwood and waited tables at Flatland Grill for a while, knowing he wanted to work in fine dining.

Through mutual acquaintances, he met Frank Leflore, who is proprietor of Giardina’s. After Leflore took over that business, Horne worked there for a while and continued when the restaurant moved downtown next to The Alluvian hotel.

Eventually, Leflore offered him the job of manager, and he accepted.

Early on, Leflore asked Horne whether he was interested in wine, saying that the restaurant needed an in-house expert to guide guests through a wine list. Horne had some experience with wine service — he knew the names, such as merlot, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc — but he didn’t

know all the distinctive characteristics of each.

“Being in places like Madidi and here at Giardina’s, you get customers who are really high-class and do know a lot about wine,” he said.

So, having been of legal drinking age for only about a year, he went to Napa Valley, Calif., home of the Greystone campus of the Culinary Institute of America.

The Greystone campus is probably the highest tier of wine education. Viking Range Corp., which is affiliated with Giardina’s, has a good relationship with the Culinary Institute, Horne said. He took a class from Karen MacNeil, author of “The Wine Bible,” and came away very impressed.

“Her teaching methods are just unbelievable,” he said. “She’s very patient, and no question is a dumb question to her. So I learned a wealth of knowledge in just a week with that class.”

Because the classes were held at 10 a.m.,

the participants just sampled the wines and then spit them out.

But that’s the best time to taste a wine, Horne explained, because the palate hasn’t gone through full meals yet. He found it was much easier to see the difference in wines when he tried them side by side.

“You can really point out certain things like cherry and currant and different things that I was really amazed I could do,” he said. “Once you get two or three next to each other and give it a good swirl, it’ll really change your mind about it.”

Of course, there’s a limit to how much a person can try in one day, but different people have different thresholds. It’s been said that Robert Parker, who is known as the world’s greatest wine critic, can taste 100 wines in a day, Horne said.

“I can probably go through 10 wines, tops, and still point out flavor characteristics, acidity, tannins,” Horne said. “But some people have a gift, I guess.”

that can taint a wine after it’s been bottled is the cork.”

The sediment on corks can affect the smell of a wine. It can be disappointing to hold on to a wine for 10 years, open it for a special occasion and find that it’s off-flavor, he said. And some wine makers are coming around to this, although it might take a few years before significantly more

“I don’t think that wine should be intimidating”

— Kevin Horne

Horne is optimistic that Mississippians will have access to more high-quality wines in the future.

Wine sellers in this state must go through the state Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control rather than use brokers or deal directly with wineries. They can go to the ABC Web site and find what is available, but if ABC runs out of something, it might not carry it anymore.

Horne said he hopes that within the next year, businesses will be able to contact wineries directly before having wine shipped to the ABC. For example, he likes wine from Paradigm, a winery in California, but its products are not available here because the demand for high-quality wine is not great in Mississippi.

Horne also likes that more wines are being sold with screw caps rather than corks. There’s a misconception that wines with these caps are invariably cheap. Some of them are good, he said.

“I know it takes away the presentation and the ‘pop,’” he said, “but at the same time, it’s guaranteed, because the only thing

screw caps show up on the market.

Horne is continuing his education in wine. He has taken more classes at Greystone, including “Mastering Wine II” with Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser of the San Francisco area. This June, he plans to return for a class on wine pairing.

“I’m still learning,” he said. There’s plenty out there to learn; that’s for sure.”

He has been to New York, Lake Tahoe, Aspen and other places for wine-related events, but he is partial to Napa Valley.

“Napa Valley is one of the most beautiful places on earth; there’s no doubt in my mind,” he said. LI

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B

BY BILL BURRUS

aseball has been a major part of Doug Shanks’ life for as long as he can remember.

Shanks, the 60-year-old head coach at Mississippi Valley State University, says his first childhood memories revolve around the sport. Growing up with a former Mississippi State standout catcher as a father, Fred Shanks, baseball was a way of life for Doug and his two brothers.

“Some of my first memories are from playing baseball in the back yard with my brothers. I couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5. Those are precious memories,” said the seventh-year MVSU coach.

As the boys grew older, Shanks realized he wasn’t quite the athlete that his brothers were, and that’s probably when the seeds for his coaching career were planted.

“That’s when I started looking at the game from an analytical standpoint,” Shanks recalls.

His coaching career started when he was a student at Mississippi State — working with a summer league team for 14- and 15year-olds. Since then, his work in baseball has been extensive, including many successful stints in amateur ball, the Bluegrass Collegiate League and college. He has also worked as a scout for the Atlanta Braves, the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks and has served as an instructor at several collegiate camps as well as being a consultant for Freed-Hardeman University.

He has earned a lot of honors through his years in coaching, but one of his most fulfilling accomplishments has been turning around a woeful MVSU program.

Before he arrived in Itta Bena, the Delta Devils had never had a winning season or qualified for the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. This spring the team was seeking its fifth straight Eastern Division crown and fifth straight SWAC Tournament appearance.

“I have gotten a great deal of personal satisfaction from what we’ve done here, because we’ve built it from scratch,” said Shanks, who set the school record for wins (35) a couple of years ago.

Shanks’ accomplishments aren’t limited to baseball. He’s had success in politics and business.

In 1973, he was elected city commissioner in Jackson at the age of 26 — becoming the youngest elected official ever in Hinds County. During that four-year tenure, Shanks was the driving force behind the construction of Smith-Wills Stadium. He also recruited the New York Mets’ Double-

Doug Shanks has turned Mississippi Valley State University’s once struggling baseball program into a perennial championship contender.

PHOTO BY BILL BURRUS

Batter up!

A affiliate to call Smith-Wills home. The Mets went on to have a 20-year run in the capital city.

“Bringing a ballpark to Jackson was one of the things I campaigned on. At the time it was built, it was one of the most modern AA stadiums in the country,” he explained.

After his term as city commissioner, Shanks ran for mayor in 1978 as a Republican candidate, losing in a close election to Dale Danks. From there, he went into private business before getting back into coaching.

He worked for two years as assistant coach at Mississippi College before helping found University Christian School in Brandon in the mid-1990s. He went on to win three straight state baseball championships from 1997 to 1999 at the private school.

He had been out of coaching a couple of years when the job came open at Valley.

“I knew it would be a fun challenge, and I felt I could make a difference, so I took it,” he said.

But his wife, the former Kay Guest of Calhoun City, refused to move from their home in Brandon. Shanks lives in a house on campus and goes home on weekends during the fall. She sometimes visits him at Valley.

They have been married for almost 32 years, and he says, “It’s kind of like we’re dating again.”

The time away from his wife is definitely a big drawback to a job he finds quite rewarding. So how much longer will he coach at Valley?

“I get that question a lot these days,” Shanks said. “I like what I am doing, and think I am making a difference.” LI Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 37

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Calendar of Events April 2007

August 2007

26 — Mississippi Valley State University’s Founder’s Day Convocation 27 — Mississippi Valley State University’s Preeminence Awards Presentation and Gala 27— American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

23 — Chamber of Commerce New Teacher Reception September 2007 14 — 300 Oak Pre-Race Party 15 — 300 Oaks Road Race 25 — Meet the Candidates Forum

June 2007

The Confederate Memorial Building was dedicated in 1915 and is listed on the National Historic Register. It is one of only two buildings of its kind in the United States. The other is the Confederate White House in Richmond, Va.

November 2007

5 — Chamber of Commerce New Member Reception 29 — “Stars & Stripes in the Park” Fourth of July Festival

6 — Holiday Open House 13 — Salute to Elected Officials 30 — Roy Martin Delta Band Festival & Christmas Parade

Buying • Selling • Friendly Advice

Linda Pruett

Lori Box

Gerald Montgomery Debbie Smith

James Jackson

Thomas Gregory Donna McSwine

Tish B. Goodman Broker/Owner

38 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Sonny Bowie Broker/Owner

Greg Thomas

100-C E. Claiborne Ave. 662-455-9333 or 1-866-455-9333 www.greenwoodhomes.net

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Lofty designs

J

BY AMY McCULLOUGH

ohn Beard eats, sleeps and breathes design in his live/work loft on Howard Street.

Beard’s 3,500 square feet are used efficiently and artfully. There is a heavy emphasis on symmetry and use of the contrived and the raw — shiny silver screws and exposed plaster. Examples include artwork framed with Plexiglas riveted to the walls, short metal ladders holding up a long tabletop for an extended work desk, and a strip of wall space used for bulletin boards to hang project drafts.

John Beard, left, and Dale Riser enjoy drawing a lot of designs by hand at Beard’s home-office loft in downtown Greenwood.

The Leflore County Business & Manufacturing Development Center

IT’S LIKE A BRIDGE on the road to success.

The Leflore County Business & Manufacturing Development Center offers assistance to new and expanding businesses. Tenants of the center can save money by using the center’s equipment, space and services, all located in a 23,000-ssquare-ffoot, state-oof-tthe art facility.

“The center is right on the highway with a lot of traffic.

It is to my advantage to be in a busy location.

Before, I was in a downtown area, but I really wasn’t prospering. This has been very easy.”

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40 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

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“I’ve been working in mortgages for about 13 years, and I just opened up on my own. I thought this would be the perfect location.

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The vibe is a bit earthy, yet extremely modern, and altogether soothing.

Beard and Dale Riser share the office space of Beard’s downtown Greenwood loft — along with Hank the dog, whom Riser calls “the silent partner.”

“It’s wonderful to live where you work,” Beard said.

Beard’s work in Greenwood was “starting to explode” by the end of 2006, he said. When he and Riser found that they shared the same love for good design work, they teamed in the spring of 2007.

Whether it’s furniture, graphics or landscape, Riser said, “we admire good design, period.” Beard said having clients, such as Viking Range Corp., which are committed to quality work makes their jobs easier.

Although Beard’s first love was residential projects, he and Riser also do new construction, renovation and interiors.

They are open to collaborating with other firms, he said, and sometimes they use contract labor.

They enjoy projects in which they can be hands-on and involved in all the details, Beard said.

Riser previously worked at Lake/Flato Architects in San Antonio and the Johnson-McAdams architectural firm in Greenwood. Beard spent time in New York working for the curator of architecture and design at the Museum of

Modern Art. He also worked at Mockbee Coker Architects in Memphis. The work of Samuel Mockbee, who passed away in 2001, was a major influence on both of them.

Mockbee saw buildings as being rooted in place, said Beard and Riser. Local materials and climate should be taken into account. Flat land and heat are the major considerations for the Delta, they said.

The science and art of a building’s design should be balanced, Riser said.

For example, a cabin Beard built at Spring Hill in Webster County features an overhang — an extended slope of the roof where it intersects one side of the house — to control sunlight. He posi-

tioned the front of the house to the south so sunlight could enter during the winter months, when the sun is lowest in the sky.

The high summer sun is blocked by the large overhang. He used translucent fiberglass on the north-facing porch to allow the indirect north light to enter the porch. Beard also paid attention to air circulation and ventilation to combat the heat.

Beard and Riser hope work continues to come their way, and they look forward to expanding their client base in the Delta.

“One thing that Dale and I agree on is that we were both drawn to the culture and landscape of the Delta. ... It’s like we were meant be here,” Beard said. LI

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W W W. U W B B R . C O M

New jobs: Raybestos; expansions at Viking Range, Viking Dishwasher, Heartland, America’s Catch, John-Richard, Milwaukee Tool.

New facilities: The Leflore County Business and Manufacturing Development Center, The Leflore County Jail, The Leflore County Justice Center.

From the left: Larry “Kite” Johnson, District 5; Sam Abraham, Chancery Clerk; Otis Abron, District 3; Robert Moore, board president, District 2; Wayne Self, vice president, District 4; Willie J. Perkins Sr., board attorney; Phil Wolfe, District 1; and Robert Willis, county engineer.

Transportation: Road upgrades, bridge replacements, Greenwood Leflore Airport expansions.

Pride. Vision. Progress.

LEFLORE COUNTY M I S S I S S I P P I

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 41

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PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

The world’s largest Bible restorer

BY DAVID MONROE

N

orris Bookbinding Co. bills itself as the world’s largest rebinder and restorer of Bibles, and it’s probably the most diverse book binder anywhere, too, says its president, Charles Sproles.

The Greenwood business binds medical records, library books, school textbooks and annuals, magazines, courthouse dockets, church bulletins, newspapers and other documents. It also does a variety of projects for families.

But Bibles now constitute about 85 percent of the business, and Sproles believes they are doing God’s work. The employees are Christians, and they believe in helping others, he said.

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“I think God has blessed this business tremendously in keeping it, because he knows we’re working on His word,” he said.

Employees at Norris still bind the same way they always have — by hand — and some have been doing it for decades.

Customers often write to express their amazement at how their worn-out books have been made to look like new.

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Brothers Charles and Johnny Sproles have worked together for decades at Norris Bookbinding, and they say the work has been spiritually rewarding. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just not many businesses that can do anything like this,â&#x20AC;?

Charles Sproles said.

work,â&#x20AC;? Sproles said.

Besides, the 12 employees at Norris enjoy what they do. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get monotonous as some other jobs do, said Johnny Sproles, Charlesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brother, who is vice president. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is not work,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get bored, because of the different things you do.â&#x20AC;?

H.H. Norris and his wife, Evelyn, started the company in 1947. At first, they focused on courthouse records, but soon they saw a need for Bible rebinding and decided to branch out into that.

They advertised in Christian publications, such as The Sword of the Lord, and they took out classified ads. But the real growth came after they started contacting Christian bookstores, and now they serve thousands of them.

The biggest customer is the LifeWay bookstore chain, which uses Norris exclusively and brings in thousands of dollars a

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month. Second on the list is Family Christian Bookstores. Norris also serves many independent stores as well as individuals.

Charles Sproles joined Norris as a teenager at the invitation of H.H. Norris after bagging groceries at Jitney Jungle. “He’d watched me there over the years, and he asked me if I’d be interesting in coming to work,” Sproles recalled.

He started working there in the afternoons, and his brother followed. Eventually, Norris formed a corporation and let them and another employee, Coleman Reid, buy interests in it. When H.H. Norris died in 1967, the brothers stayed in business with Evelyn Norris and Reid before buying them out in 1994. Reid continues to work there part time.

Under the Sproleses’ leadership, sales have more than tripled. “We have grown by leaps and bounds since we’ve been here,” Charles Sproles said.

As the business has grown, so has the building. When Norris first moved to Stone Avenue from Carrollton Avenue, its building was just 36 feet by 60 feet. After Norris died, they added another 40-by-50 portion, and when the Sproles brothers took over, they added a 40-by-80 section.

Norris often binds 700 to 800 Bibles a month, and it has had some high-profile customers over the years.

The business once bound a Bible for Nancy Reagan while her husband was in the White House. Sproles said he didn’t know how the Reagans heard about Norris, but he added that “people find out about us we don’t even know.”

For years, they have bound Billboard magazine, and they once prepared 100 special-edition Billboard books about the Bee Gees. They once bound magazines for Billy Graham.

The increasing use of computers cost them in some areas, such as courthouse dockets and medical journals, although they still handle some medical records for Greenwood Leflore Hospital.

“Doctors don’t open up a medical journal to read about your gallbladder anymore,” Sproles said. “He looks at it on a screen and watches somebody do it rather than study it out of a book.”

However, the technology doesn’t affect work with Bibles and other old books.

Employees still have to straighten out pages — sometimes one at a time — before 46 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

Norris has been binding Billboard magazine for about 40 years, according to owner Charles Sproles. Here employees Justin Gibson, left, and David Welch look over some newer editions.

sewing them together and then processing the cover. It’s striking to see a new cover binding pages that might be centuries old.

Because of the great precision required, it can take a long time to learn the different skills of their craft. Bibles have varying thicknesses, lengths and widths, and so every cover must be custom-made.

“This all has to be done by hand, mostly, because if we’ve got 250 Bibles in here to bind, there are probably 250 different sizes,” Sproles said.

The Sproles brothers bring a total of more than 100 years of experience to the business. Charles Sproles is president, but he stresses that they are equal partners: “We

love one another, and we get along great, and we always have.”

They have versatile employees who can pitch in wherever needed. Among them are Charles’ wife, Sandra, and Johnny’s daughter, Nila Gardner.

Charles Sproles said the business has about as many customers as it can handle.

He is now 71, and his brother is 69. They still work hard, but they can’t log as many long weeks as they might have in the 1960s and 1970s, and they don’t go on the road as much.

Charles said he plans to stay as long as his health will allow. In addition to Norris, he remains active with other business interests and family activities. But if his health declines, he feels he can depend on the family and other younger employees to keep the business going, or he can search for a buyer.

“There’s just not many businesses that can do anything like this, so we’re going to keep going for a while,” he said.

In fact, he said, Norris Bookbinding has potential to grow even more. For example, it already does some work for gift shops, but if it ever solicited more business from them, things would really take off. But that would require hiring and training more people.

“If young people came in and bought this business — with the marketing they have now, like Viking has — it’s just unreal what the business could grow into,” he said.

For now they take special satisfaction in preserving family Bibles, cookbooks, children’s story books and other heirlooms with sentimental value. In fact, Sproles said his granddaughter was fixing up books for his great-grandson. She was read the stories in those books, as was her mother, and now they will be passed on.

“Those things money can’t buy,” he said. LI

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The index of advertisers

Ad page

Ad page AIRPORTS Mid-Delta Regional Airport

FLORISTS 32

ATTORNEYS Upshaw, Williams, Biggers, Beckham & Riddick

Nebletts Frame Outlet 41

FURNISHINGS

12

1919 Antiques Cargo Dock Elegant Touch Interiors

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FURNITURE

CHILDCARE Susie M. Brooks Childcare Center

46

N. Greenwood Baptist Church St. John’s United Methodist Church

Isle of Capri Casino 6 44

CLOTHING Anthony’s Shoes Caterpillars & Butterflies Catwalk, The Dolly’s Ola’s Shoes Phil’s Squire Shoppe Simply Elegant Smith & Co. Young Ideas

9 39 42 39 9 16 39 15 33

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Leflore County Business & Manufacturing Development Center Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce

40 36

EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES Education Express

44

ELDERLY LIVING Golden Age Inc.

FARM EQUIPMENT Wade, Inc.

5 22

FINANCIAL Citizens Bank First South Farm Credit Land Bank South Planters Bank & Trust Co.

GAMING

43 36 29 12

45 44 35 33

back cover 9 inside back cover

GIFTS Carriage House, The Mississippi Gift Co., The Pocket Full of Posies, A Red Hat Eatery & Gifts

33 15 43 33

GLASS

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44

GOVERNMENT

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41

HEALTH CARE

Crystal Health & Rehab Delta Heart & Vascular Center

45 6

Greenwood Leflore Hospital Murphree, Dr. Rick C.; Pernell, Dr. Dottie

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North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center

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Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center 29 Sunflower Home Health and Medical Equipment Prime Care Nursing

inside front cover 45

HOME IMPROVEMENT Home Front

JEWELRY

Lynbar Jewelers Russell’s Antiques

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MUSEUMS Cottonlandia Museum

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Gospel Piano CD’s

45

Polished Pair, The

44

NEWSPAPER Greenwood Commonwealth

36

NURSERIES Delta Gardner

44

PHOTOGRAPHY Jennings Photography Lamb’s Photography

43 19

REAL ESTATE Bowie Realty DuBard Realty E&H Realty Short Street Realty

38 13 32 45

RESTAURANTS China Blossom Crown In Town, The Crystal Grill Delta Fresh Market Flatland Grill Giardina’s Larry’s Fish House Lusco’s Mai Little China Mockingbird Bakery Orleans Bistro Peking Garden Webster’s

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SCHOOLS Learning Tree, The Pillow Academy St. Francis of Assisi

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TOURISM 45 43 6

MANUFACTURING Viking Range Corp.

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CHURCHES

MOVIE THEATER

MUSIC

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BOOKSTORE Turnrow Book Co.

39

FUNERAL HOME

44

BEAUTY SALONS Legends

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FRAMING

AUTOMOTIVE PARTS K&M Auto

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Ad page

13

Greenwood Convention & Visitors Bureau Main Street Greenwood

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UTILITIES Greenwood Utilities

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VETERINARIANS Greenwood Animal Hospital

45

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

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

SPRING & SUMMER 2007

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

Spring and Summer 2007 Leflore Illustrated / 47

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll-Economic Development Foundation is composed of volunteers who work as key players in attracting new jobs to the community.

From the left are, seated, Angela Curry, associate director, and Ronnie Robertson, chairman, and standing, Bill Crump, Dennis Sanders, Dr. Moses Newsome, vice chairman, and Michael Joe Cannon.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TAKES A STRONG

FOUNDA TION The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation wants to fill up with gas and keep purring down the road.

The all-volunteer group’s geared up for a membership drive that should refuel the foundation’s well-tuned and well-used engine.

The tank is running a little low these days.

Membership in the 27-year-old foundation peaked at 150, and now it’s down to 60.

The foundation was formed in 1980 as a public-private partnership focusing on economic development. Its officers and executive committee also serve in the same positions on the publicly appointed and commissioned Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board.

They are Ronnie Robertson, board chairman; Dr. Moses Newsome, vice chairman; and directors Dennis Sanders, Bill Crump and Michael Joe Cannon. Angela Curry is employed as associate director.

Newsome, who works in community and economic development for Mississippi Valley State University, says there’s plenty of

enthusiasm in the business community for the work of the foundation, which helps to bring, or create, jobs by attracting and supporting business expansions and relocations.

So he is expecting a positive response to the foundation’s drive, which he described as a “broad brush approach reaching out to our existing businesses. Many have expressed interest but have not been approached in a systematic way.”

The foundation operates on a minimum of $60,000 a year, according to Robertson, general manager of Delta Electric Power Association.

The drive should raise more than that, Robertson said.

The money is used not only to wine and dine industrial prospects, but also to pay for research that provides important information.

Newsome said, “Reports and data, marketing — these things cost money.”

Data often is compiled specifically for different industries, Robertson said.

Sometimes funding is needed for trans-

portation, maybe even a helicopter.

“We bring everything to the table to help both existing industry and new industry.

Whatever it takes, we go for it.”

That determination has led to more jobs.

But the focus over several years hasn’t been on raising the resources required to continue the work.

The drive is expected to include a strategic plan, brochures, presentations, phone calls and personal visits.

Memberships are being planned to start at $25 a month. The foundation is looking at how it wants to handle one-time donations.

“We are analyzing a dues structure that we think will fit for all of the kinds of participants we hope to recruit into our organization,” Robertson said.

Sometimes the foundation needs to draw upon a person’s expertise and to know who among its members, for example, could show a prospect where arrowheads can be found.

So,“it’s not just the money. It’s the participation,” Robertson said. LII

The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation / 662-453-5321 / angcur@bellsouth.net / P. O. Box 26, Geenwood, MS 38935-0026 48 / Leflore Illustrated Spring and Summer 2007

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