Leflore Illustrated 2005-06

A River Country Journal / 2005 & 2006

Leflore

Down by the riverside:

A couple creates a spiritual home

Illustrated

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Illustrating Leflore

Definitely a pleasure W

hen we sat down to talk about publishing an annual magazine for and about Leflore County, we had an idea of the reaction for which we would aim.

We wanted a magazine that would exceed readers’ expectations, to leave them in awe that a relatively small, heavily rural community in the heart of the Mississippi Delta could look so impressive on paper.

We hope the inaugural edition of Leflore Illustrated does just that.

When outsiders hear about Leflore County and the rest of the Delta, they tend to learn only of its blemishes — its poverty, its difficult racial history, its education deficiencies.

Once they visit, though, they soon see there’s a lot 2 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

more to its intriguing complexion — the glamorous homes, the eccentric personalities, the divinely varied cuisine, the rich soil, the innovative spirit. Leflore County may lag behind when per capita income is used as the measuring stick. Take, however, some criteria that don’t fit neatly into a bean counter’s calculator, and we’d put Leflore County up against anyplace in America. It has arguably more risk-taking entrepreneurs per capita than anywhere else in the country, more great restaurants per capita, more captivating conversationalists per capita.

Leflore County, to sum it up, is oozing with personality. It’s beginning to capitalize on that.

Consider downtown Greenwood.

Ten years ago, a walk through the heart of this city would have been a depressing experience. Like many downtowns in rural America, Greenwood’s had gone to seed.

Storefronts were empty, the streets lifeless after dark.

Today, downtown is buzzing with activity from what’s already there and excitement about what’s still to come. Viking Range Corp., the internationally known maker of upscale kitchen appliances, was the catalyst. It started by turning dilapidated cotton offices into classy corporate headquarters, all the while maintaining the historic architecture. Then, bit by bit, under the vision of company founder Fred Carl Jr., Viking has helped transform downtown Greenwood into a destination spot for business travelers and tourists.

The spirit of revitalization has proven contagious.

Staplcotn, the largest cotton cooperative in the nation, and the Bank of Commerce, Greenwood’s longeststanding financial institution, have invested in multimillion-dollar renovations of their downtown headquarters. New boutique stores are steadily sprouting up, and once dusty storage areas are being turned into fashionable upstairs apartments.

A visitor to Greenwood can wake up in a world-class hotel. Grab a fresh croissant and cappuccino at the bakery. Relax with a full-body massage at the spa. Spend the afternoon shopping for pottery and antiques. Catch a succulent dinner and authentic blues performance that night. And that’s just within a couple of blocks.

Who would have imagined it?

The changing face of downtown Greenwood is just one of the many snapshots presented in Leflore Illustrated. The magazine displays Leflore County to itself and to its guests in all its wondrous shades.

Please enjoy the showing. It was our pleasure to create it. — TIM KALICH, Editor. LI

Leflore

The Tallahatchie and Yalobusha rivers join to form the Yazoo just north of Greenwood.

The Yazoo curves west, and then south, shown here.

Keesler Bridge

Illustrated

people 8. Silvana Rausa gardens for herself and others.

10. A prison chaplain finds his vocation.

12. Volunteer takes any job she can.

18. Mockingbird chef sings the praises of downtown.

20. In step with Cindy Goza.

22. A school administrator must stay strong.

34. Sam Abraham: A man for the people.

44. Dr. John Fair Lucas III continues the family legacy.

46. Shutterbug focuses on John-Richard.

50. Allen Wood Jr. makes the community his business.

places 6. The Alluvian boosts business.

17. The Cotton Row Club 27. Greenwood Leflore Hospital, technologically speaking.

41. Just where is Booger Den? 52. Gwin Law Office: A little brick building with a long past.

table of contents

Downtown Greenwood

features

place in the town of Itta Bena.

38. Blues legend Robert Johnson was buried in Leflore County. But where?

42. Waterfowl hunters hear the call.

48. Mississippi Valley State University builds up, in more ways than one.

14. Farmer Billy lives the good life.

16. L.V. “Hambone” Howard keeps things shining.

24. At home: A creative couple’s haven.

30. An interior designer finds his sense of

more

55. Tennis scores points.

56. An education in manners.

57. Fun things to do.

58. Talk like a native.

60. Calendar of events.

61. Directory: Who to call.

64. At the Chamber, things get done.

ON THE COVER: The Tallahatchie River home of Gayle and Henry Flautt.

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 3

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L

You’ll find your home

eflore

Illustrated

Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich

Managing Editor Leesha Faulkner

Senior Editor

Susan Montgomery

Associate Editors David Monroe, Jennifer Minyard

Contributing Writers

Jenny Humphryes, Jo Alice Hughes, Genie Alice Via, Kyle Martin, Bill Burrus, Bob Darden

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Advertising Director Larry Alderman

Advertising Sales

Kim Clark, Linda Bassie, Jack Flagg, Shanna Taylor, Kim Badome

Photography/Graphics Johnny Jennings, Darrell Blakely, Anne Miles

Production

Lee Palmertree

Circulation Director Shirley Cooper

—————— Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050, 329 Highway 82 West, Greenwood, MS 38930.

662-453-5312

—————— Leflore Illustrated is published by Commonwealth Publishing, Inc.

north OF JACKSON, south OF MEMPHIS, nowhere near the ordinary.

The Alluvian Hotel. The Alluvian Spa. The Viking Cooking School. Giardina’s Restaurant. Mockingbird Bakery.

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 5

The Alluvial effect

The Alluvian, resurrected from a crumbling building at Howard and Church streets, has stimulated downtown Greenwood renovation.

come here because they have not heard of Greenwood hen Fred Carl Jr. transformed the old Hotel before,” she said. “People have been coming here and Irving into an upscale boutique hotel, he visiting all the local shops and restaurants, so I think it’s hoped the buzz surrounding the project would been a great thing for Greenwood.” entice its neighbors to make similar investments.

Williams said the hotel has stayed very busy since its The idea appears to be working. The Alluvian has opening in May 2003. Through the week, The Alluvian become the centerpiece in Greenwood’s downtown revihas corporate travelers, especially those with Viking talization effort.

Range Corp.

“It’s really been a huge focal point for “We do have a lot of guests from other Greenwood and especially the downGreenwood and Delta businesses,” town area,” said Beth Williams, general Williams said. manager of The Alluvian.

On the weekend, The Alluvian is a “We feel like a lot of visitors have haven for leisure travelers who are combeen drawn here” through the hotel, ing in for the Viking Cooking School or she said. other festivals and events in the Delta.

Stephany Ward, marketing coordinator And there are some who just want to for The Alluvian, says she’s heard The come and see Greenwood, she said.

Alluvian referred to as “the Gateway to The newly opened Alluvian Spa had the Delta.” groups waiting for its arrival so they could “People are not only coming here for “spend the weekend here and get away,”

BY JENNY HUMPHRYES Viking or the cooking school, but for Williams said. blues tours and other events,” Ward said.

Greenwood citizens also take advantage of the hotel for And, the hotel is the hub of downtown, she said. various business events and special social occasions, she Barbara Ingram, executive director of Main Street said.

Greenwood, agrees.

Ward said she would recommend those who live in “I think The Alluvian has moved our downtown area to Greenwood treat themselves to one night at the hotel and an even higher destination shopping level. see what it has to offer.

“The hotel draws people from all over the world for “Viking is not just a culinary company,” Ward said. “It’s a training at Viking, to the Viking Cooking School, and for a lifestyle company. luxurious base from which to tour the Delta,” Ingram “With the opening of The Alluvian, we are able to said. extend that lifestyle to Viking customers and to people “The Alluvian investment and resulting impact has been who want to experience not only the products but that a catalyst to spur additional renovation and investment in way of life,” she said. our downtown area, including the growth of retail, office With the success of The Alluvian, some stores have and residential development,” Ingram said. worked with the hotel and kept longer hours to accommoWilliams credits the constant flow of tourists to The date special tour groups.

Alluvian and Greenwood to great local and national media “It’s nice for people to be able to just wander around attention. downtown and shop,” Williams said. LI “There are a lot of visitors from out of state who want to PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

W

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6 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

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If the shoe fits, A Master Gardener puts her know-how to work

plant it

BY JENNY HUMPHRYES Silvana Rausa makes something beautiful out of nothing.

And you’ll see her touch in many of the gardens in Greenwood.

Through the years, Rausa has helped various organizations with landscaping projects in the city.

A native of Italy, Rausa moved to Greenwood in 1970. A love for plants comes naturally for Rausa, whose father was an agricultural expert in Italy.

But raising plants in the Delta is much different because of major variations in soil and climate, she said.

So when the Rausas — she’s married to Dr. Alfio Rausa, a district Health Department officer — got their two children settled, she decided to return to school and learn about growing plants in the Delta. She received her Master Gardener credentials from Mississippi Delta Community College.

“I am the only active Master Gardener in Leflore County,” Rausa said.

As a Master Gardener, Rausa does community service each year to keep up her certification.

Some of her community service projects include landscaping at the Leflore County Courthouse and a wildlife habitat at Bankston Elementary School, as well as projects at the Leflore County Extension Service, the Juvenile Detention Center, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and a butterfly garden for the 4-H club.

Rausa said her grandson, Austin, 10, helped with the 4-H project. And she 8 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Silvana Rausa gets a kick out of these planters, but only monkey grass will grow in them.

hopes he will inherit her love for plants.

When people approach Rausa about helping with their gardens or landscaping projects, she says she just can’t turn them down.

When you ask Rausa how many plants she has, she laughs and says, “Oh, my God, who can count?”

Many of the flowers she has in her garden, or in pots in her sun room, came from plant swaps at the Extension Service.

“That’s the way to do it,” she said.

And she continues to share cuttings of her plants with friends and neighbors who ask.

Although Rausa’s home is filled with beautiful flowering and green plants, there’s one kind of plant you won’t find — annuals. She says she doesn’t have anything that has to be

replanted year after year.

Rausa said she can outwork the best of men when it comes to gardening. “I can get a shovel and keep going all day.”

But gardening is not like work to Rausa.

It’s something she enjoys doing. “It keeps me sane,” she said.

Rausa does most of her gardening alone.

“You will do it right the first time,” she said.

With Rausa, one thing is certain. There is nothing that can’t be used as a planter.

An old bathtub serves as a fountain in her front yard, and old shoes are just perfect for sprigs of monkey grass along her walkway.

Rausa enjoys the beautiful colors, shapes and smells her garden brings week after week. “It starts blooming in March, and the frost gets the last flowers,” she said.

Rausa says people who walk along the street can smell the ginger growing in her garden as they pass by. It’s just another way she can share the beauty of her garden with her neighbors. LI PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

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The Rev. David Henderson’s

Cross of faith bars none

BY DAVID MONROE

T

he Rev. David Henderson never intended for his job as Delta Correctional Facility’s chaplain to be a longterm career.

Henderson began working as a guard at the prison in 1996.

Soon he became a counselor; then, when the chaplain left, he doubled as chaplain and counselor for a while.

At the time, he served as assistant pastor at Strangers Home and New The Rev. Green Grove Church of Faith. So he merged his David career with his calling — Henderson and, as it turned out, that says his made his work easier.

“I didn’t know it would career at be a career move for me. I Delta had no idea of that,” he Correctional said. “But it really was a perfect fit, like hand in dovetails glove.” with his Henderson earned a ministerial bachelor’s degree in English from Mississippi calling.

Valley State University.

He taught English in Georgia and Arkansas, as well as for one year in Greenwood. He also served as an admissions counselor at MVSU. For more than three years, he has pastored Jones Chapel Missionary Baptist Church’s congregation of about 50 people.

Henderson said he expected to finish a master’s degree in religious education at Andersonville Baptist Seminary in December 2005.

Henderson’s schedule keeps him on the move. A typical week includes Bible study every morning at the prison and worship service every Thursday night; Sunday services both morning and evening; and he supervises the services for Muslims on Monday nights.

He also leads a Tuesday night Bible study at Jones Chapel and a Wednesday night Bible study at Cottonwood subdivision. On Thursdays, there is a Bible study and prayer service at Jones Chapel, followed by a service at the prison.

10 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

At the prison, he oversees recruiting volunteers — many of whom help with services. He usually attends a service, even as a worshiper below the pulpit.

The evening church services have grown to an average attendance of about 250 people.

Paperwork and ministering lead to stress. Compound that with inmates’ stress from living behind bars. Mix in the various personalities reaching out to him. It’s enough to test even Henderson’s faith.

“It keeps you hoping and trusting, and you find out who you are in terms of the strength of your faith and what you’re able to tolerate,” he said.

Over the years Henderson has learned a lot dealing with inmates.

He has seen many examples of how one bad choice can affect the rest of a person’s life.

“You can learn how blessed you are,” he said. “You can see how easily you could have gotten caught up in what they’ve done.

I believe in the depravity of man, and we’re all subject to do anything.”

This perspective also has made him more passionate when he speaks to audiences in the community. He stresses that if they make the wrong choices, they can go to jail for it. Not all of those who go to jail are “bad guys,” he said.

“Some are intelligent; some come from good homes,” he added.

“I’m looking at older men who have been in jail 20 years and young men with 20 years to do because of a mistake. I know it can easily happen.”

He has seen inmates stand up and get out of gangs, knowing they will face abuse for it. But first, he urges them to enter into a spiritual “contract” to accept Christ. “I’m pushing that they get their lives together, and dealing with getting out of the gang will come next,” he said.

Often, he draws inspiration from inmates who stand up for their faith. “I draw a lot of strength from them and their being able to stand up in the midst of a prison situation and be man enough to say, ‘I’m a Christian,’” he said.

After seeing that, the challenges he faces don’t appear as daunting. The power of God can work in prison, and it can work elsewhere, too, he said.

“It’s easier for me to stand out here than it is for them to stand in there,” he said.

“It’s easy for me to say, ‘You oughta, you oughta, you oughta.’ I don’t have to sleep there every night.”

Another of his regular tasks also keeps his life — and mortality — in perspective.

Any time a relative of an inmate dies, Henderson is in charge of notifying the inmate and making arrangements if the inmate wants to attend services. This happens two or three times a week, and he said he is constantly reminded of the

preciousness of life as a result.“It makes death more relevant to me,” he said.

As sobering as the day-to-day life of a prison ministry can be, it also can produce some success stories.

Henderson keeps in touch with many former Delta Correctional inmates, and he has officiated at marriage ceremonies for many of them.

He makes himself available if they want to talk.

“They know they can always call me, because we develop not just a working relationship, but a spiritual relationship,” he said.

Some former inmates have become

ministers, and Henderson has invited some of them to speak at Jones Chapel.

“When you’re in the trenches like that every day, you develop a bond. And you’re praying for the same thing and working towards the same thing, in terms of changing men’s lives.”

Henderson pointed to a painting by one ex-inmate who is now an art manager with a Web site.

“I’m actually working for him on the side now, selling pictures,” Henderson said, smiling proudly. “But he’s doing great with that.” LI PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

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The volunteer connection

BY JENNY HUMPHRYES

provided Cadney another volunteer Jean Cadney’s outlet. She served as volunteer spirit its membership has helped link chairman last year. her to Cadney also sits on Greenwood. the chamber’s execThe business utive committee. development “The thing about specialist and the chamber is there training coordinais a place for everytor for body in the commuGreenwood nity who wants to Utilities says it’s be a part,” Cadney because she can’t said. say no.

“I think the cham“I don’t think ber has 12 committhere’s anything tees,” Cadney someone has explained, “and asked me to do in whatever your conthis community cern, there’s a comthat I have not mittee that you can done,” she said. become a part of to Her list do whatever it is includes: the you would like to Greenwood do.”

Rotary Club, For example, those where she is a folk into beautificamember and tion can join the served as a direcCommunity Pride tor in 2004-2005; Committee.

Cottonlandia That group wants board of directo improve the tors; Salvation entrances to the city Army board of by working on the directors; and the underpass on Main Books & Blues Street. Cadney said the chamber also has committees for eduCommittee with Communities in Schools of Greenwoodcation, retail, the 300 Oaks Road Race, the Christmas parade Leflore Inc. Cadney also will work on the River to the Rails and Fourth of July Festival, to name a few.

Festival in 2006.

“People in Greenwood will let you help, but you’ve got to United Way has provided her most gratifying experience as a have the want to,” Cadney said. volunteer, says Cadney, who has 15 years of service with Sometimes life gets busy, but Cadney loves the chalthe agency. lenge.

United Way funds 12 organizations that serve “If you can see a positive effect around you with as a “safety net” of services for the citizens of something you’ve done, it’s a good feeling,” she Greenwood, Cadney said. said. “It’s gratifying that I had a part in that, so “I don’t think there are any other charitato speak.” ble efforts that offer that kind of opportuniTennessee-born, Cadney considers ty to make a positive change in so many of Greenwood home. “I came here and started the critical issues in Greenwood,” she said. sixth grade in Greenwood. I came here from Families who’ve lost houses to fire have Tennessee,” she said. “When I married, I left the called her after receiving services from the Jean Cadney area. I lived in Missouri almost 20 years.” She Red Cross, which is under the United Way returned after her husband died. “I have an interest umbrella, to tell Cadney of their amazement with here, and it is home. This is my community, so I just chose the help they received. to be involved through church, civic and service organizations.

“It feels good to be a part of that,” she said.

It’s just my way of giving back to the community,” she said. LI The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce has

Jean Cadney says the work puts her in touch with her community.

“People in Greenwood will let you help, but you’ve got to have the want to.”

12 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

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Shawn Whittington’s painting of a site near his parents’ home hangs in The Alluvian.

A FAMILY FARMER Farmer Billy Whittington tosses cotton along with other celebrants following a family wedding at his home.

‘This sure is a great office‘

BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY Some people call him "Farmer Billy," and the reference fits.

“I just like the life,” Billy Whittington said. “I think this location I am in is the best place on Earth.”

Whittington, 57, has farmed with his family for 35 years. His operation covers about 3,500 acres of soybeans, corn and cotton, mainly on two farms along Money Road immediately north of Greenwood. Star of the West rests on one side with Ashwood, Whittington's home place, on the other.

Whittington spends most of his time in the fields as he did years ago under the wing of the farm manager, A.L. Le Louis.

“My job was to ride around with Mr. Le Louis and keep my mouth closed and my eyes open,” Whittington explained.

Le Louis taught Whittington to farm the old way, using soil and weather as basic yardsticks. “Mr. Le Louis was the premier mule farmer,” Whittington said.

He can remember mules hauling cotton-laden wagons through town. Now, in the early 21st century, Whittington respects the history of men from Le Louis’ era, but chemicals and biotechnology have become tools as important as tractors and pickers.

Billy Whittington farms with his uncle and cousin, Aven Sr. and Aven Jr. The elder has led numerous agribusiness organizations.

The younger Aven Whittington’s wife, May, is a state legislator, who sits on the Democrats’ side of the aisle.

That’s not too far from family history, either. Billy Whittington’s grandfather, Will, served in Congress back in the 1930s and saw legislation through that led to construction of levees in the Mississippi and Yazoo basins, including 14 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

those around Greenwood. The city’s Whittington Park bears the late congressman’s name.

A motorist can see the Whittington farm when crossing Greenwood’s Tallahatchie River bridge. The family home rises from the middle of a cotton field.

Billy Whittington and his wife, Aubrey, moved the 19th-century, two-story structure in 1976 from its original location on River Road in Greenwood.

The white columns have seen the Whittington's six children run in and out the front door. Now the home opens up to the couple's grandchildren.

Inside, family pieces provide plenty of talking points. So do the odds and ends: fish fossils from the Great Plains, carved gourds from South America and paintings by a daughter, Lisa, and a son, Shawn.

Always, a menagerie of cats and at least a dozen dogs reside in the house, compliments of Aubrey's volunteer work with the Humane Society. Her exotic cats have their own house out back.

Shawn’s wife, Linda, runs Communities in Schools, a school-dropout prevention program. This connection led Aubrey to train at-risk youth to teach obedience skills to shelter dogs.

Aubrey operates the Warehouse on West Park Avenue. She teaches gymnastics and dance, and some Christmases fills the Leflore County Civic Center

with productions of “The Nutcracker.”

Now, the couple has joined with blues historian Steve LaVere and cabinetmaker Stuart Fincher to move old tenant houses to a couple of acres down the road from Robert Johnson's gravesite at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Eventually, the group will have a bluesoriented beer and bed, sort of like Clarksdale's Shack Up Inn. The family is known for supporting the arts. Billy's mother, Mary Jayne, a writer, has used her patronage to support authors, artists and events.

Whittington's late father, Bill, an attorney, once brought symphony orchestras and dance companies to Greenwood.

Greenwood Little Theatre's W.M. Whittington Jr. Playhouse bears his name.

Billy Whittington has helped with their projects, but different interests led him to a sideline as a commercial pilot. This started with a puddle-jumper that gave him a better view of the land.

Most mornings, his spirits rise with the sun. “It’s just pretty out here,” he said.

“My office is a bean field and a cotton field. This sure is a great office. I am lucky.” LI PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 15

DOWNTOWN’S L.V. HOWARD

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Always shining

BY BOB DARDEN

F

or more than 57 years L.V. “Hambone” Howard of Greenwood has been shining people’s shoes and trying to save their immortal souls.

“I’ve been shining shoes for a long time. I started off in Inverness when I was 12,” said Howard, 67, who works daily at the Cotton Row Club located in Ramcat Alley.

He said shining shoes is more than just a question of applying a little shoe polish and buffing with a cloth. “There’s a skill to it. I’ve always enjoyed shining shoes.

I’ve been offered other jobs, but I enjoy shining shoes.”

Howard has become a colorful fixture in downtown Greenwood over the past 31 years. Many people know him because of his shoe shining and delivery of the daily Commonwealth newspaper. Most people know him simply as Hambone.

He was given the initials of L.V. instead of a first name by his mother.

“When I was going to school, the teacher asked me my name. I told her, ‘L.V.’ and she said that was just the initials. I went home and asked. She said, ‘That’s what I meant for you to be named — L.V. Howard,’” Howard recalled.

Howard said he got his nickname while working as a carhop at a hamburger stand in Indianola in 1950.

He said his boss, the late James Rankin, came up with the nickname. “He called me Hambone and the name stuck,” Howard said.

Howard moved to Greenwood in June 1974 to work as an attendant to the owner of Delta Seed and Feed. Within a year, the company went bankrupt.

For a time, he said, he shined shoes at Earp’s Barber Shop, Delta Barber Shop and Ben Shaw’s Barber Shop before shining shoes at Charles Conerly’s Shoe Store.

He has been at the Cotton Row Club for the past 19 years. His Commonwealth route, which takes several hours to deliver, now 16 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

has about 200 customers in the downtown area.

Howard said his preaching avocation started in 1955.

Today, he serves as the assistant pastor at McKinney Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. He also serves as the acting pastor at Lockalonia Missionary Baptist Church in Money.

In 1968, Howard started hosting his Sunday morning radio ministry, “This Morning with God,” in Indianola. The 15-minute program is heard regularly at 7:15 a.m. on WMLA-AM 1380.

While he has received other job offers, Howard said, he is happy right now where he is.

Howard says his active lifestyle has contributed to his health and longevity.

“I’ve never been to the hospital a day in my life,” he said.

Howard’s wife, Tempie Mae Howard, died in September 2000.

In February 2004, Howard thought he would retire from his paper route. His retirement lasted for all of a month, he said.

“I haven’t had a vacation since 1963. I enjoy work,” Howard said. LI

No place

Row like the

BY DAVID MONROE

Dale Persons has frequented the Cotton Row Club since shortly after he moved to Greenwood 16 years ago.

The Viking Range Corp. executive has enjoyed the Ramcat Alley hangout as a place to meet people after work, have drinks, or maybe play cards or watch sports on TV. He also brings in Viking customers, distributors and dealers from time to time, to give them a look at another side of the town. “They enjoy coming in and meeting some of the locals in a very casual, relaxed atmosphere,� he said. “It adds a little personal dimension to their visit to Greenwood.�

Take Stacy Ragland, for instance. He has run the place since 1985. Ragland apprenticed under the previous manager, W.A. Smith, starting in 1970, and took over after his mentor’s retirement.

Even Ragland, 74, can’t say how long the Cotton Row Club has existed. He recalls when old cotton men gathered in this converted blacksmith’s shop as “mostly just a stag club.�

A blackboard on one wall used to keep track of Southern League baseball games back in the 1940s and 1950s.

At one point a ticker tape machine clicked off major-league baseball scores.

As the Southern League disappeared, so did the old cotton men, leading to a broader clientele for the Cotton Row Club.

The club welcomes all, including women. Many visitors stroll over from the bus station just around the corner. “We've got all kinds of people — all kinds of businesses and everything else,� he said.

The club’s proximity to Viking attracted Persons as a newcomer to Greenwood. “I always noticed it, and it looked like an interesting place, but I really didn’t want to go in uninvited,� he said. “So as I started to meet some people, I just asked about the Cotton Row Club, and a couple of guys said, ‘Hey, we’ll be glad to take you over there,’ and they took me over.�

He was invited on New Year’s Day to watch college football, and he enjoyed it

Ramcat Alley’s Cotton Row Club

enough that he became a regular.

Doctors, lawyers, businessmen and others stop by, and he has made many friends there. “You can come in and stay for five minutes and say hello, or you can stay for a couple of hours,� he said.

Buddy White, a partner with SouthGroup Insurance Services, sees the

club as a link between generations. “My dad's in his late 80s; I'm in my 50s; there are patrons in their early-to-mid-20s who come here,� he said. “So there's no age barrier, no any kind of barrier that I know of.�

The crowd fluctuates from 15 to 30 at a given time, depending on the time of year. Regulars like to show off the place’s uniqueness to newcomers.

Said White, “I don't care where the people come from — Atlanta, Memphis, California, the North — they come to this place and it's always the same thing: ‘Never seen a place like it anywhere else.’� LI

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PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

FOOSE F ACTS

Martha

BY GENIE ALICE VIA

Martha Foose used her French culinary training to come up with one Delta-made product that would top another.

“I made a mini gingerbread Viking Range with little grill grates, knobs made out of sugar and everything,” Foose said.

Then she sent her replica and her resume to Fred Carl Jr., president and founder of Viking Range Corp.

The edible cooking range, along with her extensive experience in the culinary industry, landed her a job with Viking, which is headquartered in Greenwood.

Foose had been in Minneapolis working for Pillsbury as a food editor.

“We got homesick. It was too cold there,” she said. “So three years ago we moved back down here to a house in Tchula that we inherited from my grandmother.

“I read an article about The Alluvian opening, so I sent in Martha Foose is the executive chef of the Viking Cooking School, and she and her husband, Donald Bender, opened a bakery in downtown Greenwood in the summer of 2005. my resumé. I own the new Mockingbird Bakery across from the hotel. wasn’t sure that they would have a “We had always wanted to do a little bakery. After The spot for a French-trained pastry chef.”

Alluvian and Giardina’s were in place, Fred Carl asked if we’d The Alluvian is a luxury hotel in be interested in doing this in this location,” she said “It is really downtown Greenwood. a dream come true. It’s great to have a little family-owned, Foose was brought on to work as a mom-and-pop business. It is kind of a throwback to the old consultant for the opening of rivertown cafes and businesses.”

Giardina’s restaurant. Not long after, Rolling Scones and The House of The Rising Bun were only the Viking Cooking School opened, Chef Martha two of the names Foose and her husband considered when tryand Foose became the executive chef.

Foose ing to choose a name for the bakery.

Although she is keeping her position “One day we were on the back porch trying to figure out a as executive chef, Foose has moved name, and the mockingbirds were just going berserk,” she said. to a new opportunity with her husband, Donald Bender. They

“I can’t wait to see what downtown will look like in five years.

Everything is growing so quickly.”

18 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

“They were dive-bombing us and fighting, and we decided that since they are our state bird, and they’re so feisty, they would be a good thing to name the bakery after. Mockingbird Bakery it became.”

Foose was born in Thornton, Miss, and has traveled to several places around the world.

She moved from Mississippi to Los Angeles, then to Plaisir, France, where she attended Ecole LeNôtre culinary school for a year. In 1994, she and a partner opened the Bottletree Bakery on the square in Oxford, Miss.

Oxford is where she met her husband.

He was the head baker at Bottletree, which she sold seven years ago.

Then she moved to New Orleans, where she worked as a pastry chef at Bayona.

There is something different about the way Southern people view their food compared to other places in the world, according to Foose. “People here have bigger sentimental attachment to food than in other regions,” she said. “They have a lot more pride in their cooking.”

Foose realized how “wonderful the Delta really is,” when she was in France.

“I was sitting at a table full of people from all over — Lebanon, Turkey, Brazil, Italy — the whole world. We were talking, and they asked me where I was from. When I told them Mississippi, they had a thousand questions,” Foose said. “When people think of music, they think of jazz and blues; when they think of literature, they think of Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams. It was really the first time I looked from the outside in and realized how great the Delta is.”

When Foose first moved back to Mississippi, she lived in Tchula. “When I was living in Tchula, I got to stay in The Alluvian if I had to teach a night class,” she said. “I felt like the Eloise of the Delta!”

More than a year ago, she and her husband, along with their son, Joe, a toddler, moved to Greenwood.“People don’t realize what a hidden gem Greenwood is. There are so many entrepreneurs downtown, and the whole town is so supportive of all of us. People stop by all the time and tell me they want to help in any way they can.

“We are happy to be tenants on this beautiful block. I can’t wait to see what downtown will look like in five years.

Everything is growing so quickly,” she said. LI

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 19

PHOTO BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Dance teacher Cindy Goza is in the forefront now, but her mother, the legendary Martha Geeslin, stands behind her.

“I’M INSPIRED BY MAMA. IF SHE CAN KEEP DOING IT, I THINK I CAN, TOO”

GEESLIN TO GOZA, DANCE OF THE GENERATIONS

BY JENNIFER MINYARD Cindy Geeslin Goza was born to dance.

The daughter of longtime Greenwood dance teacher, Martha Geeslin, Goza began taking lessons when she was 21/2 years old. Back then, she didn’t always like to participate.

“Mama says that I used to fold up my arms and say, ‘I’m a-not a-gonna dance,’” she said.

Despite her occasional protests, Goza continued her lessons and performed in recitals and shows in and around Greenwood. She began to love it.

In her teens she began joining her mother on cross-country tours, and then realized that she wanted a career in dancing. “I started traveling with Mama when I was a sophomore in high school,” Goza said. “We would go to Santa Monica, California, and New York to teach dancing.

“I always felt like that’s what I was going to do,” she said. “I knew Mama made a good living at it because she had to raise three kids on her own.”

Soon, Goza the student became an instructor. “One year, when I was a junior or senior in high school, we were at one 20 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Cindy Goza in kindergarten.

of the schools, and one of the teachers got sick,” she explained.

“Mama was already teaching a class there at that hour, so they were really in a bind for a teacher, and they asked me if I would do it.

“So I taught the class for one hour, and the minute I stepped off the platform, they handed me a check for $50,” Goza said. “It was my first paycheck, and I was so proud of it I wouldn’t cash it for a long time. I even made a copy of it.”

She also enjoyed the celebrity. “Here I was 16 or 17 years old, and these kids were asking me for my autograph,” Goza recalled. “That was fun!”

The lessons with her mother continued through high school. Then Goza enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she majored in dance and performed with the Dixie Darlings dance team. She also attended Delta State University.

“I had to spend a semester teaching the Delta State football team ballet and tap as part of my grade,” she said. “It was really funny!”

After she married Danny Goza, the couple moved to Arkansas, where she had her own dance studio for six years. The couple’s daughters, Reneé and Jennifer, became third-generation dancers in their mother’s school.

The family returned to Greenwood in 1991 so Goza could help run her mother’s dance school. Afterward, she started her three dance troupes. Although these have performed well in competition over the past 10 years, Goza has focused more on performances without competition.

Her troupes have entertained thousands at Opryland in Nashville, Tenn., on the Branson Belle and at the Louise Mandrell Theatre in Branson, Mo., and at Six Flags Mid-America in St. Louis.

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“The kids really enjoy doing these shows,” she said. “When we were at the Louise Mandrell Theatre, they got to perform on stage during her show and they videotaped it, so we were on the video that was sold to the audience.

“And when we went to St. Louis, they told us to come without me having to send in a resumé or videotape, so I guess we must have earned a pretty good reputation.”

Each year Goza teaches nearly 200 students ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and everything in between at the Martha Geeslin School of Dance. Yet, she doesn’t have a favorite style. “I like that it’s different every hour with the kids, and you’ve got something new to work on,” she said.

Goza hopes her student body will someday include a granddaughter who would be a fourth-generation dancer. “I have two grandsons,” she said. “But boys aren’t really too interested in dancing.”

Unlike years ago, Goza's mother doesn’t have to plead for her to dance. It is her life, and she has no plans to stop anytime soon.

“I’m inspired by Mama,” Goza said of her mother, whose more than 80 years in dance include 51 years as an instructor in Greenwood. “If she can keep doing it, I think I can, too.” LI

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 21

TOUGH LOVE Getting the job done, and well, requires plenty of push

BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY

D

r. Margie Pulley exemplifies the iron fist inside a velvet glove.

The assistant school superDetermination intendent in Greenwood has produces learned that lesson through achievement, the years. says Dr. Margie “I am honest, hard-working, Pulley, determined, and on my job, I an assistant am no-nonsense,” she said. superintendent Pulley began teaching for Greenwood school in Greenwood more Public Schools. than 33 years ago. She taught social studies and worked as an assistant principal and, later, as principal.

Now she runs federal programs for Greenwood Public Schools. She also works with curriculum and oversees the activities of principals and assistant principals.

She holds a master’s degree from Delta State University, and she put a “Dr.” in front of her name in May 2005 when she received another advanced all-expenses paid education at Jackson degree from DSU. State University.

Pulley endured the harshness of the Critics speculated their mother had spotlight as too much influrecently as ence on their spring 2005 dursuccess. She ing a personnel says of course hearing for a she influenced controversial her children — principal. but not in the Then, some Dr. Mar gie Pulley, way the critics people griped assistant school superintendent when her twin meant. sons graduated “I pushed first and second in their class at and pushed and pushed and encourGreenwood High School and earned an aged and encouraged and fought with

“We made a difference in the lives of many, many children.”

22 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

them when I had to, and it paid off,” she said.

Hard work and higher education also exemplify Pulley’s family.

Her husband, Cedell, is superintendent of the Leflore County School District.

Her mother, Claudine Brown, worked in the Leflore County school system, has an elementary school named for her and sits on the county school board.

Pulley’s sister, Willie Jean Hall, is a county schools administrator, and another sister is an assistant principal in California.

Pulley’s iron fist comes from a life as one of seven children, who grew up in the historic Browning Community of Leflore County. Her late father had to retire from his housepainting occupation when glaucoma blinded him.

The family coped.

Everybody worked first and then played. “You couldn’t go anywhere on the Fourth of July until you had shelled all of the purple-hull peas,” Pulley said.

She graduated in 1971 from Amanda Elzy High School as class valedictorian.

She was back in Greenwood in 1974, with a bachelor’s degree from JSU and a teaching job at Greenwood High School in hand.

Pulley spent nine years as principal of Threadgill School, an elementary school that later became a citywide junior high.

She took control of a sometimes rowdy campus and, at one point, she eliminated recess. “We made some changes,” she said. “We made a difference in the lives of many, many children.”

Pulley’s velvet glove is her fairness.

“I do try to be consistent,” she said.

“People respect you if you are.” LI

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 23

BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY

Artful

living

Stairs of the shed fan out at the bottom.

A riverside haven shelters the soul

A guest house designed by Samuel Mockbee as a “tractor shed” has the sharp angles of rural architecture.

G

ayle and Henry Flautt’s tractor shed catches the eye of visitors when they roll into the driveway of the couple’s hideaway home on the Tallahatchie River in Greenwood.

“It’s a Samuel Mockbee,” Henry said.

Mockbee, 1944-2001, was a sixth-generation Mississippian and award-winning architect who used local materials to create structures that reflect the culture of the South. In 1991, he left a flourishing architectural practice to co-found Auburn University’s Rural Studio, which uses all of the arts in the service of a nearby Alabama community.

In 1987, the Flautts had Mockbee design a house, not for the present site but for another along the Tallahatchie. They never built the house. The Flautts remained in the cottage they'd lived in since 1983.

Gayle Flautt, a sculptor, focuses on a piece in the “tractor shed” studio she shares with her husband, Henry.

The entrance of the Flautt home opens onto a pond. The back porch overlooks the Tallahatchie riverbank.

24 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

A hallway in the home of Gayle and Henry Flautt leads to an outdoor room.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS 2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 25

Instead, they built the shed — at least that's what they call it.

The building has an artist’s studio, a bedroom loft and reading porch, and a bottletree constructed from rebars rising from the foundation. The latter, a Southern icon, represents protection against evil spirits.

“Everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul,” Mockbee once observed.

And the Flautts have created such a haven.

They have expanded the cottage twice.

It covers about 2,000 square feet: a central living area with an open kitchen, an offset dining room, a study and a bedroom.

A hallway in the front leads to a covered, outdoor room. The rear of the home has a screened porch and looks out onto the riverbank. In the front, oaks, pines and willows surround a pond.

“I planted every tree here but four,” said Henry.

The pond attracts neighborhood children, Gayle Flautt at her who may riverbank home. play there as long as they ask Henry first. Dr. Jim Phillips, pastor of North Greenwood Baptist Church, slips over to the pond to dip a hook. He helps keep it stocked with fish.

At one time, Henry sold insurance and Gayle operated Stribling Clements, a Caterpillar dealership, now called Thompson Machinery. Now, Henry crafts slab-formed pottery crosses, bowls and platters and builds furniture from tree branches. Gayle sculpts clay figures of women, many of them weeping. She said life is often sad.

Their work and that of other artists, mostly local and regional, fill the house — their haven.

“The place is the people, and the people are the place,” she mused. LI 26 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

A large metal tank of water plants stands near an outdoor living area at the cottage.

“Everyone, rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul.”

SAMUEL MOCKBEE, architect

Below, a hornet’s nest, at the left, and a mobile, right, decorate the Flautts’ eclectic living room. The portrait is Gayle; Henry made the tripod lamp.

At Greenwood Leflore Hospital

Technology means saving lives

BY GENIE ALICE VIA

G

reenwood Leflore Hospital trys to live by its motto, “so far advanced, so close to home.”

Just ask Jerry Adams, the hospital’s executive director, about the hospital’s progress.

“We have top-notch physicians here. Over 90 percent of them are board-certified or board eligible,” he said. “They know that keeping up with technology means saving lives and providing more efficient patient care. They, along with their highly qualified support staff, have helped determine what equipment we need to better serve our area.”

The hospital has acquired a coronary artery CT scanner. The first of its kind in the region, this technology provides superior images of the heart, the brain, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis.

“This 32-slice imaging system is currently the best you can find

The lobby at Greenwood Leflore Hospital

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anywhere in the state,” said Dr. Michael Ko, chief of radiology. “It helps us to screen symptomatic patients for heart problems due to family history, chest pain and hypertension.”

The Phillips FD 20, another advanced technology purchase, provides interventional radiology to treat osteoporotic compression fractures.

The hospital has also acquired two hyperbaric oxygen chambers. which will be used to treat non-healing wounds. They can prevent or delay amputation.

These oxygen chambers will be housed in the hospital’s Wound Care Center.

“Basically, these chambers force 100 percent oxygen into wounds for a period of 90 minutes per session to help them heal,” said Dr. John Payne, director of the center.

“Depending on the type of wound, patients can vary from six to 40 treatments with the chambers.

“These treatments are supported by the American Medical Association and can also be used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, chronic blood loss, radiation burns and some second-degree burns.”

Dr. Jim Robbins, chief urologist, began researching the most advanced urology surgical equipment and is responsible for the stateof-the-art UROSKOP Access System.

The surgeons began operating with the new equipment in July 2005.

“The system allows the physicians to have unobstructed patient access from all sides throughout kidney and other urology procedures,” said Lillie Laney, director of surgical services.

Other advancements at Greenwood Leflore Hospital include its Sleep Lab and the Geriatric Psych unit.

The Sleep Center is the only boardaccredited center between Jackson and Memphis. It is directed by Dr. John Hey, the only certified sleep-medicine physician in the Delta.

“Sleep disorders include a variety of conditions which interfere with our ability to sleep at night or stay awake during the day,” said Hey. “Most people don’t know that they have them, and some disorders, such as sleep apnea, can be a serious hazard to someone’s health if they go untreated. Our center is equipped to diagnose and manage any of the variety of sleep disorders.”

The Geriatric Psych Unit is also of service to the area. It is for geriatric patients who have had symptoms of psychosis, depression, confusion, disorientation or disturbance of mood or conduct.

Depending on the circumstances, an assessment can be done at the patient’s home or in the emergency room to determine if a patient needs to be treated in the unit. An average stay for a patient is 14 days. All patients are there on a voluntary basis. LI 28 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s entrance on Strong Avenue can be seen from U.S. 82.

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2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 29

Interior designer Clay Pettit describes the living room of this Grand Boulevard home as traditional, with the occasional Italian influence.

Delta by C In the

design

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Clay Pettit stands beside a bar in the Crystal Grill. He updated colors and accessories for the restaurant.

30 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

BY JO ALICE HUGHES

lay Pettit’s friends were incredulous when he decided to leave the big-city life for Itta Bena.

Some predicted he would miss the hubbub of Dallas and Washington, D.C., and return to family there.

One friend sent him a tape of sounds from a metropolis — fire trucks roaring, jackhammers pounding, horns blaring, ambulances screeching — just to remind him of what he’d left.

The effort backfired.

“The hospitality here reminded me of Texas,” said Pettit, 56, an interior designer and owner of 1919 Antiques in Itta Bena. “I always feel included, and I find that acceptance refreshing.”

His clients hail from various locales, such as Florida, New York, Illinois, Colorado and Montana. And getting there doesn’t phase Pettit.

In the time it takes to drive from Itta Bena to Jackson International Airport, he could motor across Manhattan to JFK. “It’s good to have a home base,” he said — away from the frantic pace of a big city. “And the cost of living here is so inexpensive.”

Educated in business at the University of Texas at Arlington, Pettit joined a construction firm out of college, where he learned the building trade.

He worked for wholesale companies at the Dallas Market and took frequent buying trips to Europe. He attended markets in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Atlantic City. He built the base of his knowledge of architecture and interior design during these years.

In the mid-1980s, Pettit moved to Austin and opened Napoleon, a shop that offered primarily French antiques.

Dallas Magazine and Texas Monthly each reported on his design work, and a Christmastime benefit for the Junior League in Dallas provided some exciting exposure. Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry and his wife sponsored Pettit’s interior design of the living and dining rooms of the DeGolyer House on White Rock Lake in Dallas as part of the benefit.

Not long after, Pettit moved to Washington to join his cousin in construction sales. While on a trip between Dallas and Washington, Pettit visited Leflore County to see a friend. He moved to Itta Bena a year later.

Pettit’s 1919 Antiques, at 104 Basket St. in Itta Bena, began as a bank in 1919.

When Pettit arrived in 1987, the building had housed a dry cleaners and then a disco known as “The Cleaners.”

He rented the building at first and started his business by stocking the space with personal items purchased on jaunts to Europe.

The casual atmosphere encourages shoppers to stroll, touch and discover.

That’s more like rummaging through Grandma’s attic.

“I love it. It’s so unpretentious,” he said.

That homey, making-the-most-of-whata-client-has attitude toward design makes Pettit popular with the white collar crowd at home and at work.

And he’s fast. “I’ve helped some people move 10 times. Within two days, I can get them moved in and comfortable,” he said.

Generally, Pettit becomes good friends with his customers. He recently did some redecorating in the home on Grand Boulevard owned by Mary and Harold Smith.

“He is wonderful to work with,” Mary Smith said, “and a lot of fun. You don’t have to worry about what he’s going to do. We feel like he’s part of the family. We miss him when he doesn’t come by.”

While Pettit spends a major portion of his time on residential clients, those in business call on him, too. Pettit has worked with car dealerships, funeral homes and restaurants. He directed the Crystal Grill’s 2005 redecorating project.

Pettit will decorate for weddings and parties, and he has worked many years with the Southern Debutante Assembly, designing for its parties and balls.

He has served on the vestry of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, and he is particularly fond of church projects.

“I like giving joy back,” he said. “I consider working with churches community payback for God and for the people of the church.”

Pettit enjoys meeting and pleasing people, no matter the job.

“When clients see their stuff in a different environment or with a new look, and their eyes light up, that’s just the best,” he said.

And people know him all over town.

“Everybody knows me here by name,” he said, “at Wal-Mart and the bank and the service station and restaurants. You don’t get that in a big city. And that means something to me here.” LI

Clay Pettit’s Roebuck Lake home in Itta Bena expresses the minimalist style he chooses for his own quarters.

Great food has been served on this corner of Carrollton Avenue and Lamar Street for almost a century. The place began as a little diner called the Elite Cafe and evolved into the Crystal Grill.

Today, this 250-seat restaurant has the largest menu around and prides itself on serving the best food at the best prices.

It is certain that everyone can eat happy here.

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32 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

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“Hey, buddy” Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham

BY KYLE MARTIN The title bar on his desk identifies Sam Abraham as Leflore County’s Chancery Clerk. But Sam Abraham’s many other titles keep him hopping from multimilliondollar bond issues to occasionally mowing the lawn of the courthouse.

“This office is the taxpayers’, not mine,” he said. “I ran for office wanting to do the best job that I can.”

Abraham has called Leflore County home for 54 years.

An accountant, Abraham has worked with former State Auditor Hamp King, then Ray Mabus, who succeeded King.

From there, he worked as a consultant for the North Central Planning and Development District.

In 1996 the voters in Leflore County elected Abraham chancery clerk. Along with that title went the tasks of county administrator, personnel director, treasurer and clerk for the Leflore County Board of Supervisors.

“I provide a broad oversight of individual offices and make sure they’re run in a proper fashion,” Abraham said of his official duties.

His job doesn’t end when he closes the door to his office each day.

“It’s hard to balance politics with the requirements of the job,” Abraham said. “Sometimes you have make a tough decision that’s not politically good for you — especially with taxes.” The demanding job is made easier, he said, by good supervisors and the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board.

“I think the county is going in the right direction,” Abraham said. “We have some good leadership. I feel we have good industrial development prospects and the possibility of some high-paying jobs. This county will move forward and be an inspiration to others in Mississippi in the future.” LI

Everyone’s a friend to Sam Abraham.

He often greets visitors to his office with, “Hey, buddy,” and a grin.

By the Numbers Leflore County Employment by Sector 2000 Wholesale and Retail Trade 14%

Health Care 13%

Leflore County Farm Cash Receipts 2003 ($ millions)

Education 11%

Transportation/ Communications/ Public Utilities 6%

Public Administration 7%

Corn $9.7

Rice $6.4

Other $3.6

Catfish $46.8 Soybeans $20.2

Manufacturing 18%

Other 19% Construction 5%

34 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Agriculture/ Forestry/Fisheries 7%

Cotton $42.2

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E AT?

Award-winning food writers

Jane and Michael Stern have said that ever since their first visit a quarter-century ago, they have considered Greenwood to be “a destination dining city.”

Even those who aren’t paid to write about restaurants can attest to that truth. Greenwood is a place where you can get some mighty good food.

The immigrant influences — Italian, Greek, Chinese, Lebanese — and the cooking traditions of the African-American population blend to create a savory menu of dining options in Greenwood and the surrounding area.

Food here is not just consumed. It is treasured.

2

WHERE

China Blossom 917 Hwy. 82 West Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Chinese & American Signature entree: Steak & Shrimp Kew Full bar Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Sunday) 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday) 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. (Friday & Saturday) Price range (per person ):

Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 453-3297

Crystal Grill 423 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American Signature entree: Veal Cutlet Full bar Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Tuesday - Sunday)

Blue Parrot Café 222 Howard Street Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Italian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican Signature entree: Arroz con Pollo (chicken with rice)

Full bar Hours of operation:

6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Tuesday-Saturday)

Price range (per person ): Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 451-9430 Email: 3deuces@bellsouth.net

Web site: www.blueparrotcafe.threedeuces.net 36 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

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

Larry’s Fish House

4238 Hwy. 7 South Itta Bena

Type of cuisine: Southern Signature entree: Catfish Hours of operation: 5 p.m.-9 p.m. (Thursday, Friday & 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

Delta Fresh Market 301 West Park Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Upscale Southern Wine and beer Hours of operation: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

Lunch: 11a.m.-3p.m.

Dinner: 3 p.m.-9 p.m. (Mon.-Thurs) 3 p.m.-10 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.)

Price range (per person ): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10-$30 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 455-9575 E-mail: darby@deltafreshmkt.com

Giardina’s

Mockingbird Bakery

Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Deltacentric Signature entree: Sourdough Breads BYOB Hours of operation:

325-B Howard Street

314 Howard Street

Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Steak, Seafood, Italian Full bar Hours of operation:

7 a.m.-3 p.m. (Tuesday-Friday) 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (Saturday & Sunday) Price range (per person):

5 p.m.-10 p.m. (Monday-Saturday)

Price range (per person ): $20-$30 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 455-4227 Web site: www.giardinas.com E-mail: fleflore@giardinas.com

Breakfast & Lunch: under $10 Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 453-9927 E-mail: martha@mockingbirdbakery.com Web site: www.mockingbirdbakery.com

Webster’s Food & Drink 216 West Claiborne Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine:American, Southern Signature entree: Broiled Shrimp, Seafood, Glazed Pork Tenderloin Full bar Hours of operation: 4 p.m.-1 a.m. (Monday-Saturday)

Price range (per person ): Dinner: $10-$20 Handicapped accessible Reservations recommended Phone: (662) 455-1215

Lusco’s 722 Carrollton Avenue Greenwood

Type of cuisine: American with an Italian flair Signature entree: Steaks & Seafood (Pompano, Broiled & Fried Shrimp) Beer and setups: You may bring your own wine or liquor.

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

(Tuesday-Saturday)

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

K K’s Delicatessen 109 Grand Boulevard Greenwood

Type of cuisine: Poboys, Homemade Hot Tamales, Salads Signature entree: New Orleans Style Poboys, Muffalettas Wine and beer Hours of operation: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (Monday-Saturday)

Price range (per person): Lunch: under $10 Dinner: $10 Handicapped accessible Phone: (662) 453-0007 2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 37

to tell the truth

Where was blues legend Robert Johnson put to rest? Was it gravesite ...

No. 2 ?

No. 1 ?

Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Morgan City

No. 3 ?

Payne Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Quito

Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Money Road

Only Rosie Eskridge knew

BY DAVID MONROE The circumstances around Robert Johnson’s death draw nearly as much attention as the bluesman’s music.

Johnson died nearly seven decades ago. Markers at three church cemeteries commemorate that passing: Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Money Road; Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church near Morgan City; and Payne Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Quito.

“They tell me, ‘This guy’s so good, he’s buried in three places,’” said Sylvester Hoover, a deacon at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

A gravesite at Little Zion beckons visitors year-round. Hoover, who leads tours of sites related to Johnson’s life, said 20 to 100 people take the tour each month.

38 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Rosie Eskridge, center, shows Claud Johnson, son of bluesman Robert Johnson, where her husband, Tom, buried Claud’s father at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Money Road. With Eskridge at the right is Martha Johnson, a member of the church who helped make contact with Steve LaVere, blues historian, standing in the background. LaVere later put a marker at the site.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS, DAVID MONROE & SUSAN MONTGOMERY

Many more go to the Little Zion site just to look.

“You can come up here any time of day or night,” Hoover said, “and you will probably see people out on that gravesite.”

Steve LaVere, a blues historian who has studied Johnson’s life for years, believed for a long time the Mount Zion site was the bluesman’s final resting place.

Later, after a good deal of research, LaVere changed his mind to believe Little Zion as the gravesite.

Rosie Eskridge, a witness to Johnson’s burial, emerged in 2000 and identified Little Zion as the site.

LaVere began his research in the 1970s.

A death certificate shows Johnson died Aug. 16, 1938, and was buried at “Zion Church.”

In an interview with Blues Unlimited magazine, musician Honeyboy Edwards said somebody poisoned Johnson at a place called Three Forks a few miles west of Greenwood.

LaVere found the Rev. Booker T. McSwine, a preacher and undertaker, who told him that many Zion churches existed in the area.

But LaVere discovered only one Three Forks — in the southwest corner of Leflore County near Morgan City. He located a Three Forks Store near Quito Plantation that locals said once had served as a juke joint.

About two miles away was Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

“We couldn’t find any grave markers for Robert Johnson, but I figured that had to be it,” LaVere said. “That was the Zion Church closest to the place where he was poisoned.”

For more than 20 years, LaVere believed he’d discovered Johnson’s final resting place. His assumptions were the basis of liner notes he wrote for “Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings,” a boxed set of Johnson’s music released in 1990.

But he later found out that the Three Forks referred to by Edwards wasn’t the store. It was at the intersection of U.S. 82 and U.S. 49 near Fort Pemberton.

“At that point, I realized I had gone off 15 miles in the wrong direction,” LaVere explained.

The researcher noted that the death certificate stated that Johnson last worked as a musician in July 1938, which meant he’d lived about 16 days after getting poisoned.

“So that means that if he was poisoned

Steve LaVere shows the marker he had installed at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Money Road after one of its members, Rosie Eskridge, said she watched her husband, Tom, bury Robert Johnson’s body there.

“Providence didn't put me on the right path; it put me on the wrong path. And I had to live with it for 20 years, and now I'm trying to live it down.”

Steve LaVere, blues historian out at the Three have died, and then Forks store in carrying the body Morgan City,” back to Mount Zion said LaVere, “he didn’t make sense was taken someto LaVere. place or lived At that time, if a Tour guide Sylvester someplace for at black person died Hoover says many least a couple of without money or fans visit the Little weeks before he family, then Little Zion gravesite. died – and that he Zion would have was then taken provided the closest back out to the burial plot. But the Mount Zion church didn’t have Church for burrecords going back ial.” that far.

The death cerThe courthouse tificate says didn’t prove helpful Johnson died outto LaVere. No side Greenwood, which would eliminate autopsy record. No requisition for a casBaptist Town. Edwards had asserted ket.

Johnson had a room in Baptist Town.

Cornelia Jordan, the local registrar for But toting the musician from the juke the Bureau of Vital Statistics, wrote on joint to Baptist Town, where he might the back of the death certificate that she 2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 39

had interviewed the white man, Luther Wade, who owned the place where Johnson died. Wade didn’t call a physician because Johnson didn’t work for him.

In 1998, LaVere was interviewed about his theory in an article for the Commonwealth, and he invited anyone with more information to come forward.

Nobody responded to the article at first, but Eskridge later told attorney Alix Sanders that LaVere’s theory was correct.

She told Sanders she had watched the burial. About one and a half years later, LaVere got the story. Eskridge said Johnson died at Star of the West plantation after a woman took him there. Eskridge lived on Wade’s plantation with her husband, Tom. After Johnson died, Wade came to her husband and asked him to fetch a pine box from the county barn and dig a grave.

Tom Eskridge placed the pine box at the foot of a pecan tree at the Little Zion cemetery.

You can see the marker there today.

But Mount Zion, in Morgan City, also has a marble obelisk in Johnson’s memory. It was placed there in 1991 through the efforts of Skip Henderson, head of a Robert Johnson memorial fund. A variety of sources contributed, but Columbia Records put up much of the money.

LaVere says Henderson, who owned a music store in New Jersey, used outdated information that was based on LaVere’s earlier conclusions. He urged Henderson to abandon the project, but it went through.

"The only reason anybody ever thinks that that’s the place where Robert Johnson is buried is because I originally thought that’s where he was buried," the researcher said. "There’s no documentation. There’s no firsthand knowledge. There’s no eyewitness. There’s nothing except circumstantial evidence that I put together in 1973."

The Quito site story stemmed from an interview with Elizabeth Patterson, who was known as Queen Elizabeth, in Living Blues magazine.

In the interview, Patterson said Johnson had molested her and her father stabbed him in the back as the bluesman ran across the bridge at the bayou at Quito Plantation near Three Forks store.

Based on this account, an Atlanta rock band, the Tombstones, paid for a marker for the site at Payne Chapel. Johnny Shines, a blues singer and boyhood friend of Johnson’s, sang at the dedication.

LaVere said he tried to talk to Queen Elizabeth, but she refused. He believes she had spoken of another Robert Johnson in the interview.

40 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Reflecting on the journey that initially led him to favor the Mount Zion site, LaVere said Providence just happened to mislead him.

"See, when I came down here from Memphis, I came down Park Avenue, made a right on Grand Boulevard and went down to see Reverend McSwine down on the south side of town,” he said. “If I had made a left turn and gone out to Star of the West plantation, I could have interviewed Tom Eskridge; he was still alive at that time. I could have interviewed Luther Wade; he was still alive at that time. And I could have gotten the right story from the right people and solved all of this mystery and saved everybody a lot of confusion.

But I didn’t.

"Providence didn’t put me on the right path; it put me on the wrong path. And I had to live with it for 20 years, and now I’m trying to live it down."

Hoover, the tour guide and deacon, acknowledges the tales, but supports LaVere’s assertion that Johnson rests at Little Zion.

So do many blues enthusiasts — although some check out the other two sites as well.

“They pretty much figure this is the spot, but they really want to go just check the other spots out anyway – just fascinated about the blues,” Hoover said. LI

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For some folks, Booger Den is home

BY BOB DARDEN Billy Walker remembers growing up in Leflore County’s Booger Den. The 58-year-old was born there — he and his mama didn’t make it to the doctor.

Walker remembers Booger Den as a close-knit community not far from others with equally colorful names: “Ignorant Ridge” and “Frog Bottom.”

“People really seemed to care about each other back then,” he said. “It was fun growing up there. The hunting and fishing were just great around there.”

In Booger Den, which is bordered by Ruleville on the west, Minter City on the east and Schlater on the south, Walker, the present-day owner of Allstate Insurance Agency, learned life’s lessons from good country people, many of them sharecroppers.

“They weren’t the most educated. They had to work,” Walker said. “The kids, in the fall of the year, had to work in the fields right along with the adults.”

In those days, a sharecropper family might make at most $5 a day. “People made it,” he said. “They raised hogs and chickens.”

Not many folks owned houses with air conditioning. Maybe one

home in 10 had a telephone.

Walker remembers starting first grade in Schlater. Each day opened with prayer. Later, he moved over to Sunnyside Elementary School near Minter City.

Minter City Saturday nights in the 1950s and 1960s Booger Den in Booger Den didn’t differ Schlater from those enjoyed by young people in other communities.

Greenwood “We would go to the picture show in Ruleville. We’d all ride in the backs of pickups,” Walker said. “You’d nearly choke to death from the dust when you Leflore County stopped for a stop sign or red light.”

While not many people remain in this small community, some still call Booger Den home. LI

U

By the Numbers: Top Employers 1. Viking Range Corp.: 1,178 employees 2. Greenwood Leflore Hospital: 858 3. Mississippi Valley State University: 773 4. Greenwood Public Schools: 475 5. Leflore County Schools: 451

6. Staplcotn: 450 (seasonal), 248 (office) 7. Heartland Catfish: 425 8. Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp.: 421 9. America’s Catch: 372 10. John-Richard: 350

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Outfitted for spor t Leflore County’s duck & goose country draws hunters from near and far

BY BILL BURRUS Leflore County and the surrounding area provides some of Mississippi’s finest waterfowl hunting.

Anyone interested in taking advantage of this can do so for a price. Several guide services stay busy throughout the winter, catering to duck and goose hunters from across the nation.

Mossy Island Outfitters in southern Leflore County offers custom duck and goose packages. The business also draws a big crowd for dove hunts.

Rocky Leflore started this outfitting business in 1998. The next year he built a lodge to accommodate his hunters.

He’s gone great guns since then.

“We hunted about 10 to 12 people a day last season, and we hunted every day of the season,” Leflore said. “We are usually booked up for the season by the end of September.”

One of the veterans in the business is Leflore County farmer Bo Prestidge. He jumped into the outfitting business about a decade ago after opening Wildlife, Inc. These days Prestidge has scaled back on the number of duck hunts he provides in a season. He wants to give his clients better hunting.

“We carry just a certain amount of hunters, and we only hunt 30 days or half of the season,” Prestidge said. “We will hunt for three days, and then let our holes rest for three days.”

Most of Wildlife Inc.’s hunters have enjoyed Prestidge’s hospitality for about eight years. “I’ve still got my very first paying group coming back every year,” he said.

42 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

For more information on Prestidge’s guide service, visit his Web site at www.wildlifeinc.net or call 1-888DUCHUNT. In the northwest corner of Leflore County, Mallard Manor operates as one of the newest members of the growing number of outfitters in the area. On the high end of the price scale in the Delta, the Manor offers helicopter shuttle service, on-site concierge, maid service, telephone, fax and wireless Internet.

Each evening, hunters may sit down to a five-course dinner in the dining room of the 12,500-square-foot lodge, which can accommodate up to 30 hunters a night.

“We’ve got a first-class facility, and we’re all about customer service,” said Joe Parson, general manager at Mallard Manor. “This will be our third hunting season in November, and our growth has been incredible. Last year, our bookings were up about 800 percent from our inaugural year.”

Mallard Manor also boasts a five-stand sporting clay course, run by an experienced pro available to offer private shooting lessons.

Leflore Wildlife Inc. guide County may be Ward Gilbert of well known for Indianola, center, its waterfowl escorts hunting, but Montgomery, Arrowhead Ala., hunters Plantation, in Chuck Parkinson, northern left, and Mickey Leflore County Easley on a sucnear Money, is cessful morning quickly becom- shooting ducks. ing a quail hunter’s paradise.

Operating in its fifth year under owner Martin Tribble, Arrowhead offers fully guided hunts with dogs for pen-raised birds. The season starts in October and runs through the end of April, but Tribble says his busiest months are January and February.

“This thing got started when I hooked up with Bo Prestidge, taking his duck hunters quail hunting to give them something to do in the afternoons,” said Tribble, a Greenwood farmer. “Then we got to fooling with the hunting dogs, and it just took off from there.

Showing ducks are Wildlife Inc. guide Brantley Nichols, left, and Alabama hunter Charlie Williamson.

“The last couple of years we’ve seen our business really increase. We had about 130 hunts last year, double from what it was two years ago.”

Tribble raises his own birds but also goes out of state to buy some. “I try to find the best flying birds possible,” he said.

Half-day and full-day hunts are available.

Hunts include guides, dogs, field transportation for a minimum of two hunters per group and cleaning and packaging of quail.

The cost for a half-day hunt (12 birds) is $125 . per gun, with Catfish F lautt full-day hunts (24 birds) going for $225.

There are additional hunting packages available. See the Web site at www.arrowheadplantation.com for more information

“We had hunters from 25 different states last season, up from about 22 different states the year before ”

with his wife, Hedy.

“We had hunters from 25 different states last season, up from about 22 different states the year before. Most of our business is out-of-state hunters, but we have started to see an increase among in-state hunters,” Flautt said.

Flautt has followed a no-till pattern on his farm for several years, so all of his grain is still available as a main food source for the ducks and geese.

Contact Mike or Hedy Flautt at (662) 375-8792 or (662) 375-2116 for booking information or visit their Web site at www.tallahatchiehunts.com. LI

or contact Tribble at (622) 299-1267.

Just north of Leflore County, Mike “Catfish” Flautt provides some hunting space on his family farm near Swan Lake.

Tallahatchie County has gained a reputation over the years as one of the top spots in the Delta to hunt duck.

The Tallahatchie, Coldwater and Yocona rivers all come together in Tallahatchie County. These rivers drain Sardis, Arkabutla and Enid reservoirs in Northwest Mississippi. Backwater flooding is common during the winter months.

The land that adjoins these rivers provides a haven to Flautt’s clients.

“I think there were about 20,000 acres of corn in Tallahatchie County last year. That combined with the backwater from the rivers makes our area like a vacuum for ducks,” said Flautt, who runs the business

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They call him John ‘3’

BY BOB DARDEN

D

Dr. John F. r. John Fair Lucas Lucas III comes III comes from a long line of physifrom a family of cians who have made the wellphysicians. His being of Deltans a priority. For wife, Marsha, is Lucas, it’s in the blood.

“My great-grandfather praca doctor, as are ticed in Moorhead from the turn his dad,a sister of the century until the 1950s. and a brother.

My grandfather practiced here from 1939 until 1976. My dad’s been here since 1972, and I got here in 1988,” said Lucas, 49.

The bond between a patient and physician is a strong one, he said.

“I think there’s a lot to practicing medicine that involves the trust of the patient. Having had two or three generations prior to me coming here — having that good reputation — means a lot when you’re a practicing physician,” Lucas said.

Lucas’ first experience in the field of medicine was making the rounds as a child at the side of his grandfather, Dr. John Fair Lucas Sr., whom Lucas affectionately called “Doc Doc.” Later, when he was in the ninth grade, Lucas got his first job with his father, Dr. John Fair Lucas Jr. Although the pay was not great — a dollar per hour — the training helped him experience the life of a surgeon.

“I was handing him instruments and holding retractors. I did that during the summers. I got a lot of exposure to surgery. I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed working with my hands and helping people. That sort of fit together in surgery,” Lucas said.

For Lucas, his role as a Greenwood surgeon has been a perfect fit ever since.

Lucas was the 1973 valedictorian at Pillow Academy. He attended the University of Mississippi and graduated from the school in 1977.

After completing his studies at Ole Miss, he went to Duke University for medical school. That also is where he completed his residency program. “I spent 11 years in training before I came back here,” Lucas said.

Asked why he returned to Greenwood, he replied, “I enjoyed working with my father before. I came back so I could work with him. I liked the town. That’s why I came back here.”

Lucas and his wife of almost 25 years, Dr. Marsha Lucas, a

pathologist, are not the only two doctors in the younger Lucas generation. Lucas’ sister, Sethelle Flowers, is a dermatologist in Ridgeland. His brother, Aubrey Lucas, is an orthopedic surgeon in Jackson.

Lucas has been involved in the community as well.

“I am an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity. I’ve served on the vestry and am currently the Cubmaster and Scoutmaster for Troop 100,” he said.

Lucas has been involved with Scouting since he was a child.

Because he believes strongly in it, he has served as district chairman for the Boy Scouts of America’s Chickasaw Council for the past two years.

Lucas has served on the board of directors at Greenwood Little Theatre and at Deposit Guaranty, First American and AmSouth banks. In addition, he served on the board of trustees for the Mississippi Medical Association for five years. In 1999, he served as Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s chief of staff.

Lucas also was on the board of directors of Cottonlandia Museum for many years until the death of his eldest son, John Lucas IV, in May 2003.

Since his son’s death, Lucas said, he has devoted more of his time and attention to his wife and two children, Michael, 14, and Katherine, 13, and less time to community activities.

One thing he has supported is the annual John Lucas IV Memorial Tennis Tournament, which raises funds for a number of community projects, such as installing a security fence at Little Red Park.

“We’ve donated money several times to the Stone Street Baseball League for uniforms,” he said.

Being a surgeon requires a lot of long hours, often as many as 80 hours a week, Lucas said.

“I’m about as busy as you can be. I come out here at 7:30 in the morning and it is not infrequent that I leave after midnight,” he said.

Still, Lucas enjoys his calling and Greenwood — the place he will always call home.

“I really didn’t consider going anyplace else. I always had the plan to come back to practice in Greenwood,” he said. LI

“I liked the town. That’s why I came back her e.”

44 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

By the Numbers: Income and Education Capita income Income PerPer capita

2005 2005Estimate (estimate)

$23,812

Change Since 1969 Change Since 1969 (adjustedadjusted for inflation) for inflation

+ 63.8%

$15,646

Leflore County

+ 42.5%

United States

Leflore County

United States

Educational Educational Attainment Attainment High SchoolGraduate Graduate or High School orHigher Higher

2005 Estimate 2005 Estimate

Change Since 1970 1970 Change Since

85.2%

+ 78.7% 65.2%

+ 62.9%

Leflore County

United States

Leflore County

United States

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The manufacturing image

John-Richard’s big picture

BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY

P

hotographer Edward Blackstone keeps an eye on the ever-expanding picture of the homegrown Greenwood furniture company, JohnRichard.

Piece by piece, he focuses on the large and small — the gleam from a light fixture or a detail on the carving of a table leg — to produce up to 2,000 photographs a year in a cavernous studio close to assembly facilities and company headquarters in the GreenwoodLeflore Industrial Park.

“We’re still shooting all of our entries for this market,” Blackstone said one Friday evening in the late summer. He worked throughout the weekend, photographing home furnishings and accessories for the High Point, N.C., furniture market.

But Blackstone’s work reaches customers beyond the furniture market. He brings the 11 lines of Alex Malouf’s 25-year-old company to them through material handed out by John-Richard’s several dozen sales representatives.

“They carry around all of this stuff, and they say, ‘OK, you want a chair? Let me get out my chairs,’” 46 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Blackstone said. “There are thousands of pieces, and the sales people sell them all.”

The 39-year-old photographer can do it all: shoot film and digital images, run a darkroom, set up umbrellas and soft boxes, and polish images in Adobe Photoshop.

A Greenwood native, Blackstone became a professional photographer while working on a graphic arts degree at Delta State University in Cleveland.

He has worked in the news, manufacturing and hospitality industries. When his wife, Dr. One of Jenay Neely, was in medical school Blackstone’s in West Virginia, Blackstone was a images staff photographer at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs.

After Neely started to practice near Greenwood, he worked as house husband. Then he got a call about coming to work at John-Richard.

“What I do has to represent the product,” he said.

This requires a practically perfect picture of each piece.

Blackstone likes the challenge. “There are hundreds of ways to do what I am doing, and I get to choose the way I want to do it,” he said. LI

Hometown Greenwood photographer Edward Blackstone has several different sets in his warehouse studio at the JohnRichard facilities in the GreenwoodLeflore Industrial Park. Above are some of the bed coverings and accessories he photographed prior to the October opening of the High Point, N.C., furniture market.

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Opportunity knocks

Valley’s door-opening plans

BY KYLE MARTIN

T

he campus of Mississippi Valley State University has been alive with the sounds of whining saws, banging hammers and roaring backhoes. For President Lester C. Newman, it’s the sound of progress.

After 25 years of no construction, the 55year-old campus added a new administration building in 1999. Its completion launched a blitz of projects and renovations valued at $90 million by Newman.

“Our goal is to have an optimal learning, living and working environment here on campus,” Dr. Lester Newman, Newman said. president of The new buildings Mississippi Valley have a threefold purpose, he said: “Valley is State University, based on service, shows the university’s research and teaching. many building plans.

That’s the role the institution plays. You can’t do one without the other.”

Among several projected multimillion-dollar buildings is a new Health and Wellness Center, with an auditorium capable of seating up to 7,500 people. This will give the campus a place to accommodate large crowds, which now must squeeze into the H.G. Carpenter Auditorium and the gymValley’s nasium. new “The greatest complaint busiwe get is when you can’t fit ness a family in for graduation. building What people want to see is rises. their son or daughter graduate. We have limited space, so we will be happy to see it completed,” Newman said.

New degree programs will accompany some of the new buildings. The Business Education building will house 48 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

courses toward a master’s degree in business administration.

By late 2005, the university was seeking funding for a hotel, and the university plans to add courses in restaurant and hotel management. An accompanying 18-hole golf course would give hands-on experience to students learning to manage golf courses.

Additionally, the new hotel would draw tourists, Newman said.“Delta tourism is a major business that not been tapped into. It will give us an opportunity to bring people to the Delta that otherwise would not have come. People can come and play golf and tour Greenwood and Itta Bena,” he said.

Enrollment has been booming for the last five years, and new dormitories are scheduled to be built to handle the greater numbers of students. In June, Elite Concepts was opened to house non-traditional students, who constitute almost 55 percent of the student body, according to Newman.

Several old buildings will receive face-lifts. Newman cited several problems with the current facilities, including a lack of a reception area for after-event gatherings. Also, the

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flat roofs on campus will receive a pitch to stop the leaks.

The name on a building does not limit its capabilities. Newman said he plans to make the best use out of each building.

“That’s the nature of a college campus.

We just cheat sheet around,” Newman said.

Twin lakes on either side of the main entrance will help alleviate the drainage problem that has plagued the campus for years. At two acres in size, the lakes will collect rain runoff and pump the water off campus.

Tommy Verdell, director of facilities management, said his department has received complaints from students about electricity interruptions, parking limitations and construction noise.

“It’s the price you pay for progress,” Verdell said.

“A majority of our projects have finished ahead of schedule and within budget.

After it’s all said and done, everybody’s happy,” he said.

Ultimately, Newman hopes the new buildings will not only accommodate the new growth but also encourage more.

“I’ve always been taught if people like what they see, they will stop to check it out. We want people to stop and see what’s going on at the Valley.” LI

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Aptitude and Attitude Allen Wood Jr. takes pride in progress

BY KYLE MARTIN

A

llen Wood Jr. loves the Delta. He invests in it.The 61-year-old has a knack for seizing business opportunities.“All I know is that I’m Delta born, Delta bred and when I die, I’ll be Delta dead,” he chuckles.

He joined forces with Alex Malouf about 40 years ago after graduating from Mississippi State University.

Their start: a promise and an emptied savings account.

Since then, Wood has spearheaded ventures in real estate, telecommunications and manufacturing.

His philosophy in business applies to his life as well. “You have to work hard, and don’t ever lie, cheat or steal.”

Wood’s telecommunications business, Scientific Telecommunications, evolved from a burglar alarm business. It was sold in 1999 to ITC^DeltaCom. Wood is a partner and manager of John Richard Investments, a real estate company.

All in Greenwood.

“There are a lot of good things coming to Greenwood,” he said. “I’m real proud of the way that Greenwood has progressed since I grew up.”

The small-town feel of Greenwood makes it special for Wood. People accept you for who you are, he said.

But don’t think little when you think about the city.

“Greenwood, for its size, is one of the most influential places on this Earth,” he said.

“Famous people from this area will bump into each other in London or New York, and it’s like they never left.”

Despite negative statistics that cite the Delta as one of the poorest places in the nation, Wood said he remains optimistic.

“In the Delta there is an attitude of forgiveness and an ability to look the other way. It’s a little more complex than just optimism.” LI 50 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

“Greenwood, for its size, is one of the most influential places on this Earth.”

Allen Wood Jr.

Numbers By the

POPULATION Leflore County’s population is blacker, younger and slightly more female than the state and national averages.

By race:

Black White Hispanic/Asian

By age:

Under 18 years old 65 years old plus

By gender: Female Male

68% 30 % 2% 30 % 12 % 52 % 48 %

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 51

Enduring & prevailing A FRONT STREET LAW OFFICE

BY SUSAN MONTGOMERY

B

o and Faye Gwin are curators of a sort.They’ve watered an old pecan tree outside their office and hope it will survive. After all, this tree likely watched folks settle long before the Civil War. The unknown succession of buildings on the postage stamp of earth occupied by the law office likely will remain a mystery, said Bo Gwin, an attorney.

Gwin and his wife, who works for him, bought the building on Front Street in March 2002 from a set of sisters who inherited it from their father, A.F. Gardner, who practiced law at the site in the 19th century.

Gwin said he does not know what kind of building originally stood there. He searched courthouse records and found a deed of trust from 1852.

“But it doesn’t look like the architectural design and buildings from 1852,” Gwin said he has learned.

The place has had various neighbors, including a saloon and then a hotel. Right now, Regions Bank is next door.

Several other attorneys have practiced there. One painted part of the interior black. Another told the Gwins, “You have to be careful of the snakes.” LI

A mural dominates the sanctuary of Wesley United Methodist Church on Howard Street.

The church is more than 100 years old.

PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS

Significant sites

BY JO ALICE HUGHES

The Gwin Law Office on Front Street near Keesler Bridge was likely built more than 100 years ago.

Leflore County has a host of interesting historical sites.

Wesley United Methodist Church

The red brick church at 800 Howard Street, Wesley United Methodist, was the point of organization for the marches to the Leflore County Courthouse that were held to get black people registered to vote. Some of the national leaders of the civil rights movement were “regulars” at the church — Stokely Carmichael and Dick Gregory, for example.

The first Greenwood office of the NAACP was housed in the church, and one of the Freedom Schools, which were the precursors of Head Start centers, was opened at Wesley.

52 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Originally a white frame building, the church on this site burned accidentally in the 1920s and was rebuilt in its current brick structure. It was designed by Frank R. McGeoy based on a vision its minister had formulated when he saw a similar church on a trip to St. Louis.

The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church

On Money Road, north of Greenwood, stands a small white church that many blues scholars agree is most likely the final resting place of bluesman Robert Johnson. The other two places, in Quito and in Morgan City, seem less likely. If Johnson died in Greenwood, as is generally believed, he probably would have been buried as close as possible to where he died, and that’s Little Zion.

Leflor e County Courthouse

In downtown Greenwood at the corner of Fulton and Market streets and on the south bank of the Yazoo River, the Leflore County Courthouse, designed by noted architect R.H. Hunt of Chattanooga, Tenn., was begun in 1905, when the cornerstone was laid. It was completed in September 1906, with the portion housing the jail and county offices added in 1926.

The structure replaced a courthouse that was built in 1879. Westminster chimes were added in 1933, tuned to the 1,000pound striking bell.

The Confederate monument on the southeast corner of the grounds was erected in 1913 by the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The site for the courthouse was believed to be a place of justice by the Choctaw Indians. In the 1960s, the courthouse figured prominently in the civil rights move-

ment as people marched there to secure their right to vote.

Browning Well

Black men and women and their families carved out a community east of Greenwood, beginning with a two-acre gift from Phillip Henry Moore, a landowner and alumnus of Rust College. In 1921, Browning School was built to serve the community’s children, and in 1922, an artesian well was constructed to provide water for the school. The well and the school were transferred to Leflore County Schools in 1923, becoming public property.

People came from miles around for the good water the well produced. Business was transacted and deals were struck at the well, which became a symbol of honesty and trustworthiness. After nearly half a century, the well fell into disrepair and disuse. Formed in 1976, the Browning Progressive Civic League worked with the community to restore the well and its environs. It stands today as a landmark reminding the community of its rich heritage.

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Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market

A few miles north of Greenwood, in Money, 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago was visiting relatives in August 1955. They stopped at Bryant’s Grocery

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and Meat Market for snacks. From its porch, Till is said to have whistled at the owner’s wife — an act that cost him his life. A few days later, he was abducted and killed by white men who objected to his impertinence. His mutilated body was found several days later in the Tallahatchie River, attached to a 75pound gin fan. In December 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, sparked the civil rights movement by refusing to ride in the back of a Montgomery, Ala., bus.

She later acknowledged that the memory of Till’s death gave her the strength to refuse to move from the “Whites Only” section of the bus. Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market is generally acknowledged as the site of the incident that led to the beginnings of the civil rights movement.

Keesler Bridge

Built in 1924, this bridge over the Yazoo River replaced a onelane iron bridge built in 1898 and connected North Greenwood to Greenwood’s business district. It was named in honor of Gen. S.R. Keesler, then president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors. It is one of the few remaining truss bridges in the state. When it was new, a team of mules on the river bank pivoted the bridge on its center pier to allow steamboats and other river traffic to pass. In 2003, after a nine-month, $1.5 million restoration project, the Mississippi Heritage Trust presented an Award of Merit to the bridge, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Greenwood Elks Lodge The Greenwood Elks Lodge No. 854 BPOE was organized in July 1903. Its first lodge was purchased in January 1904 on the corner of Main and Washington streets. The building was later sold and moved, and the current building was erected in 1917.

Davis School

Now known as the Davis Elementary School building, the current structure facing Cotton Street was designed by R.H. Hunt to be the schoolhouse that served the entire town. The cornerstone was laid Oct. 19, 1900. As the city’s school population grew, the building evolved to become Greenwood High School. In about 1960, when the new high school was built on Garrard Avenue, the Cotton Street structure became Greenwood Junior High School, and Davis Elementary School eventually occupied the added buildings in the rear, on Dewey Street. On Dec. 8, 1980, Davis Elementary burned to the ground; no injuries or other property damage occurred, and the school was rebuilt.

The original building — the one facing Cotton Street — was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

best price possible. Because Mississippi law did not allow growers to form cooperatives, the articles of incorporation were filed in Nashville, Tenn., for the Staple Cotton Cooperative Association in 1921.

The offices were located on the southwest corner of Market and Fulton streets in Greenwood. In 1931, they relocated to a building at 214 West Market Street, built in 1904 by Henderson and Baird.

With regional offices now all over the South, the headquarters is still located at that address, although expansion into other structures in the block has occurred.

The offices underwent a major remodeling in 2004.

The name of the cooperative evolved from Staple Cotton to Staplcotn in the late 1970s.

Staplcotn

First firehouses

Cotton almost always has been an important part of the economy of the South in general and Mississippi in particular. In 1919, Oscar Bledsoe Jr. of Greenwood overheard a conversation between two cotton merchants who were joking about taking advantage of Delta planters. He undertook the formation of a cotton cooperative that would provide a service to cotton farmers to market their product at the 54 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

The first fire wagon in Greenwood was purchased in May 1906, and Mayor Will Vardaman personally traveled to Memphis to purchase it and two horses.

An ordinance passed in November of that year established the Greenwood Fire Department, staffed by three men. The first fire station was built on the corner of Howard Street and Carrollton Avenue; it

later housed the local American Red Cross offices. In 1913, an “automobile fire machine” was put into operation, and the purchase of another fire truck in 1918 marked the end of horse-drawn fire engines in town. Greenwood’s No. 2 Fire Station was built on Carrollton Avenue, now across from New Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Front Street and Cotton Row Front Street, named in 1844, runs parallel to the Yazoo River in the eastern part of downtown Greenwood. It was one of the first streets where businesses, including several saloons, were built in the city.

After a fire in 1890 destroyed most of the buildings along Front Street, the businesses that replaced them were mostly cotton businesses of various types, which gave the street its informal identity as “Cotton Row.” Viking Range Corp. has refurbished these buildings and now uses them as its corporate headquarters.

This historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. LI

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BY BILL BURRUS More and more adults in Leflore County have turned to tennis to network socially and for the health benefits Martin Dyotte, the tennis professional at Greenwood Tennis coach Country Club, says Martin Dyotte he has seen a 50 percent increase recently in adult play at the club.

“Even though we’ve had that increase, we still have more kids playing tennis at the Country Club than we do adults. But the adults we do have are quite active,” Dyotte said.

Adult tennis at GCC got a big boost during the summer when Dyotte started holding a mixed doubles social each Wednesday evening.

“It was a fun way to get folks involved who had never played much before. It got bigger by word of mouth and by friends recruiting friends,” Dyotte said. “It’s always more fun to do something with your friends, no mater what you’re doing.”

Dyotte says about 100 people regularly play tennis at the country club.

The social hour attracted 27-year-old Austin Wilkey. “I played tennis for a few years in high school but forgot about it when I got so involved in golf,” said Wilkey, a scratch golfer. “I have gotten where I enjoy tennis more than golf.

Tennis can be played at night with your friends, and that makes it easy during the week when everyone is busy with work.”

Billy Gip Clark, the tennis pro at Twin Rivers, says tennis is popular in this area for many reasons. “First of all, it’s a sport for a lifetime. We’ve got 70- and 80-yearold people out here playing tennis,” Clark said. Clark has about 250 regulars in the Twin Rivers tennis program, including about 100 junior players. He had 75 kids ages 5-13 in his summer program.

In April 2005, the Greenwood area saw its membership in the USTA go from 297 to 384, a 29 percent increase. It was by far the biggest jump for tennis in the Mississippi Delta, USTA figures show. LI

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yes courtesy ma’am

Count on

BY JO ALICE HUGHES

Mind your manners.

That’s a watchword in the Mississippi Delta. But why?

“Manners are a reflection of your character, and that’s the most important thing you have,” said Jan Sturdivant, founder and organizer of the Delta Cotillion.

“The basis of all manners,” she said, “is to deliberately show respect and consideration for another person.”

It’s as simple as that.

Leflore County has several organizations that promote the conviction that manners are important for getting along in our world.

Delta Cotillion The word “cotillion” brings to mind white gloves, rigid posture and stuffy conversation no deeper than, “How do you do?” But the Jon D. Williams Cotillion, a decades-old Denver organization, updates its program annually and offers it locally at the First Presbyterian Church’s Education Building.

A beginning class for fifth-graders and more advanced instruction for sixth- and seventh-graders provide lessons in dance, etiquette, table manners and social interaction in situations that may range from a school dance to a visit to the White House.

Beginning in January each year, students attend six co-ed class sessions that culminate in a final themed party and dance.

But the social skills learned go far beyond.

“Cotillion is a great non-competitive way for these kids to get to know each other,” Sturdivant said. She pointed out that since the kids attend different schools all over the Delta, they most frequently meet each other on the soccer field or the tennis court, trying to annihilate each other. Cotillion helps them learn how to get along with each other instead.

Fashionetta Girls 14 to 17 years old may participate in Fashionetta, sponsored in Leflore County by the Kappa Alpha Omega 56 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Jasmine Rafique and Caver Camp, both 11, practice skills they learned by participating in the Delta Cotillion.

chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, an international service organization.

Each October, several groups of members sponsor a girl from one of the area high schools.

Through April, chapter members meet with the girls and instruct them in the social graces and pageant skills.

They put their skills to use on field trips to restaurants and other public places. Additionally, the girls raise money for the chapter’s service projects. The girl who raises the most money is named Miss Fashionetta at a pageant in April.

Other awards include scholarships for the participants, one of whom additionally receives the title of Miss Congeniality.

Several girls who have won Miss Fashionetta have gone on to win in other pageants, such as Miss Jackson State University and Miss Mississippi Valley State University.

For more information on Fashionetta in Leflore County, contact any member of the Kappa Alpha Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Cotillion Federated Club Retired and active business women and teachers make up the Cotillion Federated Club of Greenwood.

Every other year this group hosts the Red and White Ball for girls in grades 5 through 8.

In October, the club hand-picks girls, or Cotillionettes, to receive instruction in dance and etiquette in workshops, at slumber parties, on field trips or in other

outings.

Club members and their charges practice their social skills at art shows or in restaurants in Memphis and Jackson.

Members also work with the girls’ families to encourage daily practice of the social graces. All of the Cotillionettes receive scholarships.

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta sorority sponsors Delta Debutantes every other year.

In the fall, sorority members submit the names of young women who range from juniors in high school to freshmen in college for participation in the program.

The sorority covers not only Leflore County, but also Carroll, Grenada, Holmes and Sunflower counties. Each girl submits an application. The sorority screens the girls for high academic and character standards.

Members of the sorority work with the girls who are selected and with the girls’ families on a personal development program that covers health, makeup, fashion and technology.

The sorority members also take the girls on field trips to restaurants, plays and other events so they can put into practice the knowledge they’ve gained in the program. This ends with the girls’ presentation as Delta Debutantes the following spring.

Delta Sigma Theta also sponsors the Delta Academy, which educates girls ages 10 through 14 in proper behavior for fun social activities, emphasizing selfrespect. LI

What’s there to do? Plenty

BY GENIE ALICE VIA

M

ost travelers want to find a good place to eat, and Greenwood has plenty to offer in that category, says Suzy Gordon Johnson, executive director for the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“The variety of restaurants we have here is something that distinguishes Greenwood,” Johnson said. “There is something everybody will like. We have a wide variety, from fine dining to very casual.”There are several locally owned restaurants that offer something different from chain restaurants, she said.

Lusco’s, Giardina’s, The Crystal Grill, Yianni's ... the list goes on. “It’s not the typical fare you find from city to city,” Johnson said.

What’s next on the list? Shopping!

“People want to leave a city they are visiting with something they can’t get at home,” Johnson said. “Greenwood, especially downtown, has so many stores that are different from anywhere else.”

Cottonlandia Museum has art, history, archaeology — and more.

Barbara Ingram, executive director for Main Street Greenwood, said Greenwood is quickly becoming a regional shopping destination.

“The revitalization of downtown has given it an ambiance that is bringing people from all around,” she said. “The merchants are friendly and confident in Greenwood, and that draws people here.”

After you’ve eaten and shopped until you can’t anymore, there’s still more to do and see. Downtown, pampering and beauty come next in the Alluvian Spa. “We are in the throes of a baby-boomer era,” Johnson said. “They want to be pampered, and it’s all about ‘me.’ What says that more than a spa treatment?”

Since cotton is such a staple around the Delta, the spa offers Mississippi cotton seed oil in a variety of treatments.

If there’s still time, you’ll want to attend a Viking Cooking School. This offers a

variety of classes, from How To Boil Water and a Children’s Cooking Camp, to a Thai Taste Explosion, Entertaining Cocktail Party and Girls’ Night Out in Paris. Some classes are demonstration, and some are hands-on.

Greenwood is known for the blues, and you can hear it and learn about it downtown. At the Blue Parrot Café you can enjoy the “fine Latin cuisine” while entertainers give their interpretations of jazz and the blues on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Steve LaVere, owner of the Blue Parrot, said he couldn’t imagine having a restaurant without live music.

LaVere also owns the Blues Heritage Museum and Gallery right next door to the Blue Parrot. “The Blues Museum is the repository of music history in Greenwood,” LaVere said. A primary display highlights bluesmen from the Delta, including B.B. King, Charlie Patton, Eugene “Sonny Boy Nelson” Powell and Honeyboy Edwards. The museum also features displays on Robert Johnson, “The King of the Delta Blues Singers.”

Or try Cottonlandia Museum on U.S. 82 West. Visitors can examine exhibits of art, natural science, archaeology and military history plus a Leflore County timeline that runs from 1830 to the present. LI

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 57

Say A manner What of speaking ???

Leflore County

BY JO ALICE HUGHES Every place has its own language.

But if you ask for directions from Point A to Point B and you haven’t lived or worked in Greenwood long enough, these instructions might mystify you: “Take Park past County Market and turn right on the Boulevard. Take the old bridge and go right on Church till you get to the old junior high building.”

You’re lost before you leave Point A. Here’s a navigational glossary that will have you sounding like a native in short order.

CLIMATE TEMPERATURE Average high 74.2 Average low 53.3 PRECIPITATION Average rainfall 51.37 in.

Average snowfall 1.5 in.

City streets

The Boulevard: This almost always means Grand Boulevard, the northsouth main thoroughfare through North Greenwood. Towering oak trees line both sides, making it arguably one of the most beautiful streets in the Delta.

Natives call the other boulevards in town, Grenada Boulevard and South Boulevard, by their full names.

Park: Park Avenue runs east and west, bisected by Grand Boulevard. Unless the address you’re looking for is a private residence east of the Boulevard, “Park” means West Park Avenue, which is strictly commercial.

The Bypass: U.S. 49-82 bypass runs along the southern edge of the city, like a cupped hand. It was constructed in the 1950s to alleviate downtown traffic and to allow motorists to travel past Greenwood without having to go through town. The Bypass is heavily commercial.

Frontage road: In Greenwood, frontage roads run parallel to the Bypass.

They’re the roads you have to turn onto to access some businesses whose addresses are on the Bypass. In other 58 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

places, frontage roads are known as access roads or service roads.

Structures, landmarks and areas

Old bridge: The bridge over the Yazoo River that connects Grand Boulevard in North Greenwood to Fulton Street downtown is known as the old bridge.

Its proper name is the Keesler Bridge.

New bridge: A few blocks east of the old bridge is what’s known as the new bridge, although it was built in the 1970s to alleviate the traffic congestion on streets connecting North Greenwood to downtown. Also spanning the Yazoo River, it connects Poplar Street in North Greenwood to Walthall Street downtown. Its proper name is the Veterans Memorial Bridge, in honor of local folks who served in the U.S. armed forces.

Hospital bridge: A third bridge crosses the Yazoo River on the Bypass next to the Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Its proper name is the Hinman Bridge, but if you call it that, you’ll probably have to clarify your

meaning: “You know, the hospital bridge.”

Baptist Town: A mixed residential and commercial neighborhood of South Greenwood bordered generally on the north by Walker Street, on the east by Avenue A, on the south by McCain Street, and on the west by Short Street, which turns into Young Street.

Birdland: Just south of U.S. 82 east of Greenwood, in the neighborhood where East Elementary School is located, are a number of streets named for birds – Oriole, Mockingbird and Quail Trail, for example. The names of the streets gave the neighborhood its informal name, Birdland.

Rising Sun: On the east side of U.S. 49, just south of Greenwood, is a mostly residential community known as Rising Sun. The term also informally encompasses businesses on the outskirts of the development itself.

Where it used to be …

The collective memory of small-town

residents dies hard. Original residences, businesses and landmarks that disappeared decades ago, evolved into other entities or were renamed are still fresh in the minds of many and still referred to as if there had been no change.

County Market: Greenwood Marketplace on Park was County Market for many years. In the 1990s, it was bought by its employees, who changed its name. Some customers still make their checks out to “County Market;” they have to be asked to write new ones to “Marketplace” or “Greenwood Marketplace.”

Old Post Office: Greenwood used to have only one post office, downtown on the southeast corner of Church and Howard streets. That building now houses the administration offices of Greenwood Public Schools.

CHRISTIE BEATTIE RMT #12-NCTMB

How we do run on …

Getting along in a new place takes more than just knowing how to get around in it. Here are a few expressions used by “the locals” — although some are heard elsewhere in the South — that might have visitors and newcomers scratching their heads and looking for context.

Layin’ out: Many Leflore County women still sunbathe from February through October, despite all kinds of warnings about cancer and wrinkled, leather-like skin. Layin’ out — the grammar issue is irrelevant — is a status symbol of sorts; a deep, rich tan tells the world you have lots of leisure time to devote to yourself.

You want tea?: In the South in general and just about anywhere in Leflore County in particular, when you order tea in a restaurant, you will get iced tea, not hot, even in the dead of winter. And although most restaurants now offer both sweet and unsweetened tea, if you want unsweetened tea, it’s advisable to specify “unsweet.”

Who are your people?: Southerners love to make family connections, regardless of how many generations must be reviewed before there’s a match.

The person asking about your ancestors never means to offend you; indeed, she’s usually looking for what or whom you two might have in common. The question is considered neither rude nor nosy.

If you don’t want to get into those details, though, just respond with something like, “Oh, they’re not from around here,” and try changing the subject. LI

By appointment only

662.451.7445

702 Hwy 82W Greenwood www.hacgreenwood.com

Nativity Episcopal Church Across from The Alluvian, Corner of Church and Howard Streets Greenwood, MS 38930 • 662-453-7786 Sunday, 7:30 a.m. - Holy Eucharist, Rite I Sunday, 10:30 a.m. - Holy Eucharist, Rite II

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 59

Keep an eye out

for these!

October 2005 6 – LeBonté Women’s Club Cooking School Fund-raiser at Viking Range Corp.

13 – Chamber of Commerce Salute to Elected Officials November 2005 1 – Citywide Retail Holiday Open House 6 – Delta Pen Women Opening at Cottonlandia Museum December 2005 1 – Lighting of the Courthouse 2 – 70th Annual Roy Martin Delta Band Festival Christmas Parade 3-4 – Crafts Fair at Civic Center 5 – LeBonté Women’s Club Tasting Tea 6 – Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Review/Preview Breakfast 7 – Chamber of Commerce YELL Class Graduation 8 – Chamber of Commerce Leadership Tomorrow Class Graduation 19-20 – First Presbyterian Church 25th Annual Singing Christmas Tree January 2006 5 – New Exhibit Opens at Cottonlandia Museum February 2006 18 – Junior Auxiliary Cotton Ball 24 – Chamber of Commerce Salute to Agriculture 28 – Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours — Secretary By Design/ Wrap It Up

The Leflore County Courthouse

March 2006 1 – Ebony Fashion Fair 5 – New Art Exhibit Opens at Cottonlandia Museum April 2006 18-20 – Greenwood Council of Garden Clubs will host the 77th Annual Convention of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi May 2006 6 – River to the Rails Festival & Lawn and Garden Expo 7 – Juried Art Competition at Cottonlandia Museum

June 2006 1-30 – Junior Auxiliary Bucks for Books Program at Greenwood-Leflore Public Library & Summer Discovery Classes at 300 Oaks trophies Cottonlandia Museum July 2006 TBA – 4th of July Festival 1-31 – Summer Discovery Classes at Cottonlandia Museum September 2006 7 – New Exhibit Opens at Cottonlandia Museum 16 – 300 Oaks Road Race

60 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

The Address Book: WHO TO CALL GREENWOOD LEFLORE HOSPITAL 1401 River Road 459-7000

GENERAL EMERGENCIES 911 AMBULANCE SERVICE MedStat 1505 Carrollton Ave. 455-4700

UTILITIES DELTA ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION 1700 Hwy. 82 West 453-6352

GREENWOOD POLICE DEPT. CHIEF: Henry Harris 406 Main St. 453-3311

GREENWOOD FIRE DEPT. CHIEF: Larry Griggs 404 Main St. To report a fire only: 453-1414 Other purposes: 455-7632

ENTERGY 1-800-368-3749

LEFLORE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT. SHERIFF: Ricky Banks Leflore County Courthouse 453-5141

Business Directory

GREENWOOD UTILITIES Electricity & Water 101 Wright Place 453-7234

100-C East Claiborne• Greenwood, MS (662)455-9333 www.greenwoodhomes.net

Old & New Books For All Ages!

Dancing Rabbit Books 311 H oward S treet (Across f rom t he A lluvian) Greenwood, M S 3 8930 662-4 4 53-5 5 995

BELLSOUTH Residence: 1-888-757-6500 ADELPHIA COMMUNICATIONS 801 W. Park Ave. 1-888-683-1000

1815 Hwy 82 West Greenwood, Mississippi 662-455-7985 or toll free 1-800-HAMPTON www.hamptoninn.com

Cottonlandia Museum • • • • •

Art Animals Antiques Agriculture Archaeology

1608 Hwy. 82 West Greenwood, MS 38930 662-453-0925 www.Cottonlandia.org

Belva J. Pleasants Owner/Broker 309 East Market Street • Greenwood 453-0016 or toll free 1-888-736-0016

Bella Flora Flowers By Danny Kelly

Delta Gardner Tommy Miller • Preston O’Neal

320 W. Park Avenue • Greenwood, MS

662-455-22934

ATMOS ENERGY 120 E. Church St. 1-800-863-7749

we love having you here.

Buying • Selling • Friendly Advice

Tish B. Goodman Owner/Agent

EAST LEFLORE WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT 100 Meadowbrook Road 453-8860

A Southern Gardener

310 Cotton Street • Greenwood, MS 662-455-3335 or 1-800-856-9552

THE WHOLE AFFAIR Janet McDaniel 207 Fulton Street Greenwood, MS 38930 662-453-9936

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 61

GARBAGE/TRASH PICK-UP CITY OF GREENWOOD PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR: Benny Herring 101 W. Church St. 455-7660 LEFLORE COUNTY SOLID WASTE Jinny Hoyt Leflore County Courthouse 455-7907 VOTER REGISTRATION LEFLORE COUNTY CIRCUIT CLERK Trey Evans Leflore County Courthouse 453-1435 DRIVER’S LICENSE HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL 510 11th St. 453-5743 CAR TAGS LEFLORE COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR Sara Kenwright Leflore County Courthouse 455-7907 TRANSPORTATION MID-DELTA REGIONAL AIRPORT (Commercial) 166 Fifth Ave., Suite 300 Greenville 334-3121 Distance: 52 miles GREENWOOD-LEFLORE AIRPORT (General) Hwy. 82 East 453-1526 AMTRAK PASSENGER SERVICE 506 Carrollton Ave. 1-800-872-7245 CITY OF GREENWOOD OFFICIALS GREENWOOD MAYOR: Harry L. Smith, 101 W. Church St. 453-2246 (work) 453-3607 (home) GREENWOOD CITY COUNCIL: WARD 1: Johnny Jennings, 453-3499 WARD 2: John Lee, 453-3235 WARD 3: Ronnie Stevenson, 453-9772 WARD 4: Charles E. McCoy Sr., Vice President,453-3535 WARD 5: Tennill Cannon, 455-1214 WARD 6: David Jordan, President, 453-5361 WARD 7: Taylor Dillard, 455-6274 CITY ATTORNEY: Billy Bowman, 453-3445 CITY CLERK: Deirdre Mayes, 101 W. Church St. 453-2246 LEFLORE COUNTY OFFICIALS CHANCERY CLERK: Sam Abraham, Leflore County Courthouse 453-6203 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: DISTRICT 1: Phil Wolfe, 455-4386 DISTRICT 2: Robert Moore, President, 453-6955 DISTRICT 3: Otis Abron, 658-9900 DISTRICT 4: Wayne Self, Vice President, 299-9294 DISTRICT 5: Larry “Kite” Johnson, 299-5193 or 455-2273 62 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

BOARD ATTORNEY: Willie Perkins, 455-1211

GREENWOOD-LEFLORE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Beth Henderson 402 Hwy. 82 West 453-4152

TAX ASSESSOR: Leroy Ware Leflore County Courthouse 455-7900

GREENWOOD-LEFLORE INDUSTRIAL BOARD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert Ingram CHAIRMAN: H. Donald Brock 402 Hwy. 82 West 453-5321

CORONER: Debra Sanders, 453-9700 ITTA BENA CITY HALL MAYOR: Thelma Collins, 254-7231 POLICE AND FIRE DEPTS.: 254-6333 GREENWOOD CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU DIRECTOR: Suzy Gordon Johnson 111 E. Market St. 453-9197

MAIN STREET GREENWOOD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Barbara Ingram 220 West Market St. 453-0365

229 West Market Street • Greenwood (662) 455-5585 or 1-800-782-4061

DuBard R e a l t y 1

5

Ron DuBard (662) 897-0955

w w w . d u b a r d . c o m

th Anniversary M a r c h

1 9 9 0

M a r c h

2 0 0 5

In our continuous effort to address our customers’ and clients’ ever-changing needs for the past 15 years, DuBard Realty now offers: * Free Current Market

Analysis for Your Property * Relocation Services * Multiple Listing Service Locally and Nationally * Property Management * HAA Home Warranty for Seller/Buyer or Buyer

Equal Housing Opportunity

(662) 458-9145

(662) 299-9635

* Buyer/Seller Representation * Online Internet Access www.dubard.com

* Professional Real Estate Marketing

* Professional Guidance

Sara Flanagan (662) 458-9600

in Home Buying

WARRANTY

REALTY

We’re family, building on one transaction at a time.

Stephanie Avant

Betty DuBard

Amanda Browning (662 )299-1447

Danny Smith (662) 374-1654

Judy Hurley (662) 299-0095

Anita Morgan (662) 466-0445

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS ANTIQUES

Ad page

Olde World Antiques

49

ATTORNEYS

Upshaw, Williams, Biggers, Beckham & Riddick

45

AUTOMOBILES

Cannon Chevrolet/ Cadillac/Nissan

BEAUTY SALONS

Annette and Shelia’s Legend’s Mane Tamers

BOOKS

Dancing Rabbit Books

CLOTHING

Abraham’s Anthony’s/Ola’s Shoes Beach Bums Kornfeld’s Phil’s Squire Shoppe Young Ideas

1

61

59 47 32 40 21 47 35 33

Dunn Construction Inside front cover

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 9

ELDERLY LIVING

Greenwood Health & Rehabilitation Center Indywood Glen Riverview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

FARM EQUIPMENT

Johnson Implement Co. Wade, Inc.

FINANCIAL

Bank of Commerce First South Farm Credit Land Bank South

Traditions

FURNISHINGS 11 51 19

CONSTRUCTION

Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Found.

Bella Flora Indianola Floral Designs Indoor Garden, The Whole Affair, The

FRAMING

CHURCHES

Episcopal Church of the Nativity St. John’s United Methodist Church

FLORISTS

45 9 29 61 35 13 29 17

Planters Bank & Trust Co. Back cover State Bank & Trust Co. 35

Cargo Dock

FURNITURE

Malouf Furniture Port Eliot

GIFTS

Ad page

61 33 49 61 29 23 57 5

Crosstown Pharmacy

40

Fincher’s Inc

19

Mississippi Gift Co., The

53

Pocket Full of Posies, A

21

Red Hat Eatery & Gifts, The

33

GOVERNMENT

53

Greenwood Leflore Hospital

55

Healing Arts Center

59

Murphree, Dr. Rick C. and Pernell, Dr. Dottie 9 North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center Inside back cover Unity Hospice Care 43

HOME IMPROVEMENT HomeFront Scott Hearth & Kitchen

INSURANCE

55 17

Pannell, Robert State Farm

27

Rawson, Steve State Farm

27

INVESTMENTS Edward Jones

47

JEWELRY

Alluvian, The

5

Hampton Inn

61

MANUFACTURING Viking Range Corp.

MUSEUMS

Cottonlandia Museum Tunica RiverPark

NEWSPAPER NURSERIES

Delta Gardner

PHOTOGRAPHY 33

HEALTH CARE

Ad page

Greenwood Commonwealth

Carriage House, The

Leflore County Board of Supervisors

LODGING

Lynbar Jewelers

19

Paul’s Jewelry

33

Russell’s Antiques

28

Silver Exchange

32

Jennings Photography Lamb’s Photography

PRINTING

Print Shop, The

REAL ESTATE

Bowie Realty DuBard Realty E&H Realty Short Street Realty

4 61 51 13 61 41 43 41 11, 61 62 19 61

RESTAURANTS

Blue Parrot Café & Veronica’s Bakery China Blossom Crown in Town, The Crystal Grill Delta Fresh Market Giardina’s K.K.’s Delicatessen Larry’s Fish House Lusco’s Mockingbird Bakery Webster’s

SCHOOLS

Learning Tree, The Mississippi Valley State University Pillow Academy

7, 36 36 33 31, 36 37 37 37 36 37, 45 37 23, 37 29 15 47

TOURISM

Greenwood Convention & Visitors Bureau

UTILITIES

Greenwood Utilities

27 23

2005 -2006 Leflore Illustrated / 63

VIBRANT and

EXPANDING

The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce is proud of its work

T

he Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, with right at 700 members, is the largest chamber in the Mississippi Delta, and one of the largest and most active chambers in the state of Mississippi.

This is no accident, said Executive Vice President Beth Henderson. The officers, directors, staff and members of the Greenwood Chamber work hard every day to promote community spirit and the businesses of Greenwood.

“Our Chamber is headed in the right direction, right along with our city and county,” Henderson said. “It’s the collaborative effort of everyone who is a part of this chamber that makes it so active and vital to this community.”

When someone joins the Chamber, he or she invests in the community. Henderson wants to ensure the organization meets the needs of businesses and individuals in Greenwood and Leflore County.

“We are making changes to keep up with the times,” she said. “It’s not only important, but vital. Times are changing right before our very eyes, and we are making sure that we can keep up with those changes.”

Watch the Web site change at www.greenwoodms.com with bonuses for members and for business prospects.

If you’re not convinced about the viability of the Greenwood Chamber, then take a look around at the many events where volunteers ensure the community enjoys working and playing together: the Salute to Agriculture, Lawn and Garden Expo, Fourth of July Festival, the 300 Oaks Road Race, Holiday Open House, Salute to Elected Officials, New Member Reception, Excellence in Education, Student Achievement Awards, Industry Tours and Roy Martin Delta Band Festival/Christmas Parade.

Membership has its benefits, too. Look at the grand openings, ribbon cuttings and networking opportunities, such as Business After Hours.

“We refer our Chamber members to those who are looking to do business here,” Henderson said. “It is a great way of promoting the businesses that we have here in Greenwood.” LI 64 / Leflore Illustrated 2005-2006

Among the 700-plus volunteer members of the Chamber of Commerce are its three top leaders, from the left: Floyd M. Melton III, president-elect; Irvin L. Whittaker, vice president; and Charles L. Wright, 2005 president.

Terry Grantham, administrative assistant, left, and Beth Henderson, executive vice president, handle the day-today operations of the Chamber.

1-662-453-4152 / www.greenwoodms.com P.0. Box 848, Greenwood, MS 38935-0848

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Insuring

our future by preserving

our past

The key to the future is preserving the past, like the successful restoration of Howard Street in Greenwood has proven. Projects like Howard Street do more than keep up appearances. They strengthen our community both economically as well as culturally.

Everywhere you look these days, you can see the Delta rising to the challenge of tomorrow, with spirit, with courage, with character…and since 1920, with the strength of Planters Bank and Trust behind them.

We’re not just any bank in the Delta…we are the Delta.

On Howard Street in the Greenwood downtown area include: JIM QUINN, Vice President, Planters Bank Greenwood; BARBARA INGRAM, Executive Director of Main Street Greenwood; and JOHN PITTMAN, President, Planters Bank Greenwood.

We Are the Delta...and More.

www.planters-bank.com

Greenville

•

Indianola

•

Cleveland

•

Greenwood

•

Inverness

•

Leland

•

Louise

•

Ruleville

•

Sunflower Member FDIC