Mud &Magnolias December 2014 January 2015

December.

October. November January 2015 2013

&Magnolias

Mud

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DIY Gift Wrapping

The Perfect Holiday Meal • Mobile Smith’s Farmers Market • Karen Asbery mudandmag.com

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Merry Christ mas & Happy Birt hday!

We're turning 1 in December!

Thank you to all our amazing customers for an incredible first year.

We look forward to shopping with you in 2015!

Shannon & Staff

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2107 S. Harper Rd. • Corinth, MS 38834 • Adjacent to Wal-Mart Mon-Thurs: 10-6, Fri-Sat: 10-7 • 662.284.9468 • Sizes XS-3X

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Contents

&Magnolias

Mud

pg. 14

pg. 29

pg. 38 pg. 77

Features Editor’s Letter pg. 10 Fast Food pg. 14 We have the perfect spread for your holiday table.

Home How-to pg. 25 Christmas tree skirts don’t have to be complicated.

Hit the Road pg. 35 We found the perfect place to lay your head in the Delta.

Smith’s Farmers Market • pg. 19

An expansion to Smith’s Nursery, this market has local produce and goods available to the public.

The McDearman House • pg. 29

A stop on the Aberdeen Christmas home tour, this house has history and flair.

Mobile • pg. 38

Not too far away is a city with attractions for all.

DIY Gift Wrapping • pg. 47

Fact Sheet pg. 42 You are sure to be in one of his restaurants this season and now you know the man behind the scenes.

In The Know pg. 77 Quilting may seem like a lost art, but this woman keeps it very much alive.

Add a personal touch to your gifts this Christmas.

The Joneses • pg.53

This couple uses their hobby of motorcycle riding as a way to give back.

Todd Knowlton • pg.73

This local artist sees the art long before he begins the process. mudandmag.com

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Editor’s Letter

This year has flown by for me. Maybe it is because I am having such a good time as the saying goes. In 2014 I have continued to learn how to live on my own without my daddy being at my beck and call or my momma being my immediate comforter (disclaimer: all I have to do is call and the previous statement is void). I have also learned that a black lab can wear out his welcome with shedding, chewing, potty training and the list goes on. But on the other hand, I also came to know the sweetest snuggles and puppy eyes which keep me from giving him away on a daily basis (see my sweet, terrible baby below). I was reminded, as I am every year, I have the best friends in the world. I’ve added to my circle this year and I couldn’t be more grateful for these people who love me through all my highs and lows. I could go on and on about how beautiful my life has become and how I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Instead, I’ll finish with one last item on the list of things I am thankful for: this magazine you hold in your hands. I love how far it has come, how far we have come and where we are planning to go. As you flip through this issue, be sure to check out the story my friend JB Clark wrote on the expansion of Smith’s Nursery to include their very own farmers market (pg.19). Another highlight is Karen Asbery and her conversation with writer Natalie Richardson and photographer Lauren Wood about her quilts and the joy she receives from using her hands to create something beautiful (pg.77). I also plan to wrap my gifts with a little more detail this year. I took a shot at my first gift on page 47. The Christmas goodie will go to my brother, Jackson, and the photo is of him sitting at my great-grandmother’s kitchen table when he was just a baby. Speaking of a kitchen table, we went all out this issue and made a holiday feast (pg.14). Sales consultant Katie May made the dressing while her husband, Lance, made the fried turkey. The staff made additonal sides and believe me, these should be on your table this year. All of us at the Mud & Magnolias office would like to wish you the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year! We’ll see you in 2015.

If you have any thoughts or concerns about this issue, please email me at editor@mudandmag.com.

Meet Rhett and Fitz

On the Cover December.

October. November January 2015 2013

&Magnolias

Mud

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Directions: Wrap gifts with craft paper using scissors and tape. Use the gold paint pen to make dots in a pattern. Tie twine around the gift and knot or bow.

DIY Gift Wrapping

The Perfect Holiday Meal • Mobile Smith’s Farmers Market • Karen Asbery mudandmag.com

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Photo by Lauren Wood

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Supplies: brown craft paper gold paint pen twine tape scissors

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Rhett was 2 months here and he is now 8 months. In this 6-month span, he has torn every book I own to shreds, chewed through about four leashes and three harnesses, gnawed holes in my comforter and the list goes on. But he has helped me grow in patience and understanding. And when I’ve had a bad day, he never ceases to get as close as possible to me when it’s bedtime. Sometimes he even places his paw on my shoulder and I could just squeal with happiness. Can you tell I’m just smitten with this little terror? Inset photo is of my angel child/cat Fitz who is also adjusting to having the most annoying little brother.

THE STAFF’S FAVORITE GIFT RECEIVED

Mud

&Magnolias

1242 S Green St. Tupelo, MS 38804 662.842.2611

Editor-in-Chief 2

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Photos by C. Todd Sherman, Lauren Wood and Thomas Wells

Ellie Turner

Creative Director Ignacio Murillo

Associate Editors 5

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1 • Ellie: My mom would probably say the answer is my American Girl doll because I woke up the whole neighborhood screaming and running around with excitement. Since I can’t remember ever being such a diva, I will say my favorite gift was my first trip to New York City.

2 • Shannon: My daughter Clara was born on December 23 and we brought her home Christmas day. Best gift ever!

3 • Amy: In 1976, I got a Slinky. It was the Tickle-Me-Elmo before Tickle-Me-Elmo, the one toy that every child wanted. What made it such a memorable Christmas gift was that I had only told one person I wanted a Slinky, and that was Santa Claus, in a letter that a sixth grader helped me write. Perhaps the sixth grader squealed to my mother, or maybe the letter never made it to The North Pole to begin with, and instead had been secretly mailed to her, but years later, as a Santagnostic (one who questions the existence of Santa Claus), I confronted her about it. She confessed. The Slinky came from her.

4 • Leslie: My favorite Christmas gift was not given in the ordinary manner, from a family

Amy Speck Shannon Johnson Missha Rogers Leslie Criss Lauren Wood

Featured Sales Consultants Ricky Kimbrell Leigh Knox Kim Surber Darla Webb Sandra Hendrix Shelley Ozbirn

Contributing Editors David Hitt Sandra Knispel JB Clark Natalie Richardson Cathy Wood Angela Rogalski Lindsay Mott

member or friend, but it will forever remain my favorite. It was Christmas 2010 and my family awoke to a beautiful white Christmas, right here in Tupelo. It was my first snowy Christmas in my five decades and it was a wonder to behold. That Christmas was also my family’s final Christmas with my mom, so the snow made the bittersweet holiday even more memorable.

5 • Missha: After my daughter was born, I received a necklace for Christmas with a pacifier

Contributing Photographers Ann-Marie Wyatt Adam Robison Thomas Wells

charm and the nipple was her birthstone. It was beautiful and I loved it!

6 • Lauren: I was so, so excited to receive a pair of snow skis for Christmas when I was in middle school! Turns out I’m not the best skier, but it was still fun heading to the ski hill in my hometown every winter to hit the slopes on my sweet red skis.

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THE PE R FECT HOL I DAY M E A L

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Fast Food

well blended. Add eggs one at a time, stirring until blended. The more you mix after adding eggs, the more air enters the mixture and will cause your cheesecake to crack. Add in lemon juice and mix just until combined. Take the cooked apples and fold into filling. Pour into crust. Cook in preheated, moist oven on middle oven rack for 1.5-2 hours. Just until center is no longer gooey, but not quite set.

For best results, chill overnight. *To create a moist oven, put a casserole dish full of water on bottom oven rack when you turn your oven on to preheat.

Leave casserole dish in oven while your cheesecake is cooking.

CARAMEL APPLE CHEESECAKE Crust: 15 Graham crackers, crumbled 2 tablespoons melted butter 2 tablespoons sugar Filling: 32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 cup milk 4 whole eggs 1 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 cup flour, self rising or regular Apples: 1-2 tablespoons butter 2-3 Granny Smith Apples 2 tablespoons Flour 2 tablespoons cinnamon and sugar, premixed Desired amount of pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice apples into small chunks. In a bowl, mix apples, flour and cinnamon and sugar (flour should come first when mixing) until well coated (the amount of flour and cinnamon and sugar may need to be adjusted depending on how juicy your apples are. The mixture should just coat the apples). Melt butter over medium heat. Add a little over half the coated apples to the butter and cook just until soft but still kind of crunchy inside, about 10-15 minutes. Set cooked and uncooked apples to the side.

For Crust: Melt butter in a microwavable bowl. Once melted, mix in all the graham cracker crumbs and sugar until wellmoistened. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased 9” spring form pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add in sour cream, milk, flour and vanilla until

CRANBERRY AND POMEGRANATE BRUSCHETTA For the cranberry-pomegranate relish: 1 pound fresh (or frozen) cranberries, washed 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger, don’t worry about chopping it too fine at this point 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup honey 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro zest from one orange, reserve a bit for garnish 3/4-1 cup pomegranate arils or seeds*, reserve a few for garnish fresh cilantro or parsley, finely chopped, for garnish For the crostini: 1 thin, good quality baguette, sliced about 1/4 inch thick 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil kosher salt freshly ground black pepper Place the cranberries, ginger, sugar, honey and Sriracha in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off several times

until cranberries are coarsely chopped.

Don’t process too much. Add cilantro and pulse a few more times. Not too much, you want cilantro bits to be visible and mixture to be a bit chunky. Transfer to a storage container and add pomegranate arils and orange zest. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until ready to use. For the crostini, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with foil or parchment paper. Place baguette slices on prepared pans. Brush lightly with oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and a grind of pepper. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until golden, rotating pans halfway through baking time. Assemble bruschetta by topping with a scoop of relish. Garnish with a bit of orange zest, if desired.

ROASTED VEGETABLE MEDLEY 1/3 cup olive oil 3 medium carrots, cut into circles 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved 4 cups red bliss potatoes, diced 3 medium parsnips, diced 1 cup sweet potatoes, diced 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried basil 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon ground black pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together olive oil, vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl so the vegetables are evenly coated with herbs and oil.

Grease an 11x17-inch cookie sheet with olive oil and place vegetables evenly on sheet.

Place on the middle rack and bake for 40 minutes.

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CORNBREAD DRESSING

ASPARAGUS CASSEROLE

FRIED TURKEY

The cornbread: Make the night before.

3 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix 1 cup all purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 3 cups buttermilk 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup butter, melted Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix first 3 ingredients (cornmeal, flour, sugar) in a large bowl.

Whisk in the butter milk, eggs and melted butter.

Pour into a lightly greased 13x9” pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool the night before on the counter to allow the bread to become dry.

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers 2 bunches of fresh asparagus, steamed 1 cup grated sharp cheese 3/4 cup butter, diced 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted 1 cup milk Line a casserole dish with a few cracker crumbs. Layer the ingredients in this order: asparagus, cheese, cracker crumbs, butter and almonds. Carefully pour the milk into the side of the casserole dish, so not to disturb the cracker crumbs and butter on top. Prepare the night before or at least two hours in advance. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 6. (This is from the Southern Sideboards cookbook.)

1 whole turkey 3 gallons of peanut oil butter Cavender’s Greek seasoning salt and pepper. Preheat oil in a 30 quart aluminum turkey fryer (with lid and adjustable propane heat) to 350 degrees and maintain this tempature throughout the cook time. Cook using this formula: 3 minutes per pound of bird plus 5 minutes.

Let stand on platter at least 30 minutes before carving. Oil will drain at this time as well.

The dressing: 1/2 cups butter 2 cups diced celery 2 cups diced sweet onion cornbread crumbles (from above) 3 cups soft fresh bread crumbs (2-3 biscuits) 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning 6 cups chicken broth 3 cups of shredded cooked chicken Pinch of salt and pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter over med-high heat, add the diced celery and onions and sauté 5-6 minutes or until onions are tender.

Stir together the cornbread crumbles and bread crumbs in a large bowl. Stir in eggs, poultry seasoning and celery and onion mixture. Slowly add the chicken broth stirring as you go to incorporate and blend all the ingredients evenly.

Divide the cornbread mixture between 1 lightly greased 13x9” pan and 1 lightly greased 8” square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.

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Photos by Lauren Wood

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SMITH’S FARMERS

MARKET Bill Smith’s first love is landscaping—that and youth ministry. But, in 2012, when his landscaping and greenhouse business began its seasonal decline, he found a new passion: produce.

By JB Clark

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mith’s Nursery has become Saltillo’s, and much of northern Lee County’s, go-to spot for fresh produce.

He began Smith’s Nursery in 2010 with the intention of it being a part-time greenhouse — a hobby and supplement to his landscaping business. Now he finds his business doubling every time he turns around. The nursery, which sits on Highway 145 in Saltillo, expanded in 2012 to house the produce market and just completed a 2,000-squarefoot addition in October.

“About three years ago, the opportunity came for us to expand into the produce market, so we moved to our current location to sell produce in addition to our landscaping and greenhouse business,” Smith said. “The produce has just grown and grown. This summer we had to double our size.”

Smith concentrates on his greenhouses and landscaping business year-round, but those businesses go into seasonal recessions right as produce markets begin kicking off.

“We were suffering through the summer and fall in the retail business,” Smith said. “But that’s when the produce really takes off.

I start bringing tomatoes in from down South as early as I can get them in early April and keep picking up second-harvest tomatoes until October. I’m selling the last of my second-harvest tomatoes right now.”

When the business was still young, Smith spent his days installing landscaping plans and his evenings leading the Saltillo First United Methodist Church youth group. He still leads the growing youth group, but now he spends his days directing landscaping teams out of his nursery’s expansion while organizing his produce market and selling seasonal plants out of the greenhouses.

“We have a full-service landscaping and mowing crew, and that’s my first love,” Smith said. “But business is to the point now where I’m just about required to be here all the time. I get to draw plans and sell plants, but I don’t get to do a lot of landscape installations.”

The Smith’s Nursery produce market started off selling produce and canned goods from local farmers but has expanded to include other items out of necessity.

“Local farmers give away what they want to give away to their neighbors and grandmothers, and they know I’ll buy anything extra,” Smith said. “It’s a drawing card for us to be able to say we get local produce, but I can’t buy enough to keep up with demand.”

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When he’s not working out of the nursery, Smith is on the road to the Birmingham Farmers Market where he looks for the freshest produce to bring back to Saltillo and supplement what he gets from the local farmers. His goal is to provide as much fresh and organic produce to his customers as he can while maintaining a reasonable price.

“When peaches are in, I’m in the peach business,” he said.

“And people know I’m going to have the best quality peaches from Chilton County, Alabama. But when peaches are out, I’m out of it.”

During the first week of November, Smith had about 10 tomatoes on his shelves — next to sweet potatoes, onions and pumpkins. They were the last tomatoes he will sell this year.

That’s because Smith doesn’t want to buy and sell the rare, outof-season tomatoes at an inflated price. He wants to give his customers the best price he can.

Some items, like snap peas and lima beans, Smith has flash frozen right after they’re shucked and is able to sell them year round.

The produce market provides northern Lee County customers with a centralized location to buy fresh produce.

“I love the market in Tupelo, but if you’re not in town Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning, you’re sort of out of luck,” he said. “We’re here six days a week, all day every day. It’s a convenience.”

Produce isn’t the only area where Smith strives to sell as many local goods as possibly before seeking out the highest quality regional goods to meet market demands.

He sells locally canned preserves and sauces and grows his own gardenia hanging baskets and bedding plants in his greenhouses. When the market demands more than what he can produce, he seeks out the highest quality alternatives.

“My aunt sells a couple-thousand jars of peach preserves here every year,” he said, pointing to a shelf housing the locally famous preserves. “And my dad does his own pepper sauce here. We also have lots of private-labeled jellies, pickled goods and dressings. Most of it would be classified as gourmet. I can’t compete with Kraft barbecue sauce on price, but I’ve got the best honey-habanero barbecue sauce you can buy.”

Smith is excited about his expansion and ability to serve more customers with plants and produce.

Smith’s Nursery is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. M Photos by Adam Robison

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M&M Shop Pontotoc •

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How-To Home

DIY: TREE SKIRT SUPPLIES marker scissors hot glue gun tape measure decorative ribbon 46 x 46 square burlap 2 spools of ruffled burlap

Find the center of the square and mark it. Measure 21.5 inches from the center to the outside around the square, marking every 6 inches or so to make a circle. Cut the circle around the marks. Cut one opening from outside to center. Hot glue ruffled burlap around the outside. Then glue the ribbon in the center of the ruffle. Photos by Lauren Wood.

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THE CDEARMAN HOUSE

By Cathy Wood

With fresh local pine branches, elegant gold embellishments and pendants from antique chandeliers decorating a Christmas tree, the historic McDearman House in downtown Aberdeen is ready for visitors to the Aberdeen Holiday Home Tour, 1-4 p.m. Sunday, December 7. mudandmag.com

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“My vision for holiday decorating was a true Southern Christmas, contemporary with the antebellum time period when the house was built, but modern instead of historic,” said Neil Palmer, a Monroe County native and interior decorator who bought the McDearman House in June.

“For instance, we don’t have snow at Christmas in the South, so I used what we do have: pine cones, grapevines and greenery. In the formal parlor, I used gold because in the Victorian Age, gold decorations signified wealth and prosperity.”

Tickets for the tour are $20 in advance at the Aberdeen Visitors Bureau, 204 E. Commerce St.; the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce, 124 W. Commerce St.; and the Flower Basket, 123 E. Commerce St., and $25 the day of the tour. The tour includes four or five houses decorated for the holidays, the restored Mobile and Ohio Railroad Depot (built in 1857, it’s the oldest documented depot in the state) and a reception at Elkin Theatre, 110 W. Commerce, following the close of the tour at 4 p.m.

In addition, carriage rides will be available, a choir from Shannon will perform and local artist Arni Anderson will be at the house signing limitededition prints of his work depicting Aberdeen’s Acker Park. Proceeds from print sales will benefit restoration of the park.

Palmer, 41, always loved history and historic houses and was thrilled to be able to buy and nurture a piece of Aberdeen’s past.

“This house is one of Aberdeen’s few true remaining antebellum cottages, having changed very little on the outside,” he said, pointing out the original pine floors, window panes and hand-carved gingerbread trim on the front porch. “It witnessed the changes Aberdeen experienced before and after the Civil War.” Built in 1855 and moved five years later several blocks to its present location at 120 N. Hickory St., the McDearman House features four rooms divided by a central hall. The original back porch is now the kitchen, den and master bathroom. A narrow and steep staircase leads to the second floor, which Palmer plans to remodel into a home theatre.

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“I was lucky. The house was in great shape and I didn’t need to do much at all,” he said. “I’ve been able to concentrate on finding the proper furnishings for each room and making the house feel like a home.”

Of course, his jobs as owner of decorating business Queen B & Company Designs and auction director for Sevens Auction Company, in Aberdeen, help him find the perfect antique pieces and incorporate them into a livable 21st-century style.

Palmer’s passion for preservation puts him in good company – literally. A few doors down from his house are a couple of the cottages celebrity makeup artist and Aberdeen native Billy Brasfield has bought and renovated, and around the corner is the c. 1855 Adams-French House, a stately mansion meticulously restored by Palmer’s friend and founder of Stevens Auction, John Stevens.

Known for its thriving historic districts—more than 200 buildings are

on the National Register of Historic Places—and revitalized downtown, Aberdeen often is cited as an example of a small Southern town’s successful commitment to historic preservation.

Both Palmer and Stevens are dedicated members of the Save Aberdeen Landmarks Association, a vigorous community effort to save landmarks and historic sites.

“Neil is all the time thinking of ways to raise money for Save Aberdeen.

He’s one of the many people who have worked hard and gone out on a limb to save historic structures in our town,” Stevens said. “We’ve gone all out trying to save these buildings and always have another project going. Every house is important to us as we strive to save them. These smaller houses are gems, and Neil’s work at the McDearman House shows that you can make the smaller house livable, comfortable and beautiful. Why build a new house when you can enjoy the charm of these older

houses?”

Palmer admits he hasn’t had much time to enjoy his new old house. As a decorator, he has more than 100 decorating jobs during the holidays.

Plus, he helps at the family business, The Friendship House Restaurant, on Doss Road between Aberdeen and Amory.

Then there are the countless hours he’s spent preparing for the holiday tour.

“But it’s all worth it,” he said. “These old houses, the way they’re built, the walls just talk to you. People don’t realize what they’re missing. Living in an old house is like saving a piece of your home.”

For details on the Holiday Home Tour, call the Aberdeen Visitors Bureau, (662) 369-9440. M

Home for Christmas

Neil Palmer owns the McDearman House in Aberdeen. Photos by Lauren Wood.

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Hit The Road

THE CLARK HOUSE The Mississippi Delta is a phenomenon in more ways than one. From the depths of the fertile soil nurtured throughout generations to bring forth its bounty, to the rich, soulful sound of Blues, the traditional music of the land and its people, the Mississippi Delta is singularly unique, utterly striking and an experience that affects all five senses—a phenomenon.

A

By Angela Rogalski

nd while there are many distinctive cities and rare back road jewels a traveler can see and discover there; nowhere better can weary, yet seeking journeyers, find the Delta treasures they seek than in the hub of it all, Clarksdale. Located on the banks of the Sunflower River, it is in the heart of the Mississippi Delta and the birthplace of such soulful singers as Sam Cooke, Ike Turner and John Lee Hooker and site of the historic Crossroads of Highway 61 and 49.

The ambience of the Delta’s mystique is palpable in Clarksdale, and while one is there exploring and soaking in the amazing culture, there are many amazing places to stay

overnight or even longer if a traveler is hesitant to leave.

One such place is The Clark House. With the tagline: a residential inn, The Clark House offers an alternative to a typical hotel or bed and breakfast. Located in the residential section of the Clarksdale Historic District, it’s only blocks away from the entertainment and delectable foods downtown Clarksdale offers and the city’s retail and business district.

Billy Howell is the innkeeper at The Clark House and a Clarksdale native. He has been with the establishment almost from the first day it opened its doors a little over five years ago. Howell said the actual house had been in the Clark family as recently as 14 years ago.

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“The Clark House stayed in the Clark family until about 2000,” Howell said, “when a local couple bought it and opened it up as a bed and breakfast for a couple of years. The current owner, Charles Evans, bought it after they sold it.”

According to the house’s history, in 1859 John Clark, an Englishman who had come to Coahoma County when he was only 16-years-old, hired an architect from Philadelphia to design The Clark House. As the story goes, Clark hired workers from the North to construct the home, as he refused to use slave labor. When the Civil War broke out, these workers fled back to the North and the home was not completed until after the war.

Howell said descendants of the Clark family still reside in Clarksdale today.

“There’s even one named John Clark,” Howell said.

The Clark House is an eight-room residential inn with four rooms located upstairs in the main house, one room downstairs and three separate cottages located adjacent to the main house.

“Clarksdale was predicated on agriculture and tourism, so we have a lot of tourists who come from all over the world to Clarksdale,” Howell said. “Primarily, they’re looking for Blues, but as time has gone on I think they appreciate not only Blues music, but the town itself. We have great restaurants and I think our character tells a lot of our story here. And our wonderful guests spread the word everywhere they go.”

Howell said their heaviest tourist season runs from about mid-March through the end of October.

“Of course, in April we have our Juke Joint Festival,” he said. “That’s when things really start winding up and for that we’re usually booked about a year out. But during the regular tourist season, a person can go online and usually book their reservations without any problems.”

Howell said most of their European travelers and Australians travel during the summer, so it’s a heavy tourist season also, but if a person will plan just a bit ahead, reservations are usually not impossible to get.

“Fall is also a wonderful time to visit because we just have one festival after another,” he said. “From September through October, Clarksdale is the

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place to be for festivals.”

Howell said 75 percent of their business at The Clark House is from tourists; another 15 or 20 percent are regular businesspeople who stay with them, some on a weekly or monthly basis. And then the other 5 or 10 percent are locals who have family or friends in town for a wedding or some other event.

“What someone can expect when they stay at The Clark House is uniqueness,” Howell said. “Every place to stay in Clarksdale is singular and different.

The Clark House is set up somewhat on a European model. It’s a beautifully restored home in a historic district with gorgeous artwork, and it’s very private and has so much history behind it. The beds in the rooms are Vera Wang and extremely comfortable.”

Howell said he greets the guests personally and gives them a brief history on Clarksdale, and he also offers Pedi-cab downtown tours and back road excursion tours through his own business called The Delta Bohemian. And while they don’t cook a hot breakfast, guests do enjoy a self-serve continental breakfast each morning.

“We serve cold cereals, fresh fruits, depending on the season, bagels, breads, coffee and juice,” Howell said. “And the guests do have access to the kitchen, but no cooking is allowed. They can use the refrigerator if they need to. We also have soft drinks, bottled water and ice for their use.”

Howell said the experience at The Clark House was one most people said they wouldn’t miss while in Clarksdale, and many celebrities from Dan Aykroyd to Robert Plant, who also have stayed there, would likely agree.

“The Clark House has that old-style feel, while reflecting the amenities and modernity of the 21st century,” Howell said. “It’s a wonderful place to stay.”

For more information go to: www. clarkhouseinfo.com. M Photos by Lauren Wood

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M OBILE

Mobile, Alabama is home to a unique history and culture, mostly great weather, and easy access to popular Gulf Coast areas. But, the city itself has a lot of great food, arts and more to offer any traveler, including some unique holiday experiences.

By Lindsay Mott

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WHAT TO DO Magic Christmas in Lights is an annual holiday event held at the Bellingrath Gardens and Home. The event is in its 19th year and showcases more than 3 million sparkling lights in 1,000 displays across the 65-acre estate of Bellingrath Gardens. The 13 scenes—and all that go into them—are created in-house and are based on a variety of Christmas themes, some of which change each year, according to Emily King, special events and marketing consultant with Bellingrath. The Bellingrath Museum Home is also decked out in its holiday finery during the season.

The lights come on each night during the season except on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and the crowds build closer to the holidays, ranging from 1,000 visitors on slow days to 7,000 on the

busiest nights.

Starting in December, the gardens will also have regional musical groups coming through, with an opening night kickoff with Mobile jazz musicians, Roman Street. On weekends, guests can also expect to find Santa Claus around the gardens.

The Magnolia Café is also on site for lunch and serves holiday-styled, sitdown-type dinners during the season.

The gift shop is also filled with a variety of Christmas paraphernalia for guests to take home from the experience.

For New Year’s Eve in the Port City, head on down to the eighth annual MoonPie Over Mobile celebration.

Fireworks, music and fun are joined by a 600-pound, 12-foot-tall electronic MoonPie that descends the 34-story RSA Trustmark tower. The event honors

Mobile’s Carnival season, as the MoonPie is a favored “throw” during Mardi Gras parades. The city partnered with Chattanooga Bakery Inc., the maker of the iconic MoonPie-brand marshmallow sandwich, to light up Mobile’s skyline at the stroke of midnight. Last year, Garden & Gun magazine named the event a top New Year’s Event in the South.

During the day, be sure to visit the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center for unique traveling science experiments, and the Mobile Carnival Museum showcases the splendor of the carnival season and its history. To see Mobile’s military history, visit Fort Conde and the Battleship. In addition, the Museum of Mobile explores 300 years of Mobile history with changing exhibition galleries in the 1857 National Landmark building, the Southern Market/ Old City Hall.

WHAT TO EAT For a big appetite, head over to one of downtown Mobile’s newest restaurants. The Noble South opened in May 2014 with a mission to use locally sourced and seasonal products.

These ingredients come from across the Southeast, and Chris Rainosek, co-owner and chef, said they mold them into their style while also keeping price points reasonable, which has led them to take some different products and dress them up.

“We look around to see what tastes good and figure it out as we go,” Rainosek said. “In the end, we’re trying to use Southern products and do our version of Southern food in general.”

Menu items include pickled shrimp, mudandmag.com

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hot chicken hearts in the Nashville style, deviled eggs with bacon, shrimp and grits without a lot of butter or cream, the popular pork cheek and banana pudding semifreddo. They also offer some lighter lunch items and a meat-and-three-side lunch plate. He said the menu around the holidays will consist of some heavier items

along with citrus, root vegetables, fall squash, greens, turnips and other winter items. The Noble South also offers a full bar, including signature cocktails.

For other downtown dining options visit Heroes Sports Bar & Grille for a great hamburger, Liquid Lounge for sushi, The Royal Scam for steak, and

the OK Bicycle Shop for authentic Mexican food and seven house-made margaritas. For your coffee fix, Serda’s Coffee Company offers locally roasted coffee beans and a menu of regular and iced coffee, hand-made coffee drinks, tea, gelato and more.

Mobile WHERE TO STAY After a long day around Mobile, relax at one of the South’s premier hotels, the Battle House Hotel & Spa by Renaissance, which has been named one of the Historic Hotels of America. The AAA Four Diamond hotel is centrally located in the heart of Mobile’s entertainment district and in walking distance of many restaurants and places to visit.

The Battle House Hotel first opened in 1852 and was the center of high society for more than a century, known as “Mobile’s Living Room,” and was very popular during carnival season. The hotel closed in 1974 but underwent a $200 million renovation and re-opened in 2007. The guestrooms are Europeanstyled with luxury baths and a blend of 40

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old and new. Guests need to be sure to see the ornate Crystal Ballroom off the Grand Lobby with its grand staircase entry and cathedral ceilings and the Grand Ballroom’s architectural details.

During the holidays, classic holiday décor expected from a historic hotel adds to the grandeur of the setting, and the Grand Lobby boasts a massive Christmas tree perfect for taking photos.

The 100-seat Trellis Room, Mobile’s only Four Diamond restaurant, has awe-inspiring cathedral ceilings, an upscale show kitchen and regional and continental cuisine. Guests can also grab a more casual meal, such as a handcrafted pizza or a sandwich, at the Joe Cain Café or a cocktail at the Royal Street Lounge. The hotel also

offers special meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The Battle House Hotel has been named “One of the Top 500 Hotels in the World” by Travel + Leisure magazine and is a perfect spot for the MoonPie Over Mobile on New Year’s Eve. The Port City has a lot to offer any traveler and the holiday specialties give anyone a specific reason to visit and see all the city has to offer. You may just find one of your new favorite holiday traditions here without really trying. M

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M

Fact Sheet

Q & A

HAMP HUGHES

Many walk into his restaurants, Park Heights and South, day in and day out, but how well do you know the man behind the business?

How long have you lived here?

All my life...48 years What is the theme song of your life?

Life’s Been Good by Joe Walsh What is your all-time favorite movie?

Arthur....the one with Dudley Moore & Liza Minnelli What is the last book you read?

Paul Stanley’s “Face the Music” What’s your guilty pleasure (food)?

Corn-Nuts

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What brought you to your current profession?

My wife, Blair.

What advice would you give your 23-year-old self ?

Stay true to your faith, read all you can, work hard and save all you can. Make time for yourself and always think through your decision....no matter how big or small.

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Our dog Chuey...he’s got it made!

What do you do to relieve stress?

Quiet, alone time

What’s going to be on your family’s table this Christmas?

Shrimp & Grits What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?

A golden retriever named Bailey What’s your New Year’s resolution?

To try and take a little time off!

What’s your favorite thing about the South? the food

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M& M Corinth Shop

Hoochies

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M&M Shop Corinth Smith.

Celebrating 33 Years of Fine Women’s Clothing & Accessories, Florist & Gifts

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M& M Corinth Shop Where Christmas magic happens...

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• • • • • • • •

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D I Y G IFT W R A PPIN G Add a personal touch to your gifts this year.

Photos by Lauren Wood

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M& M Guide Buyer’s A M Y K. P I E T R O W S K I Attorney & Counselor At Law to put your legal worries to rest. “ SoHelping you can live your life. “

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3526 MCCULLOUGH BLVD. BELDEN · MS | 38826 662.844.418

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M& M Oxford Shop YOUR ONE STOP FOR MIKE TOMES CHRISTMAS!

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O

K E E P I N G

U P

W I T H

THE JONESES

riginally, Lori Jones and her husband Richie joined the Mingo Mid-South Rider Association in Tupelo in 1998 for the love of riding motorcycles.

Seven years earlier, the couple had left their own wedding on a bike, with Lori carefully gathering up her white dress as she mounted a friend’s Harley behind her new spouse. The road they started down, however, has led them unexpectedly from a carefree pastime to a calling.

By Sandra Knispel mudandmag.com

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Barely a year after joining the Mingos, the couple found themselves knee-deep in administrative tasks: specifically, organizing the club’s annual toy run and motorcycle parade. The event has traditionally benefited children and youth in need, many of the youngsters living in local foster homes after a history of abuse and neglect. Now, in its 25th year, the motorcycle parade has become a cornerstone of the Tupelo Christmas season, at its peak drawing as many as 400 to 500 riders.

Since joining the riders some 16 years ago, Richie, now 48, has been Mingo president several times, and Lori, 45, has been in charge of the toy run.

“A lot of the time we have a Santa Claus and the kids will go and sit in Santa’s lap and tell him what they want for Christmas,” Lori says. “And a lot of the time they’ll say ‘I want a family or I want to go back home.’ ” That’s when grown men lose their

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composure. “You see the guys with the big motorcycle jackets, they are 300 pounds, and they are over here, crying in the corner because it’s very heartwrenching.”

Organizing the event has meant building close relationships with sponsors and recipients, most of them children in local foster care homes. It has meant building trust on both sides – for the children’s homes to accept leatherclad bikers in their midst and for the donors to see their gifts make it into the hands of children in need.

Often the toy run remains the highlight for the children in foster care, says Lori. “Even kids that have gone out of the homes, that are adults now, we see them later on. They are like, ‘I remember that!’ The toy run is the thing that they really remember.”

For 23 years, the toy run had ended at the Tupelo Children’s Mansion where the riders were served food and refresh-

ments before handing out their presents, each gift carefully selected from a personal wish list written by each child.

Unfortunately, says Richie, last year the Mansion’s management decided allowing strangers into the house posed too much of a security risk and nixed their participation in the event.

For Richie and Lori, however, the contact with these children, not just at the Mansion, had come to form a part of their identity as a couple. While the Joneses’ work has touched the lives of many children, they put off starting their own family.

Motorcycles, of course, are more than a machine; they are a lifestyle. To some, they represent a quintessentially American ideal of independence, a freedom to roam far and wide beyond the ties that bind us to one place and one time, at once liberating and sometimes somewhat solitary.

“We traveled everywhere. From the

Grand Canyon to Key West, for as far south as you can possibly go in the U.S.,” Richie remembers fondly. Their favorite destination remains the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas.

It wasn’t until they hit their 40s the couple began to realize that, with all their work with other children, they were ready for one of their own. Twoand-a-half years ago, Lorie became pregnant with their first child. But very late in her pregnancy things suddenly went wrong. She unexpectedly lost the baby boy at 35 weeks. “Stillborn due to Down syndrome” was the clinical explanation. But that barely began to describe the personal heartbreak.

“We thought we were out of the danger zone,” Richie remembers the shock. “Everybody says once you get past 30 weeks you’re home free. But not so.”

Getting pregnant in one’s 40s, they came to realize, is difficult. While a woman’s fertility drops off sharply, the likelihood of chromosomal abnormalities in the baby increases dramatically, leaving the statistical odds firmly stacked against any wouldbe mother. Faced by bleak prospects, the couple gave up hope.

At one point, Lori and Richie were taking care of a baby whose mother had died, while the father struggled, trying to figure out if he could raise his son alone. The Joneses were hoping to be able to adopt the little boy they had called Izzy.

“Taking care of Izzy, we realized that you do not have to be a biological parent to fall in love with a child and to actually be a parent to that child,” says Richie. “He felt like ours,” Lori adds.

Ultimately, the father decided to keep the boy and the adoption plans were off the table. But word of mouth of the couple’s woes got around and suddenly acquaintances and friends of friends were approaching them with possible leads for an adoption.

However, more anguish waited around the corner. Last December, Lori and Richie were set to adopt a baby boy when the biological mother had a lastminute change of heart and decided to keep her newborn. Yet Lori somehow

night before making a decision. “We had a feeling that’s what we had to do and I called her back the next day,” Lori said.

Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of red tape between terminating parental rights and an out-of-state adoption, says Richie, so the baby, whom they named Gracen Nash, has not yet joined the Jones family in Mississippi. But by early December, the paperwork should be completed and baby Gracen on his way to his new family in Pontotoc who can’t wait.

There’s just one final twist.

The same day Gracen was born in Arizona, Lori received the results of a blood test. Pregnant. Finally. Unexpectedly.

This time an early genetic blood test revealed no chromosomal abnormalities and the pregnancy has been uneventful, much to the couple’s relief. Nine months pregnant at the time of this interview, Lori talks of a scheduled induction on November 20, just four days before the scheduled adoption of baby Gracen.

Richie laughs, “We are going from an empty wagon to a loaded one,” with two baby boys just seven months apart.

And with that their beloved motorcycle, a Honda ST1300, will probably stay in the garage for a little while longer. M

“TAKING CARE OF IZZY WE REALIZED THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A BIOLOGICAL PARENT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A CHILD AND TO ACTUALLY BE A PARENT TO THAT CHILD,” SAYS RICHIE. “HE FELT LIKE OURS.” managed to remain gracious throughout the ordeal.

“I am not going to tell anyone to give up her child. I don’t want to take anyone’s baby away from them.”

That very same weekend, the little boy Izzy, whom they had originally hoped to adopt, died at just 16 months of congenital heart problems. The couple mourned deeply.

But life has a way of taking an unexpected turn. On April 23rd of this year, a baby boy was born in Arizona.

The grandmother, from Mississippi’s northeast corner, had contacted Lori and Richie in late January while her granddaughter was still pregnant and asked the couple if they were interested in adopting the baby.

At first, Lori hesitated after the last bad adoption experience. The couple debated, prayed and slept on it for a

It’s not too late to get involved in the 25th Annual Toy Run & Motorcycle Parade on December 13. This year it’ll benefit children at Harden House, Faith Haven, and local St. Jude’s and LeBonheur patients. Participants need a motorbike and are encouraged to bring either a new, unwrapped gift, a gift card, or a monetary donation. Starting point is Ballard Park where riders will assemble at 10 a.m. in the rear parking lot. The parade ends at Grace Memorial Baptist Church in Skyline, east of Tupelo.

For more information call (662) 862 5410 or go to www. toyrun.8k.com.

Motorcycle Gang

Lori and Richie Jones use a hobby to give back. Photos by Adam Robison.

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Explore Amory “A Fun Shopping Experience” Sandi Roberts 224 N. Main Street Amory, MS 38821 662-257-5311

PATAGONIA / VINEYARD VINES / MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR MOUNTAIN KHAKIS / BIG STAR JEANS / SOUTHERN POINT / SOUTHERN RAISED / SOUTHERN FRIED COTTON / COLLARED GREENS / MERRELL / KAVU RAINBOW SANDALS / SANUK / REDNECK RIVIERA SALT LIFE SOUTHERN PROPER / COASTAL COTTON ROAR / CARDBOARD SAFARI and more

SHOPPES AT THE BEND 201 3RD AVE NORTH, AMORY

Coffees sourced from the world and roasted in the Deep South

218 North Amory, Main Miss Street 38821 866-437-8446

www.1529coffee.com

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206 Main Street Amory, MS 38821 662.257.2004

Store Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

www.thepreciouspossum.com

205 3rd Street North Amory, MS 38821 662-257-6224

antiques • home decor • trendy fashions 215 N. Main St. Amory, MS 38821 662-257-5311

Jewelry by Randy & Liztech Jewelry

20% off All Fall & Winter

M Tu W Th Sa 6 am until 7 pm F 6 am until 8 pm

Amory’s Caffeination Station

We are at the Tupelo Flea Market Building 1 Aisle 1400 Opposite end of the Ice Cream Truck

60020 Gregory Loop Smithville | MS | 38870 store • 662-651-5020 cell • 662-315-0125 Tuesday-Friday 9-5 Saturday 9-3 reneegmills64@yahoo.com

Explore Amory

The Enjoy extended shopping December 11 & 18, 5 p.m. - 7p.m. at participating Main St. merchants.

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There is NO place like THE OLD PLACE. American craftsman/bungalow style farm house Reserve for special events including wedding receptions and family reunions theglenn@theoldplacebandb.com

Don’t forget to shop Amory’s unique boutiques, antique malls, flower shops, and garden centers!

We have it ALL in Amory! And while you’re in town, rest and enjoy a southern meal, coffee, or ice cream at any of our quaint restaurants or coffee shops.

60036 County Barn Rd., Amory MS 662.256.4707 • theoldplacebandb.com

1400 Highland Drive • Amory, MS 38821 662-256-5707

Come bank with us!

900 N. Main • Amory

256-8461 We turn hopes into homes

111 Hwy 6 North •Amory, MS 38821 10-5 Tuesday-Friday • 10-4 Saturday 662.597.2042

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Explore Amory

125 Main Street Amory, MS

(662) 256-9288 (662) 315-5005

801 3rd Street South • Amory, MS 38821 (662) 256-2761 • www.cityofamoryms.com Hours: Tue.-Fri. 9 to 5 • Sat. 10 to 4 • Sun. 1 to 5

Hours: Mon-Fri 10 am to 6 pm • Sat 10-4 223 Main Street N. • Amory, MS • 38821 ( 662) 257-2009

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Amory Garden & Gifts

“Cedarella” Shop Shannagains for your Holiday Gift Giving • Extended hours until Christmas Shannagains1 on Instagram

500 N. Main • Amory, MS 662-256-5909

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Must-Have Accessories

Simply Southern Charm: purse, price upon request, bracelets $12-$30 // Blonde Pistol: Jennifer Thames necklace $60, Lizzy J bullet ring $20, Lizzy J bullet bracelet $32 // Reed’s: boot s0cks, Frye boots, Ugg bootie, clutch, prices upon request // Owl Bee Boutique: plaid booties $38, boot socks $15 // True Blue: necklace $28, Pink Pewter headband $42

A DD

SOME SPARKLE

Photography by Ann-Marie Wyatt of Taylor Square Photography

Blonde Pistol in Baldwyn: oversized sweater with frayed edges $32, acid jeggings Miss Behavin in wash Oxford: $22, maroon hat $20 romper, price upon request

Milly’s in Mantachie: dress $38, headband $12, Maddie Lou earrings $16, Very Volatile boots $65 // Simply Southern Charm in Tupelo: black fringe top $30, skinny jeans $12.50, boot socks $12, infinity scarf $9.99, boots $42

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Reed’s in Tupelo: (female model) Free People shirt $118, 7 For All Mankind jeans $209, Patagonia vest $99; (male model) Patagonia pullover $99, F.A. McClure shirt $95, Mountain Khaki pants $85

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True Blue in Pontotoc: winter white dress $62 // Opposite page: Owl Bee in Mantachie: plaid vest $32, denim top $32, skinny jeans $25, one size cami $9.95, sweater headband $10, scarf $10

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Merle Norman in Ripley: Eric London cream sweater $52, black denim jeggings $44, brown boots $69.99

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Relax... and enjoy our work.

Landscape Design, Installation and Maintenance Call now for a free estimate!

662-501-0181

JASON TUBB owner/designer www.cornerstonelandscapesms.com

Christmas Packages 2014 “SNOW ANGEL” (for her) $231 “JACK FROST” (for him) $205

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Couples Massage Aroma Therapy Bath 2 Manicures 2 Pedicures

“HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS” $128 • 60 Minute Swedish Massage • Manicure • Pedicure

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3518 Hwy 371 North Mantachie, MS owlbee.ms@gmail.com

facebook.com/owlbee instagram: owlbee_ms

Store Hours: M-F 10-6 Saturday 10-4

662.282.4074

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• Earth Grace Jewelry • Fingerprint Pottery • HOBO • Scout • Oxford Candle Co. • Triple Play Jewelry • Aromatique & More New Born - Plus Sizes Shoes: Kids & Adults Purses, Wallets, Jewelry, Accessories, and More!

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203 North Second Street Booneville, MS 38829 662.728.4447

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FREE Gift Wrapping!

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2139 McCullough Blvd., Tupelo, MS Tuesday-Friday 11-5:30PM & Saturday 11-4PM 662.842.6157

A

K

REN SBERY

“The whole reason I started quilting was this quilt,” Karen Asbery says as she points out the hand-pieced squares and stitches of the quilt that came to her from her grandmother.

Asbery found the quilt squares while cleaning out her late mother’s house. Her grandmother never put the blocks together.

Sewing, for her, was an arduous means of livelihood. But Asbery saw it as a way for preserving the past, so she kept them.

N

By Natalie Richardson

ow that piece of history has turned into a lifelong love and hobby. But other than the pure handiwork of the craft, Asbery loves its heritage.

Not long after Asbery stumbled upon the old quilting blocks, she and her husband moved to Sewanee, Tenn. And there, in the middle of nowhere, Asbery came across a beginner’s quilting class, taught in Bell Buckle by a national quilting judge, of all people and places. After three sessions taught in a building behind an

old farmhouse, Asbery was hooked.

She had sewed and knitted, crocheted and cross stitched all through her life, but nothing made her heart sing like quilting.

“I like the mechanics of it,” she said. “I love the colors; I like changing the colors. I like the handwork.”

Each square of her grandmother’s bed-sized quilt is made up of scraps dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sacks’ colors and patterns are surprisingly vibrant in light of the fact that they came from old feed mudandmag.com

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sacks. Pink, blue and purple in patterns of polka dots and flowers are arranged in a sort of wagon wheel design. And stitched in black thread on each block is a short message and name: “Marie Oltmans Folkers Sweet Dreams” and “Lillian Oltmans Owens Abundant Blessings” are just two of them. The squares were birthday gifts from the grandmother’s family members before she left her family in Iowa and moved to California around 1910. As a little girl, Asbery remembers waiting at the train station in California with her grandmother for her two sisters to visit. Now those names, as well as many other names of cousins and aunts and in-laws are recorded on the quilt.

“I like the history part of the quilting,” Asbery said. “It’s been a really meaningful thing to have that quilt with those names on it.”

Now almost precisely 30 years since she began to quilt, she still gravitates to the historical block patterns and fabrics. She has even hunted down pre-Civil-War-era fabric reproductions to make a quilt dating from the same time. And while modern quilts have their merits, she prefers the block patterns with heritage: Jacob’s Ladder, Drunkard’s Path and Square Dance to name just a few of the thousands in existence.

Hanging on her “design wall” is a rough layout of a Square Dance quilt she’s been working on for over a year.

Quilts take time, she said. There’s the careful cutting and stitching of the pattern, then the sewing of the background, and then you have to place the batting, sew the blanket up, and then, most importantly, the actual quilting.

Although she no longer stitches her own quilts (it’s stressful on her hands), she relishes seeing the results of her piecework quilted together by other women. These days, she sends most quilts to the Crooked Creek Quilt Shop in Greenwood, Arkansas, where a mother-daughter team specialize in machine quilting. It’s not uncommon for Asbery to wait a year before her quilt returns to her. But the results are breathtaking.

Asbery has several quilts that Marcella Rose Pickett at Crooked Creek has completed, but her favorite

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is covered in diamond-shaped flower baskets. Asbery used scraps left over from her sewing stash and hand appliqued each basket, mixing and matching so that no two are alike. And the quilting, the intricate stitching that holds the center batting in place, is magnificent. There are feathering heart shapes with random stippling, intertwining ropes running up and down between the baskets and trapunto (portions where there is extra padding) detailing throughout.

Many women can easily spend all day, every day working on quilts, making their poor husbands “Quilt Widowers,” she said. Undoubtedly, a few of the several dozen women in the Tupelo Quilt Guild, of which she is president, do spend that much time on quilting. But Asbery prefers to work just one or two hours each day on the quilt. Consequently, she easily spends over a year on one quilt.

But she has no deadlines for her quilts. Out of the 37 quilts she has completed in her 30 years of practicing the craft, only two were made for a particular reason. She made two to give to her daughters; the rest, were merely for the joy Asbery had in piecing the colors and patterns together and in recreating parts of quilting history.

“I don’t make quilts for people because they’re very personal,” she said. “And I don’t feel quite right about selling them. I just do it because I enjoy it.” M

Handy Work

Karen Asbery quilts for personal joy and rarely with an ulterior purpose. Photos by Lauren Wood.

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1004 Commonwealth Blvd. | Tupelo, MS | 662.205.4683 Open Tuesday - Friday | Saturday by appointment

• Unique Yard Art • Mexican Pottery • • Wrought Iron • Adirondack Chairs • Chimineas • • Outdoor Furniture • Swings • Plants •

Excellent Gift Ideas for All Occasions

2308 McCullough Blvd.

662-523-2648

Remember, at Santa shops Merle!

& More

Your one shop for all stop Christmas n your eeds!

Congratulations

P i n n a c l e Aw a r d W i n n e r

Office:662.844.1681 Toll Free:888.943.3080 J a c k G a b r i e l

118 West Bankhead St. New Albany, MS 38652 662-534-3515

1204 North City Ave. Ripley, MS 38663 662-837-8344

merlegirls_mn Merle Norman and More Ripley & New Albany

Office:662.844.1681 l 75 Cell:662-322-7132

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Tupelo Small Animal Hospital “We treat them like they’re our own.”

102 South Main Street Ripley, MS

Now carrying Little Divas line!

662-993-8050

2096 S. Thomas St. • Tupelo • 662-840-0210 Stephen K. King, D.V.M; Glenn S. Thomas, D.V.M

CAMP TUPELO BOARDING

1730 McCullough Blvd. | Tupelo, MS 662.840.8833 | www.nescolighting.com M-F 8:00-5:30 | Saturday 10:00-2:00 76

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Lighting • Fans • Mirrors • Lamps & Shades • Outdoor & Landscape • Art & Accessories

TODD KNOWLTON

By David Hitt There are, according to Todd Knowlton, three types of creative people.

There are those who recreate what they find; the landscape painter, for example, who finds a beautiful landscape and captures it on canvas. These are the “creative technicians,� whose work is more driven by their technical ability than imaginations.

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here are those who see what they create – creation is a process, the final outcome of which may not be known until they

complete the process.

And then there are those who create what they “see,” not with their eyes, but with a creative vision. The end is there before they begin, they just have to reveal it. The painter and sculptor Michelangelo is said to have said of a sculpture, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

Knowlton describes himself as the third type. “I call myself a seer and a seeker; I see things that others miss,” he said.

In many years as an artist in multiple mediums, he would bring to life the vision

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he had, be it paintings, film, restaurant locations, and more. He saw the final result, and he made it a reality.

Until one day, he didn’t.

“My life fell apart; my world came crashing down,” he said. “I was dead for 10 years. I couldn’t see anything.”

Work became unrewarding. The material things he accumulated became empty. The ways he tried to fill the void only made things worse. His marriage fell apart.

He turned back to his Christian upbringing, but even there he struggled.

“I’ve been a Christian for a very long time,” he said. “But I was taught it was about following rules and regulations.

“I came to the end of a rope in my faith and said, ‘Is this all there is?’ I lost any sort of sight; I was just trying to get through.”

Through that crisis in faith, however, came, over time, a spiritual rebirth.

“The Holy Spirit has sort of brought

that back,” he said. “On October 2, 2008, He lifted my eyes to see people. I see people that are hurting and need help.

And that was life-changing.

“I had to come to realize it wasn’t about following rules. I think the church got that wrong for a long time.”

Knowlton said when he began to see people, he also began to paint again. “The process is the same, but the inspiration is totally different, the motivation is totally different.”

“I used to paint for myself,” he said.

No longer. Knowlton said he is given a vision of what to paint, and he paints it.

He doesn’t keep his paintings, nor does he show or sell them. Some of his work decorates Origins church in Tupelo. If someone is part of the inspiration for a painting, he gives it to them.

“I think what the Holy Spirit has done is focused that a bit, and I like that focus. The result means more when it’s finished,” he said.

“I CAME TO THE END OF A ROPE IN MY FAITH AND SAID, ‘IS THIS ALL THERE IS?’ I LOST ANY SORT OF SIGHT; I WAS JUST TRYING TO GET THROUGH.” Knowlton said the change in his art has carried over to his career as well; work relationships have become more important than ambition.

“It’s not that I don’t work as hard, because I totally do, but the motivation’s different,” he said. “Once you’ve been healed, once you get help, you want to help others. A lot of times you don’t even know that you need help. I’ll always be in the creative world, that’s just a part of me, but my focus is now into people.”

One of his more recent pieces at Origins captures the thin line between his life and his art – a large painting in the shape of a cross made from wooden pallets.

“I was just sitting in church, and I had a vision of painting on the pallets on stage,” he said. The result is titled “Made New.” “It’s a living piece of art; anybody can sign it, anybody can write on it.”

The unusual medium captures a way his vision has changed since his artistic rebirth. “I can see things in junk,” he said.

“I can see what junk can do. I can see the life.”

That vision, he said, reflects his place at Origins and that of others – those who feel “cast off ” by the world have a place where they are seen as beautiful.

Today, Knowlton is a long way from the places his career once took him; from the days he was working in Hollywood and debuted a short film at Comic-Con. “I try to live a simpler life now, but it’s real,” he said. “I used to always feel like I had to pretend like my life was great.”

“My life today is not always great, but it is good.” M

Visionary

Todd Knowlton takes his vision and makes it a reality through art. Photos by Thomas Wells. mudandmag.com

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Dining Guide All You Can Eat Sunday Buffet 11 -2 Family Friendly Atmosphere

TUPELO’S BEST KEPT SECRET “Thanks for letting us serve you for 12 years” Hand-cut and Aged Ribeye Steaks

Thursday 5-9pm • Friday & Saturday 5-9pm • Sunday Lunch Buffet 11am-2pm

Located just off Chesterville Road / 844-1994 COME SEE US AFTER THE BIG GAME!

Hometown Pizza new owners. new employees. new look.

1159 North Frontage Road • Baldwyn • 662.365.2822

Southern Cooking in a New York Minute!

1155 South Gloster Street • Tupelo, MS • 662.840.1919 Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. • Sunday 10:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Gurley’s Restaurant

125 N. Lee Dr., Guntown • 662-348-2276

A.C.’s Says Thanks For Welcoming Us, New Albany!

Lattes • Smoothies • Frappe Breakfast Rolls Muffins • Cinnamon Rolls

102 S. Railroad Ave. New Albany, MS

located directly on Tanglefoot Trails

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1708 Stephen D. Lee • Tupelo • 662.620.7918 Tue.-Fri. 9 am - 5 p.m. • Sat. 9 am - 11:30 am mudandmag.com

acscoffeena.com

662-534-2111

Mon. - Sat. 7 am until 10 pm

M&M

Dining Guide Family Restaurant

Hwy 145 N. • Booneville 662-728-1460 Mon-Thurs 11-9 • Fri 11-10 Now Open On Saturdays 4-9:30

Check Out Our Daily Specials!

Steaks l Burgers l Salads l Sandwiches & More Historic Downtown 106 W. Bankhead l New Albany 662.539.7005

HOMEMADE DESSERTS

We Bring The Coast To You!

Fish & Steak

Now Open for Lunch Thur. & Fri.

www.fishandsteak.com

218 Carter Ave. Historic Downtown New Albany, MS

1907 Shiloh Road 665-7910 Corinth, MS • (662)Center)

662.539.7025

(Next to the Bowling

9 & Sat. 1-9 -9; Thurs. & Fri. 11Open Tues. & Wed. 4

Call now for your

Holiday Catering

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Private Luncheons Office Parties Romantic Dinners Catering

Mikey Hunter 662-871-0996

Catering

335 East Main St. | Fairpark District Historic Downtown Tupelo

662-842-5665

mudandmag.com www.parkheightsrestaurant.com

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HOLIDAY MUSICAL TOUR OF HOMES

When: December 14 from 2-5 p.m.

All homes featured received damage from the April 28 tornado. Photographed is Valerie Whitwell’s home on 1625 Northlake Drive. Photo by Lauren Wood.

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FIND A LITTLE

Christmas Magic IN HISTORIC

FIND US. FOLLOW US. SHARE US.

(662) 287-8300 w w w . c o r i n t h . n e t CO R I N T H A R E A CO N V E N T I O N A N D V I S I TO R S B U R E AU

 V I S I TCO R I N T H

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