The Moultrie Observer and Became Very Proficient with Their Read All About the Energy and Dedication Talents

821146 From the Publisher... Down Stories about those who pursue their dreams HMAGAZINEome S E PTEMBER 2013 Moultrie and Colquitt County are rich their families have embraced this concept as Published quarterly by in stories about people who pursued dreams a much-needed community service. The Moultrie Observer and became very proficient with their Read all about the energy and dedication talents. Sometimes they were just pastimes that it takes to make such an organization PUBLISHER and they involved other family members work. Dwain Walden and friends. Then comes Liz Savage who directs the And so goes the story of Homer Lanier 50th Regiment Band of Colquitt County EDITOR Jr. who had a way with horses, so much so High School. Adelia Ladson that he founded the Lanier Rodeo Team As Liz very appropriately puts it, the back in 1943. 50th Regiment provides the soundtrack EDITORIAL STAFF And the horses that took Homer and for Friday night football at Mack Tharpe Kevin Hall brother Glenn in a cart to Autreyville each Stadium. Adelia Ladson Alan Mauldin morning to catch the bus to school in Staff writer Adelia Ladson gives us a first- Wayne Grandy Moultrie were the same ones that jumped person look into what it takes to develop through fire and performed other stunts and maintain a strong band program at ADVERTISING STAFF that entertained crowds throughout the Colquitt County High School. Chris White state. We hope you enjoy this edition of Glenda Apperson This is just one of several stories about Downhome. And if you have ideas of stories Laurie Gay your friends and neighbors that appear for future editions, please contact Kevin Earline Barker in this issue of Downhome magazine, Hall or Adelia Ladson at The Moultrie Jane Hamm published quarterly by The Moultrie Observer to discuss those ideas. Lynda Young Observer. This magazine is dedicated to the “downhome” folks of Colquitt County CIRCULATION who actually make up the content with their Andrew Wardle Carolyn Voyles endeavors. And to illustrate the wide variety of Cover Price: $2.00 activities that our folks engage in, just Available at read the story about a motorcycle ministry The Moultrie Observer office founded by Pete Tucker. Yep, it’s unconventional to say the DOWNHOME MAGAZINE least. Even Pete will tell you that this was a 25 North Main Street “calling” he was unprepared for. Moultrie, GA 31768 Ironically, Pete was “scared to death” 229-985-4545 of motorcycles and now, for all practical purposes, they are his pulpit. www.moultrieobserver.com Read about Pete and his ministry in the © 2013 The Moultrie Observer following pages of Downhome. All rights reserved Then we have Joseph Matchett who calls the Boys and Girls Club of Moultrie/ Yours truly, Colquitt County the community’s “best Dwain Walden, kept secret.” Editor/Publisher, The club’s purpose, of course, is to help The Moultrie Observer guide youngsters in a path of responsible citizenship and productivity. It’s now in its fourth year and more than 350 members and DownHome Magazine | September 2013 3 IN THIS ISSUE: September 2013 DownHPublishedome quarterly by The Moultrie Observer 13 17 20 Letter from the Publisher��3 COVER STORY The Lanier Rodeo��6 Sunbelt Agriculture Exposition��13 Boys & Girls Club of Moultrie/Colquitt County��17 Motorcycle Ministry��20 Liz Savage Band��23 Calendar of Events��26 Recipes ��28 6 about the cover Homer Lanier Jr. on the Roman Ride with Margie Dekle Mims on his back. Submitted photo. SEE PAGE 6. 4 DownHome Magazine | September 2013 DownHome Magazine | September 2013 5 COVER STORY The Lanier Rodeo Glenn Lanier, in yellow shirt, and Homer Lanier Jr., hold the reins for Mary Catherine BY WAYNE GRANDY Hill, left, and Carolyn Williams. The horses are [email protected] Prince, left, and Flicka. Photo by Ralph Jones. OULTRIE – Homer Lanier Jr. about 1943 began performing. always had a way with horses. Soon they were traveling as the Lanier M He got his first one when he Rodeo Team. was 4 years old and he was able to establish And the horses that took Homer and a bond with them and train them. Glenn in a cart to Autreyville each morning An expert horseman, he won his first to catch the bus to school in Moultrie were saddle in 1935 when he was just 9 and was the same ones that jumped through fire and so excited he began sleeping with it. performed other stunts that entertained He was with horses seven days a week on crowds throughout the state. the family farm near the Ione community Although all had roles in the Lanier and it wasn’t long before he and his pintos Rodeo, Don Turner recalls Homer as the June and Prince were performing difficult driving force of the group. tricks. “Homer’s leadership ability made it Homer looked up to Doerun’s J.K. Sims, happen,” said Turner, now married to who was a trick rider at local rodeos. Dorothy. And soon enough his brother Glenn was Lucy Brown sits on Homer Lanier Jr.’s shoulders Homer Lanier Jr. moved with his family learning the tricks. Neighbors and cousins and twirls her baton. Photo by Ralph Jones. to the Pavo area in 1930. Homer Sr. farmed showed up in the evenings and on the about 1,000 acres and his sons grew up weekends and they, too, joined in. So did Sue Wilkes, Carolyn Williams working the land and working with horses. Sisters Margie Dekle Mims and Dorothy Friedlander, Bo Pate and twin sisters Lucy Homer Jr. inherited his deep appreciation Dekle Turner began taking part in the and Ellen Brown Peters. of horses from his father. tricks. Don Turner and cousins Harold and Without really planning to, the group “We were with them seven days a week,” Grace Lanier did, too. put together a trick riding team and in he said. “We rode those ponies to school, 6 DownHome Magazine | September 2013 played cowboys and Indians on them. They were our transportation, too.” He also learned how to train them. “You’ve got to out-smart them,” he said. “You’ve got to think ahead of them.” And soon he was going to rodeos, watching and learning. Sims was his favorite. “He did a lot of trick riding,” Homer Jr. remembers. “He was good. I thought he was.” Soon Homer was doing the trick riding himself and performing difficult stunts, such as the Roman team, where he rode astride two horses at once. And he taught his horses to jump through fire. His friends and cousins joined in, also learning the challenging and dangerous stunts. “Homer had to train the horses before he trained us,” Don Turner remembers. Times were hard in the early- to mid-1940s, with gas and tires rationed. The young men and women rode their horses to meet, ride together and learn their tricks. They looked forward to the fellowship. Homer Lanier Jr. on the Roman Ride with Margie Dekle Mims “We rode horses every weekend,” Dorothy Dekle Turner recalls. on his back. Submitted photo “That was about our only entertainment. Everything we did, we did together.” The Lanier Rodeo included, front, Homer Lanier Jr. and Don Turner; middle, Lucy Brown, Sue Wilkes and Ellen Brown Peters; and, back, Dorothy Dekle Turner, Harold Lanier, Margie Dekle Mims and Grace Lanier Turner. Others who performed were Harold Lanier, Carolyn Williams Friedlander, Bo Pate and Mary Catherine Hill. Submitted photo. DownHome Magazine | September 2013 7 COVER STORY The lighting was rudimentary, Homer Jr. remembers. “I’ve seen a lot of moonlight brighter than that,” he says. When they performed the boys wore white pants, T-shirts and gym shoes. And the stunts and tricks were choreographed to music. No one can quite remember how they managed amplified music. As the group improved, the decision was made to host a rodeo in addition to the trick riding. The group added calf roping and bull riding. They had to drive the rodeo stock up from the Lanier pasture. Don Turner remembers getting sore from the burrs in the hair of cattle. And they first time they tried bull riding, M.W. Majors had to help out. Majors, owner of M.W. Majors Furniture in Moultrie, was a big supporter of the group. He rode the first bull out of the chute that Many of their earliest performances were held at an arena they day. Homer Jr. followed and soon the others joined in. built themselves in Ione at the intersection of several dirt roads. One local rodeo was highlighted by a performance of the The site was where a former cotton gin belonging to the Burgess Moultrie High School band, led by Pop Jennison. family had been located. Homer Lanier Sr. helped as they hooked One of the most dangerous tricks was the Roman team, with mules to some of the old gin equipment to haul it out of the way. Homer Jr. standing astride June and Prince with Margie on his back. The poles they used to enclose the arena they cut at the Lanier “She had some nerve, didn’t she,” Homer Jr. says with a smile. farm and hauled them by wagon to Ione. They even strung lights for It never dawned on her to be scared, she says. a primitive, but functional, arena. “I didn’t think about it,” she says. “I just grabbed the mane of the The Lanier trick riders practice at the arena near Ione. Submitted photo 8 DownHome Magazine | September 2013 The Lanier Rodeo prepares to perform at the Veterans Hospital in Thomasville.

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