South Georgia Folklife Project Master Field Notes File (chronological order) 1 FIELD NOTES MASTER FILE (by date) SOUTH GEORGIA FOLKLIFE PROJECT 1996-2005 LAURIE SOMMERS, PROJECT DIRECTOR AND PRIMARY FIELDWORKER (other fieldworkers indicated in subheadings of particular entry; if no indication, then fieldworker is Laurie Sommers) FIELD NOTES, SOUTH GEORGIA FOLKLIFE SURVEY DR. LAURIE SOMMERS, FIELDWORKER, 1996-97 Field Notes, Hahira Honeybee Festival, Hahira, GA Oct. 5, 1996 Drove up to the Honeybee Festival and arrived around 10:30. Purpose was to focus on arts and crafts show and see if there was anything of interest in the realm of traditional arts. One thing that surprised me was the lack of local honey at the festival. There were really only three booths of interest in this regard: 1) a woman from Griffin, GA had quite a large selection of honey 2) The Hahira Fruit and Vegetable Center had a selection of what appeared to be old canned goods and honey, mostly from companies elsewhere in the south (honey was from FL, for example) and a few old jars of put-up pear preserves which Bernice Craft (proprietress of Hahira) had made. She didn't seem very forthcoming about anything, local contacts, etc., and the man behind the counter said she was too old, used to do things, and didn't do them any more. 3) A booth by the GA. Beekeepers Assoc., with the national Honey Queen next to him (she is from Lancaster Co. PA this year and travels the circuit). There were flyers on beekeeping, several put out by Dadant, the parent co. in Illinois of which Hahira has a local branch office. Honey recipes, but no honey. Other items of interest: Frank's Jellies, Relish, and Hot Sauce, staffed by Franklin Harrell and his wife of Nashville. Frank Harrell, originally of Cairo, GA, makes jellies, relishes, and preserves, including a number from wild fruits and berries, back behind their house, using techniques he learned from his mother. Among the offerings: mayhaw, elderberry, blackberry, candied figs, strawberry. He said wild plum was popular but the fruit had all been lost in the freeze this past year. Got a card and will go visit. He is making up new batches all the time with frozen juice and fruit. Quilts: the Withlacoochee Quilters had a raffle quilt. I have a contact their already through Ann Smith at Trinity Presbyterian. They meet monthly. A black couple had a number of items for sale, including a few quilts. Evidently I can contact the maker through the man's sister at the Five Points Flea Market in Valdosta. Sister: Catherine Stewart. Quilter’s name is something like Mrs. Mauna Webb. 1 South Georgia Folklife Project Master Field Notes File (chronological order) 2 Auctioneers: Introduced myself to Tom Swilley of Heritage Auction Services in Hahira. He is doing an antiques and collectibles auction tonight as part of the Festival. Said he does about three a month; check Valdosta Daily Times on Fridays for notices. Auctioneers are increasingly specialized. He knows most of them around here, he says. Got his card and said I would call. Also of interest, his mentor Donald Patton of Zenith Auction in Lakeland. Latter does more farm equipt. and farm auctions. He didn't know the auctioneers for the livestock/horses in Quitman. Did say the tobacco auctioneers are specialized and come from out of state (NC). Stopped in at the Hahira Tobacco Sales Warehouse, full of tobacco sheets waiting to be shipped and bought. Chatted briefly with Melvin Parker, evidently a retired Head? of company, originally from NC, in business over 40 years. He was polite but didn't seem to have much use for me. Wouldn't let me take his picture with tobacco, and said if I was interested in history of company to talk not to him but to Jimmy Miley, current president. I commented on use of Mexican migrant labor. This is a seasonal business, lasting about 3 months. Parker said it was hard to get local help any more; they work through a local crew leader who gets help for them and works with other local farmers with migrant labor for fruits and vegetables as well. I then introduced myself to Jimmy Miley, who had been on phone and then had exchanged a few words in Spanish with one of the workers. He was more friendly, and open to my coming to sale Monday and/or Wed. am. about 9, recording and taking pictures. He is working with an auctioneer from TN and a ticket marker raised on a tobacco farm in Nashville now living in Savannah: Robin Muschamp. I also noticed on the wall tear-off adds for a company in Adel that remodels Tobacco barns. Melvin Parker told me the number of farms has greatly reduced and size of acreage has grown. Now there are 100-125 farms in S. GA/N. FL. October 7 and 8, 1996 Tobacco Sale at Hahira Tobacco Warehouse, Hahira, and Planter’s Warehouse, Nashville Jimmy Miley Hahira Tobacco Sales, Inc. PO Box 483 Hahira, GA 31632 warehouse-912-794-2450 h-912-794-2069 Robert E. Deatherage Box 704 North Davis St. Nashville, GA 31639 (Planter’s Warehouse) Jimmy Parker III Tobacco Auctioneer Rt. 4, Box 2685 Nashville, GA 31639 2 South Georgia Folklife Project Master Field Notes File (chronological order) 3 h-912-686-7153 shed-912-686-2532 LE Watson Planters Warehouse Rt1, Box 3520 Nashville, GA 31639 w-912-686-7586 Arrived at the Hahira Warehouse about 8:30, only to discover that the buyers and auctioneer (Rick Murphy from TN.) were at the Valdosta Warehouse first! So I waited around until all arrived at Hahira. The same group of buyers go to sales in Hahira, Valdosta, and Nashville. The warehouse is large, neat, and clean, with a strong pungent smell of tobacco. The tobacco was piled on burlap sheets and placed in rows throughout the warehouse. I photographed a placard in the wall which illustrated the proper way to tie sheets of tobacco. In the center of the warehouse was a small office from which Jimmy Miley ran operations (also a suite of business offices to the side of the warehouse with a door facing the street and parking lot). Near the small operations office was a conveyor belt of sorts for downloading tobacco from trucks. Sales are taking place all wee in the area, Monday through Thursday (no sales on Friday). This is near the end of the sales season, which will finish up by the middle to end of October and began in July. I arranged to meet with Jimmy Miley and show him the consent form, which proved useful. Board Chairman Melvin Parker in particular was concerned about the presence of a tape recorder and camera in the face of all the anti-tobacco efforts going on, but Miley understood the project and signed, making a copy for himself. Miley has been raised in the tobacco industry and even added a touch of authenticity by accidentally putting a cigarette burn hole on the consent form with his hand-rolled cigarette. Miley also introduced me to the buyers when they arrived and explained my interest in the history and culture of the area. A team of graders arrived ahead of the buyers, 3 men and one woman, who work for the government and use 10 different criteria to grade the tobacco. It is then priced according to grade. Graders are assigned to a particular market; I spoke with the woman, who was from Kentucky. When the buyers, auctioneer and ticket marker arrived (they had all been working the Valdosta sale), I followed them down the rows recording the sale and taking photos. It was later explained to me that this was an extraordinary year, since the hurricanes had destroyed much of the tobacco crop. Hence all tobacco, regardless of grade, was selling for $1.92 per pound. The usual bidding of the auction thus didn’t take place. The warehouseman (Jimmy Miley) led the sale, walking at the front of the row of buyers. The buyers used a system of hand signals to cue the sheets they wanted for purchase. Evidently, in an unusual year such as this, the warehouseman and the auctioneer figure out what percentage of the tobacco they want to go to each buyer, based on previous amounts bought in this particular market. A given buyer may represent more than one company, and selects a particular grade for purchase based on the market he his buying 3 South Georgia Folklife Project Master Field Notes File (chronological order) 4 for (oversees, domestic, etc.). The auctioneer and ticket marker were on the opposite side of the row. Periodically Miley would give the buyers an opportunity to review the sheets purchased, talk with their supervisors, etc. Rick Murphy, the auctioneer, works in the local market but is from Tennessee. I noticed that many folks involved in tobacco were from the heart of tobacco country such as Kentucky, NC, Tennessee, etc. I understood from Jimmy Miley that there are local auctioneers. He referred me to the ticket marker, Robin Muschamp, who comes from a tobacco farm family near Nashville and now lives in Savannah. She told me to come to the sale the next day in Nashville at her family warehouse, Planter’s, which would be run by her brother, LE Watson, and auctioned by one of the partners, Jimmy Parker, originally from NC, who now lives in Nashville. The sale broke for lunch. I got information on how to get to Planters the next day.