“When I want you in my arms,
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you,
Whenever I want you,
all I have to do is dream.”
Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, recorded by The Everly Brothers
By Doc Lawrence
NORMAN PARK, GA—This small town nestled deep in South
Georgia is nearer to Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city than the great
metropolis of Atlanta, unofficial headquarters of the New South. Colquitt
County is the home of the Georgia Baptist Convention and the fertile soil grows
almost anything that roots. Nearby Moultrie was the home of the great
songwriting team, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant who as husband and wife wrote
over 1500 songs for the legends like the Everly Brothers, The Grateful Dead,
Buddy Holly, R.E.M., Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan and others, and they penned
“Rocky Top,” the official song of the University of Tennessee,
Drink the wonderful water here and you might feel an itch to
write a love song.
Lauri Jo Bennett has her jams, jellies, and pickled
vegetable headquartered in this fertile land. A highly respected schoolteacher,
she longed to plunge into the challenges of entrepreneurism and began making
gourmet delights from local sourced fruits and vegetables. This family effort
now sells a couple dozen different products like pickled green beans,
asparagus, okra and fabulous Strawberry pepper jelly in over a slew of states.
Everything is made by hand from scratch including the labels. Laurie Jo is emblematic
of farm-to-table and needs no hype.
Lauri Jo is the real deal: impossible not to like and
admire. “We harvest our vegetables and fruits from nearby farms,” she said,
“and want our community to benefit by our success.” Mack and Sarge, Lauri Jo’s
English bulldogs seemed to nod approval.
Leaving Norman Park I wondered if any state official ever
thinks of having her as a representative of Georgia’s best. I can see Laurie Jo
serving her goodies to the communist rulers of China served along with the wines
of nearby Horse Creek. Friendships are crafted this way. It’s part of the magic
of South Georgia’s hospitality tradition, something as natural as a smile and
handshake.
Laurie Jo began her company with a dream. This is a place
where dreams are revered because they often come true.
Enjoy more about the food and wine of this great part of Dixie:
http://bytheseafuture.org/DocLawrence_Southwind_May-2012.html
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