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Are my roots southern? By Linda Waggener An educator challenged me not long ago to answer the question, Are my roots Southern? Even though I have lived in Columbia for 30 years, when I think about roots, I have to focus on Metcalfe County which joins Adair to the west. There was a time when I would have answered 'yes' without even thinking about it. However, things do change. The absolute location of my birthplace is in the Sulphur Well plat of Metcalfe County, Kentucky. It was pure southern in my youth when Metcalfe County was the last bastion of the laid-back American male. Inner silliness was valued far above a PhD. Men were men, women were women, and women did the work. And woe to any woman who thought she could get away with sitting around the local store chatting with friends as the men did. But then something happened that may put my southern heritage in question. Before the event which has thrown the county into a possible identity crisis, I thought I lived in the southern end of this southern county, because down is up there. Residents discussed going from the county seat, Edmonton, over to Subtle (sub-tl) Mountain on the Cumberland County line; over to Summer Shade in the southern end of the county near the Monroe County border; or down to the gum at Sulphur Well or down to the Center Knob, both in the northern end of the county, near the Hart and Green County lines. No one can say for sure why we talk that way -- perhaps its because the Little Barren River flows downhill to the north, which stands to reason, makes that the lower end of the county. See? Perhaps that is why the late Tommy Wallace said he always knew someone was from home, no matter how far away he was, when he saw them entering a restaurant through the exit door. Scoring by Vince Statens Is Kentucky Southern test series, we may find clarity: ACCENTS: ing was never pronounced by a true local and we spoke in shortcut words like roasenears. I could hardly wait for mom to boil them for supper when corn was in season. I guess I was 14 the first time I heard it pronounced roasting ears. That special language would make us southern for sure. However, people from off -- those who came in the great bus insurgence of the 60s and 70s, when Realtors got national ad exposure and hippies came seeking utopia on cheap land -- those people may have lived in a bus body in the woods to get their start here, but they properly pronounced their ings. And they've helped us clear up our 'ings, too. Thats not what happened, though, to really make me question if my roots are still southern. What did happen was the big factory -- Sumitomo Electric -- came to Edmonton, and now things are definitely more worldly, more cosmopolitan, if you will. Time was when a man would never be seen gardening, nor doing yard work. Now on almost any weekend you can take a drive and find men planting flower gardens with great sensitivity, or riding big power mowers over neatly clipped lawns. Its enough to send shivers down the spine of one who is committed to maintaining the status quo. This throws a serious kink in the potential for a perfect score on this test, but we will continue. BAR-B-QUE: Metcalfe County would have to score a hundred on this test because of The Pitts on the Glasgow Road just outside of Edmonton. The late Donald Pedigo asked me to sketch The Pitts sign over a decade ago when he first built it after doing his marketing survey of how many pounds of bar-b-que was being bootlegged from Tooleys in Tompkinsville every weekend. Pitts founder Donald, my classmate, friend and basketball star at MCHS, was lost a few years ago to lung cancer. Do we also score ourselves more southern for smoking? As he said after his diagnosis, we just didnt know about the danger because tobacco was so ingrained in our way of life. GRITS: No question, we were grits eaters in my youth. In these modern times we even make casseroles out of them with garlic and cheese. Many feel thats sissy though, and insist on having grits straight. RELIGION: Metcalfe County is right up there in Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ and other enthusiasts. We want our ten commandments posted on every visible flat surface. RADIO: Country and gospel music fill the air waves on the Edmonton radio station seven days a week. DRINKING AND EATING: Changeover day for the men was historically celebrated on October 22 marked by an official change from PBR to Cream of Kentucky. Country ham reigns supreme, salt cured in the smoke house, fried up and served with hot biscuits and red-eye gravy. Sulphur Well became famous as King Crenshaw served this fare up to everyone from governors to gangsters at the Beulah Villa hotel in the first half of the last century. People came from far and near to sip cold, white sulphur water at the natural artesian well, and then cross the swinging bridge over the Little Barren to the great screened-in dining porch at the Beaulah Villa to enjoy country ham dinners, and, for many, some good Kentucky burbon on the side. (The Lighthouse Restaurant continues the wonderful country ham dinner tradition today but the burbon part doesn't apply). That artesian sulphur well called The Gum, as well as Knob Licks Bottomless Spring and The Cut are geographic landmarks particular to this place. POLITICS: Lets just say that Democrat Judge Woodrow Wilson held his office for 28 consecutive years. My first husband, Ed, became a born-again Metcalfe Countian by (a) drinking sulphur water from The Gum, (b) eating country ham at Porters (now the Lighthouse) Restaurant, and (c) voting for Judge Woody. The biggest precinct in Metcalfe County was said to be the absentee vote from 64th Place in Chicago. After all that, in the final analysis, cross-checking our preferences, our customs against the great change that came with the big factory, can we possibly say Metcalfe County might still be southern? Oh hail yeah. This story was posted on 2004-07-19 07:36:48
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