News for members of Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association
Drivers can do more to make 4 Mississippi roadways safer
9 Outdoors Today: Back to Africa
Periodical postage (ISSN 1052 2433)
with fresh 14 Cooking Gulf Coast seafood
MHP Capt. John Poulos
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Today in Mississippi
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June 2018
Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association
Manager of Member Services: Dennis McFee For Today in Mississippi information, call 662-746-4251, or email dmcfee@yazoovalley.com
BLUES TRAIL MARKERS
Featuring
Gatemouth Moore and Tommy McClennan
#
as a part of our mini-series
honor legendary musicians
“Traveling the Blues Trail” Photos courtesy of Dawn Davis
from Yazoo City Tommy McClennan Tommy McClennan was one of the most prolific blues recorders of all time. The number of songs that he recorded in his lifetime is astonishing. McClennan was born in Greenwood, Miss., in 1905. The family moved to Yazoo City and lived on the J.F. Sligh plantation when he was just young boy. According to local blues expert Ronnie Eldridge, McClennan (also known as McClinton, McLindon, McCleland and McClenan) would walk nine miles from the J.F. Sligh plantation to Yazoo City on the weekends just to play his music. McClennan was known for being a small guy with a monstrous voice. However, when the blues began losing momentum to genres such as rock and roll and doowop, work for McClennan and many of the blues greats dried up. Not much is known about McClennan’s life. He became an alcoholic living in a junk yard in his later years and died in Chicago in 1961. McClennan’s blues marker was placed near the railroad tracks in downtown Yazoo City because of its proximity to the nightclubs he would frequent on Water Street. Railroad depots were also a popular spot for blues musicians to congregate and play their music.
Gatemouth Moore Arnold Dwight “Gatemouth” Moore was born in Topeka, Kan., and raised in Memphis, Tenn. He was one of the blues greats before finding religion on stage in Chicago. He earned his nickname “Gatemouth” from a fan, which was likely acquired from his loud singing voice. In Memphis., he was known as “Mr. Beale Street,” according to Eldridge. “B.B. King fashioned himself after Gatemouth Moore,” said Eldridge. “That’s how famous he was. One night on stage in 1949, he opened his mouth to sing and nothing would come out but a gospel song. He was booed off the stage.” After that experience, Gatemouth Moore became a preacher, carrying his stage presence and showmanship to the pulpit. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he became a bishop, assigned him to Yazoo City where he was a pastor at the Bethel A.M.E. Church and the Lintonia A.M.E. Church. He died in Yazoo City in 2004. The marker dedicated to musical contributions of Gatemouth Moore is located on Highway 49 near Ubon’s Restaurant.
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Today in Mississippi
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Save without suffering this summer By Debbie Stringer • Raise the temperature setting on the air When summertime temperatures start conditioner. For every degree you turn creeping into the 90s, your energy use the thermostat up during air conditionwill rise as appliances struggle to do their ing season, you’ll save up to 2 to 3 perjob. cent on your cooling costs. Yazoo Valley The problem is compounded when recommends a summertime setting of 78 the nights are hot and humid too. degrees or higher. Yazoo Valley Electric Power • If you have a central air conditioner, Association cautions members that replace the filter monthly during the power bills will rise along with the tem- summer. A dirty air conditioner filter peratures, because of the increased use of hampers air flow and makes the air conelectricity. ditioning sysHere’s why: tem work hard• Your air coner—and use Once you understand how the elecditioner will more electricity. tric bill reflects your daily habits, run more hours • If you use you can take steps to reduce energy window air to remove the heat and conditioners, costs over the long term. humidity infilmake sure to trating your seal the openhome. On the hottest days it may run ings around the units’ window mounts. 24 hours. Make sure it sits level so that it drains • The refrigerator and freezer will work correctly. If possible, mount it out of the harder to maintain their temperature set- direct sun. tings, especially units exposed to outdoor • Consider replacing an old window unit heat, like a freezer in a garage. with a model that meets Energy Star • A rooftop power ventilator will run standards for energy efficiency and quihours longer than usual to remove excess eter operation. heat from the attic. • When a ceiling fan is running, you can • The water heater will consume more move the air conditioner thermostat energy when household members bathe three to four degrees higher without and wash clothes more often. noticing a difference in comfort level. A All these factors combined will force fan cannot lower a room’s temperature your home to consume more electricity. but it will deliver a cooling breeze to the And the more kilowatt-hours your appli- skin, and can increase comfort while you ances use, the higher your electric bill. sleep. Turn the fan off when the room is (Likewise, the more you drive, the more vacant to avoid wasting energy. you spend on gasoline. It’s that simple.) • Turn off a TV that no one is watching. As a member-owned electric coopera- • Set the water heater to 120 degrees or tive, Yazoo Valley is committed to help- below and the refrigerator no lower than ing you manage your energy use. Once 38 degrees. you understand how the monthly elec• Use the bathroom’s exhaust fan to tric bill reflects your daily habits in the remove excess heat and humidity while home, you can take meaningful steps to bathing. reduce energy costs over the long term. • Wash clothes in cold water. Most Here’s how: detergents clean just as well in cold
Yazoo Valley Electric will be closed Wednesday, July 4
for Independence Day.
water. blinds on windows that receive direct • Set the clothes dryer on the lowest heat sunlight, and keep them closed. setting and run it in the cooler hours of • Manufactured-home dwellers should day or night. inspect air conditioning duct work • Run only full loads in the dishwasher, beneath the home for leaks and bad conand set it to air dry. nections. • Cook with a slow cooker, microwave • If your home needs a new roof, select or outdoor grill to materials with energy efficiency avoid heating up Incandescent light bulbs emit in mind. the kitchen. heat—just what you don’t Reflective roofs • Incandescent want in summer. Replace them can reduce the light bulbs emit temperature of heat—just what with cool, long-lasting LEDs. the roof by as you don’t want in much as 30 persummer. Replace cent, which means less heat will enter them with LEDs, which won’t heat up the house, are more energy efficient and your home. Look for Energy Star-certified roof products. last far longer. • Adequate insulation in the attic will • Plug air leaks in the home, including drastically reduce your home’s heating cracks around window air conditioning and cooling needs. In the summer, insuunits and exterior doors. Don’t let the lation helps prevent the heat build-up in air you’re paying to cool escape outside! the attic from entering the home. • Half of all the heat that enters the Find more energy-efficiency tips and home in summer comes in through the ways to save money at www.Energy.gov. windows. Install insulated curtains or
Crews will be on call throughout the holiday. Call 662-746-4251 to report an outage.