News for members of Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association
Billups nostalgia
Periodical postage (ISSN 1052 2433)
drives diner concept
Guy Billups III
14
MFWC cookbook supports heart health
15
Historic school to be preserved
10
I
Today in Mississippi
I
September 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
Annual Meeting set for November 13 The Annual Meeting of Members of Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association will be held Tuesday, November 13, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. at the office of the Association in Yazoo City. At this meeting, two directors will be elected to serve a three-year term each. Of the two directors to be elected, one must be a Yazoo Valley member and resident of Yazoo, Holmes or Humphreys County. The other director must be a Yazoo Valley member and resident of Yazoo, Holmes, Humphreys, Warren, Sharkey or Issaquena County. A committee to consider and make nominations for directors of the Association was appointed at an August meeting of
Save time and money by signing up for our paperless E-Billing today. I Pay at our main office location 2255 Gordon Ave., Yazoo City I Pay at a U.S. payment kiosk • Super Junior 1035 Oakridge Rd, Vicksburg • Kangaroo Crossing 4850 Hwy 17, Pickens I Pay at Thurmond’s Hardware 120 Lexington Cir., Lexington I Enroll in AutoPay I Pay by phone I Download the Yazoo Valley app I Online at www.yazoovalley.com
662-746-4251
the board of directors. Members appointed to serve on this committee are Will Jones, Rosemary Watson, Gregory Moseley, Jamie Peaster, Houston Cohea and James T. Henry. The committee will meet at a time and place set by the board of directors and shall prepare and post a list of nominations for board members at the main office of the Association at least 30 days before the annual meeting. Any 50 members acting together may make other nominations by petition, and the Secretary shall post such nominations at the same place where the list of nominations by the committee is posted. Nominations made by petition, to be effec-
tive, must be received by the Association at least 10 days before the meeting. At least 30 days before the date of the annual meeting, each member will receive a notice stating the place, day and hour of the meeting. Such notice will include the number of directors to be elected and the names and addresses of the candidates nominated by the committee on nominations. At the annual meeting, a report will be made to the members on the operation of the Association for the past year, and all business coming before the meeting will be transacted.
Paying your Yazoo Valley Electric bill is now easier than ever!
September 2018
I
Today in Mississippi
I
10a
WhyYouth Tour? should you
apply for
1.
It’s sponsored by Yazoo Valley Electric. Your electric coop completely covers the costs of two trips, including airfare, hotels, meals and attractions.
Meet new people!
2.
Approximately 80 of your peers from around Mississippi go on this tour each year. But why just make friends with teens from your home state when there’s over 1,800 students around the country that go on Youth Tour?
It’s a lot of fun! If you are currently a high school junior, why stay home this summer, when you can tour the nation’s capital city? You’ll see every thing that Washington, D.C., has to offer.
3.
4.
Meet your congressmen. This tour gives students an incredible experience to meet their congressmen personally and have the opportunity to talk with them about issues in their communities.
5.
You gain leadership experience. All of the students that attend this tour have been selected as leaders in their community. That’s over 1,800 potential contacts for your future.
7.
6. Traveling is fun!
Learn about government Emerse yourself in a city filled with American history.
All official entry forms must be returned to Yazoo Valley by September 14, 2019. Call Dennis McFee at (662) 746-4252, or visit your guidance counselor for more information.
10b
I
Today in Mississippi
I
September 2018
Holmes Community College and Yazoo Valley Electric celebrate 10-year affiliation
Students learn to climb poles, earn a Class A commercial driver’s license, learn to operate heavy machinery and learn first aid and CPR skills.
By Elissa Fulton One of the most important qualities to look for when hiring linemen is attention to detail and employees who know the importance of safety – not only for themselves, but for those around them. In order to provide young people with the tools to have a successful career in line work, Yazoo Valley has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Workforce Development Training Program for linemen at Holmes Community College in Goodman. This year marks the 10-year anniversary for the successful program. Instructors Clarence “Mac” McBride and Lamar Dumas are currently training the 21st class. The 16-week program offers students with fundametnal hands-on training. While enrolled, they earn a Class A commercial driver’s license, knowledge of the Electric Safety Code, Occupational Safety Lamar Dumas and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and rules pertaining to the different types of utility providers they could potentially find employment with. They also learn how to operate heavy machinery used in line work, first aid and CPR training and pole climbing skills. “The 16-week course is equivalent to about 18-months of on the job training,” Clarence “Mac’ McBride said McBride, head instructor at the lineman school. “It’s a big advantage for employers because these students know many of the basics and can step right on in the job and take off. It’s a really rewarding career, and if I had to do it all over again, I believe I’d try it.” McBride came to the program after a 38-year career with Entergy Mississippi Earl Sysco until retiring in 2008. He teaches two classes per year through the college along with Dumas who retired in 2011 from Natchez Trace Electric Power Association after 32 years of service. Together they teach the students every aspect line work.
Above: The 2018 Fall class is the 21st class to be taught by instructors Clarence McBride and Lamar Dumas. The program is 16-weeks of intense training that prepare the students to go into a career of electrical line work.
“Many of the students that we get here, this is kind of the last chance to find a decent quality job. Because some of them have been the academic route and didn’t adjust, and they come here, they like the outdoors and many of them find what they like. I’m really glad Lef they have this workforce program set up of t for these guys,” said Dumas. The program accepts only 14 students per extremely competive entry process. Earl Sysco nator and works part-time at the school. He a process for the students that attend each seme “We advertise an informational meeting in before the start of each semester. Yazoo Valley to talk to the students and we tell them about aspects of a career in line work. We explain to that it’s a career, not just a job,” said Sysco. “ application, and then they must bring that ba high school transcipts, physicals and their CD lengthy process. Then we interview them. We dents for this class of 14. If you start with goo good employees to come out of the program.” About half of the linemen at Yazoo Valley ed the lineman program at Holmes, including Hunter Vandevere. He was in the first class th “This program has come a long way from These students have more to work with,” said into the workforce more prepared, but there w out of the program. Some couldn’t climb pol of heights. Some people just aren’t comfortab you learn the basics of the job here and know
For more information about Holmes Community College Workforce Development contact Mandy Clayton Burre
September 2018
ft to right: Sam Lungrin, William Johnson, Hunter Davis, Wade O’Briant, Dennis McFee and Hunter Vandevere are a few the Yazoo Valley employees that are certified from the lineman program in Goodman.
semester and it is an o is a program coordiaids in the selection ester. n local newspapers y sends a representative t the good and bad o potential students We give them an ack along with their DL permit. It’s a e interviewed 28 stuod people, you’ll have ” Electric have completg Line Foreman hat graduated in 2008. the first class in 2008. d Vandevere. “I went was those that dropped es or they were scared ble on a pole. At least w what you’ll be doing
and if you are cut out for this type of work, or if it’s even something you want to do. The program was very valuable for me when starting my career.” Yazoo Valley Electric provides materials and support for the program. Since the beginning, the program has seen over 300 students and an extremely high rate of job placement. The instructors contact contractors, electric cooperatives, investor-owned utilities and municipalities for each of their classes, and make a great effort to help the students find employment once they receive their certification. “Probably half of the linemen we have at our cooperative have come through this program,” said Dennis McFee, manager of member services. “If we have an available position, this is one of the first places we seek employees.” McFee attended the program in 2009 and worked on the lines for several years before joining the executive staff at Yazoo Valley Electric. “It’s a very rewarding career and opens up many opportunities,” he said. Yazoo Valley Electric is proud of the relationship that they have forged with Holmes Community College to train qualified line workers. We hope that the relationship continues to grow and that the program will be successful in the years to come. Happy Anniversary!
ell at 662-472-9172 or email mburrell@holmescc.edu.
I
Today in Mississippi
I
10c
10d
I
Today in Mississippi I September 2018
Remembering blues icon
Skip James By Elissa Fulton Nehemiah “Skip” James was born in Bentonia in 1902. He grew up on the Woodbine Plantation near the home of Henry Stuckey. When he was a young boy, Stuckey taught Jack Owens and James how to play a style of music that he had learned to play and develop while overseas during the first World War. With this style, the tuning of the guitar was much different than most of the blues musicians of the time, and their music became known as the “Bentonia Blues.” James was also a skilled piano player, which was unusual for the blues musicians of the time. Typically musicians knew how to play one or the other, but rarely both. In 1931, when James was in his mid-20s, he
was determined to make a career with his music. He auditioned with H.C. Speir who owned a record shop on Farish Street in Jackson. Speir considered James to have a strong sound and sent him to record with Paramount Records in Grafton, Wis. The Great Depression, and perhaps the strange and unknown sound of James’ music led to very few sells of his first record, and very few of those original records have survived. It was not until 1964 that anyone ever heard him play again. Like Stuckey and Owens, James played his guitar in Dminor tuning and had a different style of strumming the guitar, known as fingerpicking. The details of James’ life are largely ambiguous for the next 30 years, up until the blues revival of the 1960s. The rebirth of American-folk
Dick Waterman snapped this photograph at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, just as James sang the first note during his initial show 33 years after he recorded in Grafton, Wis., for Paramount Records in 1931. To view Waterman’s photography visit www.dickwaterman.com.
blues was sparked by the discovery of both James and Son House in 1964, during a time when the civil rights movement was stirring in America. Dick Waterman recalls coming to Mississippi and working with Son House. He was from Cambridge, and a graduate of Boston University, where he studied journalism. “So I found Mr. House. And I started to work with him in June 1964, and by the end of June 1965, Mr. House had worked quite a bit and he also had an album with Columbia, which at that point was the biggest record label in the world. Skip hadn’t had an album, so in 1965, Skip came to me in Newport and he said, ‘The boys handling Skip’s business are nice boys, but Skip doesn’t want a boy, Skip wants a man. You have been with Mr. House, and he has an album out, so I want you to do my business,’” said Waterman. “Those that discovered him couldn’t find anything for him to do in 1964 and then I took over, and I got him two albums on Vanguard.” Once Waterman took on James, he then had several bluesmen that he was working with. He started his business called Avalon Productions and set out to manage more of the blues artists. He came to Mississippi as a writer and a photographer before he started managing the artists’ schedules and affairs. Waterman secured his clients paying gigs and would book them for festivals all over the world. According to Waterman, at a time when most of the bluesmen were playing in a chair on the front lawn, James always considered himself the best. He
loved flattery and he set out to make a career with the blues. At the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, James sat down to play for a crowd in Rhode Island. It was the first time in more than 30 years he had played at a public venue. Waterman stated “After a nearly 31-year hole in his life, Skip went on stage and they said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Skip James.’ After 31 years that hole would be closed. So he sat down with his guitar and I said to myself, ‘I want to get this shot.’ So Skip touched the strings, and he brought his head back and click; I got the photograph as he sang the first note to ‘I’d rather be the devil than to be that woman’s man.’” James continued to record from 1964 until his death. He was living with this third wife in Philadelphia, Penn., when he died of cancer on Oct. 3, 1969. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1992 and earned a blues marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in 2008. The marker stands at the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 433 in Bentonia.
This concludes our series on The Mississippi Blues Trail. The life of Skip James and the artists we have featured in previous issues are part of our southern history. Fans from all corners of the world come to follow the blues trail and to get a glimpse of where these legends lived and played their soulful music. We encourage our readers to visit the markers in our great state and to proudly welcome our visitors to Mississippi.
September 2018
I
Today in Mississippi
I
11
DEER ZONES For a complete listing of hunting seasons, bag limits and other legal restrictions, go to www.mdwfp.com.
White-tailed Deer DELTA, NORTHEAST, EAST CENTRAL, AND SOUTHWEST ZONES METHOD
SEASON DATES
LEGAL DEER
Archery Youth Gun (15 and under) Antlerless Primitive Weapon
Oct. 1 - Nov. 16 Nov. 3 - Jan. 31
Either-Sex on private and open public land. Either-Sex on private and authorized state and federal lands. Legal bucks only after Nov. 17 on authorized state and federal lands. Antlerless Deer Only on private lands.
Gun (with dogs)
Nov. 17 - Dec. 1
Primitive Weapon
Dec. 2 - 15
Nov. 5 - 16
Gun (without dogs)
Dec. 16 - 23
Gun (with dogs)
Dec. 24 - Jan. 16
Archery/Primitive Weapon
Jan. 17 - 31
METHOD
SEASON DATES
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license. Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
SOUTHEAST ZONE
In all zones: For youth fifteen (15) years of age and younger hunting on private lands and authorized state and federal lands, all three (3) of their three (3) buck bag limit may be any antlered deer.
Archery
Oct. 15 - Nov. 16
Either-Sex on private and open public land.
Youth Gun (15 and under)
Nov. 3 - Feb. 15
Either-Sex on private and authorized state and federal lands. Legal bucks only after Nov. 17 on authorized state and federal lands.
Gun (with dogs)
Nov. 17 - Dec. 1
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Dec. 2 - 15
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Primitive Weapon Gun (without dogs)
Dec. 16 - 23
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
Gun (with dogs)
Dec. 24 - Jan. 16
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land.
BAG LIMITS: Antlered Buck Deer: The bag limit on antlered buck deer is one (1) buck per day, not to exceed three (3) per annual season. Legal bucks must meet the antler criteria within the appropriate deer management zone.
Antlerless Deer: Private lands: The bag limit on Northeast, Delta and East Central, and Southwest Zones antlerless deer is three (3) per annual season. The bag limit on Southeast Zone antlerless deer is one (1) per day, two (2) per annual season.
Jan. 17 - 31 Archery/Primitive Weapon Feb. 1 - 15
Either-Sex on private land. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license. Legal Bucks only on private and open public land. Weapon of choice may be used on private land with appropriate license.
Small Game SEASON
SEASON DATES
Youth Squirrel*
Sept. 24 - 30
8
Squirrel - Fall Season
Oct. 1 - Feb. 28
8
DAILY BAG LIMIT
Squirrel - Spring Season
May 15 - June 1
4
SEASON
SEASON DATES
DAILY BAG LIMIT
Rabbit
Oct. 13 - Feb. 28
8
Bobwhite Quail
Nov. 22 - Mar. 2
8
Frog
April 1 - Sept. 30
25/NIght
Raccoon
July 1 - Sept. 30
1 per Party/Night
Opossum, Raccoon, and Bobcat
Oct. 1 - Oct. 31 (Food and sport) Nov. 1 - Feb. 28 (Food, sport, and pelt)
5/Day; 8/Party No Limit
Trapping
Nov. 1 - Mar. 15
No Limit
U.S. Forest Service National Forests: The bag limit is one (1) per day, not to exceed three (3) per annual season except in the Southeast Zone which is two (2) per annual season.
LEGAL DEER
*On private lands and authorized state and federal lands only in those areas open for squirrel hunting.
Dove • White-winged & Mourning Dove (North Zone) ** Sept. 1-Oct. 7; Oct. 27 Nov. 7; Dec. 22 - Jan. 31 (South Zone)*** Sept. 1-9; Oct. 6-Nov. 7; Dec. 15-Jan. 31 **(Dove North Zone) Areas north of U.S. Hwy 84 plus areas south of U.S. Hwy 84 and west of MS Hwy 35 ***(Dove South Zone) Areas south of U.S. Hwy 84 and east of MS Hwy 35.
Fall Turkey SEASON
DATES
BAG LIMIT
FALL (SEE OPEN AREAS)
OCT. 15 - NOV. 15
TWO (2) TURKEYS, EITHER SEX
Open Areas: In the following counties or portion of counties, on private lands where the landowner/lease holder completes a fall turkey hunting application and provides a copy of the property deed or lease agreement at a MDWFP Regional Office or the Jackson Office. Delta Zone: Bolivar County - west of the main Mississippi River levee and those lands east of the main Mississippi River levee known as 27 Break Hunting Club; Coahoma, Desoto, Issaquena, Tunica, and Washington counties - west of the main Mississippi River levee. North-Central Zone: Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tippah, and Union counties.
Southwest Zone: Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, Warren, Wilkinson, and Yazoo counties.