Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JULY 12. 2007
Of family and Fourth
A visit to
the B&B Bash
OUR STAND
By Jeff Warren
Just minutes from downtown
Jasper, the pavement played out.
I followed gravel down and
down, the track winding
between tight switchbacks like a
forest service road. Before I
reached my turn-off, vertical
stripes of a huge, hanging
American flag appeared through
the trees in the deep hollow
below me.
I figured it must be the place:
Mel-O-Dale Farm, the B&B
Bash.
For a decade and a half, the
weekend following the Fourth
of July has seen Melva Burdge
and her one-time tax protester
husband Dale host a "y'all-
come", pull-out-the-stops fami
ly rendezvous in creek bottoms
by their homeplace.
Officially it is the B&B
BASH ("Bad Act of Suthurn
Hospitalitee"). That "B&B"
stands for Brackney and
Burdge. The get-together draws
members of Melva's family (the
Brackneys), Dale's family (the
Burdges), and friends of both.
Around a patriotic theme
framed on the national holiday,
much solid American fun
occurs. Bashers camp along the
wide creek that bends through
the property and congregate on
the green just back from the
stream. I saw teens flinging fris-
bees near the corn patch and a
horseshoe pit just waiting for the
next round.
The aroma of outdoor cook
ing rose from a grill some place,
and there was food on plates and
food on faces—that mostly from
corn on the cob. As dining
ended, folks circled up chairs on
the high creek bank and a picker
unlimbered his guitar, joined
later by someone bending a har
monica.
Meanwhile a swinging rope
continued to drop Tarzan types
into a moderately deep swim
ming hole.
A World War II veteran, Dale
Burdge showed me around the
spread. A spring up the hill grav
ity feeds the water supply, he
told me. He led me in that direc
tion, forging ahead across a nar
row walk log high over the main
creek.
"Don't depend on this
handrail," he said, indicating a
steel cable run through some
wood stanchions hanging on
WHEN YOU INSURE MORE, YOU SHOULD
PAY LESS.
Insure your home & car with
Allstate, and I can help you save
on both policies. Call me today.
(706) 253 5800
Ken R Pint
644 West Church Street
Jasper
kenpint@allstate.com
Come and compare your current policy with one from
Allstate
/instate.
stretched nails. "The grandkids
wrenched it loose."
I hesitated at the crossing but
decided not to let an octogenari
an show me up, and I found the
return some easier.
As we continued our walk
Burdge talked. He mentioned
the flood of Hurricane Ivan that
put his place underwater a few
years back. He told of the time
he and some grandkids restored
an old well on the place and
gave me a look down the
stacked stone shaft. I saw water
shining twelve feet down and a
spider on the wall bigger than
my hand.
Burdge told about picking
mushrooms in a patch across the
creek and of a rock overhang
where his granddaughter
camped to celebrate her gradua
tion from high school. The tie
between the land and his family
became obvious.
"Family is a joy no matter
who it is," Burdge observed
philosophically as we walked
back toward the frisbee throw.
"We've been lucky," he said, as
he considered both the place and
his family spread over it. "That's
the only way to look at it. We've
been flat lucky."
Blessed, some might say. As
we paused on a knoll where fris-
bees flew, two small children
approached their granddaddy
separately. One, a boy, asked
about another ride on the golf
cart.
"I wouldn't have thought of
that," Burdge told the boy. His
tone said one more cart excur
sion might be forthcoming in the
near future. A granddaughter ran
up a little later asking Burdge to
hold her Yoohoo.
"We're gonna drink it," I told
her as she ran off again.
Getting up in years,
Grandfather Burdge said this
year's Bash may be the last. For
2007, Bashers convened from
Georgia, Florida and Ohio. Past
years brought them from Texas,
Iowa, Louisiana and
Mississippi, Burdge said.
This Bash saw 69 partici
pants: 18 Brackneys; 39
Burdges; 12 friends and multi
ple dogs, who in keeping with
the general good humor of the
camp meeting, somehow man
aged to get along with no scrap
ping.
I signed the register before I
left to receive an official 2007
B&B Bash bandanna and a door
prize chocolate Easter bunny.
(Burdge is not above mixing
holidays, I reckon.)
And before I climbed out
from the hollow and back to my
truck, a young woman married
to Burdge's grandson peeled me
a shrimp fresh from the grill.
With summer in my mouth, I bid
Burdge farewell and started the
climb.
From somewhere below, the
hint of wood smoke followed
me up. By my truck, I paused
for one last listen: a guitar, a
harmonica and children at play.
Yes we’ll gather at the river—
On a high creek bank, family
and friends of all ages congre
gate for picking, eating and vis
iting, Saturday, July 7, during
the B&B Bash.
You’re in good hands.
Discount and insurance offered only with select companies and subject to availability and qualifications.
Discount amount may be lower.Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance
Company and Allstate Indemnity Company; Northbrook, IL © 2007 Allstate Insurance Company.
Celebrating 25 Years in Jasper!
IHJLHJ
The Piedmont Physicians at Pickens would like to invite you to
an open house to celebrate Dr. McCurdy's 25 years of service to the
Jasper community and to tour the newly-renovated space.
Carl McCurdy, M.D.
Open House
Thursday, July 26 I 4 to 6 p.m.
Pickens Medical Plaza
1222 A East Church Street
Refreshments will be served.
PIEDMONT
PHYSICIANS
Pickens
Pickens Medical Plaza I 1222 A East Church Street I jasper, Georgia 30143 I 706-692-2437 I fax 706-692-6869 I www.piedmontphysicians.org