Well, the 15th
Annual birthday celebration for Lt. Gen Nathan B. Forrest at Fort Dixie
was another HUGE SUCCESS thanks to ALL Y’ALL who physically came to the
party and those who were unable to attend but sent donations, bought
ancestor pavers and participated in the drawing for the NBF hot-cast
bronze mini bust. Mr. Jack Skoch of LaFayette, AL won the
bust this year…Jack is a champion for our cause and reveres General
Forrest, so the General is in good hands this year!
We
dedicated the party this year in the HONOR of our precious friends,
Bobby & Belinda Holloway. Both are cancer survivors and we are soooo
thankful to God for His Amazing Grace and answer to soooo many of our
prayers. Both, Bobby & Belinda are literally walking miracles from
God! As you know, Belinda is my “parner in crime” and Bobby has been for
so many years our Master Chef but this year the weather was just sooo
hot they could not attend. Hopefully, they will be back with us next
year!
As usual, I DO GUARANTEE HOT weather! Well,
it was hot as blue blazes on July 12 at Fort Dixie but that did not
stop folks from coming to enjoy an “ole South Day” at Fort Dixie to
fellowship with folks of like minds & hearts! We had approximately
250 folks here…a GREAT turnout! We had folks from AL, of course; Mrs.
Betty Mann, Dr. Robert Griffon from Friendswood TX, Dr. Robert Stark and
his wife Beth, from Brennan, TX …and folks from LA, FL, GA, MS, TN, and
Tom & Jill Forrest from Belleflower, Illinois! Yep, Tom FORREST keeps
the skeer on’em in the Land of Lincoln! In the words of faithful
compatriot, Tyrone Crowley, “In spite of killer heat, I believe it was
the best party yet to my memory”!
We
kicked the party off with our friends, Mr. Johnny Westerfield of
Monteagle, TN giving a very inspirational invocation and then Kirby
Crabtree also of Monteagle sang his resounding rendition of the Bonne
Blue Flag in A cappella while waving the Bonnie Blue! Kirby
is outstanding and sings from his heart! Todd Kiscaden, of Monteagle,
TN, fired the opening Happy Birthday Cannon Salute to General Forrest
after we all sang a resounding rendition of DIXIE and fired a few more
times during the day! We let folks in this community know
Fort Dixie is prepared to DEFEND the fort! (Looks like we had Monteagle,
TN well represented!) Also, at the beginning of the
party, Ala Div. SCV Chief of Heritage Defense, Cherokee Brasher, on
behalf of the Ala Div. SCV, presented Todd Kiscaden with an award
recognizing Todd for his work in Southern Heritage preservation…going
above & beyond the call of duty. I’d like to add that Todd was also
presented the DIXIE DEFENDER AWARD at the National SCV Reunion in
Charleston for his work in Southern heritage preservation going above
& beyond the call of duty…this award is given to NON-SCV members who
are dedicated to the fight against political correctness and defense of
the good name of the Confederate soldier and his fight for liberty! Todd led the fight against the City of Selma and gave us a VICTORY! He is a TRUE PATRIOT!
Past Ala Div SCV Commander, Ronnie Simmons, of Columbiana, AL was our Master of Ceremonies and always does an outstanding job! Ronnie
is a natural born speaker & has a GREAT sense of humor and keeps ME
on track with the program…which is the hardest part of his job! For
those of you who have never had the experience of hearing Past SCV
Chaplain-in-Chief, Pastor John Weaver speak, you have really missed a
treat! It goes without saying that he is inspirational - a
tremendous orator… who NEVER lulls you to sleep and he is VERY astute
when it comes to the history of General Forrest! His
address on General Forrest is OUTSTANDING & on DVD & CD; I
highly recommend you buying it if you don’t already have it! Christmas
will be here before we know it & would be a GREAT Christmas gift!
If you need contact information, contact me & I will give you his
information.
Our
family friend, George Denmark & my brother, Ron Smitherman, stayed
busy cutting & slicing ice cold watermelon all day long at the
“Pickininny Freeze Watermelon Stand”!!! Everyone enjoys ice cold watermelon on a hot July day in the South! While
just a few feet away from the watermelon stand, at The General’s Mess
Tent is Nelson Andrews, our Master Chef and Medford Pharr & Butch
& our son, Austin…frying up our famous Southern Fried Catfish. Some
folks who come here who don’t “normally” like Catfish, give it a try and
LOVE it! Our pond-raised, grain-fed catfish is picked up FRESH (NEVER
frozen) at Harvest Select Catfish in Uniontown, AL on Friday afternoon & packed in ice…we don’t serve frozen “slanty-eyed” catfish from Viet Nam!
Everyone
enjoyed the music entertainment provided by Celtic singer/songwriters
Jed Marum and Rickey Pittman…PROFESSIONALS to the bone! Their
music is lovely, entertaining and inspirational and in touch with our
love of our history, heritage & Celtic culture. They were back by
popular demand and hopefully they will come back to Fort Dixie again
real soon! If you need music entertainment at your upcoming events, I
highly recommend them!
The auction was a GREAT success! We had several beautiful Confederate prints & wonderful Southern items and some rare collectibles in the auction this year! The proceeds from the auction garnered more than $2300! Thanks to all who participated in the auction & made a purchase! Bill Anthony of the Tallassee Armory Guards, Camp 1921 did his usual outstanding job at being our auctioneer! I’d
like to thank all who contributed items to the auction and the
collection of items for the door prize drawing. Artist Ron Lesser
contributed the beautiful print, The War Horse” and if anyone would like
to know how to contact Ron & his Publicist, Jerry Ross I will be
glad to give you the information. Ron & Jerry are very generous
every year to donate a Ron Lesser print.
After
supper we had a “special visitor” to come & speak…Emma Sansom
Johnson, portrayed in first person by Mrs. Virginia Davis of Rainbow
City, Alabama. Ginny portrays Emma Sansom Johnson in her reflections of
being a young girl who was named Alabama Heroine by the Alabama State
Legislature in 1901 by awarding her 600 acres of land for her valiant
assistance to General Forrest in crossing Black Creek during the Abel
Streight raid near Gadsden Alabama! Ginny does a wonderful
job in this first person portrayal and I highly recommend her to
anyone’s camp or chapter program! After Emma Sansom’s address, we cut
the General’s Birthday cake & sang Happy Birthday General Forrest!
This
year we enjoyed a 2-fold celebration…the birthday of Gen. Forrest and
our victory against the City of Selma! We have been back at work at
Confederate Circle in Historic Live Oak Cemetery since April 16, 2014.
The project is coming together absolutely beautifully. We have had NO
problems with Rose Sanders and her footsoldiers! I invite you All to
come to Confederate Circle whenever you are in the area & see our
work in progress! The crew arrives from TN each Monday, works all week & goes back to TN on Friday
afternoon! We are shooting for May 2015, the Sesquicentennial year of
the Battle of Selma for our dedication. Plans will be forthcoming as
they develop and are finalized. So, keep May clear next year…don’t
worry, we definitely will NOT have the dedication on Mother’s Day!
I
want to thank Darcie Simmons for “soldiering” the General’s Water’n
Hole serving sweet tea & lemonade and also a Big Thank You to Mrs.
Lee King, the Commander of the Kitchen! Lee does a
magnificent job at guarding the kitchen making sure “no catfish is eaten
before it’s time” and literally works herself to the bone in
maintaining the kitchen duties! Also, I don’t know what I
would do without Tonnia Maddox and Carol Crowley at the Registration
table…handling registration & selling drawing tickets
& selling items out of The Gen’rls Sto’”…Also, thank you sooo much
to all the ladies who brought so many wonderful & delicious desserts
and side dishes! It’s a “Suth’rn thang”!
It
was dreadfully HOT but God continues to smile upon the General’s
birthday party each year with no rain. So far, we have never been rained
out, even the year Hurricane Dennis was on his way…it misted &
drizzled a little bit & then cleared off & cooled the evening
that year! God is truly sovereign and GOOD!
It
is additionally important for me to say “THANK YOU” to ALL of you who
continue your faithful support of our efforts here in Selma to honor
Gen. Forrest who so rightfully deserves his place of honor for his
defense of Selma and the Confederate Naval Ordnance Works & Foundry
from the invading forces of Gen. James H. Wilson. Without YOU this
project would not be enjoying the VICTORY that we have fought so hard
for for soooo long!
The
day ended with more cannon salutes and beautiful fireworks…folks went
home a little bit more educated, a little bit entertained, a little bit
less hungry and HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY after a day at FORT DIXIE
celebrating the 193rd Birthday of Lt. General Nathan Bedford
Forrest! The tents have been taken down, the flags that adorned Fort
Dixie’s front porch properly folded & put away til we see y’all
again next year!
Keepin’ the Skeer on’em,
Confederately yours,
Pat Godwin
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