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  • On this edition of Mississippi Roads,

  • community spirit unites an all-state marching band,

  • the hunt is on in Glenn Allen for haunting spirits

  • and in Ridgeland we capture the whimsical spirit

  • found in one artist's bottle trees.

  • Mississippi Roads is made possible in part by

  • the generous support of viewers like you.

  • Thank you!

  • Support for the Arts Segment of Mississippi Roads

  • comes from the Mississippi Arts Commission

  • whose vision is to support and celebrate

  • Mississippi's creative and innovative spirit.

  • Informaiton available at arts.state.ms.us.

  • Down Mississippi roads... ♪

  • Mississippi Roads... ♪

  • Welcome back to Mississippi Roads.

  • I'm your host Walt Grayson.

  • This week coming to you from one

  • of the most historic cities in the state.

  • We are in beautiful Natchez

  • for the 12th Annual Food and Wine Festival.

  • Every year this culinary extravaganza gathers

  • together celebrity chefs from across the south

  • for three fulfilling days of feasting festivities.

  • Events begin Friday night at the Natchez

  • Convention Center with Tastings Along the River,

  • where regional restaurateurs serve up

  • a virtual smorgasbord of scrumptious samplings.

  • Amongst this display of delectable delights

  • even the most precocious peruser is bound

  • to find something pleasing to the palate.

  • Saturday morning starts off with Biscuits, Beignets

  • and Breakfast at the Natchez Coffee House.

  • Then that afternoon there's a Wine & Cheese Tasting

  • at Dunleith mansion,

  • followed by Brews, Blues & Burgers at Bowie's tavern.

  • A few of the region's most prominent chefs show off

  • their culinary skills Saturday night by preparing

  • a multitude of multi-course meals at many

  • of Natchez's most historic homes,

  • treating guests to an evening of fine dining

  • and soulful entertainment in elegant settings.

  • And finally the festivities culminate

  • Sunday Morning with a Champagne Jazz Brunch

  • at The Carriage House Restaurant

  • where Osgood and Blaque strike up the band.

  • Speaking of bands, every year some of the most talented

  • high-school musicians in the state come together

  • to form the Mississippi Lions All-State Band.

  • (Marching band music)

  • I think excellence draws young people.

  • I think young people today are

  • just like they were 64 years ago.

  • They are drawn together to the Lions All-State Band

  • because they know it is a two-week period band-wise

  • that is going to be like heaven.

  • They know for those two weeks that they are going

  • to get to achieve a level of excellence that they

  • can't achieve anywhere else:

  • at their home schools or anything else.

  • Mississippi Lions Band is a group

  • of 145 young people from Mississippi.

  • They survive a two-stage audition process.

  • They come from all parts of Mississippi.

  • We have 54 different high schools

  • represented this year.

  • The Lions Band has been in existence for 64 years.

  • It is sponsored by the Lions of Mississippi

  • and its main purpose is to represent them

  • at their annual convention.

  • ♪♪

  • They have to survive a two-stage audition.

  • The first stage, a student goes before five judges.

  • Then we bring them back to a second tryout

  • with a totally different set of judges.

  • So we are getting the very best we can.

  • Every year when you audition,

  • you go into this practice room

  • and you get a chance to warm up

  • and get ready for your actual audition

  • and you hear all the players in there

  • and you are like wow, they are all amazing.

  • It's pretty nerve-racking especially when you know

  • how great all the players are.

  • I had tried out my freshman year

  • and I didn't make it.

  • I made callbacks but it was really hard for me

  • but I took that as a way saying I need

  • to work harder and whenever I worked harder,

  • it all paid off in the end.

  • One of the worst things I ever saw was a child

  • that had been in the Lions Band for three years,

  • had made callbacks, made the cut for the second one

  • and then didn't make it at all

  • after having been in it for three years.

  • He came from a family of four brothers

  • that had all been four-year members.

  • So nobody is guaranteed a spot.

  • Nobody.

  • I think that's one of the reasons it has been

  • really good for a long time.

  • You can make it this year

  • and easily not make it next year.

  • Adjust your block, please.

  • Adjust to the woodwinds.

  • Woodwinds, make sure you are in line.

  • Just go to standby with your feet together.

  • The kids lovingly call camp Hell Week.

  • It's very, very difficult.

  • The day starts just before 6:00 everyday.

  • The staff wakes the kids up.

  • We have breakfast at 7:00.

  • We start marching at 8:00.

  • We take a little break in the middle of the morning

  • then we have concert rehearsal until noon.

  • Then we have reversals again in the afternoon,

  • take a little break for supper then we come back

  • and march for two more hours.

  • Take a short break

  • and then we do concert rehearsal till 10:00.

  • Then at 11:00, they go to bed

  • and then we start all over the next day.

  • ♪♪

  • Let's just say that traveling with 145 students

  • is not your most ideal vacation travel arrangements.

  • But if you're going to travel with 145 students,

  • these guys are the best.

  • This year we have 80 seniors that have

  • graduated from high school.

  • We have a lot of repeat students,

  • so they are travel savvy.

  • They know how to get around.

  • We have a really highly trained staff.

  • We have been preparing for this trip,

  • really, since before last year's trip was over.

  • We are going to hike Diamond Head.

  • Were going to snorkel in Honama Bay.

  • We are going to let them have surf lessons

  • on Waikiki Beach, not to mention the performances

  • and things like that, so they

  • are going to be really busy.

  • (Hawaiian music playing)

  • Every year, Lions International has a parade competition

  • in conjunction with their convention.

  • The Mississippi Lions Band has won the competition

  • more than any other all-state band,

  • in fact more than any of the others combined.

  • The band has not been defeated since 1999.

  • I get nervous sometimes, yes,

  • when we go and compete.

  • I'm worried one year.

  • This is my year I'm going to be in it.

  • I don't want to mess it up for everybody

  • and ruin the streak.

  • But we are doing pretty well and I don't think

  • we are going to mess up the streak anytime soon.

  • Here's the thing: we never talk about winning or losing ever.

  • What we talk about is achieving excellence

  • both individually and as a group.

  • We understand that our streak is going

  • to come to an end some day.

  • Someday someone is going to figure it out

  • and they are going to do what it takes

  • to do what our band does.

  • I think, honestly, our kids will be okay with that.

  • That's a life lesson.

  • Once you have done your personal best,

  • how much more can you give?

  • They take great pride in the knowledge that if

  • someone beat them, they must be pretty good.

  • I want it to be a life- changing experience

  • for them, a positive life-changing experience.

  • I want them to make friends

  • that will last them forever.

  • And hopefully we are achieving that.

  • Lions Band has helped me to grow.

  • It has helped me lead others.

  • You really feel more responsible, I guess,

  • because you are pretty much expected

  • at the highest standard

  • and you have to meet those.

  • It has really grown me as a person

  • and I absolutely love it.

  • It has made me want to do music more.

  • It has encouraged me because it has surrounded

  • me with people who enjoy it as much as I do.

  • It's what I want to do for the rest of my life.

  • I'm going to major in music

  • and Lions Band has played a large role in that.

  • ♪♪

  • (Applause)

  • The Old South Winery in Natchez is just one

  • of the local purveyors of libations that participates

  • in the Wine Festival every year.

  • Founded in 1979

  • by Dr. Scott O. Galbreath Jr. and his wife Edeen,

  • the Old South Winery specializes

  • in muscadine wines of varying sweetness.

  • But if you find muscadine wine is not your cup of tea,

  • the festival offers other beverages sure

  • to enliven even the most tepid taste bud.

  • There you'll find on display a dazzling array

  • of medicinal spirits designed to delight and gratify.

  • In our next story we follow a band

  • of paranormal investigators as they explore spirits

  • of a different kind.

  • (spooky music playing)

  • (heartbeat beating)

  • Ghost hunts characteristically take place at night.

  • Nighttime is the right time for ghosts.

  • Well, we do it at night

  • because the theory is between the dead time.

  • In between 2:00 and 4:00 is the dead time.

  • And that is where the most of the activity usually generates.

  • I mean, they're out during the daytime, too.

  • Grayson: But if you are undertaking a ghost hunt

  • you can't wait until dark to start setting up

  • the myriad of monitors and putting out the battery

  • of batteries and to untangle cables and set up cameras

  • and check out all of the other equipment

  • that modern ghost hunters have at their disposal.

  • Man: His power supply was dead.

  • So we just switched out power supplies with him.

  • Grayson: That is a mid-afternoon

  • assignment at the latest.

  • And a walk-through of the haunted property

  • in the daylight is a must.

  • This particular house was lived in by an elderly lady

  • who died of quite ordinary causes.

  • The home was never lived in again,

  • left completely furnished until it was leased out

  • for the filming of a movie at which time the more

  • valuable pieces were removed to a warehouse and

  • only odds and ends were left behind in the home.

  • But still there are signs of life everywhere.

  • Old film negatives and reels and reels of home movies

  • caught my attention being a photographer at heart.

  • They were just strewn across floor.

  • Obviously by trespassers who slipped through

  • the boarded up and locked doors to sight-see

  • and perhaps search for valuables that may have

  • been overlooked, either oblivious of the rumors

  • of the hauntings, or chancing they'd not run into

  • any of the other-worldly inhabitants.

  • Now, I was told that even when they were filming

  • the movie here there were instances of doors

  • slamming on their own and even a hammer was reported

  • to have flown across a room under its own power.

  • So today, several ghost hunters,

  • all under the banner of the Delta Paranormal Group

  • are here to investigate the house to determine,

  • as best as they can, if the place

  • is really haunted or not.

  • And to do that, they have invested thousands

  • of dollars in equipment and have already spent

  • countless hours of time in other haunted houses

  • gaining experience and collecting data.

  • Curiosity about life after death is another of the elements

  • that separates us from the animals.

  • Of all creatures, only humans ponder their own mortality.

  • And since time immemorial we've wondered whether

  • ghosts really exist and have tried to find them,

  • or avoid them, as we could.

  • And to say you don't believe at least

  • in the possibility is an attempt to deceive yourself

  • about your own inner feelings.

  • For who HASN'T had to steal themselves to keep

  • from dashing out of a darkened room,

  • or been too afraid to turn and look and see

  • for SURE that there was nothing behind,

  • following them on a dark path at night.

  • These paranormal seekers come to their hobby

  • from various mind-sets.

  • Some out of curiosity after seeing ghost hunts on TV.

  • Some of these ghost seekers just like the thrill

  • of the expedition and the company of the others

  • along as do any other hunters.

  • But for whatever reason, as night begins to fall

  • and shadows begin to fill the house,

  • and the last flecks of the sun lick at the window panes

  • and there is more dark than light inside now,

  • the group of hunters pauses for a ritual

  • they perform before every hunt.

  • A prayer for protection from the unknown,

  • just in case they ARE trespassing where they

  • should fear to tread.

  • Then the hunt begins.

  • The group divides into teams and they enter the house

  • with just the barest of lights to get them

  • from room to room and then they stop

  • and start their observations: temperature readings,

  • magnetic readings, attempts to make contact.

  • And attempts to get EVP's, that is electronic voice

  • phenomenon where questions are asked

  • while a digital device is recording audio.

  • Man: Give us your name.

  • Grayson: And oftentimes, responses are recorded

  • when nothing was heard by the ear at the time.

  • And while the session is going on inside,

  • on the porch outside the observations are taking place.

  • Monitors from all the carefully selected camera angles

  • are being watched for any movement.

  • The stairs was chosen because steps

  • have been heard on them.

  • The camera hopes to see something.

  • And the room on monitor 4 is chosen because

  • the last time this house was evaluated,

  • both of these doors slammed on their own.

  • The night wears on from late evening to early

  • morning hours, to the sweet spot.

  • The time of night when ghosts come out.

  • Dead time.

  • That's when I went back in on another investigation

  • series and this time kept the camera light on so we

  • could see what was going on.

  • And upstairs, in the room where the doors

  • had slammed on the previous hunt in this house

  • a few weeks earlier, a noise was heard.

  • Man: What was that?

  • Grayson: And I quickly realized the difference between

  • me and professional ghost hunters.

  • Because when THEY heard the noise in this room,

  • they went IN there.

  • Had I been in charge and heard the noise

  • in the room, I'd have been out of the house.

  • It turns out that another door had closed on its own.

  • This one leading to a bathroom.

  • And it not only closed, it continued to rock on its hinges

  • while we were standing there watching it.

  • And asking it to swing wider.

  • And it did.

  • Soon I realized evidently nothing was going to hurt me,

  • and the novelty of the door swinging grew old

  • and the ghost hunters went to another room.

  • But the door swinging was enough to give the group

  • incentive like saying AMEN to a preacher,

  • or sic-um to a bulldog.

  • All of a sudden, the time changed from being very late

  • in the hunt to the hunt just beginning.

  • The rest of the night we're just going

  • to keep on going till sunlight.

  • Grayson: Now at that point I left the ghost hunters.

  • They were still looking for more evidence,

  • but I had gotten what I had come for:

  • The chance to go on a ghost hunt

  • and see something and then walk away.

  • It's the only instrument I really know how to play.

  • Hundreds of years ago there was an old legend

  • that wandering spirits could be lured to

  • and trapped inside bottles.

  • In our next story we're going to meet

  • a kind-hearted spirit who wandered down to Mississippi

  • and has become ensnared by bottle trees.

  • >> Woman: Art is defined as

  • whenever something moves you.

  • So art is all around us.

  • That's why photographers take pictures of still objects.

  • It's moved them in some way to take that picture

  • and thus creating art.

  • So my work is purely subjective.

  • It appeals to certain kinds of people.

  • I'm not going to please everybody in my art.

  • No artist is going to please everybody.

  • But I think because it is an extension of you,

  • if you really put your heart and soul into the piece,

  • whatever it is you're making and people

  • know that, they are going to value that.

  • I think that that is what my connection is

  • with people and my trees.

  • When I first started doing bottle trees,

  • I didn't know but the history was.

  • But when I did art shows,

  • I started talking to people.

  • People would come into my booth

  • and they would tell me their stories about

  • their bottle tree experiences growing up.

  • So I realized there was something

  • very special about these trees.

  • The more I heard people's stories,

  • the more energy and focus I would put

  • into the trees.

  • They kind of started having a life of their own.

  • They came here from Africa back in the 1700's

  • particularly in the Mississippi Delta.

  • They've rooted deep because people still hold

  • on to the tradition of the bottle tree more so than

  • any other place in the South.

  • Experiencing that, that's your connection with your past.

  • The connection I made with folk art is every piece

  • of folk art that you see, that is an extension

  • of that person that created it.

  • So somewhere in that piece is there a personality.

  • Out of necessity, I became an artist.

  • I was an artist growing up,

  • I just didn't know I was an artist.

  • I wouldn't ever label myself that.

  • When I came to Mississippi,

  • it was just out of necessity.

  • I had my plasma cutter, I had my welder,

  • I had my dog, I had my cat,

  • I had furniture and then all of a sudden,

  • I'm not kidding, it was the bottle tree that did it.

  • The bottle tree really pushed me into a whole

  • different realm of work.

  • I came to Mississippi in 2006.

  • It was early August, late July.

  • I was in an abusive relationship where

  • I had to get away from it because I wasn't able

  • to move on in life.

  • When I got down to Mississippi,

  • because I was so broken in spirit,

  • I think that I gravitated towards the metal

  • for healing purposes.

  • So I started focusing all the sadness

  • and all of the emptiness, everything into my work.

  • And then gradually it just started evolving.

  • I moved into the house with my mom and my stepdad

  • and I realized seeing my mom in her relationship

  • with my stepfather and reliving my childhood

  • with him, it made me realize that the toxicity

  • that I was encountering in relationships evolved

  • from the relationship my mother had with my stepfather.

  • He's a very controlling person...

  • Let's just say I was raised believing I was

  • worthless and that what I had to say

  • didn't amount to much at all.

  • So there's an empty void there.

  • But I filled it with my work and no matter how

  • many times he would tell me that I was- -

  • just breaking me down.

  • Breaking me down.

  • He found pleasure in that.

  • And the more he did that,

  • the more I would focus on my work.

  • My stepfather and I had a head to head

  • and I got kicked out of the house

  • and the whole neighborhood took me in.

  • It was a very painful experience,

  • but it was also the best thing that

  • ever happened to me because all of these

  • people came out of nowhere to step up to the plate

  • and say no, you are worth something and your work is

  • good and you need to keep growing.

  • That's all I needed to hear.

  • Once I started hearing the positive aspects

  • of my work, I just went with it.

  • Are you sharing?

  • When you are raised in an environment where you

  • feel like you're a burden and you feel like your

  • opinion doesn't matter, you feel like that as an adult.

  • Now it's funny because I feel like I have a voice

  • and I'm using it and some people get

  • real tired of hearing it, I'm sure.

  • But when it comes to animal welfare,

  • I can't keep my mouth shut.

  • If I don't speak, if I don't say anything,

  • nothing gets done.

  • When I was growing up and, same thing.

  • I didn't have a voice.

  • All of a sudden our animals would disappear.

  • Well where is our dog?

  • Where is our cat?

  • I found out later that my stepdad got rid of it.

  • When it comes to animal welfare,

  • I think I'm right up there.

  • They are both equal in my passion.

  • I think the thing that hurts me the most is when

  • I know when I have this information in my head

  • about animals where they are victims of abuse

  • and there's nothing I can do about it.

  • There's nothing I can say.

  • There's nothing I can do.

  • Everywhere I go, I seem to have a little bit of

  • an impact on people and if one person goes out

  • and gets their animal spayed or neutered

  • because I kept hounding them,

  • that makes me feel really good.

  • I get really nice e-mails from people

  • from time to time saying

  • I had my dog neutered because of you.

  • That means more to me, sometimes,

  • than saying your art is outstanding.

  • That hits more here.

  • This is Blue and he was found

  • up in Clarksdale in a ditch.

  • They had fought him for who knows how long.

  • He's approximately 5 years old.

  • He is scarred up, chewed up.

  • He was emaciated when I found him.

  • He was on death's door for sure.

  • The vet was surprised that he even made it

  • for the ride home.

  • But he's doing really good and because of Facebook,

  • I was able to find a foster home for him.

  • And that is great.

  • That's Gracie, she's our baby.

  • She and Trip tear it up.

  • But she is my foster but if for some reason

  • we don't find a home for her, someone doesn't

  • step up to the plate and take her, we will keep her.

  • Fostering I have been doing for a long time.

  • It hurts me when I know that people aren't

  • responsible for their animals.

  • I look at animals as an extension of your family.

  • I do believe that we are supposed to take care of them.

  • Man: Wow look, it's Stephanie Dwyer!

  • (Laughter)

  • How you are, honey?

  • Dwyer: I love the fact that the people

  • I have met down here are so supportive of the arts.

  • I think that's first and foremost

  • down in Mississippi.

  • That stands out to me the most

  • is the support of the arts.

  • Woman: You can tell there is

  • a lot of passion in her work.

  • It's very well done.

  • Things have a lot of energy in it.

  • I think every element that she adds in her artwork

  • speaks of her and where she's been

  • and where she's going and I don't think anybody

  • could ever duplicate what she does because

  • I think it happens while she's doing it.

  • Dwyer: I consider myself a Mississippi artist.

  • I wasn't born and raised here,

  • but the art came from here.

  • The inspiration for art.

  • In my mind, I'm only on this planet for so long.

  • The question is what are you going

  • I only have so much time and I have so many trees

  • to build and the planet is a big place.

  • I've got a lot of work to do.

  • Regrettably, that is all the time we have

  • for this episode from Natchez.

  • If you have any questions about anything you've seen

  • on tonight's show, contact us at:

  • Until next time, I'm Walt Grayson.

  • I'll be seeing you on Mississippi Roads.

  • ♪♪

  • It's sweat and mud and our roots run deep. ♪

  • The livin' ain't easy but it sure is sweet. ♪

  • Make you feel inside what there ain't no words to say. ♪

  • Got the river rollin', gamblers floatin', ♪

  • singers singin' what the writers wrote. ♪

  • Can't always see the signs but we find our way

  • Down Mississippi roads. ♪

  • Mississippi Roads. ♪

  • Ah ah... ♪

  • Ah ah ah.... ♪

  • Mississippi Roads is made possible in part by

  • the generous support of viewers like you.

  • Thank you!

On this edition of Mississippi Roads,

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