In bygone days in Alabama politics, there were several what I call “go to” events for statewide Alabama politicians and potential candidates. Today, there is one, the Dekalb/Henager Ledbetter/Livingston 4th of July Breakfast.
About 10 years ago, two powerful North Alabama legislators – Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Nathaniel Ledbetter and State Senator Steve Livingston – started a little 4th of July breakfast for their hometown folks. It has now become the premier “must go to” event in the state. It has grown to be a very large legendary gathering. It is held in the Dekalb County City of Henager. Both Ledbetter and Livingston represent Dekalb County.
The breakfast begins around 7:30 and there will be 400 to 500 people who will be fed. There will be host of statewide candidates in attendance.
The breakfast will be followed by a parade with some floats, carrying serious statewide candidates. There will be several thousand people along the parade route. The center for all activities will be the Henager City Park.
Regular attendees, who have been to almost all of the first 10 Henagar events, are Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, and former Secretary of State John Merrill, along with a good many Supreme Court Justices. This 4th of July Breakfast should be the biggest one yet because it is the beginning of a big election year.
Ledbetter’s event has become the only “go to” political event nowadays but, in Alabama political lore, there used to be several political events that aspiring politicos always attended.
In bygone days, the most premiere “go to” event was the Terry Family Reunion in the northwest corner of the state. The exact location was a large tract of land just south of Tuscumbia in the Loosier Community of Lawrence County. That is where the large Terry family originated. Actually, a good many of the folks who attended had kinship or ties to the Terry family. It was held every Labor Day.
The Terry Family Reunion had a carnival atmosphere and was renowned for great food everywhere. They would have lots of camp stew, barbeque pork and chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, catfish, and fried pies. Their barbeque was some of the finest in the state. They would cook the chicken and pork the night before. A regular at the Terry Club Family Reunion was Howell Heflin, who attended every year. No politician ever loved barbeque or food, for that matter, more than our Senior Senator Judge Howell Heflin.
Another one of these “must do” political events was “Mule Day.” This annual event in Winfield in Marion County was held on the third Saturday in September. The Chamber of Commerce in this Northwest Alabama county promoted this event for 35 to 40 years. It was held to honor the mainstay of Alabama agriculture, the mule.
Mule Day had its share of marque political candidates. Some who attended were Governors George Wallace, Big Jim Folsom, John Patterson, Jim Folsom Jr., Fob James, Don Siegelman, and Bob Riley. Other legendary attendees included Howell Heflin, Bill Baxley, and George McMillan. Politicians were allowed, and indeed encouraged, to participate in a parade. The parade was the big event, and it was big. They would start the events on Friday night with a beauty pageant and a play. They also had a large outdoor flea market with arts and crafts, a run/walk event, a Mule Day antique car show, and of course, a mule-judging contest. The events would culminate on Saturday night with a Civil War period ball.
Many locals in the Marion County area love to tell stories about the politicians who attended the event. On one occasion, during the early years of Mule Day, George Wallace attended as the sitting governor. A local lady, who was not so keen on Mule Day, had gotten to town at about the same time the large parade was about to start. She supposedly was stuck in traffic for over two hours waiting for the parade to end. She was so furious that she sped her car to the police station to complain. They gave her no sympathy. She spotted a host of State Troopers. She approached them and started complaining profusely. She told them that she demanded to go to Montgomery and see the Governor about this horrendous nightmare of a traffic jam caused by Mule Day. One of the troopers calmly told her, “Ma’am, if you’ll wait a few minutes, you can tell him right here. He’s in the middle of that parade.”
See you next week.
Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at [email protected].
