As Fall Festivals go, the annual Livermush Festival/Art of Sound in Shelby is a tough one to miss. But, since we were heading out to Burlington for the Wofford-Elon football game, we had to miss this year's festival.
This festival started out years ago as the Livermush Expo. Livermush is indigenous to Cleveland County and is not the same as pate, pudding or scrapple. There is cornmeal in there along with most of a pig and it has more texture and alot of flavor. The idea of Livermush and Expo being used together was funny because livermush is not widely available outside of Cleveland County. I remember some fun folks working together on a slogan for the Livermush Expo. There were some good ones including Everything but the SQUEAL! but my favorite was Where SNOOTY is IN and we ain't Kiddin'! Think about that one.
Livermush is a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but those of us who love it have very specific ideas about how to cook it. Our family eats it sliced really thin and fried till crispy. If we are having it for breakfast it is great with grits and buttered toast. If it is a sandwich for lunch or supper it needs toasty bread and some mustard. There is Mack's and Jenkin's, and I'll keep to myself which I like best, but occasionally Daddy will host a Hog Killin' in Lattimore and somebody makes homemade livermush. If a Hog Killin' in Lattimore doesn't need it's own blog post, I don't know what does. Stay tuned for that - if you dare.
One last thing about livermush. It is a very inexpensive way to eat and, to eat something that is pretty darn greasy. In Lattimore, we were real proud of that. Not the least bit embarrassed and I can still hear how funny it was to hear David or Jim Martin pitch livermush saying, "It can feed a family of four for 79 cents!"
The Livermush Expo is now part of a bigger Fall Festival combined with a more recent event called The Art of Sound. All types of musicians perform in various venues around town and there is some really good music. This year I missed two I would have loved. My friend and neighbor, Frank Love's Orchestra played big band music. This is the real deal of the Big Band Sound and they do it first class all the way. Frank lives up the street from us and we have been lucky to hear him play at his house and at ours over the years. Frank is amazing. He is a great musician and a great orchestra leader with a ton of energy. He is also a former nationally ranked tennis player. I call him Uncle Frank and when someone wants to know how we are related I say we are related by choice.
The other musician that I missed seeing was David Lee. David worked at North Lake Club for years and always had such a sweet spirit. He also had alot of musical talent and was involved in what was as close to a Motown Sound as Shelby had in the 60s. I do love the Motown sound.
My husband, David, was most sorry to miss the Pet Parade at the festival. We have two pets, Dingo and Mr. Cat. Both are walkons to our family, but they are most definitely a part of the family. We are all crazy about these two, but David has a very connected and special relationship with both of them. Another blog of its own one day.
So, we missed the livermush, the music and the parade for just about the most exciting heartattack ending of a football game ever. Wofford and Elon had it all on the line on Saturday. Wofford dominated the first half and then Elon nearly dominated the second half. Football is so interesting. I remember when David IV played both soccer and football, then one day he told me he wanted to just play football. When I asked why, he said it was because every single player in every single position had a specific job to do on every single play. And when they all do their job and work together it feels like magic. There were some magical plays on Saturday.
David's high school coach, Coach Norman, used to say the team needs to work as one heartbeat. We were one heartbeat away from a heart attack on Saturday. With 9 seconds to go, the game was tied 21-21. Wofford had the ball in Elon territory and alot of us were wondering how we could live through a college overtime. In college overtime, each team gets one possession and if both score, they do it again until finally only one team scores. It is nerve wracking.
So with 9 seconds to go I was standing behind our quarterback's parents patting his dad on the shoulder and saying "maybe we can get close enough for a field goal". The ball was snapped and our jaws dropped open when Mitch launched a Hail Mary pass way down field and it seemed like an eternity as we watched Devin pull it out of the air. We held our breath and then the referee signaled a touchdown. Pandemonium broke out. Mitch's parents and Devin's parents happened to be sitting side by side and the euphoria exploded into pure jubiliation.
So, we didn't want to miss the fun in Shelby, but the fun in Burlington is a memory of a lifetime.
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