History Comes to Life at Tobacco Farm

Source from:  www.thesunnews.com 07/13/2009

CONWAYWayne Skipper's experienced hands snapped the green tobacco leaves from their stalks in a rhythm that Mary Long had yet to master. "We're still in training," said Long, a Conway resident who picked her first tobacco crop Friday at the L.W. Paul Living History Museum. "I may not ever do it again. We hope we're not doing it wrong." Long and nearly a dozen members of the Friends of the Museum volunteered their time and skills to pick the first tobacco crop grown on the working farm, which will open with a tobacco heritage festival Aug. 1. The farm is a living exhibit of how an Horry County family with one horse lived between 1900 and 1955. A house built on the property is representative of the time period as is the barn and domestic animals such as chickens, pigs and Minnie the mule. Conway Mayor Alys Lawson said the living history museum will be an asset for residents and visitors to learn more about how life was once lived in Horry County. "Visitors can see an authentic working farm," Lawson said. "This will add a whole new dimension to our community." Walter Hill, Horry County museum director, said once all construction is completed, the farm should be open Tuesday through Saturday by the end of September. The farm will be open for one day Aug. 1 and then close to finish construction of the buildings on the site, all of which was privately funded for the museum by Larry Paul, a local businessman, Hill said. "It's a great time that represented a boom in Horry County. Visitors will be able to see what life was like on the farm and in the community," Hill said. "Farming and agriculture has lost dominance to tourism. In as little as one generation, we've seen the average family go from living like this to what it looks like today." Friday morning before the heat of the day arrived, workers plucked the green leaves from the bottom of the flue-cured tobacco stalks and dropped them into a mule-powered drag that took them to a curing barn. There, another set of volunteers used white twine to string the leaves to tobacco sticks before they were hung on tiers in the barn. It will take about seven days for the tobacco to cure in the heated barn. When the living history museum opens on Aug. 1, the volunteers will harvest the remaining tobacco crop on a half-acre at the site, which is located off U.S. 701 North outside of Conway. A grits mill, blacksmith exhibit and other farming demonstrations also will be on display that day. "It's a way of getting folks involved who don't know about it," said Wayne Skipper, farm site manager. "When you take it off the stalk you want to get the whole leaf and not break it up." Derek Frye, a volunteer who brought his 6-year-old mule, Belle, to help Friday, said he was glad to participate in the first harvest on the farm. "There are a lot of people who don't get to experience it," Frye said. "People on the farm take it for granted. I think it will be wonderful for the kids." Steve Howell, who grew up on a farm, said he appreciated the preservation of farming history. "It's changed so much, that's why they want to recreate this history," Howell said. "Our county has changed so much. This is the history and backbone of Horry County." While taking a break, Mary Long's 11-year-old son, Reuben, said "it's hard" to harvest tobacco by hand. Mary Long said she had a new appreciation for the way her ancestors lived and worked. "More respect for those before us who had to do this," Mary Long said. "I think our generation has got it easy." Enditem