Starkville To Forgive Johnny Cash?

A note of thanks to Amanda Marble for alerting me to this news piece that I apparently overlooked. I always need fodder for my blog.

As a sort of prologue to this post I must express my opinion about Johnny Cash's singing -- I don't think he could carry a note in a bucket. However, it must be said that his fans are legion, and his songs are legend. Give the man his due.

That fateful night (for those of you who are too young to remember or those who just didn't give a whit) was May 11, 1965, in our beloved Starkville -- the home of the greatest university in the land.

Two stories emerge about the events of that historic night -- one told by Cash in his autobiography. He recounts that he was arrested by the Starkville police as he walked from his motel to a grocery store. Another version has him arrested as he picked flowers in some Starkville resident's yard.

Whichever story is true, and Starkville officials are leaning toward the latter, the arrest came after Johnny has attended a party at the Pi Kappa Alpha house as alluded to in the news story. Apparently the famed singer had consumed too many beverages or smoked something other than tobacco. It is alledged that he had been known to enjoy both of these sins.

Cash was a guest with room and board at the Starkville jail for that night where he admits he raised hell all night and in kicking the bars broke one of his toes. I'm sure most of my few readers have never seen the inside of said jail unless on a field trip for a sociology or criminal justice class.

"Strarkville City Jail", a song written by Cash, was a result of the incarceration. He later performed it for inmates at San Quentin -- appropriately enough.

So Starkville becomes known far and wide for the actions of its law enforcement finest -- those chosen to protect and serve.

Scheduled for November 2-4, "The Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival" will include some events on the State campus. Some sort of celebration will be held at the Pike House and a couple of programs including a showing of "Walk the Line" at the amphitheater are also in the plans.

The Board of Aldermen has approved closing of downtown city streets to only pedestrian traffic, and Starkville Municipal Court Judge William Eshee will review a recommendation for a posthumous pardon for the famed singer. Judge Eshee promises a "fair and impartial" review, but chances are really good that Johnny will finally get his forgiveness.

Robbie Ward, executive director of the festival and research writer at MSU, says that plans call for a ceremony on the site of Cash's arrest. Would you suppose a brass plaque is in the offing? The Reverend Allison S. Parvin, associate pastor of the First United Methodist Church, will deliver a sermon on redemption -- appropriate jesture. Ward also says a downtown concert honoring Cash's music and a sing-along of "Starkville City Jail" will be on the program.

Gosh! I am really getting excited about this. I'll bet Travis Wolfe will be there because he attends every obscure music festival, so he will not pass up a big one like this.

To finance the event, the organizers are selling. T-shirts (Black -- what did you think?) bearing the wording "Pardon Me, I'm Pickin' Flowers".

So boys and girls load up the wagons -- come November we are agoing to Starkville.