Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230082
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Jerry Clower knows all the fertilizer jokes.
hO ucks, he's the one to blame for most of 'em!
The former fertilizer salesman from Mississippi was named "Country Comic of the Year" for nine consecutive years. He frequently entertained "Hee Haw" audiences with his down-home Southern humor.
Clower quickly became a favorite at The Grand Ole Opry for his storytelling flair. Folks say he tells a story as naturally as a politician makes a promise.
That's because his stories come from actual events he recalls from growing up in Amite County, Miss. A farm boy, Clower loved swimming holes, 'coon hunting, french fries with molasses - and school!
Boasting that he didn't miss a single day from first grade through 12th, Clower says catching a school bus for more than 2,000 mornings wasn't easy but it was important to be with the other kids and play with them at recess.
A bright student with a sharp memory, Clower went on to Southwest Mississippi Junior College after high school. Later, he attended Mississippi State University where he played football and earned his degree in agriculture.
After working as an assistant county agent for a couple of years, Clower began selling fertilizer to farmers. It was during his career as a salesman that he trained for his career as a comic.
He has said he "began the telling to improve the selling." At any rate, people who listened to the salesman's stories were delightfully entertained.
His friends encouraged him to make an album. "Jerry Clower from Yazoo City, Mississippi, Talkin'" was the successful result of their urging.
Clower went on to record 12 albums for MCA Records. He is one of the company's leading album sellers.
He also has written three books: "Ain't God Good!" "Let the Hammer Down" and "Life Ever Laughter." Much of his writing - like his comedy routine - is rooted in his religious faith.
Clower is the keynote speaker for the 69th annual Virginia Future Farmers of America convention next week at Virginia Tech. More than 1,100 middle and high school students from all over the state will attend.
Clower's appearance is Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. in Burruss Hall. Admission is free but tickets are required. To request them, call 231-3823.
WILLIE AND WYNONA WANNABE: Country music performers with dreams of making it to the big time will entertain you Sunday at Dublin's New River Valley Speedway.
The True Value/Jimmy Dean Country Showdown, the world's largest country music talent contest and radio promotion, is the event. Local soloists and acts will compete for prizes and the chance to try their luck at the state level later this year. State winners earn a $1,000 cash prize and advance to regional finals in the fall. Winners of the six regional competitions get to go for the gold at the national final showdown. The grand prize is $50,000 cash and a recording contract.
Who knows? You could be hearing the next Garth Brooks or Reba McEntire at the speedway Sunday.
The local competition is presented by Kool Country WBNK (100.7 FM) and WNRV (990 AM).
It starts at 2 p.m. and features only local amateur talent. The acts will be rated on a uniform judging system at all levels of the competition.
Admission to the event is $3 for adults or $1 for kids under 12, but you can get the whole gang in free if you have a Kool Country bumper sticker permanently affixed to your auto. The radio crew will be checking at the gate.
For more information on the showdown, call Michelle Vaught at 382-6106.
THE LOCAL PUB: You can gather at Maxwell's in Blacksburg for stout and stirring Irish entertainment Saturday.
The Emerald Isle's Frank Emerson, a Dublin native, will perform on 12-string guitar while he sings of love, sorrow and longing for home. He may even dance a jig or lead a sing-along.
Emerson, who has produced five solo recordings, plays Irish, Scottish and American folk music.
Saturday's show runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Maxwell's, 1204 N. Main St. The cover charge is $4.
ABRA-KA-DABRA! Paul Sorrentino will have everyone saying the magic words Saturday when he dazzles little eyes with his children's magic show at the duck pond gazebo on Virginia Tech's campus.
The show, sponsored by the Virginia Tech Union, starts at 10 a.m. Admission is free.
If it rains, the fun will move indoors to Colonial Hall in Squires Student Center.
ART SAFARI: An interesting collection of arts, crafts and handiwork from the people of Nigeria is on display at the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley. Musical instruments, handmade textiles and clothing, wooden dolls, ebony carvings, drawings, a model canoe, even an ivory alligator toothpick set - they're in there!
Dr. Joanna Owens of Meadowview has lent the collection for this exhibit. Owens, who was a medical missionary with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board in Nigeria from 1958 to 1966, traveled throughout the northern area with her mother, a missionary teacher. The women received some of the items from itinerant traders and others as gifts from the Nigerians.
"I hesitate to call my collection art or even crafts," Owens says, "but [the word] 'things' doesn't attract much attention. And, on reflection, the African collection in the Virginia Museum isn't a lot different, nor are some of the books I see on African art."
The exhibit will remain through June at the center, 21 W. Main St., Pulaski. Admission is free.
MOUNTAIN VOICES: Jim Wayne Miller will lead Radford University's Highland Summer Conference in its final week. Miller, who teaches German at Western Kentucky University, is a prominent poet, novelist and essayist who writes about the region he knows best: Appalachia.
"I write in order to understand - myself and the world around me," Miller says. "I write because I have questions, not because I have answers. But the process of writing often leads to clarification of the questions I have in mind."
Miller's writing has earned him a slew of awards, including the Thomas Wolfe Award. His works include "Copperhead Cane," "The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same" and "Dialogue With a Dead Man."
Miller will give a public reading Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Heth Hall's Highland Room. Admission is free.
Earlier in the week, writer Ron Rash will visit the university to present a conference workshop. Best known for his short stories, Rash published "The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth and Other Stories from Cliffside, North Carolina."
Raised in the foothills of North Carolina, Rash now lives in Pendleton, S.C., where he teaches English at Tri-County Technical College.
Rash will read from his work Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Highland Room. This, too, is a free public performance.
by CNB