18th Peanut Festival Parade

Click here for images of my mother, Henry County's Civil War Centennial Queen.

And click here for images of the Alabama governor crowning her.

Thanks to scientist George Washington Carver and the boll weevil, peanuts supplanted cotton as Alabama's biggest cash crop. Dothan, Alabama - a mere seven miles south of my hometown, Headland, benefited greatly - becoming the Peanut Capital of the World! Within a 150 miles radius of Dothan, for decades, peanuts were king. If you ate peanuts in M&Ms and Mars bars, chances are the peanuts were grown in the Dothan region. If you made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or ate packs of peanuts on a flight to Europe, there's a great chance Dothan contributed. The 65th National Peanut Festival just ended. Some of the big events were the beauty pageant, the greasy pig contest, the fair and the parade. I don't know the future of peanuts and I don't know that Dothan truly "rules the roost" anymore in the peanut category, but the peanut will forever remain part of Dothan. The golden peanut at the Dothan Visitor Information Center confirms this.  And, if you ever visit Dothan, be sure to drop by the G.W. Carver Interpretive Museum.  I actually served very,very briefly on the museum's board when I lived in the Wiregrass - just before I left for my Asian travels.

my brother and me with a friend of ours  (circa mid-90s)

  Dothan, Alabama

my friends from the Pacific Northwest (90s)