Tom and Jan Miller were among the thousands who traveled to Mississippi last week to help Tim Joslin celebrate his 40th birthday. After the celebration the Millers decided to take the scenic route back home.

Clarksdale is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Blues and is home to the Delta Blues Museum. As such, the city has a pretty good tourism trade and available accommodations include most of the national motel chains.

The Millers bypassed those rooms and instead opted for a little local flavor.

They spent the night in a cotton gin. Specifically, they stayed at the Shack Up Inn, which is indeed, a cotton gin. More correctly it was a gin at one time and has been remodeled into a motel.

Tom admits to being pretty impressed. I haven't heard from Jan yet.

That got several of us to thinking. There are a lot of cotton gins around these parts that aren't being used. One of the big discussions in tourism is all about agricultural tourism.

This thing's got some legs, folks.

Think about it, we could bring an agricultural tour here that included two nights and three days in a former cotton gin. For a really authentic experience we could let the tourists chop a little cotton or even pitch melons one day during their stay.

We can let them cool off at the Sheryl Crow Aquatic Center and tour her exhibit at the library. We'll run them through the museum and let them see how rustic their predecessors had it in the cotton fields.

The second day we could let them fish at Lake Jerry Paul Combs and top off their visit with the best barbecue in the state -- and they have several options on that one.

Obviously it will take a little time to get any of these gins converted over to motels, so it was decided that until that happens if Tom get nostalgic at all he could call John Henry Stephens or Robbie Winston and see how much they would charge to let him spend the night in their gins.

* * *

How dry is it

We've missed a couple of rains recently when it looked like we were going to get a frog-strangler. Farmers had to have been disappointed watching the radar only to see that potential rain disappear before it got here.

However, according to one farmer that may not have been rain in the first place.

Jack Holifield suggested that what we were seeing on the screen really wasn't rain.

"That's just center pivots showing up," Jack said.

* * *

Just practicing

There will be a couple of new faces at Kennett Area Vo-Tech next fall. One of them will be Regina Lee who is taking over for Palmer Pelham as the graphic arts instructor.

Regina told me that a few days ago some high school age teens were in the library and she spoke up with a, "All right you kids, settle down."

The youths looked at her with a puzzled expression because they didn't think they were being out of line.

"I'm just practicing," she told them.

I guess the powers that be at the school figured that if Regina could keep the library quiet and Jewell Wayne Davault in line she could handle a few teenagers in a classroom.

* * *

Mark you calendars

He's done it again. The full house crowd that enjoyed the U.S. Army Band and Soldier's Chorus several years ago appreciated the efforts of Jack Astrachan who was the driving force in bringing that world-class entertainment to town. And a few years before that he brought a U.S. Navy jazz ensemble here for a concert.

Jack, affectionately known as "Mr. Entertainment," has another concert lined up for us to enjoy.

On February 19, 2008 (that's a Tuesday) the U.S. Navy Band will be here as part of their National Concert Tour next year.

If you look on the band's website the schedule is not yet listed. That's probably because the schedule is dependent on Congress funding passage of the funds for the fiscal year. However, that's probably not in doubt.

I looked at the current roster and it doesn't show anyone from our area or surrounding area, but that could change before the band gets here.

The newspaper will again be partnering with Kennett Public Schools as a sponsor of the event. It was fun for us the last few times we worked with Jack and the school so we're looking forward to another successful and fun-filled evening.

* * *

Prejudicial ruling

It is not unusual, given the length and complexity of the rulebook for golfers to call in an expert whenever there's a possible violation. I know it's hard to believe, but occasionally a golfer will try just about anything to gain an advantage on his or her opponent. At times a ruling can be needed because of how and where a ball is played from. Other rulings can be necessary because of equipment.

It was an equipment ruling that Steven Scherer sought from local club pro Mike Long a couple of weeks ago. Steven had lost three times to his opponent and in his mind that just could not have happened without the guy having some sort of trick up his sleeve.

Steven cornered Mike and asked if the particular type ball his opponent was playing was really a legal ball. The ball in question is called a "crystal" golf ball. Steven figured he had caught his opponent red-handed.

Alas, Mike pointed out that the crystal golf ball was indeed legal and in fact there were several dozen for sale in the pro shop.

A quick check of the freepatentsonline.com website adds the following comment about the crystal ball, "This type of golf ball is suitable for play by tournament caliber golfers."

Sounds like Steven got beat by a "tournament caliber" golfer.

Then again, when Mike gave his ruling he pointed out that Steven's opponent also signed his paycheck. Looks like dear ol' dad wins another one.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.