CONSERVATION CORNER
September 25, 2006
Bear Affair To Celebrate Famous Hunt
by James L. Cummins

Rolling Fork, Mississippi will be the site of a national celebration - the 5th Annual Great Delta Bear Affair. It will be held on October 21 from 9:00 a.m. until dark on the courthouse grounds in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Rolling Fork is located on Highway 61, 45 minutes north of Vicksburg.

The main purposes of festival are to raise awareness about the plight of black bear in Mississippi, highlight our state's bountiful natural resources along with its cultural and historical heritage and celebrate Theodore Roosevelt's famous 1902 bear hunt that gave rise to the Teddy bear.

This year's theme, ‘Oh Mr. Faulkner, Do You Hunt?’ celebrates my favorite author, William Faulkner, and his hunting ties to the Mississippi Delta. The woods of the Delta have played host to many notable hunters over the years. In the 1940s and 50s, Faulkner and some of his friends from the Oxford area returned year after year to camp and hunt in the Delta.

These times served as the basis for many of Faulkner's hunting tales including the short story, "The Bear." According to John Cullen who hunted with Faulkner and wrote the book, Old Times in the Faulkner Country, Faulkner based the short story "Race at Morning," which was published in the March 1955, Saturday Evening Post, on a particular hunt he participated in on the Sunflower River in Sharkey County. Cullen also states that Faulkner was at the deer camp, located in what is now part of Delta National Forest, washing dishes when someone arrived with a newspaper announcing the news that William Faulkner had been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. That evening they celebrated with a big coon and collards supper.

In keeping with the Faulkner theme, John Maxwell will perform his play, "Oh Mr. Faulkner, Do You Write?" on Thursday evening, October 19, in Rolling Fork. He will also perform a few excerpts from the play during the festival on Saturday in the library. Call (662) 873 6261 for ticket information.

The Great Delta Bear Affair is open to the public and offers free admission and parking for all attendees. Raffle items are available at the festival and all proceeds will go to help bring the black bear back to their historical range in Mississippi.

Special components of the Great Delta Bear Affair are the seminars. They include: Black Bear Restoration, White Tailed Deer Management, Wild Turkey Management, a Live Snake Presentation by Terry Vandeventer, Excerpts from "Oh Mr.Faulkner...” by John Maxwell and Storytelling with Doris Jones.

Other activities will include: the Fun Run, Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier impersonators, Arts and Crafts, Children's Games and Activities, an Early morning Bird Walk and a Native American Mound tour.