Area News

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a new program to assist hog producers who sold hogs through a negotiated sale during the period in which these producers faced the greatest reduction in market prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP) is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative and…

Author Toni Morrison’s mother, Ella Ramah Willis, was born in Greenville, and moved with her parents, Ardelia and John Solomon Willis, to Ohio in 1910 as part of the great northern migration. Morrison, born Chloe Anthony Wofford, would later go on to become the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.…

BY MOLLIE S. WATERS The Greenville Standard   The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society (BCHGS) held its quarterly meeting on Sunday at the Greenville-Butler County Public Library. The speaker for the meeting was Tom Bailey, author of “The Five Capitals of Alabama: The Story of Alabama’s Capital Cities from St. Stephens to Montgomery.” The…

By Frances Lowery Garner   Most every household owned a sausage grinder (not just for sausage) but this was the main use of it during the winter months. It would be fastened to a table top with a tube attachment on the end of the grinder and the casings would be rolled onto it. As…

Our history books tell us that the first name of Greenville was Buttsville, named for Captain Samuel Butts, a patriotic Georgian, who was killed at the Battle of Calabee in 1814. But could the historians have been wrong? There was one man who could have answered that question, but he has been dead for well…

BY KATHY PICKENS The Greenville Standard   The 24th annual Fort Dale Deer Hunt was held Jan. 6-8. Fifty-four hunters participated in this year’s event consisting of a two-day hunt guided by local landowners and culminating with a hunting banquet. The 2022 Bo Stevenson Memorial Big Buck Award went to Gary Park who harvested a…

BY KATHY PICKENS The Greenville Standard   The Butler County Cattlemen’s Association was proud to hold their banquet/meeting Saturday evening, Jan 15, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Sixty plus members and guests enjoyed a steak dinner plus updates from BCCA President Alvin Stinson, information from regional extension agents, a cake auction, and…

BY BRUCE BRANUM The Greenville Standard   The Town of McKenzie recently received a Community Block Development Grant in the amount of $350,000 for water line replacement and paving projects on Thursday, Jan. 20. According to a report developed by Civil Southeast, LLC, Town of McKenzie contract engineers, approximately 7,206 linear feet will be resurfaced…

By Frances Lowery Garner   Butchering was done on custom made meat benches.  These were made from split logs with the flat side up. This resulted in a good sturdy bench that was also useful in other chores around the farm. Two men would cut on each end of the bench. Naturally the head and…