Wilcox County Takes Off

When we started this tourism program 5 years ago, who’d have thought that Wilcox County would be one of the stars in our crown? They were a community that time forgot. They had turned inward upon themselves, without much regard for the outside world. They were either living in the past or struggling toward the future. They were one of the most isolated parts of rural Southwest Alabama, partly by geography and partly by choice. For whatever reason, they were a place apart.

A number of things came together to change Wilcox County’s perception of itself and the outside world’s perception of it. The first thing was the return of the retirees. There were professional people who had left the area to seek jobs elsewhere, but when it was time to put down permanent roots, they returned to the place of their birth. They brought with them the vision of other times and other places based on the things they had seen out there in the world. In spite of being in the bigger world, they always longed for the peace, natural serenity and beauty that was their Wilcox County birthright.

The second thing to change was the discovery of the Gees Bend Quilters by the Big World. The beauty of the quilts made from the scraps of daily living symbolized what Wilcox County has to offer - bevy of designs that together make art out of everyday living. They are original, colorful, and individual. Together they make a bold statement personified in the people still there in Gees Bend -“We are who we are. You can appreciate us for who we are or not, but we will continue as we are. If you want to come see us, we will welcome you. It will take effort to find us, but should you come, we will share our authenticity with you. You will leave feeling you have met people who are real.”

The third thing to happen to change Wilcox County was the founding of Black Belt Treasures. It was the brainchild of John Clyde Riggs – the director of Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission. Two years earlier, he was one of three visionaries along with Norman Burton of Ala Tom R C & D and Nisa Miranda of the Center for Economic Development at the University of Alabama, who started a tourism program as an on going program of economic development for rural Southwest Alabama. John Clyde (good old southern double name) would wake up at night thinking of a way to pull together all the artists, writers, musicians and craftspeople of the area into one marketing effort. Black Belt Treasures was born. They started out by identifying 90 artists and craftspeople to represent in a nonprofit cooperative gallery. That number has grown to 280.

The fourth thing that happened was that Governor Bob Riley allowed the Gees Bend Ferry to reopen. It had been closed in the ‘60s to prevent the people in the Bend from coming over across the river to Camden, the county seat, to register to vote. By ferry, the distance was 6 miles, but road, it was 45 miles. It just never reopened. Bureaucratic red tape is hard to remove once it place. It takes something big to make it happen. When Gees Bend Quilts became world famous, it happened.
Now with the quilts on one side of the Alabama River and the Black Belt Treasures on the other, suddenly there was a road trip worth taking.

The fifth thing to happen was the printing of a brochure called 100 Places to Eat Before You Die. The Alabama Department of Tourism and Travel says it is their most popular brochure ever. Gaines Ridge Supper Club is on the list. They were a thriving business already, but their traffic ahs picked up even more with the listing of their Black Bottom Pie. In the meantime, another restaurant called Uncle Redd’s has opened with soul food that is rapidly becoming famous.

The sixth thing to happen is the innovative thinking of the people themselves.
The Chamber of Commerce has come together behind good ideas. There is a whole weekend of festivities coming up the last weekend in June with a Riverbank Festival of Jazz and food on Friday night, a Folk Life Festival at Black Belt Treasures on Saturday the unveiling of a Quilt Mural Trail in Gees Bend, and a fireworks display on Saturday night. There was a Crappy Fishing Tournament that was a big success. There is an ongoing effort to bring cultural enrichment to the children and youth of the area through a program called Bama Kids headed by local legend Sheryl Threadgill Mathews. People are coming together in Wilcox County. They are working together for the common good. It’s a good place to visit. There are lots of things to see.