Batesville Magazine
Published 12:00 am Friday, April 9, 2010
The confiscation of liquor, like the bottles seized by highway patrolmen pictured here, was common in a dry county like Panola. But the summer of 1956 was among one of the strictest periods of prohibition enforcement when the arrest of a respected Grenada housewife set off a regional brouhaha.
By Billy Davis
It’s called the McClamrock affair.
In July of 1956, Mrs. Kayo McClamrock — Margaret — of Grenada was arrested in Panola County as she returned home with libations she had purchased at Buster’s Liquors in Memphis.
Panola was a dry county at the time. And Mrs. McClamrock was… a Republican!
“Before leaving Grenada, McClamrock had casually discussed her day’s plans at the Chicken Inn Café,” where her liquor-soaked plan was passed on to Panola County Sheriff James L. Travis Jr.
Thus began the 2,600-word story, written by John Howell Sr. for the upcoming Batesville Magazine.
The coming magazine is the fourth one produced by The Panolian. It is set for a May distribution.
A second magazine story is a first-person account about Sam Vick, the only Major League player to pinch-hit for Babe Ruth. The Vick story was written by Huntington Howell, the late Panolian publisher, and includes an introduction from son Rupert.
Among other magazine stories: a profile of longtime Panola educator Cathryn Hyde; the history of the POW camp near Como, as told by a granddaughter of a camp nurse; and the story of how musician Rick Harpole worked as a “cooler” at Polly’s Place – among other exploits.
The coming magazine will also include a feature story and photos of the home of Myrt and Vernetta Price in Sardis.
Among the magazine’s stories, Howell’s story is poised to be the most read, if only to learn the Republican’s fate at the hands of Panola County justice.
