The Rally

I have read a few of the media reports on the Farmington Rally for Bryce Archambo, and with little to no suprise they were quite biased and less than truthful. So please induldge me by reading an insider’s eye witness account, that being mine.

Without goining into the details of all that went wrong on our way to Farmington the skinny of it was a 4 1/2 trip took nerly 6 1/2 hours. We got to the venue a half hour before we were suppose to start the first part of the show. TV remotes were set up, print reporters were there, cars parked everywhere, and everywhere you looked police cars. We pulled the vans up to the loading dock and with the help of Bryce and his friends we unloaded 2 vans full of equipment in record time. The venue plans got changed at the last minute with the guest speakers going on while we tried as best as we could to set up quietly in the background. The press interviewed myself, and Scott one of my bandmates, and Tonya (wife of bandmate Sonny). They photgraphed the huge Ga. 56 flag that is usually our backdrop on that night it was in the forefront, they also interviewd my Camp Commander Tom Lavender and he filled them in on the 56 flag.

Now the venue we were told seats over 500 people, and we were thrilled that we were gonna be performing in such a great venue, A real stage real lights etc. The crowd was quiet and most paitient as we tried to finish set up, a five minute sound check instead of our usual one to two hour soundcheck. We will never ever perform again with a rushed sound check. The house PA was left on and everything coming out of our PA was amplified unknowningly to us. I’m pretty sure that that was pretty painful to the crowd, because it was so loud we couldn’t hear our own monitors. But this post isn’t about our performance, or whether it was bad or good. This is about the atmosphere of the rally.

Prior to going on, I went out to the RV to change clothes. There were about 15-25 young people hanging around the loading dock, waving flags as people drove around the parking lot, and there were streams of cars driving around the building, honking, and waving flags out their windows. There were also Farmington police cars on every corner of the building, and one parked just a few feet away from the band’s vehicles. While changing clothes, I heard someone call a young man by his first name, and say "you really aren’t going in there, are you? I don’t think your parents would approve". I pulled back the curtain of the RV, and looked through the two-way reflective film (we can see out, you can’t see in)…….what I saw was a Farmington police officer talking to a young boy, probably 14 or 15 years of age. The boy walked off, away from the venue. I wonder how many other times this happened. With this not being my first rodeo, I guess you can use the word "bribed" with a couple free CDs, a couple of large Missouri farm boys, who were flaggin’ in the parking lot, to keep an eye on our van and RV. I fully expected a plant of contraband, i.e., illegal substance. For the record, my band is a drug-free band. Our image, perhaps, would profile differently, but the truth is the truth.

From Clint Lacy’s articulate and historically correct account of Confederate actions during the war of 1861-65 in the Farmington area, to Bryce’s attorney’s accounts of the case, to Coffee Camp Commander Gary Ayres’ rousing address of support for Bryce and the other young people who were brave enough to take a stand, and then on to Mr. Dewey Barber, founder and CEO of Dixie Outfitters in-depth, quietly spoken recounting of how Dixie Outfitters came from most humble beginnings, to the success story that it is today. Having been in Dewey’s company on previous occasions, this was the first time that I had ever heard him address the public. It was most wonderful to see a Camp Brother of mine, come to the forefront of the heritage trenches and shine like a star.

Unfortunately, Mr. Barber’s remarks were cut short with the by the press’s insistance they were running out of time, and had self-admittedly, came to capture the comments of one H K Edgerton. I would suspect, in their hind-sight, they didn’t know what they were about to get themselves into. In a fashion that I had not previously witnessed in any of the previous occassions I had heard HK speak, since the press wanted to hear from him they got their wish. But, they had to wait till Pam presented Mr. Barber with an engraved pewter plauqe, "the 2006 Lawrence County Confederate Memorial Outstanding Service to the Cause Award". That only took a few brief seconds, and then HK unloaded double cannister upon the press. He didn’t talk around them and to the audience, he called the press down to the front of the stage demanding they look him in the eyes and he in turn gave them double cannister.

He spoke the truth about the NAACP, he spoke the truth about the so-called Rev’s Je$$e and Al and their PC political allies.He spoke the truth about bigots, about how all these different factions who had the same goals in mind, playing the race card, stirring the pot, dragging the beloved symbols of the Confederacy down with false charges of racism…….in order to keep harmony between the races from happening.. HK shouted it at the reporters with a ferver. Hey, they asked for it they got it, did they print what HK told them? no…….they didn’t , because that would have had to involved a small helping of honesty. It was much easier to go back to the archives pull out some material from the Bryce story, and then call the rally a flop because the auditorium wasn’t filled to capacity. The rally was not a flop. When the press packed their gear up, and tucked tails in between their legs, and headed for the door, HK was still talking at them, the last thing he said to them was "God Bless You, there is plenty more truth to hear if you wish to stay", or words to that effect. They left, then HK addressed those in attendance for some length who hung on every word he said. I cannot tell you how many standing ovations he recieved but I would guess it neared 8 or 10.

Upon the completion of HK’s portion of the program, I had the honour and priveledge to call Bryce Archambo to the podium, where I presented him with an Associate membership certificate from the "Captain James Knox Seaboard Guards Camp 2022 "Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans. The camp that I am so proud to be a member of, with our Commander present, and both Heritage Officers of the Camp, Mr. Barber and myself all in attendance, all there for one reason and one reason only, to stand shoulder to shoulder together in support of a young man brave enough to stand his ground for what he believed. The applause was thunderous, and they stood again as Bryce took the certificate in one hand and my handshake with the other.

Next
Joe Gresham
Justice, C.S.A. Constitutional Court
Chairman, SIP/Ky
www.kentuckysip.homestead.com asked me for permission to speak from the crowd, I believe my reply was "Sure go right ahead" what followed were more words of truth, and Joe’s words just led to other compatriots, standing up loud and proud and speaking even more words of truth. The open forum went on for at least a half hour, it was inspiring to me, for it felt as if I had stepped back some 140+ years and was hearing the voices of our ancestors as they would have been in open forums in their times.

Next is was the band’s turn, and I already went into the problems we incurred, we were disapointed with the technical problems we experienced, and when we were through we were beating ourselves up pretty good at that time. Funny thing was the young people in attendance rushed the stage and we spent the next hour signing T shirts and flyers from the event. Then came the all too familar packing literally near a ton of gear back into the vans while a winter wind howled. My camp brothers Barber and Lavender had booked accomadations for the band, Mr. Archambo was kind enough to lead us to the motel, let me add as the band caravan left the venue, there in tow was a Farmington police car. It followed us to the motel, and then 3 blocks down the street to the restaurant where we finally had our first meal of the day some sixteen hours into our day. we were joined in a few minutes by the entire Archambo family and a couple handfulls of young people who were at the rally. I must admitt it was pretty cool to see so many young people not only wearing Dixie Outfitter shirts at one place, but with signatures from my bandmates with the ink barely dry upon them. A couple young people came up to us while we were eating and asked if we were the band that played at the event across from the highschool, we said "Yes we are where were you?" Their reply was ""we were at the ballgame, we were told we might get in trouble if we went to the Center." I just shook my head and thought to myself how powerful is this school board and its administration ? How did we let the world get so messed up that children are afraid to attend a venue where truth in history was spoken of, and where a message that is not filth laden can be found in the music? Shortly there after we said good bye to the Lacy’s and the Archambo’s, left the restaurant, with no police car in tow this time. I did make the decision that Pam and I would sleep in the RV however while the rest of the band took the accomodations. I just had a "gut feeling" that with two distinctly noticable vehicles with illannoy tags on them packed full of music gear and the still haunting feeling of a set up, I stayed up all night alternating sweet tea and coffee, and replaying all that I had heard, learned, and experienced in one short day. At the first glimmer of light I woke Pam up, she rounded up the band , while I warmed up the vehicles, we pulled out of Farmington and headed back home. God was kind enough to let us make one more trip safely in worn out junk, and despite all the problems we inccurred on Friday, I’d do it again tomorrow, and I am prettty sure so would my band.

In closing I would like to make a statement or pose a question whichever is the appropriate verbage. I wonder what the press would have said if the entire Mo. Division SCV and their families, along with their IL. Div brothers and families had attended this event. The venue would have been filled to the rafters literally, and if this is not an SCV issue "WHAT IS?" There were only a few SCV members from MO. there, I saw one Illinois brother there, yet some came from as far away as KY, NC, and Ga. was represented by three.