When I was a growing up, we’d often decide who was “it” in any given game by using the tried-and-true “one potato, two potato, three potato, four” method, which I’m pretty sure the U.S. Supreme Court one day will rule is the fairest law of the land.
However, in May 1998 across Cherokee County, they weren’t playing games. That’s when 48,000 pounds of farm-fresh potatoes got dropped off at the wrong spot in Andrews, almost destroying a supply chain for the local diet of pinto beans, fried taters and cornbread, as shared by Joy Lynn, founder of Moore House Ministries in Murphy.
In those days, Lynn arranged to have potatoes trucked in from across the state as part of her food ministry. Many local residents were hurting due to local plants closing in the aftermath of the North American Free Trade Agreement – better known as NAFTA – leading to Moore House giving away about 4,000 pounds of food a week at the highest point.
One week, however, things went awry. Lynn arranged to have a semi-truckload of potatoes weighing about 24 tons brought to the county and arranged to have them dropped off at an abandoned gas station owned by local businessman Steve Jordan, who graciously agreed to let Moore House use the space.
Well, Lynn wasn’t familiar with Andrews at the time. They found a gas station that wasn’t open close to Jordan’s rock quarry, then went ahead and dumped the potatoes, which was quite a sight. Only problem is it was the wrong place.
“A man came up and said, ‘Who gave you permission to put all of these potatoes here?’ Ooh, my goodness, I was scared to death that he’d want them
out of there in 20 minutes,”
Lynn said Thursday while reminiscing about the 24-year-old near food-fight incident.
“All I could do was say I was so sorry.”
Happily, the owner was kind enough to not make them remove the potatoes. So they made some calls, and in short order vehicles were coming from near and far to scoop up a sack or two. And they made sure to leave the place just as clean as they found it.
“Some people would grab enough potatoes to deliver to every widow and older person in their neighborhood,” Lynn said. “There were a lot of really kind, unusual people. It was a special time back then.”
She did suffer from a culture shock of sorts after moving here from Sarasota, Fla., a more affluent city.
“I hadn’t really seen poor people before,” Lynn said.
“Until you see poverty firsthand, you don’t really know how bad it is. People would be embarrassed and scared about being rejected.”
In just two days, all of the potatoes were gone. Unfortunately, that ministry ended after a few years, when farmers were unable to afford the costs of trucking in fresh food.
That didn’t stop Lynn, who has continued ministering to local families in need with meals, and much more if needed, since the great potato caper.
“We’re blessed by God, so we should bless others in return,” she said pointedly.
“If we can’t be kind and sharing, how can we expect God to be good to us? I get great joy out of helping others.”
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on Twitter @daviddBstroh.