Kim Purrier
AMERICUS — Paula Deen draws big crowd
Hundreds flocked to Georgia Southwestern State University for the Boys and Girls Club 11th Annual Steak and Stake Dinner. The keynote speaker for the evening was Paula Deen, the first woman to speak at the event.
Deen, who was born in Albany, is no stranger to Americus. “I love Americus. Growing up in Albany, it had such a wonderful reputation,” Deen said. “I remember women and girls would load up and come to Americus to go shopping.”
Deen was also pleased to come and show her support for the Boys and Girls Club at the request of former President Jimmy Carter. “I’d do anything for Mr. Jimmy. If he calls, I’m going to be there.”
Her sons, Jamie and Bobby, also tagged along to watch their mother speak. “We like to travel with mom when we can,” said Bobby. “Just takin’ it all in.” Jamie said the brothers love to do anything that helps children. “When we have a chance to come down and help kids, it’s what we do,” he said. “And when the President calls and asks for a favor, you say ‘yes, sir.’ You give, you get back.”
Carter, who came with wife Rosalynn, was equally pleased to be at the event and see his old friend. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing one of my sweethearts,” he said. Carter and Deen have cooked together in the past for Deen’s show on the Food Network. He hopes to cook with Deen again. “I’d like to. If she comes back to Plains, I’d be delighted to,” he said. “She’s a wonderful cook.” In 2006, Deen came to Plains and cooked with the Carters at their home.
The program began with a dinner provided by Aramark. According to Larry Jackson, president of the Sumter County Boys and Girls Club, tickets for the dinner were nearly sold out, with 397 of 400 being sold. Jackson said the purpose of the event was “ensuring our club will always be a positive place for kids.” He also explained that the title of the event, Steak and Stake, means that everyone in attendance is a stakeholder in the Club.
GSW president Kendall Blanchard was pleased by the turnout and excited for the program. “This is great. It’s good for the school,” he said. “When Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and Paula Deen come, it’s a good day for the university and the community.
During the dinner, which was a buffet, the “Rustling Cowgirls” of the Boys and Girls Club performed a line dance to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” Deen led the audience in clapping to the tune of the song.
Carter introduced Deen to the audience. “It’s very nice for me to be alongside the famous person for a change,” he said. He also said that he had given Deen a few cooking lessons and that the two cooked quail and “beans, as Paula would say, right out of a shiny can.” Deen interrupted to add, “And half a stick of butter!”
Deen started by introducing her family, including husband Michael Groover. She introduced Jamie and Bobby as “two angels that I find lickable” with her trademark laugh and southern twang. “They just don’t understand they’re still my babies,” she said.
She acknowledged that some of her life’s struggles have not always made her the best role model for her sons. “They didn’t always have a good role model in me,” she said. “You just try to get through the days. I’ve certainly tried to make up for it as I’ve aged.”
After asking the audience if they would prefer to hear her talk or have a question and answer session, the consensus was to for Deen to speak. She shared her life story and struggles, beginning with her birth in 1947 in “a little square building called Phoebe Putney.”
She later went to high school and graduated with a certificate. “I didn’t have enough credits,” she said. “But I was one heck of a cheerleader!”
Married at 18 to her high school sweetheart, Deen does not recommend that same path for young girls although the marriage gave her Jamie and Bobby. Her father died when she was 19. “He was a fabulous man. I never saw him without a smile,” she said. When she learned of his death, “The breath was knocked out of me.” A few years later, Deen lost her mother, who had bone cancer.
After all of these events, Deen began to develop symptoms of agoraphobia. “In Webster’s Dictionary, it’s a fear of open spaces,” she said. “But what it is is a reaction of being out of your comfort zone.”
Paula credits her aunt for helping her through the rough times in her life. “Aunt Peggy became my cheerleader,” she said. “And still I never shared my problem with her.”
It took watching an episode of Phil Donahue about agoraphobia for Deen to realize the root of her symptoms. “I sat there and sobbed for an hour,” she said.
Things did not immediately get better for Dean. She said that during her 27 year marriage to her first husband, they had lost a business and everything they had. He later told her they were moving to Savannah, something that did not make Deen happy.
She went, however, but essentially stayed in bed for two months, finding solace in food and tears. “Then one day, ya’ll, a miracle happened,” she said. A girl that had recently moved to Savannah called Deen everyday, trying to get her out of the house. Deen kept saying no. Then, one day, “I got up out of bed,” she said. “It was like a light switch, ya’ll.”
The first thing that popped into Deen’s mind was the “Serenity Prayer.” She recited the poem to the audience, which reads “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
Deen said that it was the first time in her life that she understood that prayer. She said she then accepted her death and the death of her sons because she realized death was inevitable. This was the point, according to Deen, when her life started getting better. “God had given me the day and I was going to go live it,” she said.
She soon began to work part-time and coming up with ways to take care of herself. “I was raised in a time when it was acceptable for girls to be uneducated,” she said. “Never in my whole life had I taken responsibility for myself.”
In 1989 she opened The Bag Lady, a lunch delivery service, along with her two sons. It did not take long for the business to expand and in 1996 Deen opened The Lady and Sons in Savannah.
While speaking of her rise in success, Deen took in her surroundings. “I have to pinch myself, to the left of me is Mr. Jimmy,” she said. She also said, “And ya’ll, this is the closest I’ll get to a college education!”
Deen stressed the importance of not only a good education but a good attitude towards others. “You make your living with your job but you make a life by giving,” she said. She said that God have her the opportunity to make a difference and that the gathering was to make a difference in the life of children. “Investment in these children are so important,” she said. “They will grow up to be future Mr. Jimmys and Mrs. Rosalynns!”
Though Deen did not spend the night in Americus due to a photo shoot with her two year old grandson, Jack, in the morning for Good Housekeeping, she did answer a few questions from the audience. One of those questions was from Larry Rivers, president of Fort Valley State, who asked what advice Deen would give young people. “Never, never, never give up,” Deen replied. “I stand as proof tonight that the American dream is still alive.”
The rest of the questions came from children in the audience. One little girl, Allie, asked, “Do you use butter in everything you cook?” Deen answered, “Yes I do, you don’t?” She summed up the constant use of her favorite ingredient, “I love butter.”
Another little girl asked Deen what the first food she ever cooked was. “I don’t remember,” Deen said. She recalled that the first time she made tea, she burned the pot and potato salad may have been the first thing she cooked.
Deen signed off her program with, “Love and best dishes from my kitchen to ya’lls!”
National Service Awards were then given out. Jimmy Green, director of operations for Easter Morning and Youth Champions Center, was presented an award by Lorraine Orr, Boys and Girls Club Regional vice-president. “He’s the epitome of the Boys and Girls Club,” said Orr. “We’re very proud of him.”
Len Hicks was also given an award for his service. New Horizons was then presented with a special award thanking them for the donation of a building and land to the Boys and Girls Club. An award was also presented to corporate sponsor Coca Cola.
The evening ended around 8:30 p.m. with Jackson reminding everybody that the next Boys and Girls Club event will be a silent auction this fall. He was pleased with the night’s events. “It was a really great success,” he said.
