Cleveland has a lot to offer for a small town. There’s the locally owned businesses, the thriving DSU Community, and the festivals. None of this is really news to those of you who have followed my blog. However it was on my mind this weekend.
You see once again it is Pig Pickin’ time. As I wrote last year, the Pig Pickin’ is a barbecue competition and tailgating party held on the weekend of the first home football game of the season. This year the library did not have a tent set up, although I went anyway and volunteered on the food serving lines. The weather was beautiful and the food was good. Football and tailgating are not really my thing, but that doesn’t bother me. I saw a few familiar faces and got a free meal in exchange for doing work.
The Pig Pickin’ is one of those things that brings out the whole town. While the barbecue teams and tailgating parties are for friends only people tend to know people around here. Cleveland is a small town after all. For that reason, Delta State has a number of events which coincide with the Pig Pickin’. It’s the sort of thing which gives this town character although other towns have their own festivals as well.
But there is a catch. If one has no connection to Delta State and no love of football then there is less reason to be excited about the Pig Pickin’. As I said that doesn’t bother me. My life has enough going on that I don’t get bored now as often as last year. But it’s easy to see how people can say there is nothing to do around here. Without the right connections, Cleveland can be an very boring place indeed.
When it comes down to it there are three big pillars of life in the Delta. These are church, football, and barbecue. So if your an atheist, a vegetarian or not a sports fan … sad day for you. Cleveland itself has a few more things to offer due in part to Delta State’s presence here. But many events around town are promoted by word of mouth only. You really got to know the right people. It’s sort of like being in high school again. At least that’s been my experience. All the same Cleveland is a small town with a big life.
