Setting Tables for Marianna & Lee County

There was no sandwich bar for lunch on Wednesday. We skipped it on purpose. A very special purpose.

We wanted Gravelers to find their way into Marianna to Jones BBQ and Off the Square and eat lunch in Marianna and begin giving back to this amazing host community.

After stopping at Delta Que for a plate or a sandwich, and stopping to shoot some skeet, y’all did … in a significant way.

The afternoon belonged to Mississippi River State Park. Some of you dropped a line in Ranger Pond, some of you stretched out at yoga, and a few of you managed both before the shrimp boil.

Over the shrimp boil, we had one more thing to share. Mark and Lucy Smith started Feeding Lee County Together to make sure more of their neighbors have food on the table.

On behalf of every Graveler, and with a matching gift from the Ozark Foundation, we gave $3,000 to their work. The Smiths matched it, which brings the total for Feeding Lee County Together to $6,000.

If you’d like to add to it, you can give here: Feeding Lee County Together.

That’s what the day was: people from Marianna sharing their story, and riders from 28 states, and the UK, sharing theirs back.

There’s one more treat for breakfast tomorrow, at the First Baptist Church of Marianna.

You won’t want to miss this, and we’re quite sure you won’t want to leave once you get there, even with Helena and the King Biscuit Blues Festival waiting just a few miles down the road.