Volunteers keep a close watch on the boiling sorghum liquid throughout the day at the Stillings Sorghum Molasses Festival.
A fresh jar of Stillings Sorghum Molasses.
This year marks the 23rd year Tony will take the lead in making molasses, taking the place of his father, Ted Stillings, who stopped making it when he was in his 80s. At that time, Tony’s sons, Tim and Bryan, encouraged their father to keep the tradition going. “The event started by accident,” Tony says, pausing from greet- ing friends. “The first year, 40 neighbors showed up. They just started showing up. It’s just good friendship.” “It’s good to see people I haven’t seen in years,” says Robert Rob-
erts, who retired as pastor from nearby Walnut Grove Church and has been coming to the event for the past decade. “The Stillings are a special family to put this on.” The friendly, laid-back atmosphere is apparent the moment
you step onto the grassy field that doubles as parking. Visitors car- ry covered potluck dishes and folding chairs. They sit in the shade under a pavilion in the Stillings’ backyard, listening to the Finley River Boys from Springfield, Mo., play traditional bluegrass, coun- try and gospel. Children play games under the shade of oak trees as visitors stroll around, chatting, looking at handmade wares for sale or watching flintknapping and soap-making demonstrations. “It grew and grew,” Linda Stillings says. “We enjoy it. You got to
enjoy it or you wouldn’t do it.” Field to jar
ioned way.
It’s not an easy task making sorghum molasses the old-fash- The Stillings plant one acre of sorghum by the end of May. Last
year, they planted the Dale variety. When the seed heads mature in September and October, the canes are harvested. Each seed head is whacked off the top of 12-foot-tall canes and the leaves are stripped – all by hand. “It’s pretty time-consuming,” says Bryan Stillings. The sorghum canes are put through a sorghum, or cane, press to
extract the juice, which is cooked in a 70-gallon pan over a wood fire for about 5 ½ hours. Impurities are skimmed off as it turns into
LIVING WELL JULY/AUGUST 2019 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
