HottyToddy Hometown: Sledge, Mississippi

If you’ve heard of Mississippi, then you’ve heard of The Delta. If you’re from The Delta, then you’ve heard of Sledge. And if you know anything at all about Sledge, Mississippi, then you’ve heard of The Dean Boys, Rebels all.

The Grove is many things to many people. It’s family, friends, football, and… it’s fellowship. But mixed in there is another ‘f’ word that means more than the others… faith.

Go to any small Mississippi town that has lasted through the years, while others around them have faded away, and you’ll find one thing these towns all have in common. What you will find in each is a group of strong, smart, hard-working Ole Miss families of faith. Sledge, Mississippi is a HottyToddy HomeTown because of a great Ole Miss family it produced. Brothers, Ed Fox Dean, Wes Dean and Lee Hicks Dean are pictured here in the Grove with Ole Miss great Terrance Metcalf.

Photo by Betsy Dean

Even though the Sledge population is 520, it has had a few ’15 minutes of fame’ along the way. The famous Country singer Charley Pride is from Sledge. Leroy Brown was an actual man from the Sledge area who is believed to be the inspiration for the Jim Croce song. This area is considered by most in the business as the genuine birthplace of the blues. Many of the blues greats grew up and nurtured their music in the juke joints surrounding Sledge. And while these local folks and their stories have come and gone through the years, there is one thing that hasn’t changed. Sledge is a HottyToddy HomeTown because it has produced strong, smart, hard-working Ole Miss families of faith.

— John Cofield