Story of Muddy Pond

The first. Good evening and welcome to the upper Cumberland camera. Tonight we have a very special program for you as we travel to mighty molasses making its way you know why and mighty many of the families that live in this tiny Mennonite community located in Overton County are busy this time of year harvesting sorghum cane and making molasses the old fashioned way. During the past eight years we have traveled to muddy pond on several different occasions to visit with the John Gunther family. During those years we have gotten to know the family as well as to learn about molasses making. Once

again this year John and his family were willing to share their time with us teaching us about molasses. And talking to us about the difficulties of preserving their way of life in a modern mobile world. With. Time

when we do a lot of a push for education for school children they will bring some of that to children that it is not a lot just for a minute sent out to him old farmer days praying that generally there are a lot of stuff in the art world is so much different to my thing the difference don't really matter. That's right. Education of other people who knows is a good area of interest in this part of my life. Yet I'm a farmer at heart thank God that I always enjoy to work with

horses. I would take it over there. Dr Michael. Well I can hardly get any no chemicals no need to spray if we're not going to make all the red and hold it by hand until the way you have a spray for anthrax or not air out that plane. You're proud of. What you're looking to make sure that of the stairs and then the left overs that's a blackstrap molasses and I got a strong case to do the kind I want to just call this organ cane but I never have never have raised my so I

can tell you straight a lot in Alabama and they're still doing us in Lousiana to show you how much do stuff that I did not want to think I think about a little frost comes to the heart of my lawn was that the frost is not having enough or do you want phrase It enjoins freeze. Oh Frank you finished it all down and I get to another get sour. But as long as they don't want to stand to get it. Do you have a new kind of dried up. It's a little dry because of the back and see of the sound off. But every get a different first or second morning after frosting you still get of I mean it sounds good and sour. So are you making this finished. But as long as it just believes the phrase a little at the heartnut. And for a lot of people are afraid to tell it to frost going to get it that I was just I remember I wanted 25 years 26 years we've been here just one time. We want to begin our program to have a frost and so our prose

today Kal Penn is going down this road and we had we lost only carrying in a few days I saw him talking with us because it got black in the pan and started smoking everything you can make it to my staff and it's ours. So that's that's a good education at that time for us we don't know about the climate you know people just tell us you know an affront to get you to quiet and well we have frost leaves from a little bit but I've never heard nothing in that time when it froze so hard and we knew what talking about that had never happened to us no more. Now you still make it the old fashioned way and want to be that. What is he doing exactly that. And it's just hard to get out of this trap. That's not true.

And. That's the steam. And you know it's not more than. That. How much time you know that you have to do is a chance to go back and ischemic. They go back

to I think the first time we came in that's a lot of work and they are getting hit with a lot of work. Yeah you know we're just going to just this team of producers and we don't have to fire and then got to find a ball or whatever it's really going to make sure we have the product that happened that way and this is kind of a unique thing to share with different people people like you in the grocery store and they don't understand the ways of doing them a favor you don't know what it is after they got a good taste to like it and I buy more and I don't like molasses but you know it's that's how they got a lot of fat but they have never made me fat. Lose the most weight and so I can time around are on a lot of my feet but I eat more so I get

along. So now the supreme SATURDAY OR NG goes down into a tank down into your mail right. You know you have to do is on top of all of us goes on our hose goes into a tangle get settled there and then the regularity and sign around it on to the pan. And that's why it's called St.. That looks like a big thing when it comes all from sample cane juice. Is it going to be a good year for you. Yeah. You got a good as a go to years we've had in 10 years I think it's the best years in 10 years. OK what is the whistle for a lot office thing as far as market entertainment. Just a plain thing in a sort of Tang's Reagan will give some saying those let it ride at a time we used to blow it several times and that a lot of people come around and I have never heard a steam whistle. The bar's thing is

very interesting to note I was lower known in which it is that a lot of children come by my eyes just go to town to pull at him. Well I was a little he does enjoy it. Seven boys and one sister and I think the third brother. Got the idea wanton thinking that steam would do were good for us and for an hour when firing had started setting it up then someone offered him bigger bucks and he went north went to Michigan so I was the one that set out not to go on.

When I came the very first time your dad had to put Woody and I thought alike under the building and I wondered. Nathan and I notice it's a lot cooler in there. Now now we will we put the wood in a boiler out here and it causes steam we operate somewhere from 80 to 90 pounds of pressure and the steam goes in a line under the pan and that's what makes it boil. And you don't have to worry about burning any more. Known almost scorching more steam won't start you can make it as thick as Taffy if you want You can't get it out of the jars so it gets that taken a lot doesn't scorch them. Now we have a steam engine pump here when the steam turns back to condensate it goes back in his holding tank here and it's this steam and there's actually an old time steam engine was it was Patton. I don't know when it was made but it was Patton in 1893. And you can see how it's pumping there is pumping water back and it keeps keeps the water in the water. And we also have steam injectors. This and this right here is steam injector in a way these work hot steam comes down here into this pipe into this pump and it draws cold water out of this barrel and overrides its own pressure. And pumps water into

steam with water and overrides own pressure. And we have two Paul valves on the ball or one goes off at £109 and the other at one hundred thirty to 35 pounds. Ah. Yes. So that. We have a state inspector the state inspector was here this morning. Jackson He comes every six months checks it all over make sure we're safe. That anybody comes to visit you let them wander all over right and where they want to go and they welcome to come back themselves home have a good time. To see a little. Bit. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That's. When he runs out in his bucket here I'm doing is pumping it up in this trough here and the barrel snorting the barrel and it's building and I think I am. I am. Squeezing it down stored in those tanks over there comes in on the pan starts heating the greenest ball out of it and it just giving it come to the top. Those are the skimming that I took off off of the Jews. And as the

juices continues the comp keeps coming this way you can see how it turns lighter and lighter all the time. Problems get smaller and quicker like that. We can put it on a plate and check it and get it thick enough that it's somewhere between two hundred thirty six degrees when it comes off we'll keep track of it. How many minutes did a six and a half and it's been 11 this year. 12:49 six and a half to one in that range between what we get has been some years and 13 just depends a lot on the weather. And soon you had converting your molasses making process to steam is not the only change that has occurred at the Gunter's other changes have also been made. He no longer sits by as the cane is being crushed.

It's now his job. Mark is moved from feeding the cane into the crusher to making the syrup and sighed. And he is married and the father of three. Perhaps the most notable change the Gunter's however is in daughter Judy. She is married now and a junior at Tennessee Tech. Judy the first time we came you said you wanted to be a nurse but you were still dressed in traditional clothing and we thought perhaps you would stay here. Well I guess things changed. Time brings changes. And so now you're attending college. Right. I'm a junior at Tennessee Tech. And you're studying to be an accounting of all things. You can album of the molasses business here. Oh I'm sure I can. Yeah. I notice you are still here over today helping with the molasses making. Well I just came back from class. I have. Five classes total. And. So I help when I have time. Which.

Is not too much. You know. I do as much as I can but. Can't help every day. How can you retain some of your always been and still accept the new. Take. And. Try to keep the good and try to adapt to the new way. Just try to find a balance. In both worlds. I think is the best way I could describe it. I don't know that we'll always be here you know after I got married we lived in Texas and. You know coming from a place like this you can understand how hard to adapt to living in an apartment where there's someone beside you. And I didn't I didn't do that very well. We didn't live there very long. And after that we moved out here. But I'm not saying that will always be here. You know after I graduate we'll have to see what

happens. You know. Has been has and. Depending. Where the road takes just. You know. I'm sure he would be happy if he's happy about having us here. You know we have all the family close family kind of does work together as a unit still. Yeah. Almost all of us live here around this area. There are there are a lot of things. About the way that I grew up that will help me a lot in life. You know that I could have never learned in any school or any other way. It's it was very educational. And it will help me for life. I know that. And if you just attend the Amish school here did you go on and like go to high school somewhere. No I got my GED is how I got into college but I only attended the Procureur school up to the eighth grade. So you get your GED and get into college and are now a junior at Tennessee Tech so you had to learn something

all those. Yeah. A lot of it I'm sure came harder to me than it was to some other people. After getting into college so I. Could see how my education was not inferior to what. The regular education is because. I have a very good foundation in math and reading which it is. Public schools leave a lot to be desired in that area. John still has a problem accepting Judy's new lifestyle but he says he don't see the need for some change in the Mennonite life. Judy's changed considerably and I think. You know one of the things that probably speaks very highly of you is that she's now a junior in college. I don't know what to say about that. I guess that's different from what we used to just a doing some work you know it was defying.

I wouldn't have been against it but you know usually. Become a Star. I'm not too much for that it's hard for me to accept that oh I don't think she's going to become a city slicker. But you know the fact that with her education here that she got into college without ever attending a public school speaks highly and she said she did much better in math and reading than a lot of the other kids. The children in our school get a pretty good education. We don't teach much foolishness. Stuff is not do you much sports and stuff like that. I got a really good rating in writing in saying they have some. Hair strands things like that. The most necessary things but like a lot of foolishness we don't spend our time and our children teaching that and where it isn't a public school is not as a lot of things you know that's for sports and sports

but you are Mark looks like he's going to continue to stay on and make sorghum molasses and I'm not a boys. Yeah the boys like farm and I see you know we can get way too high and farm and. Then we get into farming like terror big machinery cost so much money. But you can pay for your stuff and you get yourself in a trap you know you're going to enjoy it in a more you just work for debts. This continued working for dad some way and paying a big machinery. You know Joy and that and the more you know a lot of people I know pay but air conditioning cabs and tractors and even have a television radio and everything but a limousine is like our life they want to work eight hours and I'm never been you said I work long days and you know I don't I don't usually like to torture myself but I knew I would do I work in and

you know if we work very steadily and we do and that's beneficial and keeps you out of mischievousness. It's good for our family to get a work in having people to work. If nobody works in a more this country goes to believe in a need to work to do it. John when we first came I probably was almost 10 years ago and you really were a little bit more isolated than you are now is it hard to keep the outside world from money coming in on to your way of life these days in America. I mean

you kind of have to mix. Yeah I guess we have changed in some ways. First he was always very alive soon and he was very far from town. It was hard you know to. Even in our own hive it was a lot of traffic even to have you can pass. It's dangerous it's your life in danger. I guess we finally got to the knowledge understanding that we're telling you this is not what saves us. We got to use them in moderation. And for myself I feel like I got a pickup truck and I don't feel like I misused it and used for necessity. I mean it's like you say it is so hard to keep everything out you know always groups some of the people used to live in a move to Scott's walk and talk and there's a lot of isolated

group over there of course they they had weapons pretty much was they made a horse powers and they got some females there are more sophisticated I ever seen. Don't know about horses have a big horse gear reports go around but about 10 of them in there and run a big female corn sheller was never a thing you know you have some of the you know you've adapted except some of the new Some are new to it a boy as they come together and got hit by a tractor. But you're doing more for hay bale and power take off stuff like that just start with the first year we hired people to bail out and that's what when you start depend on other people you know a lot of times in trouble and I actually felt it. It can be used in moderation and in a careful way I think I think the Lord he's he plays waited to use it in the right way you know not to misuse this world it was just used for ourselves I

think that's as far as I want to go and I'm and I'm not for having big fancy stuff and sometimes you have to buy new stuff is good but also there's a time of change you know. Things has changed. I remember an old friend telling me that when the two are quarantined I came outside and world must be surely getting so fancy and so sophisticated to use and used to make a rose by hand and drop by hand covered up went to a car and I came to feel that it was awful. Some people I found out I couldn't accept that either way and I guess like about it was good. We have just not accepted right away. But as time goes on you know a lot of you accept some things that you hadn't first. You have a lot of visitors here this time of year. Do you like having visitors. Yeah I like to have visitors Yeah I guess if I didn't like him that I didn't find some else to do. But that as Paypal would say well they're like people come around

by us so I can stuff but the amount I would like to see people like to talk to I'm like you know I don't I'm not a person I want to live for myself I like to lead his people and yeah we had I think the good Lord who made us all not just me and the Gunther family makes molasses each Tuesday Thursday and Saturday during this time of year and visitors are welcome to the muddy pond sorghum now. And that's the upper Cumberland camera for tonight. We invite you to join us next week at the same time for studio 22. The upper Cumberland camera is made possible by the financial support of viewers like you.

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