Springer Mountain Farms show best thing since ‘Hee Haw’

For smaller poultry companies, getting noticed among the larger competitors could be difficult.

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Dailey & Vincent’s Springer Mountain Farms Valentine’s Day TV Special, sponsored by poultry producer Springer Mountain Farms, brought back classic country stars for an evening of musical fun. (Dailey & Vincent | Facebook)
Dailey & Vincent’s Springer Mountain Farms Valentine’s Day TV Special, sponsored by poultry producer Springer Mountain Farms, brought back classic country stars for an evening of musical fun. (Dailey & Vincent | Facebook)

For smaller poultry companies, getting noticed among the larger competitors could be difficult.

Even for someone who covers the news of the poultry industry, there are some smaller companies that you might occasionally forget about, like Georgia-based broiler producer Springer Mountain Farms – whose products were once given the honor of “Best Tasting Bird” by “Cooking Light” magazine.

But after Saturday evening, Springer Mountain Farms has top-of-the-mind awareness for me. It was a country music special that I discovered on accident that did the trick.

Since we are presently experiencing the most severe and enduring cold snap since I was in college, coupled with sustained apprehension about COVID-19, my wife and I decided to postpone any Valentine’s Day celebrating and just stay in and stay safe and warm. That decision led to just lounging in front of the television.

With control of the remote, I was flipping and noticed Jimmy Fortune, who once sang tenor for the Statler Brothers, performing on the Circle network. Having met Fortune about a decade ago, and remembering him as a nice guy, I kept it on that channel.

I wasn’t necessarily expecting to continue watching much longer after Fortune and his quartet’s session was over, but then T.G. Sheppard, another country music mainstay of the ’70s and ’80s, came on. I also met him and interviewed him in my previous job as a newspaper editor, at the same event where I met Fortune: The Winfield Country Roundup.

The show was bringing back memories, both of listening to those guys on the radio as a kid, and seeing them still performing as I was entering middle age.

Then, they started talking about the Valentine’s Day special’s sponsor: Springer Mountain Farms. I thought that was so cool, and the company’s president, Gus Arrendale, was often on screen. You could see how much fun he was having.

Before the show was over, I saw one other performer I had previously met and interviewed, Moe Bandy. Adding to the enjoyability of the show were some silly jokes throughout the show, making me think of another fond childhood memory, watching “Hee Haw.”

Yes. I just admitted I like “Hee Haw.” We all could use a little more silliness in our lives, and a little more wholesome entertainment. Then there’s the fact that there’s very little legitimate country music being recorded today. Gone are the steel guitars, gone are the fiddles, and most modern “country” singers’ feet seldom touch actual dirt.

Thanks, Springer Mountain Farms, for sponsoring this show, formally called Dailey & Vincent’s Springer Mountain Farms Valentine’s Day TV Special. I enjoyed every minute of it.

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