Back In The Day

Election Day—

It’s 4:00am in the Knobs of Kentucky, the fog is thick, tobacco farmers are eating breakfast and the barns are hanging full of burley tobacco.  These farmers have put months of hard labor, sweat and often tears into this crop.  They have fought pestilence, disease and nature’s toughest punches to get to this point.

“Let’s go check and see if the tobacca is in case.”  That was a familiar statement among these famers.  If the tobacco was in case, the farming family would flock to the barn and begin booking tobacco out of the barn in preparation for stripping.  More often than not, this is where the family would remain for the day.

 

The weather was a big factor of voter turnout back in the day when tobacco was King in Kentucky.  Today, burley production has shifted to counties like Barren and Green and does not impact Kentuckians’ lives as it once did.  Yet the weather remains a factor affecting turnout Tuesday.

The forecast predicts sunshine on Election Day.  Let’s hope tobacco isn’t in case.  Vote Tuesday!