NEW TRAIL MARKER IN HOLLANDALE 11-04-2010

A NEW MISSISSIPPI COUNTRY MUSIC TRIAL MARKER WAS UNVEILED THURSDAY IN HOLLANDALE. SINGER-SONGWRITER LEGEND BEN PETERS IS NOW A PERMANENT FIXTURE ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI COUNTRY MUSIC TRAIL. PETERS WAS RAISED IN HOLLANDALE WHERE HE DEVELOPED A LOVE FOR MUSIC. HE BEGAN PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT AGE 13, AND WOULD EVENTUALLY, BEGIN A MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY LEAD TO 14 NUMBER-ONE HITS FOR ARTISTS SUCH AS EDDY ARNOLD, CHARLEY PRIDE, FREDDY FENDER, AND KENNY ROGERS. "HE WROTE MANY HOT SONGS, KISS AN ANGEL GOOD MORNING," SAID PAUL OTT, STORYTELLER AND RADIO AND TV HOST.  "I BET MANY FOLKS IN THE DELTA NEVER KNEW THAT A LITTLE BOY GROWING UP IN HOLLANDALE, MISSISSIPPI IN THE 1940'S AND A LITTLE BOY GROWING UP IN SLEDGE, MISSISSIPPI IN THE 1940'S, CHARLIE PRIDE AND BEN PETERS, WOULD MAKE SUCH A HIT ACROSS THE COUNTY. IT'S PART OF THE GREAT TALENT IN MISSISSIPPI." "BEN WROTE SO MANY WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL SONGS. YOU KNOW BEN WASN'T JUST A COUNTRY WRITER," SAID HIS WIFE JACKIE PETERS. "HIS SONGS HAVE BEEN POP BLUES, GOSPEL AND REGGAE. HE REALLY WROTE GREAT STANDARD SONGS. THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT A CLASSIC, WHEN YOU CAN DO IT IN ALL THOSE DIFFERENT VERSIONS. YOU KNOW, AND BEN WAS ABLE TO DO THAT." PETERS PASSED AWAY 5 YEARS AGO AT AGE 72, BUT HIS MUSIC AND LEGACY LIVES ON. "HE WAS A BOY WHO GREW UP IN A SHARECROPPERS WORLD. A MAN WHO WENT FROM PICKING COTTON AND WALKING THE COTTON FIELDS HERE IN THE DELTA TO GREAT SUCCESS, AND WITH SO MUCH FAMILY RIGHT NOW, TODAY, IT'S JUST THE EMOTIONS ARE OFF THE CHAIN FOR ME TODAY, " SAID JUSTIN PETERS. "TO BE HONEST, THERE'S LIKE MEMORIES FROM HIS PAST THAT I HAVEN'T EVEN HEARD THAT I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO HEAR FROM HIM THAT I'M HEARING TODAY. IT'S AMAZING THE PEOPLE THAT MY FATHER KNEW AND LOVED." THE MARKER IS LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE SUNFLOWER GROCERY STORE IN DOWNTOWN HOLLANDALE. THE MISSISSIPPI COUNTRY MUSIC TRAIL PROGRAM IS THROUGH THE MISSISSIPPI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.