Those who know my film Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek will be interested to know that there’s an event on Dec. 8, 2019 involving the award of a half million dollar grant from the National Park Service to restore an historic structure in Turkey Creek. The NPS program is aimed at highlighting “stories related to the African American struggle for equality in the 20th century” and the restoration will be done by the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain. Derrick Evans, who’s journey is chronicled in the film, saved the building from demolition when he bought it for $10,000 in 2003. It held special meaning for him because it was the only building that survived a 1943 explosion that killed 11 men in the community. One of those killed was the husband of Eva Skinner, who tells Derrick the story in the film about the bulldozing of her son’s grave to make way for a parking lot and housing complex — the incident sets Derrick and others on a mission to protect the community from further harm. There’s a 5th grade lesson plan about the building and other backstory here.