Revisiting Vernon
Is Vernon back in the news again? Maybe. A reporter from St. Petersburg called last week requesting video of the 1984 Vernon Brawl. He didn’t say why but I am guessing that the infamous event might be highlighted in an upcoming article in the Pinellas County press.
For those of you who don’t remember the Vernon brawl, a town council meeting erupted into a slugfest several years ago when the city council began arguing over the firing of the town’s Police Chief. The town council president threw the first punch and then all hell broke loose. Her husband, sporting an artificial limb with an attached hook, hammered an audience member. It was a big mess.
The Police Chief, being held at bay in the back of City Hall, did nothing. You couldn’t blame him. He had just been fired.
All of it was captured in living color, on tape, by one of our reporters. Some of the video was used in criminal and civil cases that followed and some of it even wound up on Good Morning America. Naturally, we ran the stew out of it. You can see some of the coverage in the video player window below this article.
It was a black eye for Vernon. It was not their first and, apparently, it is not going to be their last. Here’s why:
There was much speculation through the 1960’s and 70’s about an abnormally high rate of “accidental” dismemberments followed by insurance claims from Vernon. One article I read suggested that as many as fifty different incidents in this town of five hundred residents had occurred. Insurance company investigators labeled the town as “Nub City.” Stories were printed in papers around the country and, well, the rest is history.
Such a distinction caught the attention of a New York documentary film maker, Errol Morris, who traveled to Vernon to check out the allegations. He claims that when he started poking around asking questions, his life was threatened out of fear he would expose the alleged scam. While his original purpose was to make a film on “Nub City”, he ultimately decided to create a documentary simply titled “Vernon, Florida.” The film, released in 1981, exposed the eccentric side of some of the town’s characters. It was not, however, the film he truly wanted to make.
Even so, Morris found the characters he needed and proceeded to paint a portrait of northern misconceptions about the south. He found a Holy Ghost preacher, a turkey hunter, a small town cop, and others to reflect his point of view. Afraid the next amputation might be his own, he kept quite about “Nub City”, made his film, and quietly left town.
It was no surprise that many of the residents in Vernon were shocked and offended by what they saw on film. Some say, that it was nothing more than shameless exploitation of the Vernon residents. Today, it is still a sore point for many who call Vernon home.
According to a not so recent article in the Boston Globe (February 2006), Morris is making a fictionalized version of “Nub City” and it is based on “the bizarre true story of several Floridians who turned up missing arms and legs after taking out insurance policies on themselves.” It seems he just couldn’t let it go.
It is no wonder that a few years ago when WMBB decided to celebrate the history of Vernon during an annual News13 event called “Panhandle Pride,” we were stumped to find the town’s leaders a bit suspicious. It took a lot of talking and convincing that we were not planning to celebrate Morris’s film or to revisit the famous “Vernon Brawl.” There was, and is, more to Vernon than partial citizens and municipal head knocking.
So, it is in such light that I write some of the good things about Vernon.
Life doesn’t move real fast in Vernon. It’s not supposed to. People don’t live in Vernon to go to the opera, dine on caviar, and shop at Saks Fifth Avenue. A relaxing evening at a little league game, or a box of crickets with a bream buster, or sitting in a swing and talking to neighbors provide enough entertainment to last until Sunday, when most Vernon residents go to church.
You can get a great glass of wine at the Three Oaks winery, great seafood at Dee’s, and excellent fried chicken and egg rolls at Somsri’s International Restaurant. I know that sounds like an odd combination but, as a connoisseur of all things fried, it makes a heck of a lot of sense to me.
The Moss Hill church is a local treasure. The unpainted boards adorning the church were milled right down the road. Surely, many burdens have been left and souls comforted in that old building. You just feel it when you walk through the doors; the reverence and all.
Holmes Creek might be the best kept secret in Florida. Drive down to the boat landing by the bridge on Highway 79 and see for yourself; beautiful clear, cool water, perfect for floating, canoing, and boating. A swing from a tall oak tree provides a wonderful playground for the local children and hours of entertainment for the adults.
Sometimes, I think the Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show were the worst things to ever happen to the south. Outsiders, like New York film makers, think that most southerners carry their grandmothers in the back of a pickup truck in a rocking chair. Others think our deputies are issued one bullet and the town drunk checks himself into the jail at night. (OK, maybe some of our deputies should only get one bullet. Point conceded.)
And yes, there are some eccentric characters in Vernon; probably enough to make two or three more documentaries. But, they all seem normal to me. Actually, they seem a lot more normal than most of the people I have met from New York. At least, in Vernon, they will look you in the eye and ask, “How’s you Mama and them?” And it’s not just a lip service. They really want to know about your Mother and your family.
I think Vernon deserves a hand for putting up with all the negative publicity. Vernon is no different than any other small town around here or anywhere else. It’s not any different than New York City or St. Petersburg for crying out loud. I say exploit your own viewers and readers and let the local media exploit ours!
(The video below is from the WMBB archives. 1984 “Year in Review” anchored by Larche Hardy and Anne Wilcox. The reporter is Wayne May. Wayne was covering the Vernon Council meeting the night of the “brawl”. Wayne May is now an investigative reporter for WTVY-TV in Dothan, AL.)
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About Me
The life of any News Director is stressful most days... so, when the weekend rolls around I find myself on the back roads of our bountiful and beautiful part of the state looking for bluegrass music, interesting things to do, and, of course, fried chicken. I will try to share some of these "finds" with you. There are a thousand stories left to be told or simply remembered. Don't expect to find them all here; maybe just a little stroll down memory lane or maybe a little skewed insight into topical issues.
Larche Hardy,
News Director
All My Entries:
- Nashville Bluegrass at IBMA
- Marty Raybon and Georgia Bluegrass
- Curse of the Acoustic Guitar
- A Millville Hero
- Bluegrass at BAMA JAM a hit!
- Bird watching not a bore
- No Poet Laureate
- Let the Bluegrass begin
- Hurry Spring
- Alabama’s Highway 52
- Cell Phone Interuptus
- Bellying up to the bar
- Resolutions are Doomed to Failure
- Bah-dad-gum-Humbug
- A hunting we will go!
- Hot Stuff!
- My new camo hat… A bargain at $34
- The Road Trip
- “If you don’t want to make the news, just don’t do it.”
- Hostage
- Not a Cat Person
- Hollywood - Here I don’t come…
- Found: a cure for the blues…
- It won’t be long…
- Not Enough Historical Markers, I say…
- Evolution takes many forms
- Revisiting Vernon
- All I know is that it’s hot…
- I Love Slocomb
- The Not-So-Casual Traveler
- The Casual Historian
Other News13 Blogs:
- The Casual Historian - Larche Hardy
- Derby Girl - Enocha Van Lierop
- The Newby - Jessi Chapin
- Gainesville, Georgia's All American Girl - Tuquyen Mach
