By Jay Grelen, Staff Columnist MONTROSE - The ladies of the Montrose Garden Club thought that this pretty, 100-percent-cotton quilt they have designed incorporated a significant point in Baldwin County. They thought they had the county covered, so to speak. But then Hilo Middleton spoke up: What about Muncie's Corner, he asked. Well, not only was Muncie's Corner not on the coverlet (which is the fancy name for this kind of bedspread), no one in the club had even heard of the place. Turns out that even Mr. Middleton, the barber and politician who raised the issue, doesn't know a whole lot more about Muncie's Corner than that it once consisted of a trading post and a post office at what now is the intersection of County Roads 65 and 68. Furthermore, Bernice Maloy O'Callaghan, whose family has lived within birdshot range of the intersection since "19-hundred-and-10," has never heard it called Muncie's Corner. "We always called it Middleton's Corner," she says. Sherman Middleton, Hilo's cousin, doesn't know anything about the Muncie name. But his grandfather, he says, was shot and killed there in a range war. "He was bullheaded like me," he says. At any rate, the corner - Muncie's or Middleton's - has been in the Middleton family for at least 70 or 80 years, says Hilo, who is as colorful as his cousin. While the story of the coverlet isn't as colorful as the unpreserved history of the mystery corner, its purpose is to preserve another part of Baldwin County's heritage. The Montrose Garden Club's purpose in life is to protect 52 200-year-old live oaks in the village. During its 50-year history, the club has spent $75,000 on the care of the trees, and now its treasury has run about dry. Concerned their fund-raisers had become little more than club members selling cookies to one another, Lois Boykin suggested the Baldwin County Coverlet as a way to raise serious money. So the club, asked each incorporated city in Baldwin to submit a picture it wanted on the spread. The names of the unincorporated places, like Lillian, Whitehouse Fork and Perdido, are stitched in the border. The money raised in the sale of the coverlets goes to maintain the 52 oaks. Thus are the sights of Baldwin County stitched into a single fabric, suitable as a gift for all occasions: that recent graduate, that new bride, that native of Baldwin who lives in Boise (forgive me for that infomercial; the Garden Club ladies made me say all that; they are a tough bunch, especially the 76-year-old who threatened me with harm if I said anything wrong or published her name). If you want to know more (the coverlets sell for $45 if you pick up yours, $50 if they mail it), call Lois Boykin at 334-928-3594 or Ren Hinote at 334-990-9176. And next time you are in Muncie's Corner, tell 'em - - if you can find 'em - - that Hilo sent you. Web page design and hosting donated by Site
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