The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 8

OA WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26. 1991 JACKSON, (1 (bl DTI (ol MP if I Wesi Tennessee Diary By Mary Pat Rowland Sun reporter Man revels in pleasures of using mules By Brenda Robertson Sun reporter ntrue. That's what Frank Ferge says of the old phrase "stubborn as a mule if you re talking about his team. "Mine are as good as gold," said Ferge, speaking of his hoofed helpers, Mat and Idar. "They do what I tell them for the most part.

Of course, they're like a 4- or 5-year-old boy, you gotta spank his butt every once in a while to get him to act right." Ferge, who boasts of never having owned a tractor, uses the pair to work timber within a 25-mile range of his home in Fayette Corner near Whiteville. He's farmed with mules since he was 11 and worked timber with them for a living from 1947 to 1963. He quit to drive a truck, but now, 28 years later, he's retired and "just having fun with my mules." Working timber means that the mules help drag cut logs out of the wooded area so the logs can be loaded onto trucks. Some of the logs may be as "big around as a truck tire but the mules don't seem to mind," said Ferge. Many area land owners refuse to have timber cut on their land unless mules work it They say skidders, modern-day motorized haulers, damage young trees and destroy land.

"Once a skidder goes through there, the young trees are gone and the land is in such bad shape that erosion sets in," said Ferge. "But the mules walk around the young trees and they don't hurt the land. They make it possible for you to go back into that same tract and cut again in 8 to 10 years. "If you work it with a skidder, you might not have anything to cut even in 15 years." Ferge, 62, works timber with his mules mainly for fun. He's not interested in working huge tracts nor does he want to stray more than 30 miles from home to do a job.

He doesn't make a big profit but is satisfied meeting expenses. His Social Security "pays the light bill every month," and as long as the mules earn their keep, which amounts to about $3 a day for the corn and hay they eat, he's happy. Wife Mary has "a real job" to bring in the remainder of the household money. West Tennessee timber is much more scarce now compared with the '40s and '50s, when Ferge was one of many mule team owners working to keep sawmills busy. A good day meant you had hauled about 2,000 feet of timber.

Ferge's sons, Fernon and Jeff, also own mules and help their dad work timber when they can. They're the fourth generation to carry on the mule tradition in the family. Ferge's grandfather immigrated to West Tennessee from Germany in 1894 and settled in Fayette Corner. Mules were always considered superior to tractors when it came to working the land, said Ferge. "Shoot, the only way I used to court, was to ride a mule," said Ferge.

"I ain't ashamed of it either. I've always been as proud of my mules as somebody else might be of their prize thoroughbred horses." Occasionally, Ferge hitches the mules to one of his pair of "Sunday wagons" and he and Mary take the 16-mile jaunt down to the Hatchie Bot- Sun photos by Kevin Eana Frank Ferge bypasses modern-day machinery He also uses for hauling logs he uses mules Mat and Idar. garden a mule Man to make special trip Of the more than 11,000 special athletes in Tennessee, only 83 were fhosen to participate in the International Special Olympics to be "held in Minneapolis July 19-27. I -Among the chosen 83 is Stacey ylull, son of Darlene and Fulton "NhII of Selmer, a 23-year old man iviih cerebral palsy. Null, a gradu-TfCC of McNairy County Central High School, attends the McNairy County ttovelopmental Services center in Selmer.

t. "He's really excited," says Mrs. J. Null. "He's been riding an exercise bike to get ready." Null will be one of only two I wheelchair athletes from Tennes-: see to compete in the international games.

He will compete in the 100 teeter and the 25 meter races and the 30 meter slalom. The slalom is similar to an obstacle course, Mrs. Null says. I Null is looking forward to the trip, his mom says. "He really en-; joys It doesn't matter if it's Wal-Mart or Memphis he just THccs to go," Mrs.

Null says. weekend, Null and his mom will be getting their "going shoes" in gear. They, along with the other 'International Special Olympians from Tennessee, will gather in Clarksville to hone their skills at a training camp at Austin Peay State University. I Special Olympics of Tennessee's i philosophy is that no athlete be charged anything to participate. Ntill's trip to Minneapolis is being by McNairy County Developmental Services.

He is lucky, says Jody Jacobs, Special Area 11 director. Many participants don't have sponsors yet and they may not get funding I fof the trip. "In some ares of the state port has just been outstanding, but we're still hoping that more individuals and companies will step forward to support the special ath-; letes on the Tennessee team who don't have funding," says Alan brick, executive director of Tennes-; see Special Olympics. Sponsors who adopt an athlete are asked to provide $800 to cover transportation, uniforms, training camp, housing, food and volunteer coach's expenses. Two other special athletes from the area will also be heading to Minneapolis when Stacey does: 14-; year old Anthony Ward from Maury City and 14-year old Montrez Fuller of Jackson.

Alternates are Anthony McKnight, 18, of Jackson and I Tabitha Johnson, 13, also of Jack-' son. For more information or to spon-' sor an athlete, call the Tennessee Special Olympics office at (615) 322- 292 or 1-800-288-5225. Learning Indian lore -Linda Stoltz of Humboldt, a kindergarten teacher in Dyer, went to Native American Indian Holi-JtJys in Memphis this past week-Tend. Stoltz teaches a unit on Indians 'to her students every year, so she Jwent to get new ideas for this fall's jcrop of new kindergarteners. She got some music, some crafts JJtems and her husband took some Jieat pictures, but she was most amused at a bumper sticker she saw on a van full of Indians.

It simply said: "Custer wore "Arrow shirts." Saying it with flowers We get by with a little help from our friends. If you read this column last Friday, you may remember reading bout a Jackson couple's quest to fill 150 handmade Tennessee grapevine wreath baskets with Tennessee wildflowers. Farrell and Jane Roe arc preparing decorations for a luncheon for 1,500 at the Optimist International convention at the Opryland Hotel tn Nashville. In response to the item that ran vn this column, the Roes have heard from some people who want to help them. Jane Roe says they feeard from someone they hadn't talked to in years.

The woman told them they were welcome to the powers in her yard. She even told Oie Roes to come get "every flower" in the yard even if she wasn't at home! jMfy; Art 'A lot of people have got something they pour money into a fancy house or car or Ferge says. 'I have my mules, and they don't cost me nearly as much as those fancy them in his garden because a has worked never needs a 'Mules walk around the young trees and they don't hurt the land. They make it possible for you to go back into that same tract and cut again in 8 to 10 years. If you work it with a skidder, you might not have anything to cut even in 15 Frank Ferge cooperative as they are, Ferge could get as much as $4,000 for them today but he's firm when he says they're not for sale.

"I wouldn't want to come home if I didn't have mules to come home said Ferge. "I go out to the barn first thing every morning even before breakfast I have to see 'em and say hello." and photographer-writer Jill Kre-mentz is ending in divorce. It was Vonnegut's second marriage. His first ended in divorce in 1979. Stars head to Chicago CHICAGO (AP) There are so many movies being filmed in Chicago tnis summer that celebrity sightings are common.

Meg Ryan, hubby Dennis Quaid, Madonna, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Tom Selleck, John Goodman and Kelly McGillis are all in town. Dolly Parton, James Woods and 1 Meg Ryan Geena Davis are due later this sum mer. Three movies are in and six more are scheduled to start in' July. Trump dumps Maples for rich Italian Ferge kept mules even when he was driving a truck. He acquired Mat and Idar in 1987 when they were 2-year-olds for $2,500 a steep price considering that Ferge recalls days when you could buy mules for $50.

He broke the pair using a formula of loving care, stern hands and years of experience. Now 6, the team is entering its prime working years. As gentle and the concert "I didn't know him when I first stopped him," Blalock said. "He told me he was a country singer and explained he was late." Blalock accepted the tickets and went to the show. Graham to return to Moscow MOSCOW (AP) More than 4,500 people representing all religions in the Soviet Union are expected to attend seminars run by Billy Graham in Moscow next month.

Graham has preached in the Soviet Union three times before. "Things are more open now in the Soviet Union than ever before. People are able to take the Gospel and distribute Bibles in schools, prisons even the military," Graham said Tuesday. "That is more than we can do in America." Vonnegut to divorce again NEW YORK (AP) The 11-year marriage of novelist Kurt Vonnegut toms for a picnic and then load up and come back. "It may sound simple to city folk but we enjoy it," said Ferge.

"A lot of people stop and just watch us and ask us all sorts of questions. Either they've never seen anybody riding in a wagon pulled by mules or they're just recalling the old days when they used to do it themselves." Bruni lives in Paris and St Tropez, Newsday said. Trump's divorce from Ivana, the mother of his three children, was final in December. Cop gets ticket, not Gill SEVIERVILLE (AP) The police officer who pulled Vince Gill over for speeding ended up with free concert tickets after he let the country singer go. rP "I was doing 55, rrr nif AS may oe oaor in a mph zone, the Grammy-winning Gill said after a concert Saturday at the Gatlinburg Convention Center.

He also lacked a driver's license, which he said was stolen earlier this year. Vlnce Gill Gill, whose hits include "When I Call Your Name," told Sevierville Officer Ron Blaloqk he was rushing to NEW YORK (AP) Maria Maples, once known as the woman who broke up Donald Trumps marriage, been dumned herself. according to published I yN The New York Post. ciung a source aia noi laenuty, reported today that Trump has ordered Maples, 27, out of his luxury condominium. Tmmn Parr- The developer has Maria begun dating Carla Maples Bruni, an Italian model who struts her stuff for the world-famous Wilhelmina agency, the Post and New York News-day said.

Newsday, however, said Trump will continue to date Miss Maples as well. Newsday said Bruni is the former girlfriend of rock star Eric Clapton and the daughter of a man once described as one of the wealthiest in has TO CALL THE EDITOR Managing Editor Evan Miller can be reached by Calling 427-3333, Ext. 189. In West Tennessee jutside Madison County, readers can call toll-free 1 800-372-3922..