June 28th, 1997, started like any other Saturday in the sleepy town of Pearl, Mississippi. The sun came up bright and early, and the temperature quickly rose past 80 degrees. There was only one thing special about this particular Saturday...it was the day chosen for the annual Pearl Day Events.
Pearl Day is the biggest event to occur in the city all year. Every year, thousands of people stop by the two day event to spend their food stamps, welfare checks, and hard earned money on damn near anything. It is one of the biggest revenue generating events the city hosts.
This year, the city council was looking to recover from the disasterous Pearl Day of 1996. Last year's event had started of promising, with the city shelling out big bucks to make it the best Pearl Day ever. They even payed country singer Sammy Kershaw to give a live performance. Just think of it... A country music singer giving a live show in the most redneck infested city in the state... How could the city lose? Well, let me tell you, they found a way to lose. Only 400 tickets were sold, and the concert bombed. After all the bills and receipts were counted, the city wound up receving an 18,000$ black eye.
The planning for Pearl Day 1997 began the day after the event in 1996. The city council was determined to recover their lost money, and once again, they shelled out big bucks for the 1997 event. But, little did the city council know that a dark and ominous cloud of Romaine Lettuce and croutons was lurking just beyond the city limits.
Opinions differ about what happened next. Some call it a disaster. Others call it a blessing from God. Either way you look at it, the facts surrounding what happened remain the same.
A few minutes after the start of Pearl Day at 9:00 AM, a tractor trailer loaded with Dole Ready-to-eat Salad mixes came thundering down Highway 80. What should have been a normal trip for the salads, soon turned into the biggest event to occur in the City of Pearl since the Pearl River Flood of 1979. Apparently, and no one is exactly sure how, the trailer hauling the salad mixes overturned on Highway 80, spilling case after case of salad everywhere. It did not take long for word to spread of the "Salad Incident."
In a matter of minutes, rednecks from all over the city were swarming outside the Trucker's Exchange, looking for the free cases of salad. Phones rang off the hook as people called everyone they knew to inform them of the "Salad Incident." There were enough calls placed from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM to overload the switchboard in Pearl.
Meanwhile, salad was being loaded into cars and trucks at a break-neck pace. People began driving up in F-350 pick up trucks to get the maximum amount of salad they could in one trip. Cars were backed up all down Highway 80, as people waited in line to get the cases of salad.
It did not take long before word of the accident spread accross the city. Soon, word of the free salad reached the people having a jolly ole time at Pearl Day. When I tell you that in a matter of minutes over 400 people showed up to get free salad, that is what I mean. The poor ole city council could do nothing but watch as the people fled Pearl Day to get their hands on that free salad. Hours went by, and the salad eventually ran out. Slowly, people began returning to Pearl Day, upset that the salad had all been taken.
In a way, you sort of have to feel sorry for the people that planned Pearl Day. Who, in thier most perverted and demented dreams, would have thought that salad would have caused such a disaster on what should have been the city's brightest day?
For years to come, people will remember that sunny June day in 1997 when the city of Pearl was literaly shut down because of a massive, and free surplus of salad. Decades from now, people will be telling their grandchildren about that day, which has come to be known as "The Day Pearl Stood Still."
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