During the midst of all the wedding excitement I received two surprises related to my ongoing work of celebrating Appalachia.
The first was a nomination for the The Appalachian Arts and Entertainment Awards, better known as The Appy Awards.
The awards are presented from a partnership between Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC), The Mountain Arts Center (MAC), the City of Prestonsburg, Prestonsburg Tourism, Floyd County Tourism, CMH 23, and The Country Network (TCN).
I was nominated for the best vlogger category for my video work. The only small issue is they announced I’m from Kentucky 🙂 But since the awards recognize and celebrate the very best the thirteen State Appalachian Region has to offer in Music, and the Arts I think I’ll be okay. You can read more about the awards and see the list of nominees here.
My other surprise came from YouTube. The platform is featuring my Celebrating Appalachia channel as part of their Women on the Rise campaign for the month of March.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the excitement from the wedding and I’m honored by the nominee and feature, but I’m anxious to get my tomato seedlings started and am longing for spring of the year.
Last night’s video: Mountain Talk – Unusual Words and Phrases in Appalachia that Start with L.
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Congratulations on your award. You obviously work very hard producing your blog and YouTube channel and goodness knows what else. Happy to see you get the recognition you deserve.
Congratulations!
So happy for you! You are a blessing to all who follow your channel. I so enjoy it and wish we had found it earlier. I enjoy perusing the old and new posts. Look forward them!
Wow congratulations!!!! That’s great. I to can’t wait to get to start planting. My youngest daughter was born on first day of Spring. She’s our Spring baby.
Congratulations, Tipper! I have been a follower for several years now. I enjoy your blog. I enjoy you and each member of your family. My roots also reach deep into Appalachia, and I too am a writer and storyteller. I know how much work goes into what you do! On those days when you are tired, when the exact word or just one more idea will not come, remember that there are many people who love your work and appreciate you, your family, your recipes and your cooking, your music and the music of all your family, the stories you share, the outings you take, well, all of it! Also, Tipper, I appreciate your faith, that it is a big part of your life, and you do not hesitate to share it! Again, congrats, and keep up the good work!
Congratulations!!!! You do a wonderful job of celebrating Appalachia and I enjoy your videos, recipes, and letting the world have a peck into your family life. As I was reading about the partnership involve in the awards, I noticed that you and my sister may have crossed paths or will sometime in the future. She is involved with the MAC, teaches at Big Sandy the class History of Rock and Roll, and she has ties to the city of Prestonsburg. Now get your tomato seeds planted!
Tipper you should not be one bit surprised special lady. You deserve this recognition fully. I am very pleased and happy for you. Heartfelt congratulations!
Congratulations!!! Well deserved. I agree whole heartily with Ed Ammons comments, I can’t say it any better.
Congratulations my friend!!! You deserve the awards and recognition that is coming your way. I loved the wedding video and yes I cried too. May the good Lord bless you all.
Congratulations from me ( a Midwesterner fromMichigan) I love your blog! I feel like I know your family and also your friends who comment here. I think it’s hard to make people feel at home here but you do it every day. I know that they couldn’t have picked anyone better!
I’m so excited for you, Tipper! We are from Paintsville, KY, transplanted to Ohio. I love Kentucky and know the Mountain Arts Center well. Prestonsburg is the next town over and we love going there to Jenny Wiley State Park, we’ve had family reunions there. No one is more deserving of these awards! The wedding was beautiful in every way! I watched the video on the girls channel today.
WOW! Tipper, I came back to see what new comments may have been made and just look what happened. This post has 52 comments, so far. Is that a record?
Ed Ammonds made a mighty fine list of the reasons we all love your/our blog!
You go girl!!!
You go girl! Congrats on other people finally finding out how good you are at this.
Sounds so exciting. And congratulations!
I just saw the video on the girls channel of the wedding. What a lovely day. It goes to prove the point that a celebration is more about the people you share it with than weather and other extraneous things.
Best wishes to the happy couple.
Wow! Big Congratulations on both fronts. These are both well-deserved honors and represent a ton of hard work on your part. I’m sure they can get that Kentucky thing corrected. I’m so happy for you and the rest of the family as well! Love to all y’all!
I am so happy for you. You sure deserve it. If there is an award for loyal subscribers you would certainly win that. Dennis Morgan
This is super exciting. I can’t think of anyone more deserving. Thank you for all you do to preserve Appalachia.
Dear Tipper,
Congratulations!!! You work so hard to celebrate Appalachia and all of our fine customs, language, music, food, geology, etc., from the past to the present. I read, see, and hear so much joy in your posts and vlogs!! There are people I know who think those of us in lower Appalachia are either ‘Southerners’ who drop our ‘r’s’ when we speak, or lazy lay-arounds who do nothing but spend all day with a jug of moonshine. My people did neither—and when I found your blog all those years ago I found that many, many people didn’t fit into those categories either. I feel at home every time I read a blog post or watch a You Tube vlog. I’m so happy and thankful that you have been recognized for your hard work and passion for our beloved Appalachia. And I’m happy to have “met” you and your wonderful family!!
I had to come back and read everyone’s comments so far today. It makes my heart so happy to read all the great congratulations, compliments, and real joy your commenters have for the recognition you have received from the big wigs in the blogging world! I especially wanted to applaud Ron Stephens, Jim Casada, Pinnaclecreek, and Ed Ammons comments here. I so heartily agree with what they have said. I know you will be receiving many more splendid comments as the day goes on — all of them well deserved by you. Again – I am so happy for you, Tipper!! I am as proud as can be that I can call myself a longtime fan and student of your blog and channels, too!
Donna. : )
Congratulations! Well deserved!
WELL-DESERVED and how exciting! SO STINKIN’ PROUD OF YOU, TIPPER! Dang. I feel like I could reach through this screen and give you a big hug. And I’m with you – getting that garden going is important too!
Tipper, I don’t know the other vloggers but they are in some big competition against you. You got this Kentuckians vote.
I went to the nominee site and it was described as a lavish event.
Congratulations. When i first started reading your blog i thought you were from Kentucky – you reminded me of my relatives from Appalachia and frankly even western Ky. But regardless of where you call home, your work is valuable and your celebratory approach to the beauty of the region is a wonderful way to wake up each morning. Thank you for your contribution to a world we share.
Who could have predicted it? Well, I think I did! A long time ago. Why did I predict it? Well, there’s several things;
1. You’re real! You’re not scripted. What audience sees, hears, reads is what you are.
2. You are not selling anything. You have no sponsors. You don’t review products in exchange for free stuff. You haven’t sold your soul to the devil.
3. You don’t show yourself (as in selfies) as the main character in the narrative you are presenting. When you interview people, you make it all about them. You could easily set up a camera to record you as well as your guest(s) but you choose to put them in the limelight. That’s brilliant!
4. I said you aren’t selling anything but you really are. You’re selling an Appalachia that most people don’t ever see. Not the Appalachia incessantly portrayed in books and movies and on TV as a bunch of inbred degenerates who survive on moonshine and illicit drugs. You are selling the kind of people I know and love. People who are not stuck in Appalachia because they don’t have the wits or the means to leave but who are here because it’s where they want to be.
5. Never once have I heard “smash that like button and ring that bell” cross your lips. You know people know how to do all that.
6. The https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/ has no ads that I have to load before I can get to the content. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is, in other blogs, to get to a recipe I am interested in. I have to read the history of a potato before I can learn how to make mashed potatoes. And the history of butter. Then it’s the best kind of masher. And the best salt.
And on and on! The https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/ goes straight to the point.
Awards are fine, I suppose, if they serve to point people to your goal. But, it’s the people behind you that keep you moving forward. It’s the people under you that hold you up. It would be nice to have a giant trophy to put on display but wouldn’t it be nicer to have 137,000+ smaller ones.
As you continue to grow your media presence you will also face increasing pressure to concede to the mainstream. I am confident you are fully capable of withstanding those forces and will remain true to yourself and your people.
You have spoken words that I feel!!
Tipper is so real. It is a rare characteristic in these days….
Thank you for putting my words and the feelings in my heart down in print!
It’s wonderful to see you recognized for all your hard work, Congratulations, Tippper!! The fact that your blog shows up every morning is amazing.
Your language expressions jog my memory to words I’ve heard from my Grandparents and Parents back in the 50’s and 60’s. I miss them all and listening to their wonderful conversations. I’ve heard a lot of the words; such as, she looks kinda peeked still after having being down for a spell. Also, a slide for moving timber, and I still have my Grandmother’s oil lamp and I’m very particular with her lamp chimbley. Heard the word Lawd a mercy, and always heard bottom land. I still use the words smidgen of this and a tad of that and I remember my cousin and I traipsing thru the woods in northern Illinois and being in awe of the hillside of lady slippers we were in.
Tipper–Congratulations. First thing you know, matters will have come to such a pass that I’ll be able to say, “Why I knew the blogging belle of Brasstown back when she was just an unknown mountain gal.”
Seriously, it’s heartening to see you get some richly deserved recognition for all your ongoing efforts, and I have every confidence even bigger and better things lie ahead.
Congratulations on the awards! Very well deserved. Also, the wedding was adorable! It was so sweet to watch the emotion as Katie realized this was it, and the same as Corie recited her vows. They are precious…
To be satisfied with the hard work you do daily and then get recognized for it is a true accomplishment. And your sharing with the world spreads that to so many people. Congratulations! I doubt that you have any trouble wearing a hat because of the person you are. Your readers are fortunate to be able to connect and enjoy what you do. Thanks.
Congratulations Tipper and family!!!!! I’m excited to get to spring planting as well!!!!! Have a great day!!!
Congratulations; I’m so happy for you! I always look forward to your writings and videos each day. Thank you for sharing your life and family with us!
Congratulations! You have certainly taught me so much about Appalachia. Although I was born and raised in Central NC (Capitol) I have always felt a kindred spirit with mountain folk. We usually visit the Boone-West Jefferson area. Keep up the good work. I appreciate you. Take care and God bless
Congratulations Tipper on your award and your nomination! Well deserved!!!
Congrats…you deserve it….always enjoy you postings..
Congratulations – you deserve it! I agree with Ron Stephens when he said it is just like you to stay grounded; I believe that is a characteristic of yours that attracts people, it certainly does me. Ditto everything Donna Sue said too, don’t think I can add anything to her post as she covered it quite well.
Congratulations on your well deserved nominations. I love your blog and your you tube channel is my favorite channel. My mother’s side of the family are in the Georgia mountains of Cleveland and surrounding areas. I have so many wonderful memories tied to family and those mountains and the way of life there. Watching your channel reminds me of those special times and I thank you so much for hard work and love for Appalachia.
Congratulations, Tipper! So happy for you. Well deserved honors!
Congratulations, Tipper! I hope they correct your state and the spelling of your last name. God bless ’em. Much love and many hugs!
Congratulations, Tipper!!! It’s great to see the passion and hard work paying off.
As a follower for many years, I know how you have worked. It reminds me of, “Neither sleet nor snow nor rain nor the dark of night” will keep Tipper from her goals. That sentence seems a bit overly dramatic, but I am amazed at your perseverance. Greater and bigger things are ahead for you, and I just know it. I can even see a renewed interest in Appalachia and maybe less stereotyping. Your BP readers are there rooting for you every step of the way, as you find your rightful place among the greats of Appalachia. When I see diligence and honesty, I think of the Appalachian people. Everybody has bad apples, but mostly our “hill people” are hardworking honorable folks who make the best of everything. Please keep telling our stories and showing who we truly are, as only few can do. Thank you so much, Tipper, for sharing with us.
Congratulations!!You deserve a lot of awards!! Keep on keepin’ on!
That is wonderful news! From Chatter’s wedding going so well to the awards you’ve received, I know you must be so proud. Of course, we’d all continue to blog whether anyone “recognized” us or not, wouldn’t we? Your love for the Appalachian culture shines through in everything you do and we readers are very fortunate to be along on the journey with you!
We will be happy to claim you as one of our own here in KY! Congratulations on being recognized for all you do.
Congratulations Tipper! Good to see that your work is being recognized. I appreciate all you do to bring Appalachia life to so many.
Congratulations! All of those who read the Blog and watch your videos know how much value you add. It is nice to see others reconizing your talent and hard work.
Congratulations!
Congratulations!!! Thank you for your hard work representing Appalachia. And, what kind of tomatoes do you grow?
Lenora-we love Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, and Mountain Princess. I’ll be sure to share all the varieties that we plant 🙂
Congratulations Tipper. Like Ron Stephens said even with all of your accomplishments you remain down to earth, you don’t let them go to your head. The Cherokee purple tomato was my daughters favorite, she would take them to her work and some of her coworkers would bring the other things need for sandwiches and have a tomato sandwich party at lunch. After her death it is hard for me to grow or eat them now.
Congratulations on your much deserved nominations. You’d had a very exciting early Spring!
Well deserved Tipper!!! Congratulations
Congratulations!! I can only imagine the work it takes to keep all that going and still enjoy Appalachia. I know your family must be so proud of you ! I know all of us you love your channel and your blog are proud and not a bit surprised that you have been recognized for outstanding work and dedication to a beautiful way of life.
Congrats! We just live a stones throw from Floyd County…y’all come see us when you can.
I expect each of the 13 Appalachian states would be proud (in the usual and in the Appalachian sense) to claim you. As well as I fit in here, you would fit in – and better – in Kentucky. Happy for you that you are getting the recognition. Probably be a lot more folks signing up for BP&A and tuning in to your all’s YouTube channels. They’ll find treasures for sure . And it is just like you to stay ‘grounded’ (grin) thinking about your tomato seedlings. That is just one of the many ways you endear yourself, not getting “the big head”. (Do you hear that in the Murphy area? I grew up hearing that.)
Ron-thank you and yes that is a common phrase here 🙂
To receive accolades for work that you love doing is like icing on the cake (or maybe butter on the cornbread). Congratulations for your hard work and dedication.
Congratulations on your accomplishments but get those mater seeds planted. ❤
Congratulations!!! and thank you so much for being such a wonderful representative of Appalachia and it’s people!
A wonderful tribute for all of your work showcasing the best of Appalachia. I am from Kentucky and we would welcome you as one of us. Congratulations!
The recognition you have and will continue to receive is greatly deserved. No one but you knows all the hard work and determination it took to get you to where you are today. Many thanks to you Miss Tipper for allowing us to journey with you and your wonderful family. Bravo !!!
That is awesome!! We all love your work so much, and it is great to know everyone else does, too. You work so hard to educate us in Appalachia and bring back so many memories, some forgotten until you lead us to that memory. We love and appreciate all you do and are so thankful for you!
Well, your fans are very happy for you, but we are hardly surprised. We suspect that there will be many more awards and honors coming to you in the future. Congratulations and I’m sure they will correct that mistake about Kentucky. Not that there’s anything wrong with that great state. But North Carolina needs the recognition of one of its finest daughters.
I am so excited for you! You have worked so very hard to give your viewers excellent content that shows the world what living in the Appalachian Mountains has been like in the past, the present, and dreams for the future. This is dear to your heart, and your passion and enthusiasm is very evident! I am not a trained eye for anything media, so I don’t know what trends are out there, or what the latest “best” is supposed to look like. I just know that all your videos look wonderful, clear, and very easy to understand for us technologically illiterate normal people. We love what we see and hear from you! You motivate, inspire, and teach us. This channel is our home away from home. We keep coming back for more – year after year! Tipper — I am so happy for this recognition for you! It’s exciting that it came especially now that this is your full time work. I hate using the word “work”, because it represents something you have to do. This is your life – something you breathe, absorb, and embrace with so much love. This is not a chore – it’s your purpose. God is so good! These nominations are just the beginning of all the blessings God is giving you for doing what He made you to do!!
Donna. : )
Tipper,
I am pulling for you to win the whole ball of wax! Congratulations for the nomination and I admire your hard and never-ending work that allowed you to be considered for these honors.
Thank you for keeping our “Appalachian Ways” front and center in your blogs
Congrats & well-deserved!
Congratulations
Congratulations!!! Thats great, I love seeing you recognized for your work, and I do mean work. You work very hard to keep the blog and the YouTube going. I don’t know how you manage it all, but I do know you work very hard at it and spend untold hours at the computer.
Thak you for honoring Appalachia!
What wonderful recognition Tipper! Well deserved. Your passion and work for celebrating and educating on Appalachia has been recognized and honored. We celebrate with you!