Author: Alexa Scattaregia, Marketing Specialist
Slow Poke the Possum might have the quirkiest rags-to-riches story in North Carolina folklore. This Harnett County possum went from wandering a country highway to winning a backwoods beauty pageant and almost becoming the governor’s dinner—before a public outcry saved his hide. It’s a true tale of a possum with polished toenails, a governor with a taste for possum stew, and a state that wasn’t about to let its newest famed critter end up in the stew pot.
In the summer of 1970, a possum stumbled his way into North Carolina history. He was big—10 pounds, nearly three feet long. L. E. Baker of Dunn spotted him crossing a Harnett County road and decided to enter him in the “prettiest possum” contest at the second annual Spivey’s Corner Hollerin’ Contest.
Baker bathed Slow Poke daily, polished his toenails, and brought him to the contest, where he competed alongside two other competitors, including a Raleigh contender named Miss Vicki. Slow Poke stole the show. He was crowned the prettiest possum in Harnett County and awarded the honor of being presented to Governor Bob Scott. Unfortunately for Slow Poke, Scott had also declared that day “North Carolina Possum Pickin’ Day” and expressed his deep fondness for possum stew.
At a ceremonial visit to the State Capitol, Slow Poke met the governor, who placed the possum’s cage right on his desk. Joining them were Baker, the hollerin’ champ, and the newly crowned Miss ‘Possum: Margaret Ann Wilkes, a human.
When Miss ’Possum admitted she’d never eaten possum before, Scott cheerfully invited her to a possum banquet—with Slow Poke as the entrée.
The plan did not go over well.
Slow Poke was moved into the Executive Mansion while the public began to panic. Hundreds of phone calls and letters poured in. People begged for Slow Poke’s life. Children wrote notes. Animal lovers pleaded. Local newspapers reported on the fate of poor Slow Poke.
Faced with a full-blown marsupial PR crisis, Scott relented. On July 31, 1970, in an official public ceremony on the steps of the Capitol, Scott granted Slow Poke executive clemency. Surrounded by reporters, cabinet members, and Miss ’Possum, the governor handed Slow Poke over to the Wildlife Commission. The possum was released at Raven Rock State Park, free to live out his days under the trees instead of on a plate.
Still, Scott wasn’t sorry. “You’ve already got one possum away from me,” he told the crowd. “But I shall not be thwarted in my appetite for possum.”
True to his word, in 1972 he hosted a black-tie possum dinner at the Executive Mansion. The possum was steamed, seasoned, and basted with a vinegar-based barbecue sauce—“all the things,” according to his housekeeper.