By vershal hogan

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — This year the Taylor family will reign supreme over Natchez Garden Club spring festivities.

Hunter Taylor will reign as the Natchez Garden Club’s king, joining his sister, Pepper, who is queen.

At 30, Hunter will be the oldest garden club king in recent memory.

“When they came to me, they said, ‘We have changed up the program this year, and we wanted to go with somebody a little older,” he said. “I said, ‘I will be more than happy and honored to do it.’”

But before he formally accepted the honor, Hunter said he had someone else he had to check with first.

“I said, ‘This is Pepper’s year, let me be the one to tell her; I will ask her,’” Hunter recalled. “When I did, she jumped up and down and said, ‘Absolutely.’ It has been very enjoyable, and we will make memories doing this that will we will look back on and cherish for years.”

Like many kings before him, Hunter got his start at the Tableaux — then known as Pageant — when he was 3 years old, and as a teenager, he served as a member of the Tableaux court.

Hunter is a 2003 graduate of Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and a 2007 graduate of Mississippi State University, where he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

He likewise graduated from the Southeastern School of Commercial Lending and is a graduate of Leadership Tate County.

Since 2008, he has worked with the Mississippi Land Bank in Senatobia and is an assistant vice president.

Hunter is the president of the Senatobia Rotary Club, and has served as its secretary, treasurer and vice president.

He is vice president of the Tate-DeSoto County Forestry Association — having previously served as president and treasurer — and is a board member of Senatobia’s Tree City USA.

He served as a charter member of the Krewe of Hernando service organization, of which he is a member of the board of directors.

He attends Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Hernando, where he resides.

Hunter will wear a uniform that was tailored especially for Christopher Gaudet by the late Valentine Van Court in New Orleans when Gaudet reigned as king in 1995.

But the part of the ensemble Hunter is proudest to don is the sword, which his father recently presented to him.

“I was going to use a sword that a relative of mine used during the (Civil War), but my father purchased me my own sword,” he said.

“My dad has always wanted one, and I have always wanted one as well, so I started looking into purchasing one for this. Dad kept doing research and bought it for me. He presented it to me at (a) cocktail party last Friday. It caught me off guard — it was a very special moment.”

The sword is a Union-made sabre with the rare Millard maker’s mark. It is dated 1862 with the C.E.W inspector marks, and the grip and twisted wire wrap are original and in excellent condition. The full-length blade has a bright grey patina.

The scabbard is also original to the sword.

Hunter is the son of John Edward Taylor Jr. and Kay Biglane Taylor.

He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Noland Edward Biglane of Natchez and Mr. and Mrs. John Edward Taylor of Yazoo City.