Filming of much of the movie starts next week outside Turrell, about 13 miles south of here.  Crews have built an old-looking farmhouse and red barn there.  About the only thing real around the set is the cotton field behind it.     But Lepanto's wonderfully nostalgic appearance is for real.     Not all the store spaces are filled, but downtown was hopping Friday.     The town has character.  The Little River curves around so that it borders the community on both the west and east sides.  There's not even a fast-food franchise or a supercenter chain store to make it bland.     And today's Terrapin Derby offers enough local color to paint Grisham's house. The Legionnaires started the race in 1930 to raise money to build a Legionnaires Hut.  They were inspired by the large number of terrapins in and about the Little River.     Today's turtle race, at  4 p.m., is just part of a daylong festival that includes music, a street dance at 8 p.m., a parade at 2 p.m., and Elvis impersonator at 7 p.m. and a carnival, helicopter rides, food booths and arts and crafts.     The event now raises money for the Lepanto Volunteer Fire Department.     And a least one other thing in Lepanto has changed.  Instead of collecting the turtles from Little River, derby organizers pay $250 to rent about 500 of them for the day from a turtle-raiser in Leachville, said Damon Tyler, farmer and fire chief.     "He'll have them bagged up and ready to go," Tyler said.
			Copied from Commercial Appeal
				Back to Lepanto Home Page