BOSTON, GA — A Boston woman is transforming the historic Lynch Turkey Call shop into a museum that celebrates hunting heritage while bringing more visitors to town.
- Lynch Turkey Calls, founded in 1940, was one of the first U.S. makers of turkey calls.
- A local woman is working to turn the original Boston, Georgia shop into a museum.
- The project could boost tourism and foot traffic for the small town’s economy.
BROADCAST SCRIPT:
Now you might think this sound is coming from a real turkey… but it's not.
It's from this little wooden device sold right here in Boston, Georgia.
I'm showing you how one woman is turning the history of turkey calls into a museum and why that's expected to draw hunters, visitors, and new energy into Boston's downtown.
In the South, turkey hunting is a way of life. Families have passed it down for generations, and it's grown into a tradition that brings people out every spring season.
"It's not easy to get a turkey. They have phenomenal eyesight, almost 360 degrees. It's not easy. I think maybe that's part of one of the things, the challenge, that makes it so popular to," said Gaines.
That's Johanna Gaines. She opened a store and museum to honor the role turkey calls have played in Southern hunting.
She tells me turkey hunting was very popular in the 1940's and 50s that turkeys were almost extinct.
"So the NWTF, National Wildlife Turkey Federation, was made, and they implemented seasons. And so it gives them time, like we only have one season per year, and it's usually around the month of April," said Gaines.
But behind it all is M.L. Lynch who made his first wooden box call over 80 years ago, back in 1940.
"Like what I find interesting is that, and Mr. Lynch was selling them out of the back of his trunk, but that he took this piece of wood and he sanded it, and then he put chalk on it, and then, you know, how did he, you know, and this was 1940, to imitate, like how did he think to make that sound or to go through that, to make that sound," said Gaines.
Today, the calls are still handcrafted in Pennsylvania by an Amish family since 2013.
But the center of operations is right here in Boston.
Johanna says she wanted more than just wholesale, so she bought the1890 post office building and began turning it into a museum filled with rare collector calls and one-of-a-kind donations.
One person I met at the store is Wayne Cooper.
He's been turkey hunting since he was just 7 years old.
"Without a lynch turkey call, you're almost wasting your time going into woods. You would have to jump them or something, but everyone that turkey hunts uses a turkey call," said Cooper.
Now at 70, Wayne still stops by to check out these calls and share his stories.
"I love it. The fact that we have something like that here in this small town is really awesome. You know, people come from all over the world to Boston because they're very big with bird dogs and quail hunting and turkey hunting. A lot of plantations around here. And so having this right here in our town, it's one of the as small as this town is, this is a major attraction for us," said Cooper.
Gaines says the museum isn't stopping here, she's planning workshops to teach folks, especially young girls, how to use turkey calls and hunt safely.
