Neighbors This Week (June 30-July 3)

This is the first of what will be weekly posts on the Lee County Neighbors section for that week. The only problem I forsee is the July 25 edition, where I will be out of town for the week and won’t know what’s in the section until I return. I figure the post for that week will be recorded a few days later.

As for this week …

The June 30-July 3 edition features the Wilson family of Tupelo who enjoy hitting the Natchez Trace Parkway trails for exercise. My longtime Journal colleague, M. Scott Morris, wrote the story. You’ll be seeing more of Scott in Neighbors. He’ll contribute occasional cover stories, which is great for two reasons: 1) Scott’s an outstanding feature writer. This will give him an opportunity to do general features outside of his entertainment beat; and 2) It gives me a break to handle other duties involving the section. I’m so scatterbrained, I really need an administraive assistant to keep things organized.

Club Spotlight: The Northeast Mississippi Art Association, which has seen some bumps in the road recently, is getting back in stride. I live in a home of artists. My wife’s talent of painting was passed on to our kids, both of whom have won awards in the GumTree Arts Festival youth competition. Drawing a stickman is a challenge for me. If you enjoy art, I encourage you to attend an Art Association meeting.

School’s Out: For a few months while in high school, I worked the old Sunflower grocery store in Houston, Miss. Lewis and Peggy Alexander were the husband-and-wife owners of the store, which is now Grocer’s Pride. Thinking back to those days inspired me to pick the Shannon High School guys who work at Quality Discount Foods in Shannon as representatives of kids who work during the summer. The store personnel were good sports about allowing me to come down and tag along with the guys for a few minutes, snapping their photos while they worked.

Our Neighbors: Auburn is an ideal community where anyone you meet, it’s a good chance you’ll share a mutual acquaintance. When I was riding the roads looking for people to interview, Sharon Young – the person featured in the main photo – told me about this family that had moved in about a year ago. I wanted to interview someone new to the community, so I went to the house – and found out it was Scott Lewis, whom I had done business with through his printing shop a few years ago.

This week’s section was 28 pages, down four from its usual size of 32. That meant we had to “bump” a few things out of the edition. One was a story about a youth baseball team with an interesting story behind its nickname and sponsor. I think you’ll enjoy it.

If you have a story idea, send it to me at neighbors@djournal.com

Tell about your vacation

Do you have a favorite vacation story and photos you’d like to share with your neighbors?

Lee County Neighbors encourages readers to submit stories and photos about a favorite vacation. Here’s how:

E-mail your story (and any .jpg attachments) to neighbors@djournal.com. You can mail the story and prints to: Lee County Neighbors, P.O. Box 909, Tupelo, MS 38802, or drop them off by the Daily Journal office at 1242 South Green Street in Tupelo. Please include your name and address when submitting the information.

F.A.I.T.H. Food Pantry

  

Saturday morning, I covered the ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication of the new F.A.I.T.H. Food Pantry in Nettleton. All I have to say is, what a difference nearly 7,000 square feet make. I’ve been to the original pantry facility – about 800 square feet in size – and recall barely being able to move around due to the enormous amount of food and personal items crammed up to every available spot. It was hard to move around. Now, with the new facility, it’s easier for volunteers to move around and allows for the use to forklifts to carry crates of food that come in from the food banks in Memphis and Jackson. I’ve added some photos I took of volunteers loading food into boxes and then into the vehicles.

Vacation, Part 3

We’re home. Packed up the family and the bags yesterday morning and made the trip back in almost six hours (two brief stops along the way). Some tidbits from the final day:

1. The Georgia Aquarium was nice. We finally got there Wednesday after being stuck in traffic for an hour. Enjoyed seeing the aquarium that morning, but as we were leaving we noticed three local TV stations and CNN parked on the road separating the aquarium and Olympic Park. I didn’t stop to ask why, but when we got to our hotel room and turned on the TV, we discovered why. One of the aquarium’s famed whale sharks, Norton, died early that morning. Nothing was mentioned/said about the death by the staff while we were there between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Thinking back, the personnel did seem somewhat uptight. The death has caused a debate on whether large fish like a whale shark should be kept in captivity.

2. The Rush concert was awesome. I can’t help it. I’m a Rush fan from the late ’70s. This was my fourth time to see the band, and the first for my wife and daughter. There were a misstep or two, but for the most part Neil, Geddy and Alex put on a great show. Part of the second half of the show was devoted to the new Snakes and Arrows album. I’m posting the opening of the show (captured on a cellphone by someone who sat much closer to the stage than I did), featuring a bootleg video clip by the band and the first song, the classic “Limelight.” Now if only the guy on the left would just sit down …

 Here’s a photo of me (I’m in the background with the red ‘R30’ t-shirt and other Rush fans from Mississippi I met at a pre-concert get-together at Malone’s (not to be confused with the Malone’s here in Lee County). Most of the people I met are members of a Rush fan message board, The Rush Forum. The photo is courtesy of ‘GhostGirl,’ a TRF moderator from Birmingham. It was cool to meet other Rush fans from around the country, especially those from Mississippi and the South.

As always, the vacation time way was too short. Back to work.

Vacation, Part 2

Well, we’re in Atlanta. I’m writing from a computer room in the lobby of the Red Roof Inn just north of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. We left Bessemer yesterday morning and made the bumpy ride on I-20, which has to be the worst stretch of interstate highway in the country. We went straight to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for a few hours of checking out flowers, plants and all kinds of stuff my wife enjoys. I must admit it’s a relaxing place to visit, considering that we were there Tuesday morning and early afternoon – the same time I normally spend pulling my hair and stressing out to finish the Neighbors section. After checking in the hotel and recovering from the traffic (I missed only two turns!), wife and I went out to Atlanta Underground.

Today, we’ll visit the Georgia Aquarium and maybe see another site or two. Then tonight we’ll see Rush, one of my favorite rock bands, open its Snakes and Arrows Tour at the Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre. The Red Roof Inn is the HQ for a large group of Rush fans who frequent message boards in the band’s honor.

Vacation, Part 1

I’m on vacation this week, which also means I’m working. Because of a loaded work schedule, I had to bring my laptop on the road with me and finish up a few stories and other details. That’s what happens when you’re a one-man operation.

To be honest, I’m not that far from the homebase. I’m in Bessemer, Ala., home of Alabama Adventure theme park. Wife and daughter went yesterday while I stayed in the hotel room working on stories.  But before I rode back to the park to pick up the two at closing time, I made a stop along the way to see the football and baseball fields at McAdory High School  in neighboring McCalla. It was on these fields where Bo Jackson first made a name for himself. I also watched The Sopranos’ finale last night, only after the hotel cable service was fixed about 30 minutes before airtime. And like everyone sounding off on the message boards, I also thought the cable went out again at the end – only to discover it was the show’s final scene. I’m not bent out of shape about the ending like a lot of people are. It was a fitting end to the series.

 At this moment, (7 a.m.), I’m a few feet away from the hotel’s continential breakfast, and that waffle-making machine is calling my name. The others will want to sleep in ’til 8 or 8:30. Now that I’ve completed everything, I can go out to the park. I’ll pass on the rides. I’d rather do the waterpark area.

Soccer tournament

On May 26-27, I covered the MSA’s State Cup tournament at Tupelo’s Sportsplex. The Tupelo Futbol Club’s Under-16 boys, coached by Todd Armstrong, won their age division championship. You probably saw the photo in today’s Neighbors section of Todd reaching down to embrace his father, Carl Armstrong. You may remember about a month ago my article on Carl, who overcame his recent health problems to join one of his former players, Audrey Dale, as coaches of a youth girls team. 

When the game was over and the players began celebrating, I spotted Carl – in his new cherry red motorized wheelchair – trucking across the field toward Todd. It was a touching to see these two share this special moment, and I was lucky to have my camera ready for a quick shot.

 About five minutes later, I was able to reach Todd and began interviewing him. I recall asking general question about his team’s ability to fight off the other team’s comeback, his goalkeeper’s clutch saves late in the game and the two quick goals one player had early in the half. I then asked him about the team’s plans before going to regionals later this month in Oklahoma City, but then one of his players interrupted us saying, “Coach, we need you for something over here.”

That brief distraction was all the players needed. As soon as the player had Todd’s attention, two more players snuck up behind him and dumped a full bucket of ice cold water on him – and me. I was standing next to Todd, still in reporter mode, when I got caught up in the crossfire. Todd got the full blast of water while it got me on the right side, partially soaking my shirt.

My first thought was, “my camera!” It was hanging from my neck, and I turned it on to see if the water affected it. Good news. The camera was fine. I also tested my digital record, and it was still running – catching the entire dunking sequence.

I’ve heard of some sports writers who got angry when they were caught up in a celebratory Gatorade/water shower. Not me. I didn’t mind it. In fact, after standing in the heat throughout the game, the cold water felt quite nice.