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Society

City Personals
Mary Clay Brooks

Elvis to make appearance at Marshall Academy Thursday

Rollie Carson of Oxford, hosted a birthday party in honor of her mother, Bea Green, Saturday afternoon in her home. The ladies who attended were Vicki Webb, Kay Wheeler, Becky Cupp, Robin Seale, Linda Stubbs, Tammy Cupp, Diane Greer and Sally Permenter. The guests enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of appetizers and fellowship. Afterwards, they ate dinner at a new restaurant on Oxford’s square, Waltz. Happy belated birthday, Bea, and may you have many, many more!!

Vivian and Eugene Smith hosted their grandchildren, Emma Reed, Ellis and Stannard over the New Year holiday. Their parents attended the Cotton Bowl.

Sonny (Clayton) Williams returned home after a long stay in the hospital. Get well soon and glad to have you home!

Ole Miss Rebel fanatics were seen making their way to Dallas, Texas, last week for the Cotton Bowl. The traffic was steady heading to the big city for the Friday match-up of Ole Miss and Texas Tech, which was the last game to be played in the actual Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss got off to a pretty rocky start, but came back and showed Texas Tech that they were there to win.

Steve and Kathy Elgin and children, Emma and Stephen, and Ki and Nancy Jones and children, Jake and Mary Neely, were just a few of the many people from Holly Springs who attended the big game. They also were fortunate enough to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Dallas - how magical that must have been for all of them!

What a tragedy it was for our community this week with the loss of Holly Springs’ icon “Freddy D.” As a child, I fondly remember walking to the square with Donna Nunnally to shop at the Ben Franklin. There was just something fantastic about going in the store and seeing Freddy D with a huge smile just waiting to greet all the weekend children. It was a haven for all of us!

After the Ben Franklin closed and I got older, I lost touch with Freddy D. Moving back to Holly Springs, I started seeing him more often through The South Reporter. The gruffness in his voice would always be a welcomed thing to me. He was a sweet man with many great attributes. He will be sorely missed by all of those who cared for and loved him.

Are you hungry tonight?

If you are so inclined and are an Elvis fan, come on down to Marshall Academy’s gymnasium Thursday. The basketball match-ups are just part of the fun! Kathy Elgin is in charge of the concession stand, which will be serving up some of the King’s favorite dishes.

There is even going to be an Elvis impersonator, one of the best in the area! He will be making his appearance near the beginning of the high school girls game. He has a lot in store for the crowd, as well as the players.

The Marshall Academy Junior High Cheerleaders hosted a clinic this week for the lower elementary girls. These little “Marshall minis” will be performing during the night at the gym, as well.

Come on down to celebrate Elvis’ birthday at Marshall Academy on Thursday! It is going to be a great time for all!

Marshall Academy Lounge Makeover

During the Christmas break, the Marshall Academy PTC pulled off a surprise on the faculty and staff. The teacher’s lounge, a common gathering place for teachers and staff alike, has not been completely remodeled in years.

The transformation took place while the school was out on their break. All the floor coverings were replaced, walls repainted, fixtures replaced and cabinets repainted. The room was also given added features, such as an antique drop leaf table and chairs, hand-made tables for their work stations, new artwork for the walls and a new window covering.

Teachers returned Monday to a nice, fresh lounge. The PTC wanted to show the teachers just how much they are appreciated.

Teachers need to be given praise and gratitude with every breath. They are the ones who mold the lives of our children. They help them to strive for higher goals and to achieve them - going the extra mile. Thank a teacher today - no matter how small the gesture, it will make their day!

(To put your news in City Personals, please e-mail maryclayb@yahoo.com; mail to City Personals, The South Reporter, P.O. Box 278, Holly Springs, MS 38635 or call 662-252-4261. You may also e-mail your City Personal news to south@dixie-net.com).

Museuming
Lois Swanee Shipp
Museum Curator

January, a time to regroup and recoup

January! My favorite month of the year! Always, January is the most wonderful month of all because it is a resting time. All of my life I have gone at break -neck speed but in January, I recoup and regroup. When I look over the past year, it was an incredible year for me. One big thrill was a private meeting with President Bush.

Looking back on 2008 the Lord thrilled me again and sent me Mr. Shipp as a loving companion and helpmate. We celebrated with a fairy tale wedding at the Baptist church the middle of September and went on a 10-day honeymoon to Hawaii where neither of us had ever been before. And he and I have been tripping the light-fantastic ever since without stopping.

Over Christmas we entertained fifty of our children for Christmas dinner. The Lord showed me how to do it. We rented the Lodge at Wall Doxey Park, had a roaring fire in the big fireplace even though outside the temperature this Christmas was a hot 57 degrees. All the guests came and brought their favorite food which made a great feast and afterward we did the dishes by throwing them in the trash can. Everybody had a good time, it didn’t kill the cook like it used to long ago when I was the only cooker even though I had help. The attendees at the Park had it all decorated with two big Christmas trees covered with ornaments. They answered all our wants and needs very capably. Not many Christmases are perfect, but this came pretty close to perfection.

Mr. Shipp and I are still on cloud nine and still honeymooning. Our many grandchildren lovingly call him I-Daddy. The way we count it, between us we have 10 children, 23 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and 14 in-law children (plain, great and all great,) making 66 in all, plus I-Daddy and me, making it a total of 68. During this coming year, we are looking forward to two more great-grandchildren plus two big weddings in April and May.

Economically, we all hope and pray that the world situation will get better. Also we need to pray for the new president as he now has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Also, we need to pray for the war in Iraq where time began and where Abraham came from his hometown of Ur. The name was probably short as not all of the alphabet had been invented at that time. I believe in history and since creation more than likely happened there, it will be where time ends. The way things are looking, I may be blessed and get to see the Rapture.

When we think back over the past year and stand on the threshold of 2009, let’s not forget God’s gift of time. Every year, the gift of time is twelve months, fifty-two weeks, three hundred sixty-five days, eight thousand seven hundred sixty hours, five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes and thirty-one million, five hundred thirty six thousand seconds, which is all a God-given gift to you and me.

You can’t stop it, you can’t add to it or subtract from it. Time just keeps on ticking along.

Sometime I think of how wonderful it would be if I could walk back in time to the time before the Civil War here in Holly Springs and see the town as it looked then. Holly Springs in 1836 was a planned-on-paper community.

I would be interested in walking around the square, down College Avenue and up Van Dorn and seeing the many changes that were made.

Don’t you wish the early settlers could see us now and wonder at the many changes that have been wrought since they were here, such as cars, electricity, running water, telephones, television, computers, paved streets, fast food and airplanes?

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