Society

On Saturday, November 14, a group of Emory University students toured Holly Springs. They are a class of Southern Studies students and their professor, Dr. Sally Wolff-King, came with them. Harvey Payne, city alderman, met the group and gave them a tour of homes. Dr. Wolff-King had high praise for Lois Swaney Shipp’s tour of the museum and especially appreciated her coming out on Saturday to meet with the group of students. The students were thrilled by the history and hospitality of Holly Springs.

Gene, Caitlyn and Grady Brooks travelled to Saucier, over the weekend to visit with Gene’s sister, Debie Bordelon, and her family. While there, they picked up a four-legged friend to join their family, Shorty, who is a miniature horse.

JJ and Steven Tutor and children, Patsy, Mitch and Grace, of Hattiesburg, are holiday guests of her parents, Donnie and Martha Mitchell. While here, they are also going to visit with Jamie Brigance and her children, Stevie and Drew, and other family and friends.

Collier Carlton spent his Thanksgiving holidays with Patrick and Mary Glen Carlton and twins, Mary Grace and William, in Birmingham.

Mary Clay, Caitlyn and Grady Brooks and Kay Wheeler attended the Friday afternoon Christmas production by the Rockettes at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. While there, they enjoyed walking down Beale Street and enjoyed lunch at the Hard Rock Café.

A crowd of Holly Springs folks travelled to Starkville, Saturday for the annual Egg Bowl, a competition between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Needless to say, Ole Miss took the losing end of that battle. However, after the Bulldogs 0-45 defeat during last year’s Egg Bowl, they had something to prove on their own turf. Good for them.

Vicki and Walter Webb hosted a variety of family for Thanksgiving dinner. Jason and Lea Farese and children, Luke and Alexa, of Oxford, Gerri and Mike Cammarati and daughter, Amelia, of Olive Branch, Pam and Jackie Michael and children, Evan and Chandler Grace, of Germantown, Tenn., Carole Webb of Nashville, Tenn., Wesley Webb of Oxford, and Vivian and Eugene Smith all joined them for a feast.

Amy and Perry Mask and children, Josh and Juston, and Vicki Swords and daughter, Leslie, spent Thanksgiving in Orlando, Fla., where they had a wonderful time at the theme parks and enjoyed the fabulous weather.

Hopefully by the time this issue comes out, the cell phones in Holly Springs are fixed! Monday evening, cell phone lines were crossed. I thought it was just mine until my husband had a page from his work and had to use his cell phone after midnight. He was attempting to call the security company and wound up getting someone else - completely unrelated to his work.

Earlier in the evening, I called a friend on her land line. I heard a quick “hello” from her and then I started in, like the commercial, with “can you hear me now?” A man said, “Yes, I can hear you, can you hear me?” I said, “yes,” and then had yet another cut-in call that went something like this, “you have a collect call from ‘I love you more and more each day, baby,’ Marshall County Correctional Facility. To accept charges...” So, thanks to the cell phone issue Monday night, there is some lonely prisoner thinking he is unloved because before I could hit the numbers to accept or decline, yet another person came on the line! So for that prisoner who did not get to speak to his beloved, Monday evening, I apologize sir -- you may have thought you dialed her number, but indeed did not reach the proper destination.

Someone I spoke with for a fleeting moment that night wondered if maybe it was not an act of terrorism. Well, pure terror ran through my veins when a deep-voiced man answered what I thought was my mother’s phone! Terrorism or not, having no communication via cell phone with your “normal” contacts was terrible! Funny enough, text messages were going through to the right people, just not direct dialing.

First cell phone call Tuesday morning went over fine, so hopefully all is well in the cell phone world now. Crossing fingers that it stays this way!

(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).

Johns-Taylor vows said in November 7 ceremony

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Johns

Mr. and Mrs. Keith Taylor of Byhalia are proud to announce the marriage of their daughter Lindsey Brook Taylor to Andrew Johns of Moscow, Tennessee.

Lindsey is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert (Bob) Turner of Byhalia and Ann Taylor and the late Roy Taylor of Lamar.

She is a 2007 graduate of Rossville Christian Academy and attended Northwest Community College. She is currently employed with Memphis Children’s Clinic in Germantown, Tenn.

Andrew is the son or Mr. and Mrs. Dewayne Johns of Moscow. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Johns of Sylvester, Ga., and Rose Jarrell of Moscow, Tenn.

He is a 2007 graduate of Rossville Christian Academy and attended the University of Tennessee at Martin. He is currently employed with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.

The couple exchanged vows on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 2 p.m. at The Flame at Byhalia United Methodist Church.

A reception followed the ceremony at The Flame.

Mr. and Mrs. Johns are currently making their new home in Holly Springs.

Jessica and Jeffrey Walker are the happy parents of twin boys, born November 13, 2009 at Desoto-Baptist Hospital in Southaven.

Skyler David weighed in at four pounds, six ounces and was 17.2 inches long. He was born at 11:36 a.m.

Tyler Robert weighed four pounds, 11 ounces and was 16.5 inches long. He was born at 11:37 a.m.

Parental grandparents are David Walker of Holly Springs and Sheila Walker of Red Banks.

This story has characters in it. Taxi-1 stands for taxidermist number one. Taxi-2 stands for taxidermist number two. Whiz is my secretary, and I-dear stands for my beloved husband, Ira.

Well, folks, here is my story about a cute little ’possum, that little prehistoric creature that runs around here at night. When the beautiful ’possum got killed in front of our house, I-dear carried it immediately to Taxi-1. It had no visible marks or blood anywhere. It just died internally after being hit by a vehicle. Taxi-1 said it would be ready in six weeks. I gave him a deposit and came home to wait. I called up there several times but got no answer. After six weeks, I-dear and I went up there to see Taxi-1 and to pick up the ’possum. Taxi-1 says, “Oh, I threw it away, it was so rotten!” I replied, “You did what!? He was perfect when I brought him to you. You have to get me another ’possum as we are having a ’possum contest. Trap me one!” He said, “I don’t trap. I’ll get my trapper friend to do it for me.”

I came home and waited for a couple of weeks and called up there to Taxi-1. He said, “There doesn’t seem to be any ’possums anymore. ’Possums seem to be getting destink.” I said, “I’m going to tell everybody about you throwing away the ’possum!” Then, gruffly, Taxi-1 said, “Lady, don’t go getting smart with me!” I didn’t intend to, so I said, “OK, I’ll come up and pick up my deposit.” I-dear and I went up there. He was waiting for us and had the check ready. The Lord had placed an old time evangelist there to get on me and my anger and to teach Taxi-1 a lesson or two. I can’t stand in one spot long but we were standing there, enthralled, listening to what the overall-clad old gent was telling me. For an hour we listened. I will remember his impromptu sermon forevermore. So I came home without my anger and without a ’possum. He said, “Nobody wants to get rid of them! There aren’t many ’possums, why there are more armadillos than ’possums and I don’t have a trap as I don’t like them.” I was amazed that people collected ’possums. The next week he called me and he said, “I found you a ’possum. I found one lady who will sell her ’possum and I’ll give you her number. Her name is Roxanne.” So I called Roxanne and found out she was living in the middle of Pennsylvania. This pleasant lady told me that her ’possum was so beautifully mounted that it had won first place in the Tri States Fair up there. I asked how much she wanted for the ’possum. Her reply was $500. I almost threw the phone in the air but said, “We can’t pay you that. We are a poor museum, but thanks anyway.” While I was in the process of hanging up, she says, “Wait a minute. Maybe I’ll lend it to you.” I said, “No, we are having a “name the ’possum” contest and it needs to be ours.” Then I said, “Roxanne, you don’t need that ’possum. You can’t take it with you, but I really need it. Why don’t you give it to us and get a tax write- off?” She said, “Let me think about it for a few days and I’ll let you know.” So that’s where we are. We are having a ’possum naming contest and we have no ’possum. Right now, the contest is still on. I still think we’ll have a ’possum.

Sunday night my secretary, Whiz, who lives in the rural Waterford area, called me and said, “We have found you a ’possum. It was in my backyard and my husband shot it. He hit it and it dived into the armadillo hole. We went out and only the ’possum’s tail was sticking out of the hole, and when my husband tried to pull it out by the tail, the ’possum moved — but he’ll be dead by morning.” But the next morning the ’possum was gone so he was just playing ’possum.

Tickets for the Christmas tour are still available! All tickets are now $20. Tour Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun. 1-5.

Make your plans to bring your friends and family or just enjoy a day to yourself.

Hopefully, you already have tickets for the Kate Clark Art Gallery Luncheon, Saturday, and for the Christmas dinner theatre on December 4, 5 and 6.

There will be two concerts, one Saturday and one Sunday, at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. The talented Gill Family will be in concert Saturday and the fabulous Patriot Performers from Marshall Academy will be on Sunday.

The newly re-opened and fabulous Marshall County Historical Museum will also be open. Be sure to include a visit to the museum in your tour.

To obtain your Christmas in Holly Springs tour tickets, contact: the Marshall County Historical Museum, 220 East College Ave., P.O. Box 806, Holly Springs, MS 38635 or call 662-252-3669.


Thursday, December 3, 2009
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