Society

Carole Webb of Nashville, Tenn., and Wesley Webb of Oxford, spent Father’s Day with their dad, Walter Webb.

Charlie Douglas and children, Caroline and Chandler, spent Saturday with Dick Douglas for an early Father’s Day celebration.

Ann Yager Hamlin and Alex McCrosky of Danville, Ky., spent the weekend visiting with Bea and Drew Tolsdorf of Jackson.

Congratulations to Masey and Steven Gresham, who made their love official Saturday night in a beautiful ceremony at the Methodist Church in Tunica. There was standing room only in the church, which was quaint, with gorgeous stained glass windows throughout.

After the couple was announced, a reception followed at the Tunica Riverpark Museum. The band was fantastic, playing a lot of Motown hits. Everyone gathered to watch Masey and Steven dance their first dance. Afterwards, guests danced to the music!

The entire evening was magical, from the wedding (with the look on Steven’s face when Masey walked down the aisle) to the wonderful view of the mighty Mississippi River at the reception!

(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.

Gina Marie Tindall and Marty Brasher will exchange vows at Beulah Baptist Church

Ben and Eva Tindall of Myrtle are proud to announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Gina Marie Tindall, to Marty Brasher of Jackson, Tenn. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of the late Robert and Eleanor Tindall of New Albany and the late Fred and Elsie Smith of Lamar.

Gina is a 1996 graduate of Myrtle Attendance Center. She received her Associate of Science degree in microcomputer technology from Northeast Community College in 1999, Bachelor of Science degree in technology teacher education from Mississippi State University in 2001 and her Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in special education from the University of Mississippi in 2002. She currently teaches students with special needs in DeSoto County.

Marty is the son of Bill Brasher of Fairfield Glades, Tenn., and Diane Rainey of Enville, Tenn. He is the grandson of Sadie Brasher and the late Thomas C. Brasher of Saltillo, Tenn., and the late Willie Mae and Thelmar Hensley of Enville, Tenn.

Marty is a 1991 graduate of Chester County High School in Tennessee. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 1996, Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from Freed-Hardeman University in 1996 and attended graduate school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for mechanical engineering. He is currently a mechanical engineer in Jackson, Tenn.

The couple will exchange vows on July 10, 2010, at 2 p.m. at Beulah Baptist Church in Myrtle. A reception will immediately follow in the fellowship hall. All family and friends are invited to attend.

Kayla Howard and Terry Lyles Jr. to wed July 10 at Meadowbrook

Terry Layne Lyles Jr. and Kayla Howard

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Howard are pleased to announce the upcoming marriage of their daughter, Kayla Yvonne Howard to Terry Layne Lyles Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Layne Lyles Sr.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of James Romedy and the late Maxie Romedy and J.T. and Yvonne Howard, all of Byhalia.

Kayla is a 2007 graduate of DeSoto Central High School and a 2009 graduate of Northwest Community College. She is currently employed at Little People’s Learning Barn in Southaven.

The prospective groom is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Jones of Horn Lake, and Ruth Lyles and the late Layne Lyles of Horn Lake.

Terry is a 2007 graduate of DeSoto Central High School and a 2009 graduate of Northwest Community College. He is currently a junior at Ole Miss in Oxford where he is majoring in biology. He is currently working at McAlister’s Deli in Olive Branch.

The couple will exchange vows at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 10, 2010, at Meadow-brook Baptist Church, Byhalia, with a small reception to follow.

Sara Christian Russom and Cody Lynn Brooks will exchange vows at 11 a.m. on July 3, 2010, at the First Baptist Church in Potts Camp.

Cody Lynn Brooks of Pontotoc is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Scott White of Pontotoc and Mr. and Mrs. David Peel Jr. of Houston.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Floyd of Byhalia and the late Alvin Russom and Marie Russom of Waterford.

She is a graduate of Potts Camp High School, where she was a member of the Beta Club, fastpitch and slowpitch softball teams and president of the math and science club.

She is currently a student at Itawamba Community College pursuing a degree in radiology. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa at ICC. She is employed by Pontotoc Mobile Home Supply.

The prospective groom is the grandson of Pie Peel and the late Margaret Ann Peel of Houston and Martha Thomas of Houlka and Roger Thomas of Houlka.

He is a graduate of South Pontotoc High School, where he was MVP of the varsity soccer team and in Who’s Who Among American High School Students. He attended Itawamba Community College. He is employed as a carpenter by Mast Construction.

A reception will follow at the church. Family and friends are invited to attend.

In 1937, Congress passed a law about building the dams Sardis, Enid, Grenada and Akabutla to alleviate flooding and creating TVA so we could have cheaper electricity. Before that, the Tallahatchie flooded every year. In the Delta for thousands of years and more, the mighty Mississippi flowed over its banks and left the topsoil from all those northern states making all that rich dirt the richest soil in the world.

At the Tallahatchie River on Highway 7 South, a ferry boat was used while our bridge was being built. I remember going to Oxford with my folks in a 1936 Pontiac crossing on the ferry boat west of where the now-bridge was being built. It was all miraculous. The town of Coldwater is now in the bottom of Sardis Lake. They moved it up on the hill where it is today.

We need to build a new national park in Mississippi and it needs to be built in the Mississippi Tallahatchie Wetlands. The land is already owned by the government.

The project would furnish jobs for thousands of people for generations to come as well as now. Over the whole thing could fly the six flags of Mississippi. This article is ideal for tourism, which we need desperately.

Today, most folks have never been on a train. Have an excursion train going from Holly Springs to the river and to Oxford and back again with a dining car on the back. Make the Tallahatchie River the pivotal point with the Mississippi Wetlands Refuge. Set up a trolley on rails to travel over the wetlands as it is a fascinating piece of history.

Then make a Civil War encampment as the original cannon parapets are still there. Create a Civil War park in this area. Holly Springs’ General James Chalmers built the parapets early in the war. It was used by others later.

Have ferry boat excursions two miles down river to visit the antebellum Old Wyatt Landing where the Town of Wyatt stood on the bluff where the town used to sit. The town was burned by the Yankees during the Civil War and nothing remains except the well holes and the cemetery. We could build a beautiful hiking trail where the big boats turned around when coming from the Mississippi River as the Tallahatchie was too shallow after that for boat traffic.

Reconstruct the Indian mounds that used to be there and have an Indian village. Ask the Mississippi Choctaws to do this and have Indians all the time, similar to what Chucalissa used to have.

The canal that was built by the Department of the Interior in 1912 is still in perfect shape. It could be used as a recreational waterway for skiing, boating, fishing and other water sports. Have a unique water park here.

To have something for everybody, let’s build a Disney World carnival and midway in the southwest corner of the property. The whole park would be a drawing card for everybody of all ages. Everybody would have a destination to go and spend the day, or the week. Build businesses such as cafes, antiques, gift and souvenir shops and hotels.

I wrote President Obama and asked him to use money from the stimulus funds to create jobs here on this project so people could work and build this history project for the future. This would be a great tourist attraction and would be a positive draw for our beloved Mississippi.

Enlist the Department of the Interior and let them build and pay for it. Let’s create a new national park in Mississippi. During the Great Depression the economy was worse than it is now. Roosevelt started several work programs for the unemployed and the needy. The CCC project built great places that we enjoy today and it also taught working skills to people who were unskilled. Roosevelt started projects to preserve history, to create history, sewing projects, and preservation projects. We need to teach skills of all sorts that could be used as vocations the rest of their lives.

The biggest industry in Mississippi today is the welfare industry and we need to make this a better place by creating jobs and teaching people that work is a joy and counts for something. We need to be thankful for a job and the opportunity to work.

Recently at the museum, we had visitors from France, who owned vineyards in France and southern California. Also, we had visitors from 23 states and four foreign countries. Tourism is such a joyful industry and we want all people, locals included, to join in and enjoy what is happening here.

Tourism is like a new factory with income coming in from cafes, gas stations, and entry fees. Let’s make all tourists feel welcome by being polite, pleasant and informed of what there is to see. We have the makings of a great industry here if we are smart. We already make a great destination. The Museum is open six days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. There is an entry fee at the door.


Thursday, June 24, 2010
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