Bank of Holly Springs

Fielder’s Choice

Cherished collectibles

I don’t go to a lot of estate sales, but Sunday afternoon I just felt I needed to make the drive to Oxford.

The sale was at the home of the late Jesse and Jeanette Phillips, two of my most favorite people ever. I admired them and cherished any and every visit I had with them after moving to Holly Springs 17 and a half years ago.

Jesse was an icon in the Oxford community. He owned the Oxford Eagle newspaper for 53 years.

Jeanette, a former professor and chair of the University of Mississippi’s Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, was a community leader, too.

I always left my visits with them upbeat, positive, happy and smiling. They encouraged me.

When I found out about the estate sale, I told my wife Pam, “I just believe I have to go.”

I will always have the memories of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, as I called them out of the utmost respect, but I wanted a few items from their home, too. It would be things we could cherish, plus pass down to our children Emma, Andy and Erin, who shared our great love for the two of them.

Erin loves monkeys. The first thing that caught her attention in the carport was a coin container on a table. It was three monkeys and had slots for nickels, dimes and quarters. She got it.

One of the things we collect the most, as a family, is Christmas ornaments. We have one from I believe anywhere we have ever traveled – including a lot from Disney World.

Pam and Erin found a couple of more to add to our collection. And when we put them on our tree this Christmas and every Christmas in the future, we will think of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips.

We bought an old copy of Rolling Stone magazine, specifically for Emma. On the cover was a photo of Elvis Presley. It was the edition published just a week or so after Elvis’ death.

Upstairs I saw several copies of a publication from the Mississippi Press Association. It was in celebration of MPA’s 125th anniversary.

That’s how I first met Jesse and Jeanette Phillips, back in the 1980s. It was through my involvement in MPA after I moved from Alabama to go to work at The Itawamba County Times in Fulton.

The publication was dated 1990-91 and I saw photos of many good friends and influences in this profession – most who were serving on the MPA Board of Directors at the time.

I was blessed to follow in their footsteps a few years later.

The publication contained comments from community newspaper legends in Mississippi like the late Gale Denley, the late Jesse Phillips and Rubye Del Harden, all three who I have been blessed to work with and who have influenced my life for the better in so many ways.

“The association has given me much more than I can ever give back,” Harden wrote.

I couldn’t agree more.

As we were about to leave the Phillips home on Sunday afternoon, Pam and I just really wanted to walk away with a piece of furniture. We noticed a small wooden chair in one of the front rooms. That was it.

We spent $29 at the estate sale. But the things we purchased are worth far more than that to the Burlesons.

Holly Springs South Reporter

P.O. Box 278
Holly Springs, MS 38635
PH: (662) 252-4261
FAX: (662) 252-3388
www.southreporter.com