Smoke Signals and other news
Congratulations!! The Byhalia High School Soccer Team has made it into the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Byhalia and the city of Holly Springs are accepting Tee Ball, Baseball, and Softball applications. Potts Camp will be registering soon. Please give them a try. Games will start in early April.
Our community is saddened by the loss of two special ladies this week, Sandy Tuttles and Betty Shackelford-Greer. Tuttles was such a sweet and kind lady. She will be missed by all who knew her. Greer looked out for many of us at Shack's all those years ago. She was my mother-in-law for eighteen years and will always hold a special place in my heart. Please keep both families in your prayers.
My Facebook account is still hacked. Facebook has done nothing but respond with automated messages, which are useless. I have sent them all the info they have asked for, plus the name of the person who has hacked it. (I did my research.) I have a name, address, email, and phone number. Wonder what the hacker would say if I contacted them? The hacker has added many undesirable folks to my friends list. If you are friends with me on Facebook, please report it as hacked. Feel free to “unfriend” me until this is resolved.
Neighborhood Grill in downtown Byhalia had their ribbon cutting this week. The owners, Jason Lowe, Jerrie Camp, and Ryan Glosson, did an excellent job renovating the building at 30 N. College Street.
Little Moos is open and located just south of the fourway stop on Highway 309. The owners, Ginger Burrows and Brittany Henson (sisters), are overwhelmed with the outpouring of support shown since they opened.
In history, ~ The town of Byhalia was first named Farmington after the Methodist Church was established here. The Postal Service rejected this name. Corinth was then submitted, the name of the first Presbyterian Church about three miles west, but was also denied as a duplication of an existing Mississippi town. Byhalia was the name, then submitted and approved. A government agent, Erasmus P. McDowell, surveyed the land to be vacated by the Chickasaw Indians due to the Pontotoc Treaty. A map he drew of this area in 1835, before white settlement, showed a creek spelled BIHALEE. Bihalee was his translation of the original Chickasaw word DAI-YI-ILAH which meant “white oak” or “lone white oak.” By the time the U. S. Postal Service accepted the name in 1846, it had become BYHALIA. Tombstones in our area tell us who many of these early founding families were. Over the years, other names have been lost due to no gravestone or gravestone damage.
Let me know if you are enjoying the history lessons.
Please share your news with me at jchwagg@gmail.com or text or call 901-246-8843. Please do not message me on Facebook!