For What It's Worth

I took a walk in the park last week. That, on the surface, does not seem all that newsworthy. We all take walks from time to time. My almost 72-year-old legs won’t let me go long distances anymore, but I can get out and do short walks to be sure the legs are still working. The days of walking the golf course are pretty much done and a golf cart now is a requirement.

My walk in the park last week was as much a walk down memory lane as well as a moment to view recovery. You’ll read in this week’s South Reporter about my conversation with Wall Doxey State Park Manager Lordish Matheney regarding the park’s June 15 reopening after January’s severe winter storm struck the area.

If you don’t know already, Wall Doxey State Park is among the 24 state parks and one natural area managed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP). The park was named for Wall Doxey, Sr., a prominent lawyer and politician who lived in Holly Springs. Doxey was a Congressman and then a U.S. Senator between 1929 and 1943, at which time he became the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms. Doxey then became the only former U.S. Senator to serve in that capacity.

The park was named for Doxey in 1956, just short of 20 years after the park was established as Spring Lake State Park in 1938. The park itself was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Although the park had not opened on my visit last week, there was a lot of activity going on. Park staff, volunteers, and MDWFP personnel continued clearing brush and removing broken branches. A lot of work has gone on, and continues to go on ahead of the park welcoming visitors back to the area.

As the cleanup continues, campgrounds 1-49 will remain temporarily closed while debris removal continues. But the park’s lodging, lake activities, and land recreation opportunities will be available as it progresses through the summer. The campsites that are open, and those initially closed but will reopen when ready, offer water and electric hookups, picnic tables and grills. There are nine rental cabins and one cottage, and six of the rental cabins have gone through an upgrade with modernized flooring and updated amenities. It’s part of a phased-in reopening because of the level of debris removal that’s going on.

The public can actually get involved when a Clean-Up Day is held July 1819, between 7 a.m. And 12 noon each day.

In my conversation with Matheney, I was surprised when she said that she and her family spent 28 days post-winter storm inside the park without electricity, using wood fires, outdoor grills and charcoal to cook food and stay warm until gasoline was available to start up a backup generator.

Imagine that, nearly a month spent without the typical conveniences we take for granted. All that was heard the first day after the ice storm struck was the crack of tree branches breaking and nothing else. Her commitment was impressive. I might have started looking for a friend’s home or a hotel, if I could.

But, as I walked (and drove) through the park, the experience became a walk down memory lane for me, remembering previous visits to Wall Doxey, and to other state parks I’ve had opportunities to be at.

For instance, I grew up about 90 minutes from the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Itasca State Park in Minnesota. From the waters of Lake Itasca, what leaves the lake as a small stream dodging rocks then winds its way southward on its journey to become the wide river we know as the Mighty Mississippi heading down to the Gulf.

With the close proximity from my home to the headwaters, a visit to Itasca State Park was a fairly easy trip to make, and we did so on a number of occasions. A drive and picnic somewhere in the park was always something to look forward to. Our high school senior class trip was a bus trip, a skip day you might say, where we piled into the bus to spend the day at Itasca.

My last visit there came when I made a road trip to revisit my hometown a few years ago and a side trip on the way had me going into the park to see it again.

If you go, your time at Itasca is never complete unless you visit the headwaters and walk across from one side to the other on the rocks. Then, you can honestly say you walked across the Mississippi, because you had. And I have, several times.

So the visit to Wall Doxey revived those memories, but also had me remembering other times I had visited Wall Doxey in the past. You visit and you view the scenery, from the trees to the view from the dock of the lake, in its spring-fed refreshing beauty. We’ve spent time at Wall Doxey and my visit last week had me remembering those moments.

My walk last week also included the enjoyment of viewing a family of Canada geese waddling by the lake and cabins, and being welcomed by a turtle, who was savoring the morning air and not wanting to move much further than where he was at that moment.

I would encourage you to schedule time at your local state park this summer. There will continue to be clean up work through the summer but many of the amenities are either now available or will be at some point in the weeks ahead.

Pack a picnic lunch, invite family and friends to come for a camping or cabin weekend, and bring the fishing rod to see if you can land a big one. You can learn more about Wall Doxey State Park on the MDWFP website, or call the park directly.

If you do, get ready to make your own memories to remember at your local state park.

That’s what I have for now...for what it’s worth.

Bob Bakken is Editor of the South Reporter