Sunday, December 26, 2010

Edith Blush

Mrs. Edith Blush
Long time resident of Edwards Died Christmas day.

 

Edith Ramke Blush was born 2/14/1916 (Valentine’s Day) in Vermilion Parish, La., near Abbeville and died 12/25/10 (Christmas Day) at Olive Branch Senior Care Center in Tallulah following an extended illness. Edith spent her teen and early adult years in New Orleans and moved to Edwards in 1947 and lived there 56 years before moving to Vicksburg in October 2003.



She was preceded in death by Richard Kohnke Blush Sr., her husband of almost 65 years; a son, Ernest Edwin Blush; her parents, Edwin Derick Ramke and Lydia Marie Lee Ramke; a brother, Otis Vincent Ramke (a casualty of World War II); and one sister, Zoie R. Kennard Cabrai.



She is survived by three sisters, Iris R. Coumes of Slidell, La., Lina R. Parisi of Covington, La., and Grace Ramke of Baton Rouge. She is also survived by three children and their spouses, Florence Edith Blush Frederick (L. Wayne Frederick) of Guntown, Miss., Richard K. Blush Jr. (Fay Conway Blush) of Vicksburg and Herbert Allen Blush (Gloria Hughes Blush) of Yazoo City; 10 grandchildren, Edith F. Wilhite, Amy F. Griffin, Iris F. Horne, Jeanne F. Hardy, Eddie Blush, Andy Blush, Eric Blush, Marian B. Hughlett, Lauren Blush and Derrick Blush; 18 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.



She retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1978. She was an active member of the Edwards Baptist Church from 1947-2003, and of the Calvary Baptist Church in Vicksburg since 2003. She enjoyed gardening, being a good neighbor, ministry through her Bible class and church mission groups.



Visitation will be from 5 until 7 tonight at Glenwood Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will be at the Edwards Cemetery in Edwards at 11:30 with graveside service, weather permitting. Speakers for her funeral will be the Rev. Wayne Frederick and Dr. John McCall.



Pallbearers will be William White, Clifton Reed, Billy Smith, Dave Montgomery, Lee Miller, Michael Sullivan, Joe Crist and Riley Nelson.



In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church, 2878 Old Highway 27, Vicksburg, MS 39180; Edwards Baptist Church, Edwards; or the American Cancer Society, P.O.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christiansen Comments, Hinds County Gazette November 2010

The Christmas tree is decorated!


 It was a team effort for sure, I worked on it…not long, but I did work on it, I had guests for Lunch last Sunday they worked on it. Jacqueline came by Saturday and finished it up….Thank you very much Jac.




My friend Suzanne, on the other hand….. Well….she has not darken my door, since I announce my Christmas tree was down from the attic, fully assembled and ready to be decked out. Bless Suz’s heart she got caught one year decorating my tree…and Let me tell you, she was a less then enthusiastic elf. But Suz did call most everyday last week…Asking, rather overly cheerful, “what’s going on?“ I suspect it was just an attempt to find out if the tree was decorated yet, and to see if it would be safe to accept an invitation to stop by on her way home from teaching.



JO Gayle and I may have been first getting our trees up….But The Suz Girl, is not fond of tree adorning.. at all! She was on the phone weeks ago… lining up a crew to come deal with her tree…. Her daughter, Marianna and her friend Ava are coming this weekend to tend to it.



                                                       Ava and Marianna
                                            Deer Hunters  Suzanne drafted.....

My tree is up and beautifully decorated, the fruitcakes are made, dowsed with rum and are ripening in their tins, there is a batch caramels cooked and wrapped. My holiday season has begun.



There are always a good many men in the grocery when I go in the mornings…Mostly old geezers pushing the buggy for the wife…As a rule they aren’t doing a lot of smiling. But Friday morning when I was in the Kroger… there were lots of men, of all ages shopping alone, And they were grinning….I was momentarily puzzled…..Then it tumbled….They have charcoal and beer in their buggies. …they are headed to deer camp.



I told you last week that I was making Yankee dressing to take to “old people club“….They ate it! Wait a minute… I don’t know for sure that they ate it… But they did at least they put it on their plates, because it was gone except two or three spoons full, There were a couple pans of cornbread dressing too…The cornbread dressing was all gone….that’s ok, my feelings aren’t hurt.



My next culinary endeavor is going be, seeing can I make hot tamales… from scratch….I have been looking at recipes on line and watching videos of the process on Youtube. I does not appear difficult….Time consuming but not difficult…..we will see.



Sunday evening we had a lovely community Thanksgiving service at the Edwards Methodist Church …after the service…. the ladies served soup lots of different soups. We do not often get together as a community, except for funerals…It was a very special time. My joyous Christmas season has begun





I hope you have/had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will be going to Angela’s. We will be eating turkey sandwiches, potato chips and dill pickles. Her philosophy is this, “why make that big enormous meal?…When really the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is the leftover turkey sandwiches. “ Angela will roasting a 20 pound turkey, essentially just to make sandwiches. Angela is a “Cut to the chase” “bottom line” kind of girl. …it must be that accountant gene she has in her.

Love to all

Call if you need me

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Wilson McClain passed away Friday November 26

                                                                Wilson McClain
Hinds County Gazette
Christiansen's comments
to be published, December 2 2010




Wilson McClain died of a heart attack Friday November 26, he was 81. Wilson was a man’s man, a strong, soft spoken, gentle, sort of guy. He was a tall man, the kind of fella that stood out in a crowd. Wilson always wore, boots, western cut kaki pants, and western shirts….and if the weather was cool he would be wearing his camel colored leather jacket, . When I picture Wilson in my mind he is wearing that camel colored leather coat…I had known Wilson 23 years…I believe it all of those years it was the same coat….it was a beautiful Jacket



Awhile back, Wilson had begun having memory problems. Trying to sort out what was happening currently….was his difficulty. But memories from the past, Wilson had no problems with those. One Sunday, I think it was last fall, Dave and Suzanne Harpole had Wilson, Peggy Hubbard Ditto, and myself out to their house for Sunday lunch. What a delightful meal it was, Peggy, Wilson and Dave had Suzanne and I in stitches as they recalled stories of Edwards past.



Wilson’s memory difficulties were worsening…causing his friends and family much anguish. Some hard decisions concerning Wilson were inevitable .



Then God reveled his plan for Wilson….Wilson was at his deer camp in north Mississippi, The Tennessee Bar, when he died, his son was with him. I can’t help but think, Wilson died happy , doing what he loved, deer hunting, at a place he loved, Tennessee Bar Hunting and Fishing Club..

Love to all

Call if you need me



                                     The processional to Wilson's Houston McClains grave....

Notice the the horse with out a rider.   Before 4 wheeler Wilson and his hunting companions, like John Hubbard and Ray Cannada rode horses into the woods to hunt.

                               *************

Wilson's obituary as it appeared in the Clarion Ledger.

Wilson Houston McClain, Jr., 81, passed away on Friday, November 26, 2010 at Tennessee Bar Hunting and Fishing Club, following a heart attack.

Born September 15, 1929 in Greenville, MS, Wilson grew up in Vicksburg, was a member of First Presbyterian Church, and graduated from Carr Central High School in 1947. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1951 and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

He served as 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force then returned to Vicksburg to work in the family business, McClain Gas Company and Texaco Distributorship. After retiring, he worked with Central Pipe Company in Jackson, MS.

Wilson moved to Edwards in 1978 and was a member of the Edwards United Methodist Church.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jo Ruth Ragan McClain, parents, Wilson Houston McClain and Maxyne Mauldin McClain, sister Marcia Lynn McClain, and infant daughter, Anna Marie McClain.

Survivors include children Wilson H. McClain, III (Lee) of Coldspring, Texas; Kathleen McClain Jenkins Bond (Edward) of Natchez; and Marcia McClain McKinzie (Lee) of Baton Rouge; grandsons Wilson Buford (Buck) Jenkins and Scott Ragan McKinzie; nieces Ann Ragan Duncan and Kate Duncan Carlson; and nephews Robert Francis (Buck) Duncan and William Marion (Bill) Duncan.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Monday, November 29, at Riles Funeral Home in Vicksburg and at from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 30 at the Edwards United Methodist Church Family Center.

Services will be held at the Edwards United Methodist Church, 200 Magnolia Street, Edwards, MS, at 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 30, with burial to follow at the Edwards Cemetery.

Pallbearers include Emmett Atwood, Dink Hataway, George Hill, Buck Jenkins, Keith Lewis, Scott McKinzie, Fred Newcomb, Ed Pace, Harold Soverns, and Dennis Wood.

Honorary pallbearers will be David Barnhart, Edward Bond, Richard Boone, Bill Duncan, Buck Duncan, Dave Harpole, Pat Hubbard, Pete Hubbard, Tim Hubbard, Mike Johnson, Jamie Lewis, Bill Montgomery, Jeff Montgomery, Monty Montgomery, and members of the Tennessee Bar Hunting and Fishing Club.

Memorials may be made to the Edwards United Methodist Church, c/o Church Treasurer, 1202 Deer Crossing Road, Edwards, MS 39066 or Edwards Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 593, Edwards, MS 39066.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Christiansen Comments Hinds County Gazette November 18 2010

 I am Never first! Never! Never ever!

No matter when I set  my Christmas tree up…This year, it was in the wee hours of the morning ,Thursday the 11 of November that I brought the tree down from the attic, and put it together, That is early even for me.



Back in the day when the kids still were home and would assist in the tree’s assembly and decor (sort of) we put the tree up Thanksgiving afternoon. Then when they left home and had their own trees to deal with…I was on my own…. John had ballgames to watch, as I have no TV in the living room…he was no help. So to get the tree up and over with, I begin putting it up the first part of Thanksgiving week…now then I am up to two full weeks before Thanksgiving. Jacqueline says, I will soon be beating wal-mart.



I was so sure I was first this year…My friend Jo Gayle Reeves beat me by a hair last year. So soon as it got late enough in the morning, that I felt comfortable calling Jo Gayle, (that would be shortly after day break,) she, like me gets up very early. I called to brag….Jo Gayle answered laughing, not only did she have her tree up…she was decorating it…AND wrapping gifts. Mine was only up…I depend on the pity and kindness of my friends to come decorate my tree.



As you may or may not know, I am not from the south, but over the years I have worked hard at polishing my southern culinary skills and have more or less perfected Chicken and dumplings…. Kay Montgomery says mine taste, “just like the ones my grandmother‘s cook made. “ I don‘t know… could there be any higher praise then that? And after a few fits and starts…. I can now make quite agreeable Ambrosia.



Well, tomorrow is “Old People Club” I am baking a turkey and making Yankee dressing to take….We Yankees make our dressing with white bread, not cornbread…we will see if the gathered crowd goes to spitting and gagging. If they don’t like it, my dogs will. Peggy Ann said she would make cornbread dressing to bring to O P Club…I hope she doesn’t forget….



Next year I may try cornbread dressing. My favorite dressing is oyster. I shall make some to have for Christmas Eve this year. Yum! Me and the cats will eat it even if no one else does.



Becky Montgomery drove Peggy Ann and I to Bolton for the old time hymn singing at St. Mary’s Sunday…What a treat! I love the old hymns….we sang loud … real loud…a lesser building may have collapsed under the pressure of our voices. Lots of folks turned out…nearly a full house….Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist , Presbyterian…we were all there. James Anderson tells me they are planning a special event for every month. Looking forward to them all!

call if you need me

Monday, November 8, 2010

Christiansen Comments Hinds County Gazette November 04 2010

Get your running shoes on! It has begun!

…I am talking about the holiday season. The Holidays run from Halloween through Super Bowl Sunday now. Not that many years ago, The Holidays began on Thanksgiving and ended, for many, early afternoon, very early afternoon, December 25. I have seen trees on the curb Christmas afternoon…Not just the real trees that may have become a fire hazard…but I have even seen artificial trees still fully decked out on the curd. I guess folks just get tired of them…so tired of them, they can not stand the sight of that tree even one more minute…so off it goes to the trash.




I was out and about Friday gathering up a few things to get me through the weekend, You all, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise were all mingle and scrambled together in the aisles of stores. Not only that, there were great batches of people everywhere…I was quite puzzled…then I saw an advertisement on the TV. Last Friday was to be the new “Black Friday”. Black Friday traditionally has been the Friday after Thanksgiving. We shall see if this New Black Friday thing catches on…I guess, there is no reason why it shouldn’t….we are easy…. We follow where ever Retail leads.



We abandon whole malls and shopping centers…Metro mall, Jackson Mall, Meadowbrook to name just a few….to follow….where we are led. We ran out north, to County Line Road, to shop til we dropped at Northpark, But the new has wore off Northpark…So, now then, we are choosing to ignore, Northpark in favor of “The Renaissance” and the other new shopping destination out on Lakeland drive. I have forgotten what it’s name is….it will come to me.



There is nothing wrong with commerce…the American economy needs us to buy and consume…Americans need the jobs. I just wish more of the jobs were in the manufacture of the merchandise we are buying. Remember Back in the day when Wal-mart proudly advertised they sold “made in America” products? My friend Isla maintains if Wal-Mart, would go back to Sam Walton’s way of doing business…our economic woes could end…if we manufactured what we purchased we could all be working.



Dogwood! That is the name of the mall on Lakeland! I knew it would come to me.

Gibbes Grocery Learned Mississippi  (Gibbs Grocery) 601 885 6833

Saturday night a great bunch of us traveled to Learned to pass out Halloween candy to the trick or treaters from Margret Sue’s front porch, she was working next door at Gibbes Grocery, but she had refreshments laid out for us…Some of the men were fussing because they were missing the ball games…. Margret Sue turned on her TV and settled them comfortably in her living room….Gibbes was very busy, so Margret Sue even arranged for their steaks to be delivered to them at her house…. so they didn’t have to miss even one down of the ball game…Now that is hospitality!


Margaret Sue Dozier on her front porch Halloween 2010  Learned Mississippi

I just love going to Learned for Halloween…I don’t think there were quite as many kids this year as last though.



Sunday morning I was telling daughter Angela about trick or treat in learned.. I was telling her I didn’t think kids are excited about Halloween as they use to be…she too had noticed. “But kids get candy all the time now…we didn’t have candy around when we were kids.” I paused didn’t say anything, she went on… “On Halloween we ran from house to house fast as we could, to get as much candy as we could carry, then we ran home, got another bag and took up where we left off…We didn’t have candy in the house when we were growing up.”



Well, they say confession is good for the soul…I didn’t want to but, I had to tell her, “ Angela there was always candy in the house when you were growing up….it was hid…and I never shared…it was usually Snicker bars.” I waited for her to fuss…she never uttered a word about me not sharing. Which, thinking on it later…lead me to believe she hid candy from Garrett.



There are times in many women’s lives that Chocolate is a necessity…like air and water….we have to have it…God knows, we would share anything we had with our children,….except our secret stash of chocolate, but I believe he forgives us.



love to all, call if you need me

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Christiansen Comments.. Hinds County Gazette ..October, 28, 2010

Good Morning!

 The weather here in Mid-Mississippi has been ideal, apart from for the lack of rain. Perfect weather for my Old Auntie and Cousin Alice’s visit to Mississippi. I keep telling everybody Old Auntie is 85, but I have begun to question that…..Alice and I could not always keep up with her…. We had a wonderful visit, caught up on lots of family members I have not seen in 50 years.


                                   Aunt Aryth and Cousin Alice

Let me stop right here and apologize for the confusion I unwittingly caused about the date of the Fall Edwards Cemetery Day. I quote, from my column, dated August 26 2010. “Well, as usual our Fall calendars are filling up fast….Last week I mentioned the Fall Pilgrimage in Raymond, October 1 through 16. Edwards semi annual Cemetery day is October 16. And the Methodists are having a rummage sale that week end too”

I am so sorry….Cemetery day took place in September. But in my defense, I was unaware there had been a change until way on after while….but, even after I announced the wrong date, no one called my attention to it, so I could correct it. Therefore I have concluded that the change was made after I wrote about it in the Gazette published August 26. Well…… there is another possibility, the folks in charge of making schedule changes for cemetery cleanup, do not read my scribbles, and they were unaware I had made such a hefty blunder.

                                   The Edwards Cemetary


October 16 was the date on the 2010 community Birthday calendar. Which by the way, is put out by the nice Baptist Ladies each year for our convenience. AND Some of the profits are used each year to feed us Edwards old people, a lovely, tasty fall luncheon…..always with grand entertainment. …I go to the mail box everyday looking for my invitation…It should be coming soon! The Baptist Ladies are very kind they do not call us “ old people” they have dubbed it the “Keenager Luncheon.”



Back to the Edwards Cemetery Day, date fiasco …I am told there has been another change to the 2011 Fall cemetery date. I do not know what that date is though…..the 2011 community calendar has Saturday September 17.




I didn’t get as many calls about the Methodist Rummage sale, but I did get a few. I announced in that same column they were going to have a rummage sale the same day as Cemetery day, …The rummage sale didn’t happen ether…I don’t know why…Again I am so sorry. I did hear, it has been rescheduled…did not hear a date though….



However “The friends of Raymond” annual Fall pilgrimage, I mentioned in that same August 26 column, went off without a hitch.



I have got to go….On this beautiful Fall day, the front porch is calling me…in particular the Swing, He is waiting on me….He can’t swing with out me.

Love to all,

call if you need me

Monday, October 11, 2010

Christiansen Comments, Hinds County Gazette, October 7 2010

My old House is expecting company....

I was debating as to whether or not to even sit down here this morning, as I told you last week I have very important company coming to visit a few days,in mid-October, and I have lots to do before they get here.




For those of you who moved and now live far away and may have forgotten, Summer time in Mississippi is brutal, this year was especially hot and miserable. During Mississippi Summers ….when it comes to chores around the house, watering the plants confined to pots, keeping the grass mowed, roses dead headed… all such as that…. you are fortunate if you can maintain status quo, let alone take on any projects.



But, has cooled down now, so I have been preparing for my company, the kitchen has been degreased, the mildew has been scrubbed from the front porch…mostly. Saturday, I moved to the back steps…. In the late 80’s when we moved here to 201, we had new steps built to the back porch…to replace the wobbly., rickety ones with the loose and rotting treads….as I recall they were to be a stop gap measure , an emergency build, to be temporary, just until we could sort out what we really wanted to do…..Well, here it is some 20 plus years later and those hastily built steps are still in service at the back door….



I do have to mend them now and again…..I did that Saturday, the boards were loose and there was a significant, possibly dangerous, tilt to the treads…way more then necessary to drain the rainwater off ..for sure. Foot placement was getting tricky…some steps were solid in the middle…some were solid only on one end or the other. They are all sound from end to end now!



There is something so comforting about old houses…even though they can be quite drafty, they still have a cozy feel and they are so friendly….they love to have folks come to visit.







But old houses are work…lots of work. Recently, I heard Allan Huffman say as he was gazing toward his beautiful antebellum home, Holly Grove, “I was hoping to get it fully restored, before I had to start repairing it.”

Now John and I we never quite got around to restoration….the repairs kept us busy.



You all, my ambition is no longer renovation…I have just two objectives left for this old house. 1. Keep it reasonably safe for guests and 2. dry enough to sleep comfortably….… Time and energy are fast fading.



This 90 year old house I live in, He does not seem to mind a few scuffs and dings, He is a happy house, He does not seem to mind that his floors are worn, where folks have walked, children have played and my dogs have laid. He does not seem to worry that his windows and pipes sometimes rattle or his floors creak…For nearly 100 years, he has squared his shoulders and stood up to the elements and protected his people. And House knows he was here before I was born and he will be here long after I die….



But, I know this old house is very fond of me…When ever I come through one of his doors….He gives me a big hug and in his voice, rattles, creaks and squeaks says to me, “you are safe, you are home” . I get the idea on occasion, I need to down size…..But if this old house has his way, 201 will be my address until Jesus comes to take me Home.

Love to all


Call if you need me

Monday, October 4, 2010

Christiansen Comments, Hinds County Gazette....

Here is an oldie.....

HCG January, 20, 2005


There are many things in this world I take for granted, for one, airplanes weighing many tons, can ignore gravity, and fly…. faster then the speed of sound too!!

But, you all, my poor Brain knows it is impossible for planes fly. Brain also knows TV is impossible, if pictures can come through the air, he wants to know why he can’t see them coming in the house. And he wonders how they keep from getting tangled up, what with all of the TV and radio stations, and satellites out there sending different pictures and sounds.

Brain and I watch Mr. Wizard reruns and the science channel, sometimes I even think I comprehend the impossible. But soon after watching I forget and evidently Brain does not have the capability to retain all such as that ether and he too… almost immediately forgets the formulas, and again convinces me achievements such as flying and TV are not possible.

Brain and I, do not have any trouble with things that float…I can make a toy boat that will float…but I could, not even in the fifth grade, when at the height of my paper airplane construction skills, make a plane that could fly across the class room and sail out the open window. Some of the boys could, but eventually theirs too would fall the two stories to the ground.

Brain has stumbled on yet another thing he is having trouble grasping,( he has many). I am convinced I could have been quite brilliant if I had not had to deal with Brain. Brain has me thinking on stuff that doesn’t come to a hill of beans.

In the grocery store the other Day as I lifted a bag, of oranges from a vast mound, Brain chirped up, “Where does all of this stuff come from?” I could not help myself, I began to think….trying to satisfy Brain….but the more I thought about it, the more muddled I became.

I have no doubt every grocery store in America has great piles of oranges similar to the one I was facing. How many grocery stores do you reckon we have in just Mississippi? How many pounds of oranges do you think it would take to stock just Mississippi stores? Then think all of the other 49 states, their grocery stores and mega marts, they too are stocked with oranges. New York City alone with the millions of people living there, you could easily believe they alone would suck up a whole year’s crop of oranges in a matter of days.

And that isn’t all, there still has to be enormous heaps of oranges somewhere that they are turning in to juice and marmalade. I know California and Florida have lots of oranges groves….but boggles the mind doesn’t it? 365 days a year there are oranges in every store in America …I know some produce comes from other countries…but still an all.

Folks all around me we poking broccoli, carrots, and cabbages into bags. But we are often told, “Americans do not eat right!” Well! I am here to tell you somebody is eating this stuff? Have you ever gone in to a grocery late in the evening, the great masses of fruits and vegetables have dwindled to a few broken bags.



I can not imagine how many acres of wheat it takes to keep our all American stores stocked in flour, bread, pie crusts, pasta and frozen biscuits.... 365 days a year.
Now cotton I can see where we might be able to grow enough of it to satisfy the needs of the malls. We buy a pair of socks, we wear them over and over…once we eat that bunch of broccoli it is gone.

Brain is a worry...he is never satisfied....I wish Brain would leave me alone....just let me be in my little world of ignorance.



Love to all, call if you need me.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Christiansen's Comments for Hinds county Gazette 09/30/2010

Good Morning! Good Morning!

 I will not be keeping you long today for sure, my kitchen is tore up!…I do not know what is the matter with me, I am calling myself cleaning, but I have made biggest mess out there.




I have visitors coming mid October, my only living aunt, daddy’s baby sister, and a cousin are coming from Colorado for a few days. My Auntie, , is the only somebody I would go to this much trouble for. Her generation’s standard for a clean house is much higher then mine are today. There was a time I kept a much cleaner house then I do now….Waxed floors on my hands and knees, washed windows at least once a week….Oh! and my oven I was especially proud of it, it was soooooooooo clean, it sparkled…the trick to a sparkling oven is after it is cleaned with the oven cleaner…you mix vinegar in water , dip a clean rag in the vinegar water…wring it out, and wipe out the entire oven….it sparkles!



My oven on this stove has never been cleaned….when something spills in the oven I pour salt on it to keep it from smoking and move on. When the oven cools down, I do sweep the salt out. I am in the process of cleaning the cupboards now….then I am going to clean the stove and oven. My cupboards have not been cleaned in years…and I am not trying to get them super clean….just hoping to get the grime back to 2008 levels. The stove, I am going to take a crack at “sparkle”…but will settle for a look that says, “This stove is just about to need a good cleaning.”



This Friday, October 1 , is the start of Raymond’s fall pilgrimage, it begins with a stroll through the historic Raymond Cemetery at 6:30. Actors, local citizens, play parts of people who are buried there. This is a engaging and informative event. But let me say this…I know there are some of you folks, who are not history enthusiasts….but you do not have to be a history scholar to enjoy the stroll. It is like a very entertaining play, but when an act comes to a close…. a curtain does not come down….. the audience moves….Great fun!!!!



Go a bit early and look around the Raymond Military Park….just off of highway 18... loads of fun for kids there are cannons and a scenic walking trail….







You all, Come on out to rural Hinds county…Not only do we have the Military Park…over here near Edwards, off of Highway 467, the old Coker House, it served as a hospital during the Civil war., has been restored ….it shares an entrance with Cal-Maine. We have places to eat in all our little communities…..
                                                           Coker house before Restoration


Need more info about the pilgrimage and it‘s many events…some events are free and some do have a fee…go to http://www.friendsofraymond.org/

Love to all

call if you need me

Sunday, September 26, 2010

PDA s And other Ramblings

Christiansen's Comments
Published in the
Hinds county Gazette
Raymond Mississippi
September 23 2010

Mankind has been through some extraordinary revolutions, what with the, automobile, TV, rockets, crushable beer cans and plastic shopping bags…..But, I am thinking the cell phone have to rank fairly high on the graph of life changing gadgets.




Actually they are not called cell phones anymore, they are PDAs, Personal Data Assistant….a title appropriate to it’s endless talents. With the aid of an appliances… about the size of a deck of cards you can access information from anywhere in the world….dictionaries, Bibles of numerous translations, games…..land records, death records, you can visit art museums, traffic can be monitored in real time. PDAs are equipped with cameras, still and video, GPS, stop watches and even a level…..it can do just about anything…except cook …Though, I would not be surprised , if the PDA could be programmed to remotely turn on your oven….



It has been my observation that in any group of people, say for instance in waiting rooms, in restaurants, etc at least half of the people will be on their PDA, talking, texting, or surfing the web ….the younger the group the higher the percentage.



But, what I think surprises me the most is the number of men using cell phones….Once upon a time I believed men did not enjoy talking on phones. My dad, of course, talked on the phone, but until he retired, seldom answered a ringing phone….….if he answered, you knew he was home alone. My John when the phone rang….on the first ring, would begin hollering, “Is somebody going to answer that phone?”



But John took to the cell phone right away…he went and got us each a phone. But for the longest he would not turn his phone on, unless he wanted to call someone….He said, he didn’t want to run his battery down.



I have noticed in the vehicles I meet, at least 2/3 of the drivers are on their phones…just as many men as women….young and old.

I have come to believe…men just didn’t like being tethered by a cord…while women did not mind being constrained by the wire…gave us an excuse to sit down a few minutes.





PDAs have changed how we communicate in such a short time…I get very little personal mail in my mail box at the road anymore…I could not even tell you, the last time I wrote a note, stamped and put it in the mail. Email…. that was the way to go.



But then,….this is what has come about in just the last few months….I am getting and sending less and less email ….But getting and sending more and more text messages. I use test messaging a lot…it is very convenient…it takes very little time. With the smart phones our world is getting bigger and bigger…we are free!…we can go where ever we want and still be in touch with scores of our friends. You can go for days and not speak to even your best friends…and still know what they are up to….by means of Text messaging and the likes of Twitter and Facebook.



Of course there is a pretty hefty cost for the convenience…The high price of the PDA is only the beginning of the cost….To use your PDA you pay by the minute or subscribe to a packages.



In my parents lifetime it was transportation that moved at mind blurring, head scratching speed …leaping from horse and buggy…. to rockets, taking men to the moon.



My lifetime it is communication and information that gushed ahead …When I was a little girl, we had no TV in rural Nebraska until I was 12, and not everybody had phones, and phones were not like they are now, you had to go through what we called “central” gave the number to an operator, who was sitting in front of a big apparatus equipped with plugs and switches…some how, with the aid of the plugs and switches she miraculously was able to patch us through to our intended party.



When I was a little girl… mother often spent the afternoons visiting friends, the elderly, or shut ins…..I spent many hours sitting on a chairs, my hands folded in my lap, and only speaking if spoke to…..It was not a bad experience…I enjoyed listening to the conversations.



So this is what I have been pondering of late,… is money the only cost we are pay for our…for our …..new convenient forms of communicating?

Love to all…. call if you need me

PS Have you noticed ….you don’t hear as much booming music coming from the car next to you at the traffic light…..it must not be possible to talk on the phone and listen to a relentless, pavement shaking…. Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Christiansen's Comments Hinds County Gazette September 16 2010

Folks have been asking me where I have been…well, I will tell you, but you may be sorry you asked, you know how I can ramble, get started and not know how to get stopped. But here goes…..


I do not scare easy… But I have come to believe I scare less easily then some, because I do not watch the news and see all of the evil that goes on…. in and around mid Mississippi. I do not imagine there is somebody hiding behind every bush, ready to pounce, intending to do me bodily harm….

But I did have two things that frighten the fire out of me.

Number 1. Driving on the interstate with all of those inconsiderate folks, who have places to go and drive as if they are very very late, weaving in and out, cutting people off, honking their horns, waving fingers in rude ways.

Number 2. The dentist…all of that drilling and scraping. Very unpleasant. I remember growing up…Friends that went and had there teeth cleaned often had a sore mouth and were bleeding, from the gums.

Well, a couple of weeks back, I begin to have a toothache…not terrible, but nagging….I chose to ignore it…. In fact that’s how I deal with most aches and pains….surprisingly that strategy seems to work for me…my aches and pains just seem to go away on their own…or maybe it moves to another spot…from my knee to my elbow…shoulder to back etc.

So anyway, I have two broken teeth…they have been broken for years…and never caused me even the slightest problem. I would probably still be waiting for the tooth to quit hurting…but I discovered a lump in my left breast. I remembered seeing an advertisement in the Gazette for a dentist in Utica…Martha Lewis, I called and got an appointment….she also has an office in Clinton, I went to Clinton…She is only in Utica Friday and Saturdays..

Now I haven’t been to the dentist many times in my life…I am guessing less then five times, they were uncomfortable occasions….I didn’t not the sound of the drill and it hurt….I had not been to a dentist since before 1979 and my teeth had never been cleaned.


On the drive to Clinton, I prepared myself for a lengthy lecture, shaming me, concerning me not tending to my teeth…one of the dental assistance took me back to an examining room for X-rays….she did not fuss at me…….But I still had to deal with Dr. Lewis….That is who was going to fuss.

While waiting for the Dr. Lewis to come pull my broken tooth ….I noticed three certificates, framed and hanging on the wall….you all! one certificate was concerning dealing with “The Challenging Patient”. I was thrilled! My dentist was certified to deal with wimpy, whinny persons like me!!…and if a dentist can get a certificate to deal with difficult people…there must be a lot of us! I breathed a sigh of relief!!

It gets even better….It was not my broken tooth that was giving me fits, as I understood it, the pain was, caused by a build up of plaque, under the gums, of a tooth very close to the broken tooth. So the solution to that was cleaning the plaque from there and all my teeth…Dr. Lewis didn’t even try to pressure me in to getting the broken tooth pulled….still lots of enamel covering the nerve.

I am here to tell you, dental procedures and tools have changed in the last 30 years! They are not poking, prodding and scrapping you with sharp, pointy steal tools…with names that sound like they came from Sears.

What my teeth were cleaned with was a device . …there was a fine mist of water, I think, maybe it agitated the build up off…I know it was not painful…and I was not bleeding when I got out of the chair. Now, I only have one great fear left…that is the interstate.

I was blessed with incredibly sturdy teeth…That is not just my opinion, Dr. Lewis said so. I can open just about anything but a tin can with them.

My teeth tended to, I went on and made an appointment for a mammogram…Then started, mowing, cleaning house, paying bills, tidied the shop, even washed my truck…I contend you can face anything if you are organized , have a clean house. …and with out a toothache

I had a mammogram, sent to see my oncologist, who sent me to my surgeon, who removed the lump…..I have clean bill of health!

That’s what I have been doing.

Call if you need me.

Monday, August 30, 2010

"Christiansen Comments" Hinds County Gazette Augst 26 2010

Bugs in the bed, Raymond Pilgrimage, And Methodist Rummage....

I do not watch or read much news, I find it entirely too demoralizing, so what little news I get, I get while waiting for the weatherman/woman/person, to come on, stand in front of the latest and greatest high tech, energetically animated maps and radars, to give us their best guess… as to what the day might bring, weather wise. I wonder….Are the weather folks anymore accurate then they were…. say 40 years ago?




All of that, is not what I started out to say….As you probably know, bedbugs have been in the news of late, seems after years of containment, they have re-emerged once again…in some quite posh places. This, is what I heard, while waiting for a forecast, last week…. and found most note worthy and enormously reassuring. Bedbugs can not survive temperatures past 110 degrees…considering our recent heat indexes… surely we do not have anything to fret about here in Mid Mississippi…….while it is true, we here in the South have been burdened with fire ants and they are, of course, a most unpleasant nuisance. Still and all, I do declare, I much prefer having fire ants in my grass…then bugs in my bed.

*******

Well, as usual our Fall calendars are filling up fast….Last week I mentioned the Fall Pilgrimage in Raymond, October 1 through 16. Edwards semi annual Cemetery day is October 16. And the Methodists are having a rummage sale that week end too

www.friendsofraymond.org


The Methodists are rising money in order to tackle some maintenance issues that have cropped up….The Edwards Fellowship club meets in the Methodist family center, therefore some of club members will be adding items to the sale also. So, it should prove to be a magnificent buying opportunity.



The Methodist rummage sale will be part of an annual Highway 80 yard sale….I guess it goes from coast to coast…I had not heard of it. Anyway, I may set up a stand in front of the concrete “Edwards” sign there in the curve …to see can I sell a few of my cement leaves….I haven’t got many leaves left…and it’s been so hot… I have not been motivated to make many so far this summer. But I want to be where the action is for sure…so I will sell leaves ‘til noon…. zip out to the cemetery for dinner on the grounds…scamper back to town, spend the afternoon selling leaves…then dash to Raymond to be part of the Pilgrimage festivities over there.

Fall is fun!!!! Call if you need me!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hinds County Gazette, August 19 2010, Christiansen's Comments ..

I wasn’t here last week because my North Carolina Grands came. Adam and his family were in Mississippi visiting. Adam preached in Ellisville on Sunday and Monday they toured Belhaven College, Grand daughter Anna is considering attending Belhaven. It won’t be long and I will have three grandchildren in college. Philip is at Covenant College in Tennessee, and this Saturday Garrett will be going back to Oxford.




Mark your calendars, The Friends of Raymond are gearing up for their annual pilgrimage, October first through the sixteenth. Plans and schedule are not quite complete….as you know, or maybe you don’t know the Raymond courthouse is under renovation , so the ever popular “Bed Bug” play will not be performed this year. But the Cemetery Stroll will happen, if you have not attended this event in the past, you must make an effort this year to go. It is grand fun, very interesting and educational, local citizens dress up and play interesting people, from Raymond’s past, who are buried there…..and from all eras.



There will be lectures at St. Marks Episcopal Church …..I don’t know any details…but they always interesting. And there are customarily refreshments associated with the lectures.



I went to Madison to visit Angela over the weekend….helped her install a doggie door. I don’t know if we have ever discussed Angela’s dogs, they are both rescued dogs. One dog, the oldest, Gabby, is part blue heeler Angela believes Gabby has the IQ of a Rin Tin Tin or Lassie. The other dog, Tess, a hound, Angela has always treated very gently, “you know she isn’t very smart.”



Well guess who figured out the doggie door.. That’s right the hound….the first time…Tess goes in and out at will. The Genius dog? Well… 3 days later Gabby still has not gone though the door with out being pushed. There must be a life lesson there.



Hey I got to go… call if you need me

Monday, August 2, 2010

"Christiansen's Comments" Hinds County Gazette July 29 2010

How old do you have to be.... to be old?

I realized this week just how old my kids are….in a conversation with daughter Angela yesterday she made this statement, “ Mother, in ten years you will only be 75.” I recall a time when she thought thirty was, if not over the hill, was at the very tippy top of the hill. In fact I remember when I thought 30 was old. Isn’t it remarkable how the older we get …the age we consider old gets older?

Angela
( she wants this to be the picture that accompanys her obituary
no matter what age she passes....she maintains it's the only good picture ever taken of her)



One hot summer day….not unlike the ones we have been having of late. The TV weather man was issuing warnings about the elderly and the heat…they were advising them not to go outside in the heat of the day. Mother loved the front porch and wiled away many happy hours out there. As was her habit, after lunch she took her binoculars and went out….



As was my habit, after a bit of kitchen tidying, I followed mother out to the porch, and sat down in the swing …we hadn’t been out long, when she stood up, repeated what the weatherman had said about the heat and went back in the house….well, we had not been in the house long, when I heard her laugh, slap her knee and say, “I bet they were talking about old people.” and back out she went….mother was in her 90s….

Mother, Jacqueline and baby Haley


Jacqueline and I drove over to Burleigh, to see Ms Worrell last week, Saturday, July,17, was her 98th birthday. We found her cheerful, bright eyed….and still able to spin a good tale. She looked great! Ms Worrell’s hair is red …not old lady blue. You might think 98 is old…but I am here to report it is not as old as you might think. Brooke told us, she played dominions for 6 straight hours on her birthday. So there you are….. age is relative!
Ms Worrell...at 98

Love to all

Call if you need me

Monday, July 26, 2010

My sentimental Journey, back to my hometown, Holdrege, Nebraska

Methodist Church
 Holdrege Nebraska
Post office
Phelps county court House
Holdrege Nebraska
Hotel Dale

                                                                                  4Th Avenue
                                                                                      
New Hospital
Daughter Angela was born here, over 40 years ago


Old Holdrege Hospital
Son Adam was born here

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Christiansen Comments: Hinds County Gazette, July 22 2010

Good morning…long time no see. My Summer has been full, for one thing, I took a sentimental journey back to Nebraska, left out of here very early one morning, in mid June, got on the interstate headed west, crossed over the Mississippi River at V’Burg….I abandoned the interstate, at the first exit, Delta Louisiana, the rest of the trip, nearly 2500 miles, I took the roads less traveled, the back roads…the little Highways and byways. Up the eastside of Louisiana, across the bottom of Arkansas, into Oklahoma where I turned and went north, though Oklahoma, Kansas to Nebraska….through the small towns. I believe the biggest town I drove in was Hayes Kansas…maybe 20,000 people live in Hays.




I was a grand trip, they were cutting wheat in Oklahoma. Much of the hay being bailed was not in big round bales…but square and big, like the old time cotton bales. Cattle grazing…great expanses of pasture…but they seemed to be up next to the fences munching.



I even saw a couple of working windmills the old fashion ones…And I saw acres of the new fangled wind machines….they are not pumping water like the old time mills…but making electricity.



When I left Mississippi our corn was over my head tall… the corn became progressively shorter the further north I traveled …. in Nebraska much of the corn was less then a foot tall.



One purpose for the trip was, I wanted to take pictures, on the off chance, one day, my kids or grand kids just might get curious about where John and I grew up. Their interest to this point …I would rate as minor to nonexistent. They were mildly interested in the house my mother was born and raised in…when I told them it had been moved to Hayes Center, Nebraska and turned into a Bed and breakfast.

The Old Potter House
brought up to date!


I wanted to stay there…but it was booked up….Hays Center has a population of less then 500 people….I just googled it had a population of 240 in 2000...



The second reason I wanted to go was to sharpen up my memories…I lived in Palisade Nebraska until I was 12...then moved to Holdrege. I wondered if my recollections, especially of Palisade were anything close to accurate…I had been back to Palisade such a very few times in the past 50 years.

Palisade coming from the North

Main Street Palisade Nebraska


Palisade, population 460. When we left there in 1957, it had almost 700 people in it’s city limits. But still and all Palisade was much like I remember it….The depot was gone, but the school, library, and the post office were just as they were when I left….. The park was still down the hill from town. And the café on Main Street was still in operation…I was excited….I had lunch there twice…..Menu was pretty much like I remember it too…with the exception of the Mexican items that had been added.



I timed my trip to coincide with Palisade’s Pioneer Days, so sister Linda and I could meet up with our last surviving aunt, my dad’s baby sister, Aunt Ardyth who was coming in from Montrose Colorado, for her class reunion. And our cousins Alice and Iris….Alice came for pioneers days…Iris just happened to be passing through and we all meet up at the fire station for pancakes. …It was a grand reunion…I had not seen any of them in 50 years…..Alice is working on a Ring (My maiden Name) reunion next summer….so I will get to see more kin folks then. And this October Alice and Ardyth are planning to come to Mississippi!

anunt Ardyth

Linda and Alice on right side of picture


I am getting up from here in a few minutes and going to the cemetery, to the graveside service for a young man, 29, Joe McCleary. I did not know Joe, but I know his mother Liz and his aunts Barbara, Merry Ellen and Sheryl, “The Henderson Girls” The Henderson girls are among the most compassionate, thoughtful and kind people I know….and they are hurting. I know, I will not be able to talk to them without crying…so I will not try….



Love to all

call if you need me.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Obituary for Bobby White, Edwards, Mississippi

Bobby G. White



EDWARDS — Bobby G. White died June 3, 2010, at his residence in Edwards. He was 73.



Born Nov. 11, 1936, in Prentiss, he was the son of the late Heady and Fannie Irene Butler White. Mr. White served in the U.S. Army for six years including a tour of duty in Korea. He was a Master Carpenter with more than 52 years of experience. He was a member of the Baptist faith.



He is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Betty White of Edwards; son, Steven L. White of Vicksburg; three daughters, Sharon Ladd, Stacie Griffin and Shannon White, all of Vicksburg; sons-in-law, Don Ladd, Jeff Griffin and Archie Kirkley; seven grandchildren, Taylor Ladd, Chase Ladd, Elizabeth Bowers and Katie Kirkley, all of Vicksburg, Jaxon Griffin of Pearl and Shane White and Brandy Banks, both of Wichita, Kan.; four great-grandchildren; five sisters, Faye Willis of Utica, Irene Jones of Delta, La., and Carolyn Hearn, Eileen Lowery and Lois Muirhead, all of Vicksburg; and a brother, Robert White of Delta.



Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. today, June 5, 2010, at Riles Funeral Home with Dr. John G. McCall, interim pastor of the Edwards Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be at the Edwards Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1:30 today until the service.



Pallbearers will be Don Ladd, Chase Ladd, Jeff Griffin, Archie Kirkley, Jimmy Cox and Michael Cox.



Honorary pallbearers will be Nancy Butler, Carla Donovan, Dr. Dan Edney, Bill Vinzant, Cil and Charles Riles, Eddie Minnifield and Teresa Cox.



Memorials may be made to Providence Hospice, 1825 I-20 N. Frontage Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180 and to the American Cancer Society-MS Chapter, 1380 Livingston Lane, Jackson, MS 39213.




              Bobby on the roof at the old Cannada house on Royal street Edwards Mississippi

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Christiansen Comments, Hinds County Gazette May 27 2010



Today, Monday, May 24, The Vietnam Veteran’s “Run for the Wall” will be passing by Edwards. This is an annual memorial event, veterans of the Vietnam war band together… the event begins on the west coast and they pick up riders all along the way and ride to Washington to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall…. to honor their dead…those thousands of young men who died fighting for a cause that many of us of that generation….did not understand and grew very weary of…and began to ask questions…. Why? Is it a just war?




But no matter what conclusion you came to personally….It does not take away from the reality those men and women who went to Vietnam and died ….died for this country. This is America the president is the commander and chief of the armed forces, he can send our troops to the far end of the earth, he did …and they went.



It was a heartbreaking time in America’s history….the veterans of that war were not treated as heroes…no ticker tape parades for them as had been in previous wars. Many Americans treated the returning soldiers with distain….They blamed the soldiers….soldiers who thought they were fulfilling their duty to America.



And on into that long, long war…it became more and more unpopular among Americans…protests broke out in the streets. Protesters too, were wounded and some died for their cause…remember the young students at Kent State? Many young men of draft age went to Canada to avoid serving,



I shall get up from here in a few minutes drive to the Edwards, I 20 overpass, take photographs, and cheer for those aging, tattooed, pony tailed, bike riding, ole’ soldiers. On their way to Washington, to pay tribute to their dead. There will be hundreds of them…odds are I would know a few. Because my John was career army…. a Vietnam war veteran ..two tours….



At the time of the war, he was a soldier, but, he was also a father of a young boy. Once in a discussion with some of his army buddies, about the war, the protests and the protesters …John said, “I chose this… I will go where the tell me to go…but I will send Adam to Canada.” It was not an uncomplicated time for anybody….who was trying to be a patriot.



The war was hard for some the men who went, fought and came back too ….it did something to their mind… Many of the men, when they got back to the states were never the same. A few years after the war finally ended… John and I were driving past a food kitchen….scores of homeless men waiting on the sidewalk for the doors to open, waiting to get a hot meal. John said, with sadness in his voice, “Lots of those guys are veterans…that would be me if it hadn’t been for you and the kids” John’s heart went out to those men, he felt like they too give their life for their country.



When we began sending troops to the middle east, John and I were watching the news one evening, as young men were boarding planes to go…John began to cry…his big heart went to hurting again…War is hell….

I’ll see you next week

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Christiansen Comments, Hinds County Gazette May 13 2010




Jerry Gibbens passed away shortly after noon, Wednesday, May 5, at the age of 92. When Paula called to tell me about Jerry’s death, my mothers words on the death of old people came to mind, “ we can’t live forever, just because our kids want us too. We are tired and want to go live with Jesus.” I can not tell you how much comfort mother’s words have brought me.




And Jerry’s death like mother’s was not long and lingering, both were at peace and ready …Just a few weeks ago the little children from the church traveled to Raymond to Riggs Manor, to sing for the residents…Jerry was too weak to come down…so they went to her room to sing for her, weak as Jerry was she sat up on the edge of her bed and sang “Jesus Loves Me” with the little children. I did tear up and had to reach for a tissue when Reverend Rydbeck told that story at her funeral.



Jerry was such a lady, she and her husband Julian sat in the pew front of me at church, and they came to church nearly every Sunday, until just a few months ago. Jerry was a petite little lady, I doubt she was 5 foot tall, and she could not have weighed 100 pounds. Jerry, at all times, was dressed beautifully…. Jerry was at always flawlessly attired in her little pastel suits and high heels, and not a hair out of place. And Jerry was accessorized beautifully too, pretty scarves, handsome purses, I always told her, she looked like a little doll, somebody had stood on a stool and dressed….Jerry was a girly girl for sure. But Jerry’s loveliest accessory was her charming smile and sweet southern nature.



Jerry loved parties, so for the family meal after the funeral…When Jacqueline I were discussing what we were going to do, I declared, “We got to make it look like Jerry!” Jacqueline agreed…. I called Robert Edward asked him to come, and help me get the fellowship hall ready…we set up tables and spread on the sparkling white table clothes. Jacqueline came with buckets of pink roses, and queen Anne’s and when she finished her magic with flower arrangements…. the fellowship hall at the Edwards Presbyterian church looked more like we were fixing to have a tea party then a funeral meal.



I wish I had taken a picture of the room when the meal was being served…of two of the men, farmers, Jerry’s son, Lewis Montgomery, and one of the pall bears, Russell Cannada, in their suits and ties, sitting at the girly girl, prissy tables. I thought to myself, “Jerry got Lewis and Russell to a tea party“ It brought a grin to my face…

Love to all

Monday, May 10, 2010

Hinds County Gazette, May 6 , Christiansen's Comments ..

Busy week in Edwards Mississippi,

Tuesday was the Grand opening of our newly renovated city hall….I didn’t get an invitation …But, I am sort of the press, remembering “freedom of the press” and all that… I went anyway.




I got down there at two…Tiffany, the water clerk, Leon (doctor Dirt) Goldsberry, alderman from ward 3 and Mayor Perkins…were the only ones at city hall…they all seemed quite happy to see me and my party crashing self…Alderman Goldsberry gave me the grand tour. It is a lovely building. And I saw the yummies on a table back in the boardroom. You all there was a cake, it was frosted…well it looked like city hall…I don’t know how they did that.



Way on after while, 2:15 then 2:30 ….nobody else came, it was still just, the mayor, Tiffany, the alderman and me…and to my disappointment they were not cutting cake…here I was the only one to show up and they were not offering me cake.



I got to thinking, When there is a cake involved and nobody shows something is wrong in Edwards Mississippi….Well…. come to find out the festivities didn’t start until 3. It was a lovely reception and lots of folks did come….Edwards citizens, government officials, preachers, bankers, and politicians.



Former mayor Narissa Smith was on hand for the festivities, Narissa was Edwards first woman mayor….I was glad to see her I hadn’t seen her in a long while. Narissa Birthday was last Friday she turned 94.



Front street and the area around the new bridge is looking so nice…..I do not know who is responsible for the beautiful knockout roses planted around the bridge…but, I have, from time to time, spotted Ruth Ann Schnell tending to them. The trees in the square and the flowers in pots on front street, Alderman Goldsberry planted.



Saturday was May Day in Edwards, there was a parade and lots of food being cooked up and down Main Street….The Bar-b -q at the bottom of hill was delicious…Jo Gayle went and picked up some plates and brought them up here and over to the Durens…Nancy has a broken arm…Jo Gayles grand daughter Stephanie and I were in the shop working on a project…..it is just swell being one of Jo Gayles friends…



I love a parade…Calloway High Schools band came and played….I was thrilled to see them…music/band should be a part of every school’s curriculum….as should speech, art and drama…But of course the folks in charge of Mississippi schools don’t care what I think for sure…..



Are the voles destroying your lawns, trees and flower beds? Do you want to know how to get rid of them? Do you know Fredna Dent over in Bolton? Have you noticed all the black plastic plant pots turned upside down around her place? Well, Frenda knows how to eradicate the pesky creatures…



Now, I might not have procedure precisely right….It is hard to listen carefully when you are laughing so hard that tears are streaming down your cheeks…and wine spewing out your nose…It was the way she told it…..you had to be there.



But what you do is…get a rat trap.. bait it with a pecan,(shelled or unshelled? I don‘t know .. missed that part) ….But when the voiles come to get the pecan and the trap slams shut …. Ending his gnawing career. Now about the black pot….Frenda to her distress found that if you don’t cover the trap and pecan with a pot all you trap is birds….so Fredna covered the baited trap with a black plastic pot……and as of Thursday, April 29, she had sent 100 voles to R.I.P.