SHOUTOUTS

Derby Day Party and Cookbook Raise Funds for Regional Rehab

It’s nearly time for the much-anticipated Tom Evans Regional Rehab Derby Day Party, taking place Saturday, May 6, from 3 until 8 p.m. at the Tupelo Country Club.

Individual $50 tickets may be purchased online at regionalrehabcenter.com.

Since almost the start of the 24 years of Derby Day parties, longtime board member Tom Evans served as host at his Robins Street home. After his death in 2020, the event was moved to the country club.

“It’s the same fun event, just a different location,” said Robbie Parman, director of Regional Rehab. “The past few years we’ve had the largest crowds ever, with more than 300 attending.”

As always, there will be a cash bar, good food, the annual Derby Day hat contest, a live auction, silent auction and more. Emcee will be Craig Horton, and multiple TVs will be set up by Vance Perkins on which to watch the race.

“Sadie Buchanan, longtime board member, will have volunteers make homemade desserts and there’ll be Derby Dollars, with which to bet on the race, with Tom’s face on them,” Parman said. “We might have gone overboard, but Tom would have loved it.”

An entryway table will display special things that belonged to Evans. In fact, a

Oxford Community Market Turns 10

This year, Oxford Community Market is celebrating its 10th anniversary with various fun events. The market’s spring kickoff is set for April 18 and has on tap vendors, music and more.

“This is a big milestone for us,” Betsy Chapman, OXCM director since November 2014, said. “A decade is a long time for a farmers market to survive, and we have.”

The nonprofit market has as its mission not only to help local farmers but to help with food access. The Mississippi Certified Farmers Market is open every Tuesday all year, from 3 until 6:30 p.m., at the Old Armory Pavilion at 1801 University Ave.

The Oxford market has successfully shown it’s possible to keep a market open year-round. Not only does OXCM have photograph of that table is the cover shot for the new Tom Evans cookbook, the sale of which is also a fundraiser for Regional Rehab.

Evans’ dear friend Marty Brown reached out to Regional Rehab to say another friend had organized all of Evans’ recipes into chapters with a table of contents.

“Marty came to me back in October and said, ‘Tom would want you all to have these,’” Parman said. “We’d never done a cookbook fundraiser, but Bre Ashe, the developmental director at Regional Rehab took the pages and ran with them.” its spring/summer season, but it also has a winter season.

The cookbook contains more than 150 pages, an introduction written by Brown and literally hundreds of recipes, including one in Evans’ handwriting.

Only 100 copies of “The Tom Evans Cookbook” were ordered initially, and they sold quickly. More were ordered and are on sale for $25 at Regional Rehab and several other locations in northeast Mississippi.

“The market reflects the long growing season we have in Mississippi,” Chapman said.

Also planned to commemorate the anniversary year are 10 events throughout the year that will be announced at a later date. The year will culminate with a big communitywide event.

In addition to the weekly market where local farmers are able to sell what they’ve grown, OXCM offers programs that help make healthy, local food accessible to all members of the community and address food insecurity in Oxford.

Circle and Square Brewing

100 DEPOT ST., OXFORD

COMING SOON | Named for its location halfway between the Circle and the Square, Oxford’s first microbrewery will offer craft beer, food and a place to gather. circleandsquare.beer

Quacks

122 COURTHOUSE SQUARE, OXFORD

COMING SOON | This gourmet hot dog restaurant and bar serves up creations like the Little Italy Dog, the Buffy the Chick Slayer Dog, the Deli Dog and more. linktr.ee/quacksdogs

Just Cake It!

2580 JACKSON AVE. W., OXFORD NOW OPEN | Custom cakes, cupcakes and more sweet treats for any occasion. Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

662-237-2253, justcakeit.net

Oxford Golf House

705 SISK AVE., OXFORD NOW OPEN | A full-service restaurant and indoor golf center open seven days a week. Book tee time reservations online. Memberships also available.

662-234-6007, oxfordgolfhouse.com

Crumbl Cookies

837 KINGS CROSSING DR., TUPELO

NOW OPEN | Known for its specialty cookies, the popular chain plans to open its first north Mississippi location in Tupelo’s Kings Crossing shopping center.

662-205-5766, crumblcookies.com

Loco Taco

1645 COLEY RD., TUPELO

NOW OPEN | Serving up “crazy good food,” including a traditional Oaxacan tlayuda (an oversized corn tostada), along with creative cocktails and a kids’ menu.

662-269-2424