Oxford: Scan the QR code to share who your favorite Ole Miss quarterback is! Turn to page 46 to read all about this year ’s stacked lineup.
ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK ESTRADA
Northeast: Fashion and football collide with one coach’s iconic style. Read more on page 53.
BY JOE WORTHEM
With a handful of options in the quarterback room, the Ole Miss offense is confident about this season and the future.
Lane Kiffin has turned heads since he arrived in Oxford in 2020. Here’s how to copy his superstar look, on and off the field.
The lasting legacy of Sara and J.W. “Wobble” Davidson.
Northeast Mississippians offer unique and delicious goodies, including over-the-top tailgate fare perfect for any game day.
Recently completed grand renovations expand and upgrade three Ole Miss sorority houses.
A Mississippi musician reflects on life, songwriting and touring with Luke Combs.
The purchase of an Oxford house draws a couple into the thick of the hospitality business with a new bed-and-breakfast.
Since the 1950s, Rebel fans have packed the Grove to tailgate in style. Hear from a few regulars about how they started.
Walker Jones heads up The Grove, one of the country’s biggest NIL collectives thanks to loyal Ole Miss fans.
Rick Quinn and Keith Conlee talk about their Rebel-themed vintage cars, sometimes spotted in the Grove on game days.
One thing that’s guaranteed in football season is that it will be full of surprises. Who will start, who will make a great play, what scandal will take place within college football, what coach will get fired before the season is over — football is full of surprises.
It’s no secret that it could be a surprise who the Ole Miss starting quarterback will be in 2023. It’s not because of lack of talent but rather because the quarterback room is full of outstanding players who are sure to surprise fans this year as they step onto the field for the Rebels. I’m hoping this surprise is going to stump other SEC teams as well.
Read more about the Ole Miss quarterback lineup on page 46.
And then there’s that surprise delicious dish you find on your table at the Grove that’s just the perfect flavor for that day. A morsel of something that might not be considered traditional Grove fare but turns out to be perfect to pair with your tried-andtrue favorites. You’ll find plenty of those delicious surprises on page 64.
Also included in this issue: our take on Lane Kiffin’s iconic style (page 53); a heartwarming story about the Davidson family (page 60); and a look inside a few
gorgeous Ole Miss sorority houses (page 72). And don’t miss the beautifully written narrative by award-winning author Wright Thompson on the very last page of this magazine. He puts into words the real treat of what this season means.
We hope you will enjoy this issue all month and that you find some wonderful surprises within these pages.
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EDITORIAL
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Invitation Magazines respects the many diverse individuals and organizations that make up north Mississippi and strives to be inclusive and representative of all members of our community.
SEPTEMBER 4
COMING UP IN OUR COMMUNITY
SEPTEMBER 2023
SEPTEMBER 21
Enjoy music, food, drink and the flowers of Yoknapatawpha in the William Faulkner Literary Garden. Proceeds benefit the Faulkner Garden and other New Albany Garden Club projects. 6-9 p.m., Union County Heritage Museum, New Albany. newalbanymsgardenclub.org
SEPTEMBER 7
Thacker Mountain Radio’s fall season kicks off live from the Graduate Hotel. Featuring author Irina Zhorov and her book “Lost Believers.” 6 p.m., the Graduate. thackermountain.com
SEPTEMBER 7
America’s Got Talent finalists and Music Row’s “Next Big Thing” come to Oxford. Tickets $25-$50. 7:30 p.m., the Ford Center. fordcenter.org
SEPTEMBER 8-9
Theatre Oxford presents a drama that weaves together six true stories of survivors of death row. Tickets $20. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Powerhouse.
oxfordarts.com/theatreoxford
SEPTEMBER 2
2 p.m. vs. Mercer
SEPTEMBER 9
3:30 p.m. @ Tulane
SEPTEMBER 16 7:30 p.m. vs. Georgia Tech
SEPTEMBER 23
Time TBD @ Alabama
SEPTEMBER 30
Time TBD vs. LSU
SEPTEMBER 21
A rock-n-roll celebration of music’s greatest piano icons — from Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles to Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Liberace and Billy Joel. Tickets $20-$40. 7:30 p.m., the Ford Center. fordcenter.org
SEPTEMBER 22
SEPTEMBER 20
Learn to create prebatched cocktails perfect for the Grove. $35, register online.
5:30 p.m., YUGO. yugooxford.com
The Oxford Lafayette Chamber of Commerce Golf Classic, presented by Deals Auto Repair, serves as a major fundraiser for the Chamber. Registration, sponsorships and more info available online. 9 a.m., The Country Club of Oxford. oxfordms.com
SEPTEMBER 22-23
Find children's clothing, shoes, furniture, baby gear, toys and maternity items at this much-anticipated children’s consignment sale. The event kicks off with pre-sale day shopping Friday evening for volunteers and consignors. On Saturday, the sale is open to the public from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (half-price sale from 4-7 p.m.) Free admission, Oxford Activity Center, 400 Price St. oxfordweecycle.com
SEPTEMBER 28-30
OHS Theatre opens its season with the famed musical “Cats.” Buy tickets and season subscriptions online. All shows 7:30 p.m., Ava H. Bonds Auditorium. oxfordsd.org
SEPTEMBER 29
Square Books welcomes the acclaimed, cult favorite author of “Fight Club” for an event promoting his new book, “Not Forever, But For Now.” Tickets $34 includes a signed copy of the book. 5:30 p.m., the Powerhouse. squarebooks.com
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
Mother-and-daughter painters exhibit their work. Opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Sept. 8. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday; and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Gumtree Museum of Art. gumtreemuseum.com
SEPTEMBER 1-3
A three-day celebration of street skateboarding, food, music and DIY street culture. There will be live entertainment Friday outside Change Skateshop; a free downtown street festival all day Saturday; and skating contests at the new Boerner Skatepark Sunday. More info and a complete schedule available online. changetupelo.com
SEPTEMBER 9
Find food trucks, music and handcrafted items from up to 75 local artisan vendors. 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Crossroads Museum. corinthgreenmarket.net
SEPTEMBER 9
Pontotoc’s 29th annual festival includes live music, food vendors, Tour de Bodock bicycle rides to benefit the Tanglefoot Trail, and much more for the whole family. facebook.com/BodockFestival
SEPTEMBER 14-16
Opening day of the Alcorn County Fair kicks off with headliner Joe Nichols. Concert tickets start at $29 (free fair admission with tickets). Concert is at 7 p.m. Sept. 14; the fair continues with a livestock show, car show, cook-off, pageant, cheer competition, carnival and more. All
festivities take place at Crossroads Arena. crossroadsarena.com
SEPTEMBER 15
The American blues guitarist and singer brings his “Damn Right Farewell” tour to Tupelo. Tickets $56-$100. 7:30 p.m., Cadence Bank Arena. cb-arena.com
SEPTEMBER 23
Robins Street in Tupelo hosts artists, musicians, food vendors, children’s activities and more. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
facebook.com/RobinsStreetArtStroll
SEPTEMBER 26
Jelly Roll's “Backroad Baptism” tour comes to Tupelo. Tickets, $19-$94. 7 p.m., Cadence Bank Arena.
cb-arena.com
work 20 hours a week recruiting volunteers, getting ready for specific home football games, developing educational outreach initiatives. The coordinators work at home games, educating tailgaters to recycle cans, plastic bottles and Solo cups using the bins marked for recycling throughout the Grove. Student volunteers sort all recycling collected on game days.
Part of the program includes interaction between the volunteers and tailgaters, including teachable moments regarding the Green Grove Program and the recycling system. The volunteers give tailgaters recycling bags and also encourage students entering the stadium to recycle.
Green is not only a favorite color of Ole Miss’ Office of Sustainability. It’s also the goal. The mission of the office is to be a catalyst for environmentally positive changes by educating, connecting and empowering the members of the community for the wellbeing of people and ecological systems.
The Green Grove Program has grown out of the Office of Sustainability, and it reaches peak activity during football season, especially home game weekends in Oxford. Students in the Office of Sustainability’s Green Student Intern Program serve as Green Grove Gameday Coordinators. They
On Mondays and Tuesdays after home games, volunteers help sort collected recyclables. The Green Grove Program is a collaborative effort among the Office of Sustainability, Landscape Services, the Oxford Recycling Center and the Athletics Department.
Anyone who’s visited Oxford High School can see the school is made up of multiple buildings in a circle. And inside the circle is a square. Until recently, the square was just a bit of unused space. But OHS principal Dr. Dana Bullard and a committee of teachers saw potential in the square.
“After the pandemic, I just wanted a way to get the kids back involved with being back on campus,” Bullard said. “I tasked the committee to come up with a name for this space.”
Bullard offered the committee members some examples of names, including Harvard Yard, which immediately led to the mention of Charger Yard.
“I suggested we have a contest and ask people to submit name possibilities,” Bullard
said. “But the teachers on the committee were already committed to Charger Yard.”
The formerly unused space now has its own sign welcoming visitors and students alike to Charger Yard. It was the site of the high school’s Halloween Festival in 2022 and the Festival of Nations in April.
“The kids play football there during lunch,” Bullard said. “There is disc golf and picnic tables. We’ve just tried to make it more fun.
“The Halloween Festival was very successful. Kids came — there were lines. When you give a name to a place, you can invite people to it. We just wanted postCOVID to have a place with a welcoming and inviting atmosphere to which the students could return.”
The fourth annual Ole Miss Fellowship of Christian Athletes Ladies’ Luncheon is on tap for Friday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., in the newly renovated Oxford Conference Center, 102 Ed Perry Blvd.
The speaker for the event will be Yolett McPhee-McCuin, coach of the Ole Miss women’s basketball team. Coach Yo, as she is widely known, became head coach of the Lady Rebels in 2018. She is the ninth head coach of the team and the first Black female head coach in Ole Miss women’s basketball history. Last season, she ushered the Lady Rebels to their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2007.
Tickets are $60 each and may be purchased at olemissfca.org.
FCA was founded in 1954 by Don McClanen, then Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball coach. He later became FCA’s full-time director. Today, there are FCA staff offices across the United States and abroad.
The organization is an international nonprofit Christian sports ministry for coaches and athletes of every level — from professionals and college to high school and junior high.
308 S. LAMAR BLVD., OXFORD
NOW OPEN | New to the Square, this sports bar has four full-swing simulators for guests to play multisport virtual games, from golfing on a famous course to quarterbacking an NFL team. 662-506-6628, backnineoxford.com
766 N. LAMAR BLVD., OXFORD
SPECIAL EVENT | Football Friday Sleepy Suppers take place 6-9 p.m. Fridays before Ole Miss home games. Tickets, $100, include a seasonal four-course meal. BYOB or purchase drinks on site. 662-638-3000, facebook.com/sleepy.cactus.ms
3356 N. GLOSTER ST., TUPELO NOW OPEN | Fresh Japanese cuisine, featuring ramen. Dine in, or order online for pickup. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-8:30 p.m. 662-601-4099, takumiramenms.com
5103 RAYMOND AVE., VERONA NOW OPEN | The G-Spot food truck best known for its Cajun catfish and Cajun fried rice now has a more permanent location with a spacious covered patio in Verona. 662-322-9310, facebook.com/TheGSpotTasteLLC
518 W. MAIN ST., TUPELO
NEW LOCATION | The Shakery is now in downtown Tupelo serving up its creative milkshakes and partnering with other local businesses including Keecher’s Creations bakery and Tupelo River Coffee. 662-260-4157, facebook.com/theshakery
1107 JACKSON AVE. E., OXFORD COMING SOON | This rebuilt restaurant features The Rooftop, a space overlooking the Square with a large outdoor bar plus plenty of outdoor seating, as well as indoor dining on two levels. instagram.com/blubistrorooftop
MAKE BRUNCH THE HIGHLIGHT OF FALL WEEKENDS WITH THESE ORIGINAL RECIPES.
RECIPES BY SARAH GODWIN | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEMWhether served under a canopy at a football tailgate or in your home on a Sunday morning this fall, these creative brunch recipes will please a whole crowd.
Special thanks to the Chi Omega house for hosting this photo shoot. Turn to page 72 to read more about the recent renovations at Chi O, along with two other Ole Miss sorority houses.
6 everything bagels
12 slices ham or prosciutto
12 slices Swiss cheese
12 small to medium eggs
Garlic powder
Salt Black pepper
Dried parsley
Preheat oven to 375°F. Halve the bagels, and arrange on a greased baking sheet. Using a small biscuit cutter or a knife, widen the center hole by trimming ¼- to ½-inch from it. Tear ham and cheese into strips, and drape across the bagel, over the hole, creating a nest in the middle. Press ham and cheese down, deepening the nest, and crack an egg inside each. Sprinkle with seasonings, and bake until egg white sets, 10-12 minutes.
2 pounds strawberries
1 bottle prosecco ½ cup sugar
Wash strawberries thoroughly. In a bowl, pour a whole bottle of prosecco over berries, and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, remove strawberries, pat dry, then coat with sugar. Keep the extra prosecco to use in the September Sunrise Cocktail (recipe below).
Thanks to Olive Juice for providing these Rebel cups and the Ole Miss-themed accessories in these recipes.
SUNRISE COCKTAIL
Orange juice
1 bottle prosecco, or leftover strawberry prosecco from recipe above
2 cups frozen strawberries
Pour orange juice into ice cube trays, and freeze. Once frozen, add the ice cubes, prosecco and strawberries to a blender, and pulse until smooth, about 8-10 times. Add more juice or prosecco to thin; add ice to thicken.
Continued on page 42
Continued
1 pound bacon
30-40 dates
4 ounces soft goat cheese
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut bacon into 1-inchlong strips. Cut slit in dates, and spoon in ¼ to ½ teaspoon goat cheese. Wrap filled dates with bacon strips, and secure with a wooden pick. Place dates on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in preheated oven until bacon is crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast, or one package
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided ½ cup water
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, softened 1 egg, room temperature
1 cup blueberry preserves
In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, yeast and 2½ cups of flour. Microwave water and milk until warm to the touch, 30-60 seconds. Add to flour mixture. Whisk in butter and egg. Knead for 5-6 minutes, adding remaining ½ cup flour to create a soft dough that easily rolls into a ball without sticking to the bowl. Remove dough ball from bowl, and grease bowl. Return dough to bowl, cover with a warm towel, and let rest 15 to 20 minutes.
Roll dough on a floured work surface into a 16-x 8-inch rectangle (about 1/4-inch thick). Spread preserves in a thin layer over dough, and,
LEMON GLAZE:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
starting from 1 long (16-inch) side, roll up dough into a log. Trim off ends, and cut log crosswise into 1- to 1½-inch thick rolls. Grease a 14-x 8-inch baking dish, and place rolls in prepared pan, spacing 1 to 2 inches apart. Cover with a damp towel, and place in a warm environment to let rise. Let rolls rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool in baking dish 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together all glaze ingredients. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.
6 cups water
6 regular-size tea bags
2 cups sugar
1½ teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice of 2-3 lemons
Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add tea bags, and let steep 15 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add sugar, and stir to combine. In a large pitcher, stir together tea, remaining 2 cups water, extracts and lemon juice, and serve.
OOle Miss football has a nice problem, one that many college teams would relish. The Rebels have a lot of quarterbacks.
Things change from day to day, of course, but at last look they have at least four, including incumbent junior Jaxson Dart. He was pretty solid last season, but the Ole Miss quarterback room has gotten more crowded since then.
In a college universe where players are free to move without sitting out a season, the Rebels have added former Oklahoma
State starter Spencer Sanders along with LSU transfer Walker Howard.
Joining the QB bounty is former Florida commit Austin Simmons, who would otherwise just be a high school junior but decided to reclassify to join the Ole Miss quarterback party.
“I’d say it’s a really competitive room, and it’s in much better shape — which is our goal as a staff for the entire roster,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin told reporters at July’s SEC Media Days in Nashville. “Each position group, try to make them more competitive and more balanced throughout each year.”
So, how is that approach working for his quarterbacks?
“That room is by far the best it’s been since we got here,” said Kiffin, whose team finished 8-5 last season, his third year in Oxford. “We’re excited.”
Continued on page 48
Click here to share your favorite current Ole Miss QB and be entered into some fun footballthemed giveaways this month on Instagram @invitationoxford!
If Dart were to go down, Kiffin would have a very handy option in Sanders, a senior who threw for almost 10,000 yards and ran for almost 2,000 yards at Oklahoma State. In the process, he accounted for 75 touchdowns.
“Spencer Sanders has played a ton of
Everything in the Ole Miss quarterback room starts with Dart, who transferred to Ole Miss from Southern Cal a year ago.
Last season, he started 11 games and threw for 2,974 yards with 20 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. He also rushed for 614 yards.
“Jaxson made some big plays, but as a team we didn’t take care of the ball,” Kiffin said. “Too many turnovers, and a lot of that has to do with that position.”
Former Vanderbilt QB Jordan Rogers, an SEC Network analyst, is intrigued to see how the Ole Miss quarterback situation plays out.
“I think that’s one of the more interesting storylines in the entire conference,” Rogers said. “You’ve got guys that are experienced. Jaxson Dart is experienced, he’s played a lot of football. Had some good, had some bad.”
At the least, Dart is the leader in the clubhouse, to borrow a golf term. He’s one of nine returning starters on offense, to go with seven returning starters on defense.
“It’s going to take a lot for it to not be Dart as the starter,” said Michael Katz, veteran Ole Miss beat writer for Tupelo’s Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, before the season began. “He’d have to be actually awful to make a change. And I think the locker room wants him to be the guy. But, of course, it’s Lane, so you never know.”
But football can be unpredictable, especially when it comes to injuries. Recall last season’s NFL playoff game when the San Francisco 49ers ran out of options after all the quarterbacks on their depth chart got hurt.
football,” SEC Network’s Jordan Rogers said. “Extremely talented.”
His SEC Network colleague, Roman Harper, echoes Rogers’ opinion. “He’s older, he’s been around the block, and he’s been through these situations before,” Harper said.
Is it possible Kiffin might scheme up some special offensive package to get Sanders into the game? “Lane hasn’t done a ton of that,” Katz said.
Continued on page 50
Walker Howard, who took a few snaps for LSU last season but is still listed as a freshman, figures to be a longer-term project for the Rebels, but will surely benefit from time in the stacked quarterback room. The same goes for young Austin Simmons.
“I’m excited to see how it plays out, because Kiffin is known for his offense,” Rogers said. “That quarterback situation may dictate a lot in the SEC West.”
Whoever ultimately takes the snaps at quarterback, the Rebels will have their work cut out for them. After an easy Sept. 2 opener at home against Mercer, Ole Miss will confront a remaining schedule that looks like one of the nation’s toughest.
As ESPN pointed out, Ole Miss is the only SEC team that must face both defensive national champion Georgia and traditional league kingpin Alabama on the road.
One not-so-secret weapon Ole Miss will be counting on is running back Quinshon Judkins. He had a sensational freshman year, rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was the 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year and won the Conerly Trophy as the state’s best college football player.
“One of the best running backs in the entire country, if not the best,” Rogers said.
Even in pass-happy 2023, a strong running game will make any quarterback’s
job easier — and the defense’s day harder. And something else defenses might need to worry about …
Any chance Kiffin might ever find a way to get all of his quarterbacks into the game at once?
“Oh gosh, I hope so,” Katz said with a laugh. “He ought to run all of them out there for the first play of the season.”
LANE KIFFIN HAS TURNED HEADS SINCE HE ARRIVED IN OXFORD IN 2020. HERE’S HOW TO COPY HIS SUPERSTAR LOOK, ON AND OFF THE FIELD.
Lane Kiffin’s coaching style isn’t the only thing keeping people talking. Ole Miss fans of all ages won’t stop trying to imitate Kiffin’s trademark look. We asked Hinton & Hinton stylists to share some fashion tips for how you can try to fit in with Kiffin-style clothing and accessories, whether in the Grove or on the Square.
Special thanks to Hinton & Hinton for styling the models for this photo shoot. Disclaimer: Hinton & Hinton does not style Lane Kiffin.
modeled by Kenaz Worthem
PETER MILLAR HOODIE SMATHERS & BRANSON BELT
34 HERITAGE PANTS
G/FORE SHOES
Clothing and accessories provided by Hinton & Hinton. Sporting goods provided by College Corner.
Continued on page 54
modeled by Everett Miller
JOHNNIE-O SPORT COAT
DAVID DONAHUE BUTTON-DOWN
DUCK HEAD PERFORMANCE PANTS
MAGNANNI LOAFERS
MAGNANNI BELT
HINTON & HINTON VEST
DAVID DONAHUE BUTTON-DOWN
DUCK HEAD PERFORMANCE PANTS
MAGNANNI LOAFERS
MAGNANNI BELT
modeled by Everett Miller
It might be said that one couple was at the heart of the Ole Miss football team in the 1950s and 1960s: J.W. “Wobble” Davidson and his wife Sara Simmons Davidson made it their life’s work to make Ole Miss a genuine home, especially for young, incoming footballers.
Imagine Wobble, an assistant for three football coaches at the university, including almost 20 years as an assistant under John Vaught, guiding his players with a tough-asnails coaching style; and Sara, a nurturing dorm mother, arranging Christmas parties for the football team. The Davidsons lived in the football dormitory with their two children for 13 years.
Sara, often described by her own mother as “born happy,” died last January. Her husband Wobble, remembered as “one of the real legends of Ole Miss sports,” died in 1998.
“We lived in the football dormitory until I was 13,” recalled daughter Deb Davidson Mashburn, now retired and living
in Memphis. “We went to a bowl (game) every year. Our life was sort of centered around what bowl we’d be going to at Christmas. There was a spirit of dedication
a standout scholar and collegiate athlete who went on to even bigger things. But one day back in June 1956, the lonely freshman sat on a curb at the school, feeling about as homesick for his native Mississippi coast as he could ever remember feeling.
That’s when something happened that changed his life.
“I’ll bet that’s one of our boys,” Mashburn quoted her mom as saying to a friend as they drove by the young, dejected Khayat. Mashburn’s mother did more than make the future NFL player and highereducation leader feel at home in a strange new place. “He writes about how she sort of saved his life, because he was so homesick,” Mashburn said.
to the kids and the university.”
Case in point: Near the beginning of one of his books, former Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khayat wrote about when he first came to campus. Most envision Khayat as
“She was incredibly loving and generous, taking an interest in those of us who were away for the first time,” Khayat said. “She was the first person who lovingly welcomed her freshmen.”
Tougher memories helped forge such sweet ones. Continued on page 61
J.W. Davidson grew up in Memphis during the Depression, served in the Marine Corps, lost a buddy to friendly fire during World War II, and, Mashburn said, everything about the way her father came of age created a man of tough love.
He earned the nickname Wobble when a teacher reprimanded him during class for being a wiggler, only to be informed by the young student that he did not wiggle, he wobbled.
“He was a rascal,” Mashburn said of her father.
As a child, Wobble rode behind Memphis streetcars on a handmade skateboard because he couldn’t afford a ticket, once hitchhiked with a friend to Water Valley to find a watermelon festival, and for a time, hitchhiked to West Memphis to help slaughter cows, Mashburn said.
“I think they moved 16 times during the Depression, trying to find a place they could afford to live,” she said. His first year at Ole Miss, he and his best friend would swap pants, so it looked like each of them had two pairs of pants.
Mashburn’s mom, a Greenville native, was an Ole Miss cheerleader when Wobble (then a football player) approached her and said the following: “I know you’re a freshman, you’re having a great time, and I want you to have fun. But when you’re ready, I want to marry you.”
After they married, the entrepreneurial Sara owned a well-respected interior design
and antiques business at the Oxford Depot, and she built a house in downtown Oxford that the family still owns. The Davidsons are parents to Mashburn and her brother Don.
Wobble, who is in both the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame, lettered in multiple sports, worked as an assistant for three football coaches at the university, then later worked as a pro scout for the New Orleans Saints and other teams. He started the M-Club scholarship that now bears his name.
“He’d be amazed at how much money is in there now,” Mashburn said.
But those individual accomplishments only scratch the surface of the sort of work the two of them did that made them far more than Oxford superstars.
It went something like this for the couple who lived for 13 years of their lives in an athletic dorm. Sara did indeed arrange Christmas parties for the team, and Wobble did enforce dormitory discipline. She nurtured nervous freshmen. He weeded out half-hearted players on the old freshman football squad. She brought confections to lonely kids. He turned boys into men.
To modern ears, this may sound like an odd, old-fashioned recipe for happiness. Or it may make you think students would have loved the sweet, happy Sara the most. But much like Vince Lombardi, who barked orders yet commanded fierce loyalty among the old Green Bay Packers while he secretly prayed the rosary on the sidelines, Wobble
let his guys know he loved them, too.
“Wobble was a man of strong character who was very much loved by all the boys,” former head football coach John Vaught said in an Ole Miss news release following Wobble’s death. “He was the disciplinarian of our team, and they were certainly influenced by his guidance.”
For Mashburn, such happy thoughts are part of a bygone home she visits quite often in her own cherished memories.
“I have such great memories of living in the dorm, throwing the football with allAmericans,” she said. “It was a different time then, a simpler time.”
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPIANS OFFER UNIQUE AND DELICIOUS GOODIES, INCLUDING OVER-THE-TOP TAILGATE FARE PERFECT FOR ANY GAME DAY.
WRITTEN BY LESLIE CRISS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Whether having dinner at the family table, with a large group of friends in a restaurant, or having a multitude of mouth-pleasing munchies while waiting for the kickoff of a football game, the power of food is evident. Food builds community.
With fall just around the corner, it’s time to think about a new football season, the coming holidays and other special gatherings you might be planning. Culinary goodness in northeast Mississippi abounds, and this trio of relatively new offerings is no exception.
Continued on page 66
Native Son Farm Charcutie
Moondog Makers & Bakers
Continued from page 64
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, single mom Stephanie Hall was trying to figure out a way to make ends meet financially. She invited some friends and her daughter over to help brainstorm. She put together a large platter of snacks on a broken coffee table.
“In the middle of the brainstorming, my son called,” Hall said of Cade, her college student son. “His computer had died, and I didn’t have the money to get him a new one. In front of everyone, I had an ugly cry.”
Then her daughter Sera pointed to the goody-laden coffee tabletop and said to her mother, “Mom, I think you could sell this.” Hall thought the idea was ridiculous. But then she put a photo of herself — eyes puffy from crying — with the snacks, and within 24 hours, Hall had 19 orders with 14 of them prepaid.
“I could buy my son a new computer,” she said.
That was in August 2020. Thanks to the pandemic, small groups of people were gathering in homes, and they’d place orders for Hall’s charcuterie boards, which she was putting together in her home kitchen.
“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be doing that,” said Hall, who’d worked 14 years in sales and marketing for the Mississippi Radio Group. “Someone apparently turned my name in to the health department and, honestly, it ended up being a big favor.”
Hall did her research and teamed up with Casey Knight and Clay Knight at Uptown Grocery. Hall handled bookings for them, and they let her use their commercial kitchen. She ran her new business, Charcutie, from there a few years until moving into her present location at Clayton Avenue and West Jackson Street in July 2022.
There, she has held classes on making charcuterie boards, wine and cheese pairings, bourbon pairings and other ticketed events. Hall also hosts private parties in her shop as well as catering events in customers’ homes. With help from employee Zondra Moore,
Hall makes custom boards (including dessert boards) for a multitude of events and occasions, and her Grab & Go boxes have become popular lunch items and may be picked up to go or eaten in the shop.
In time for the holidays, Hall plans to offer charcuterie subscription boxes that can be shipped as gifts.
A native of Houston, Mississippi, Hall has lived in Tupelo 17 years. She grew up on a farm and spent time working as a kid in her grandparents’ (Sarah and Bobby Brooks) Houston restaurant, the Mug ‘n’ Cone. She swore she’d never work in the food industry again, but here she is.
Now open for more than a year in her current location, Hall says she is ready with some new and improved offerings for football season. All tailgating orders come on a disposable board that will be boxed for
easy transport and stacking.
“Last year, half of my tailgating orders were for people who were watching the games at home,” said the 50-year-old Hall. “The other half were heading to the Grove or the Junction.”
Serious tailgaters can now order Charcutie’s portable grazing runners, which are multiple boxed charcuterie boards that can be unboxed and lined up to form a 6-foot or 9-foot charcuterie table runner. The tailgating snacks might include sausage balls, a football-shaped bacon-ranch cheese ball, homemade pickles from Hall’s grandmother’s recipe, fruit, cheese, bread — and that’s just to name a few.
“I am having the time of my life,” she said. “I am so happy. I can’t believe this is what I get to do.”
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Native Son Farm has become a mainstay for those in search of fresh, seasonal produce. Since Will Reed returned home to Tupelo in 2010 with his wife Amanda with farming on his mind, Native Son has thrived as a Community Supported Agriculture program. The Reed family has grown as well — Will and Amanda are now the parents of four daughters and a son. Their growing farm stand offers fresh-picked and locally sourced items. There is rarely a time during business hours the stand is not bustling with customers.
Since April, Native Son loyalists have been able to shop for more than fresh vegetables to cook at home. Thanks to J.D. Dill and his kitchen crew, the farm stand is loaded daily with freshly baked breads of many kinds, cookies, cobblers, muffins, pies, quiches and many more delicious foods made with fresh fruits and vegetables from
Native Son Farm and sourced from a few other places.
Even if you stop in for just a tomato or two, the smells coming from the kitchen will magically make you seek the source. You’ll likely leave with a snack for yourself or supper for your family.
Mostly by word of mouth and social media, the culinary additions to the farm stand became popular almost immediately.
“It was crazy in the beginning,” said Dill, 34, whose resume impresses with his cooking background. “And the wave has been fairly consistent. Keeping up with the seasonality is key. In the summer, we deal with a thousand pounds of tomatoes at times and tons of squash. So, we find ways to put it all to good use. It’s kind of like a race and sometimes the veggies win.”
During the summer, the kitchen crew usually numbers around five each day; in the
winter, there may be a few less. The summer crew included Dill, his partner Maggie Peck, his brother Michael Dill, Ramona Scott and Leigh Michael Cannon.
With football season a hot ticket in the South, Dill has given thought to what he might put together for tailgating, and there are ideas he plans to kick around for future seasons. For now, there are plenty of goodies folks heading to the game can pick up that will be welcomed additions to their tailgate tables.
While summer’s tomato pies were a favorite, apples will be in season starting this month, so be on the lookout for Native Son to offer homemade apple pies.
“And our quiches are always popular,” Dill said. “They’re almost like a salad cooked into an egg crust. With so many vegetables, they’re packed with lots of nutrition, and they taste good too.”
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Moondog Makers & Bakers in Corinth is the brainchild of Joey Thompson, who was associated with Pizza Grocery for 13 years, nine years as head chef. Moondog was a nickname given to Thompson: The Moon Dogs were a professional wrestling tag team in the early 1980s. In the early days of Moondog, Thompson made jams, jellies and pickles to be sold at Corinth’s Green Markets. He continues to add to his Moondog seasonings which can be found in shops in north Mississippi and west Tennessee.
A native of Ingomar, Thompson had a job at J & J Grocery there when he was 14.
“I made sandwiches, but I made them how I would want them to be,” he said.
“I realized at some point I had a growing
interest in food, especially local food.”
Thompson’s making of jellies and jams grew into smoking lots of meats and trying to hone those skills. He did not require a high-dollar, professional smoker for his experiments.
“I went out and bought a cheap little Kingsford grill,” he said.
Thompson and his three-man cooking crew have now cooked and catered in six states, so far. The Moondog crew is Wayne Richardson, Bradley Davis and Jeremy Hayes. Sometimes Thompson gets help as well from his 11-year-old son, Gordon. He and wife Kaylin are also parents to Elliott, 7, and Adalyn, 4.
In July, Thompson had the opportunity to cook for an event in Wisconsin, where his
food received high praise from Chef Emeril Lagasse.
Thompson has catered weddings, holiday parties, corporate gatherings — and then there’s Tree Street Pizza Night. Last winter when Corinth had a big snow, Thompson decided to cook pizza for his neighborhood in which the streets bear tree names.
“I put out the word by text to some of the neighbors that I was going to cook pizzas, but I needed cheese,” Thompson said. “Not long after the texts were sent, neighbors with cheese started showing up on foot, or they had their kids bring it in golf carts or four-wheelers.
“Keep in mind, we were completely blanketed in snow and ice. And that was the birth of Tree Street Pizza Night. We’ve also done several Tree Street Burger Nights.”
The pizzas are cooked in Thompsons’s wood-fired pizza oven in the family’s garage. He normally offers several kinds of pizza for the evening, including a specialty pizza he’s created.
Even Corinth residents outside Thompson’s neighborhood call and order pizza on pizza nights.
With football season on tap, Thompson has given thought to a tailgate menu.
“For tailgating, I would most likely offer a preorder menu focused on game day snacks and smoked meats,” he said. “Then just have people grab and go on the way to the games.”
RECENTLY COMPLETED RENOVATIONS EXPAND AND UPGRADE THREE OLE MISS SORORITY HOUSES.
WRITTEN BY ABBEY EDMONSON
Home is a feeling. It’s a warm embrace or an outstretched hand. It’s the comfort of belonging. Many collegiate women at the University of Mississippi have found home on Sorority Row and Rebel Drive.
These historic buildings have housed generations of women, some as early as the 1920s. The opulent spaces are not simply meeting areas or photo-ops — they’re communities.
Inside, women congregate for meals, study sessions or late-night movie marathons. Each house provides women a refuge from navigating the ups and downs of college life. With ever-growing incoming freshman classes, many of the sorority houses have adjusted to accommodate their blossoming numbers. A few recently completed their mid-COVID-19 renovation projects that have been years in the making.
The Chi Omega house, built in 1962, has undergone five total renovations throughout its life, the latest of which officially wrapped up January 2023. What once was built to accommodate a 100-member chapter, the house now needs to serve 500. When some structural and mechanical concerns arose in 2018, the Chi Omega House Corp. decided a major renovation was necessary for the safety and well-being of its members. The project added a large meeting room, five designated study spaces, a library, an expanded chapter room and an expanded kitchen and dining room. The number of bedrooms remains at 90, but each room is reinforced with underbed storage, closets and desks for each member, multiple storage cabinets and a bulletin board for personal decoration. After completion, the house stands at about 40,000 square feet.
“Providing this house for the women lets them know that many alumnae, advisors and House Corp. board members care about their collegiate experience and want it to be the best it can be for them,” House Corp. member Beth Doty said.
Inside, you’ll find an expansive retreat flooded with natural light. Of the five study rooms, one is lovingly called “The Nest” due to its multiple windows facing out into the trees. Pages featuring illustrations from a rediscovered 1947 Chi Omega scrapbook ornament the walls. Interior designer Ann Carter and her assistant Ann Ferrell transformed the space into an updated oasis that still nods toward the generations of women who lived there before. Architect Roger Pryor of PryorMorrow and contractor Hugh Mallette of WAR Construction Company also worked on the project. As for future renovations, Doty said that there are no current plans other than finishing the brick in the courtyard.
“[The renovation] allows the women in the chapter to have physical space to do things together, to spend time building friendships or studying or working on philanthropic projects,” said House Corp. member Mary Ann Frugé. “Because they can get together in this special place, friendships will be enjoyed throughout their lives.”
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Originally built in 1958, the Phi Mu house also underwent major renovations over the past few years. Rather than starting another small project, their House Corp. decided it was time to make big adjustments. They added two 20-foot wings to the front of the house and completed the third floor. Included in these 15,000-squarefoot additions is an alumni reception room, four single rooms, four double rooms, a meeting room, multiple study rooms, more bathrooms and three large storage rooms. Most of the preserved areas were touched up or updated as well. Overall, 92%-95% of the house underwent a retouch or renovation.
Construction finished around October 2022, and the final elements nearing completion are a lift to the third floor and a second front patio to mirror the original one on the right side. Contributors to this nearly 40,000-square-foot house are White Leopard Designs, architect Edye Conkerton, and Spring Construction.
Both House Director Kim Warner and House Corp. President Ann Devoe agree that the alumni reception room is their favorite part of the renovation. Adorned with marble flooring and pink velvet accents, this whimsical room also features a commissioned abstract painting from Alicia Hobbs, a Phi Mu Alpha Delta chapter alumna. The models for the painting are all Phi Mu sisters as well. Devoe said they lovingly call them their “Phi Mu ladies.”
As for the characteristic pink brick, the chapter opted to say goodbye, noting that the pink was redder than they’d hoped. Despite efforts to lighten up the brick, the House Corp. listened to the requests of its active members and added a fresh coat of white paint to the exterior over the summer. But don’t worry, the pink won’t be completely gone. Pink and white azaleas will embellish the front once the second patio is finished.
“It’s just nice to have a history with this building that we all feel very strongly about,” Devoe said. “It’s been nice for everyone. We see how happy they are with it, and I think that makes the whole chapter a little more cohesive.”
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The Pi Beta Phi house is another 1960s treasure. Built in 1964, the historic house simply couldn’t accommodate the 450-member chapter. With help from architect William Mills and interior designer Courtney Peters, the Pi Beta Phi House Corp. elevated the space into a modern, cohesive home. Initial planning for the renovation began December 2019, and the project officially wrapped in May 2023. Despite facing prolonged wait times for materials and furniture — some pieces took over a year to be delivered — the team created a beautiful final project offering plenty of space to the growing Pi Beta Phi chapter.
Adding on about 19,576 square feet, the house is now almost 38,000 square feet. The back of the house received the most changes, including an expanded dining room, a larger chapter room, about 15 additional bedrooms, more bathrooms, a house director’s suite, more storage rooms and meeting rooms.
“We waited for this for a long time, and it took a lot of planning,” said House Corp. member Gail Collins. “I think in retrospect [the active women] are so glad that we took our time and really thought about it.”
The additional square footage isn’t the only update. Active members asked that each room flow from one room to the next, making the space feel more open. Hearing their requests, Peters delivered a cohesive space that answered their wishes. Starting with a piece of floral fabric that had elements of Pi Beta Phi’s signature colors, she used the pattern to draw inspiration for each room, making sure they spoke to one another. That fabric now accentuates chairs in the formal living room. Throughout the house are small elements tying back to the sorority. Arrows, the official Pi Beta Phi symbol, are scattered throughout, the most notable of which is on the customized main staircase banister. Angels, the unofficial mascot of the sorority, make appearances as well.
“Everyone I worked with was wonderful; I really enjoyed our team,” Peters said. “I think due to COVID-19, things were slowed down, but the end result was what we all were really working for, and it looks great.”
Country musician and Mississippi native Jamie Davis has hit the big-time. If you watched the Grammy Awards on TV earlier this year, you may have seen him on stage with Luke Combs’ band. If you listen to country music on the radio, then more than likely you’ve heard the No. 1 hit song he co-wrote with Combs and others, “The Kind of Love We Make.” And if you care enough to go digging into country music’s archives, you can sample some of his own country-fried sounds on the LP “Jamie Davis and Soul Gravy” (produced by Belmontborn Mac McAnally). Born in Tupelo and raised in Booneville, Davis went to Northeast Mississippi Community College and Mississippi State, all while cultivating a lifelong love for music. And now the 39-year-old finds himself in the spotlight, touring all over the world this year with Combs. But when Davis comes home, he comes to the Blackland community in Prentiss County, where he lives with his wife and two children. We caught up with Davis recently to ask him about his life, his music and being on the road.
Q: What was it like to be on live television during the Grammy Awards back in February?
A: Man, I kind of get in a zone and try to be aware of what I’m doing, whether it’s playing or doing backing vocals or whatever. Once that curtain comes up, it can get to you, and your knees get shaky. It was the best of the best music people in all genres (at the Grammy Awards). It was really cool, but it will get to you. I think I had a small anxiety attack right before we went on. It’s a rush, and it feels like it’s coming at you at a hundred miles an hour. It’s very intimidating.
Q: How did you wind up working with Luke Combs?
A: I had a couple buddies, Dan Isbell and Dustin Nunley, who were already working with Luke. Dan was writing with him, and Nunley was a guitar tech at the time. They recommended me for a guitar tech position in Luke’s crew in 2019. Luke’s production manager, Jerry Slone, took a chance on me and hired me. I started out as guitar tech, steel and keys. Then at the end of 2019, they put Nunley in the band, and I was moved to Luke’s guitar tech slot. I joined the band this year.
Q: Wikipedia describes you as a country/ soul/Southern rock musician. That’s a bunch of territory. You sound country to me on “Jamie Davis and Soul Gravy.” How do you like to describe yourself as a musician?
A: We listened to everything when I was growing up. My dad listened to R&B and funk, and my mom listened to soft rock. But when it comes down to it, I like to say I’m country. The stuff I write sounds country, and the way I play, I like to think I sound country.
Q: How did you know that you wanted to be a full-time musician?
George Strait, and Garth Brooks opened for him. I saw those guys play, and it got me super interested. In college, we went to see a cover band at Rick’s in Starkville, and we were just old enough to get in there. We saw an R&B/funk cover band called Seventeenth Floor. That night I remember being like, this is what I’m going to do. Nothing else was ever going to satisfy me.
Q: Who taught you to be a musician?
A: My grandparents got me a couple of guitar lessons when I was 8 or 9 years old. From there, I started learning some more chords myself. As I got more serious, my granddaddy’s buddy started letting me come over and let me and my brother pick along with him. I did that for a year or two. From 12 to 18, I picked around and taught myself the best I could. Dustin Nunley was the first real guitar player I ever met, and I learned a lot from him. He’s one of my best buddies. Jerry Carnathan taught me a bunch, too. I don’t know if they realize they were my teachers.
Q: What’s your current practice regimen, considering that you’re touring with Combs right now?
A: I try to practice most every day. I’m a full-time writer for Sony, too, so I’ve usually got a guitar in my hand. If I’m at home, off tour, I probably practice two or three hours a day at a minimum. When we’re out here on tour, I’ll find a guitar and a spot somewhere and practice for 45 minutes, at least. I try one day a week not to play at all.
Q: Why?
A: I try to get my head out of it ... to shut it off one day. There are guitars everywhere in the house. You can tell it’s a guitar player’s house. But even when I try to not pick up one, I usually wind up playing a little.
WRITTEN BY EUGENE STOCKSTILL PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY JAMIE DAVIS
A: I started singing and learning songs when I was 8 or 9 years old. I really didn’t take it seriously until I was 12. My first concert was
Q: You hit it big with “The Kind of Love We Make.” How did it feel to know you helped write a No. 1 song?
Continued on page 82
A: It was amazing. We’d been writing songs, trying to write commercial hits for years. It was amazing watching a song you had a part in come alive. After one show, they called me into one of the green rooms and told me we had a No. 1. It felt like a weight off my shoulder. It felt like, you’ve finally got your work done.
Q: What’s your song-writing process?
A: I truly believe that there is no wrong way to write a song. We start them every way. I don’t sit down and try to write them the same way every day. We work with tons and tons of artists. Some days we’re just starting
off with a title, and that’s it. Some days you’ve got a melody in your head, and you try to find a title for it. Or you have a riff or a chord progression, then you find a song for it. I don’t have one way that I do it.
Q: Could you describe the ups and downs of being on tour?
A: I enjoy it, man. I don’t think that people, when they start off playing music, realize how much work it takes. But it doesn’t feel like work if you love doing what you’re doing. I miss my family. I thank the Lord for FaceTime, so that we can see each other. There’s not a bad part of touring, except
being away from family.
Q: What’s it like being both a music star and a family man?
A: It’s definitely a balance. My wife has been my greatest supporter through the years. She takes care of the homefront while I’m gone. But when I come back home, my boys don’t care that I’ve been on tour. They’ve just grown up knowing it’s something Daddy does. I don’t think they know how cool it is. I hope that one day when they get older, they will. It’s two separate things, though. I try to leave my work out there.
Q: Who are you listening to right now? Anything that might surprise those who enjoy your music?
A: I listen to a lot of old stuff. I still listen to George Strait. I listen to Stevie Wonder. I like Boston, Jerry Reed. Basically, I’ve been listening to a lot of Luke Combs songs lately, because I have to learn all of them.
Q: Do you have a favorite song, artist or album?
A: I don’t know if I could tell you my favorite album. My favorite artist is Merle Haggard. Man, I just thought he got it, the songwriting, the guitar-playing. That was just what I always wanted to do: Write songs and play guitar. He’s got a song called “Footlights,” that’s probably my favorite. It hits even harder now.
THE PURCHASE OF AN OXFORD HOUSE DRAWS A COUPLE INTO THE THICK OF THE HOSPITALITY BUSINESS WITH A NEW BED-AND-BREAKFAST.
WRITTEN
BY LESLIE CRISS | PHOTOGRAPHED BY TAYLOR SQUARE PHOTOGRAPHY
Brandi and Scott Lewis, along with their four kids, visited family in Oxford during Christmas 2020. While there, they began kicking around an idea that would ultimately be life-changing. They began a search for a house they could turn into a bed-and-breakfast.
Neither had dipped even a toe into the hospitality business, but it didn’t stop them.
“Sometimes we don’t think things through,” Brandi said, laughing. “When we decided to do it, we jumped in feet first.”
The business of a B&B aside, a move to Oxford seemed daunting to Brandi, a lifelong Texan. Her husband had grown up in Denmark, Mississippi, an unincorporated community just over 10 miles east of Oxford. For Scott Lewis, it would be coming home; for his wife, it took a while to commit to relocating to a smaller location.
“I said no for a long time,” she said. “I mean, there is no Target in Oxford. There’s not even a Target in Tupelo. How could that be?”
Still, the day came when Brandi said yes to downsizing the state in which she lived — and the Lewis family watched Texas grow smaller in the rearview mirror as Mississippi became a larger part of their future.
The initial house the couple considered purchasing didn’t work out, but, soon after, Scott saw a “for sale” sign in the yard at 1003 S. Lamar St.
The house had most recently been the home of Thomas and Linda Windham, who had lived there for years, released the house to the University of Mississippi for several years, and then moved back into the house in 1995. During that time, an addition was made to the original Victorian structure, which was built in the 1870s.
“The house had been on the market for several years when we bought it,” Brandi said. “It was in need of some repair work, and there were things we wanted to renovate to make it an accommodating B&B.”
The front porch needed a new roof, and all the upstairs bathrooms were gutted to make them more modern for convenience’s sake, but care was also given to keep them as traditional as possible.
Even by Texas standards, the house is huge. The total number of square feet, including the addition and a cottage out back, is 13,000. The original house, which serves as the B&B, has a total of five suites. Each is decorated differently, in a veritable rainbow of blues, Brandi’s favorite color. And with the exception of one suite, which is named after Scott Lewis’ uncle, each bears the surname of a former owner of the home. The B&B can sleep a dozen people.
Downstairs, there’s a sitting room, a formal dining room and a smaller, more informal area where guests have breakfast. There are two full kitchens — one that is
used for the B&B.
Guests are treated to a gourmet, homecooked breakfast.
“My husband normally fixes breakfast, unless we have a big crowd,” Brandi said. “If we have lots of people, we have a chef who comes in.”
Each room is complete with a small refrigerator; bottled water and snacks are also provided. On football weekends, the Lewises host a complimentary happy hour.
The South Lamar B&B officially opened in August 2022, and all rooms were quickly booked for Ole Miss home football games. The B&B is full for this football season and is almost sold out for all 2024 home games.
“We are booked up for Ole Miss graduations for the next three years,” Brandi said.
When not interacting with their guests, the Lewises, 17-year-old twins Shelby and Brandon, 17-year-old La’Nyjiah, and 13-year-old Bridget, along with the family’s three pups, are content in the family quarters. That area contains the second full kitchen, a huge laundry room, four bedrooms, multiple baths, a family room and more. The cottage out back houses an office for Scott, who works as an investment banker in Memphis during the week. Brandon’s bedroom and bath are also located in the cottage.
“What we have here is basically like two houses put together,” Scott said.
The house that is now the South Lamar B&B has a small claim to fame: It is featured in the 1949 film, “Intruder in the Dust,” based on the novel by William Faulkner.
Though Brandi and Scott Lewis quickly admit they still have things to learn about running a B&B, they are having fun along the way. It’s important to them to provide guests with everything needed to make their stay comfortable. After all, the guests are why the Lewises decided on this foray into the hospitality business.
“We actually spend time with our guests,” Brandi said. “We love getting to know them and making them feel at home. And often, when they leave, they leave as friends.
“We’re still learning, but we’re having fun. And we haven’t messed up yet.”
Brandi Lewis had no idea when she received an online certificate of ordination recently to perform her sister’s wedding ceremony, that it would come in handy at the South Lamar B&B she owns and operates with her husband Scott Lewis.
For reasons beyond her control, Brandi was unable to make it to her sister’s wedding, but in July, two guests at the B&B became engaged. After less than a 24-hour engagement, the two decided they wanted to elope while in Oxford. They asked Brandi for help.
This was a return visit to the South Lamar B&B for Basil Ballard and Priscilla Perry, both of Los Angeles. The two had stayed there in April when Ballard’s father, Glen Ballard, a songwriter, record producer and Ole Miss alum, was honored with the UM Medal for the Arts.
While in Oxford, the young couple were awed by the Southern hospitality shown them by the Lewis family.
“I have stayed in the finest places all over the world,” Ballard said. “I’ve stayed at the Beverly Hills, The Ritz in Paris and so many more. This is the nicest place I’ve stayed in my whole life.”
Ballard’s wife of less than a few hours agreed. “Brandi planned a wedding for us in just over 24 hours,” she said. “And I mean everything from flowers to a place in this beautiful home. And she is the one who married us.”
“We love Brandi and her family so much,” Ballard added. “We’ll definitely be back here.”
Multiple ribbon cuttings and grand opening celebrations took place in Oxford this summer. Congratulations to all of these new businesses.
Water Valley’s annual Watermelon Carnival took place Aug. 4-5. Named among the top festivals in the southeastern U.S. by the Southeastern Tourism Society, the carnival was first held in 1931. Today it includes entertainment, parades, food vendors, artsand-crafts booths
A garden-themed celebration was held in May at Jinsei to commemorate the University of Mississippi graduation.
Oxford School District’s Convocation took place July 28 for teachers and staff to kick off the new school year. The event had a Hollywood theme, Setting the Stage for Success.”
The 25th annual Tupelo Elvis Festival kicked off five full days of events on June 7 to pay tribute and celebrate the life of the city’s most famous native son. The festival included a gala, an Elvis Tribute Artist competition and more.
The Gumtree Twigs hosted its 17th annual Father Daughter Ball on June 24. The event, a benefit for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, boasted the theme
Tupelo Community Theatre celebrated the life and legacy of former executive director Tom Booth on Aug. 4 with the Tom Booth Birthday Bar Crawl. In addition to honoring Booth, the event raised money for TCT.
The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association hosted Wine Downtown in May. Attendees took part in the progressive wine tasting event while shopping with participating downtown retailers.
Local eighth graders took part in Reed’s Department Store’s annual Back to School photo session in July. Participants were fitted the week before the July 25 photo shoot took place.
INTERVIEWED BY LESLIE CRISS | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Football season has arrived in the South. Among the many Ole Miss football fans heading to the Grove on game day will be sportswriter Wright Thompson who makes his home in Oxford. Thompson gave us his take on football as a way of life, a Southern fall ritual.
Football season got real to me when the nitty-gritty of Grove tent logistics hit our group text. There’s always a moment. For a long while, during spring and summer, it’s all platitudes and exaltations, and then suddenly August arrives and decisions must be made about the exact number of chairs that need to be set up.
I don’t know if football matters more here than other places. I mean, I’ve been to Green Bay and Pittsburgh. But football is a way of life in Oxford, and I don’t particularly care how other people do it, or where we rank. I know I feel happy, still and content with a box of Popeyes and three hours to kill before kickoff.
I like a plate set with the stations of the Grove cross: stuffed eggs, pimiento cheese, fried chicken. My mom is there. My daughters are there. All the couples, and the village of children, who make up our tribe are there, which makes this tribal.
THESE AFTERNOONS ARE THE WAY, AND THEY ARE A LIFE, OUR LIFE, A REENACTMENT, A REUNION, A CHRISTENING, A COMMUNION. WE DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF YOU.”
