Profile 2015 – 3
PROFILE 2015
4 – Profile 2015
P
Don Kessinger Page 6
rofile 2015, the latest supplement to The Oxford EAGLE, highlights the contributions and dedication of select members of the LOU community and the surrounding area.
Scott Caradine Page 22
Maralyn Bullion Page 38
Jimmy Murphrey Page 10
Silas Reed Page 14
Frances Gordon Johnny McPhail Page 26 Page 30
Will Atkinson Page 42
Sonja Price Page 48
Deb Helms Page 18
Peggie Gillom-Granderson Page 34
Binny Turnage Page 52
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Profile 2015 – 5
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BRUCE NEWMAN
6 – Profile 2015
Don Kessinger helped start Kessinger Real Estate in Oxford after successful stints as a player and coach with the Ole Miss baseball program.
Profile 2015 – 7
Kessinger starred on the diamond and on the basketball court, earning All-American honors in both sports, while attending Ole Miss in the early- to mid-1960s.
Kessinger enjoys promoting area that’s been so good to him By Don Whitten Editor
W
hen Don Kessinger meets with someone to discuss real estate and the possibility of moving to the Lafayette-OxfordUniversity community, his job becomes one of the easiest and most enjoyable things he’s ever done. And that’s saying a lot when you consider that he’s been involved in some pretty high profile vocations through the years, ranging from being a
two-sport All-American at Ole Miss to being an All-Star shortstop in the Major Leagues, to being a color commentator for Ole Miss basketball to coaching the Ole Miss baseball program. What makes Kessinger’s job of selling the community so easy and so much fun? It’s simple. He gets to tell them how much he has enjoyed doing just what clients are asking about: living in a jewel of a community that offers so much. “I tell them they have to experience it to understand that it’s such a great place to live, such a great place to raise
a family,” Kessinger said recently. “My family has been fortunate, since we moved here from Memphis in 1990, to have enjoyed that life. And we’re enjoying it every day. “Oxford and Ole Miss and Lafayette County are so special,” he continued. “There’s the cultural side of it, if that’s what you’re interested in. There’s the athletic side of it. There are so many opportunities to do things at the university. There’s the great local schools. I can tell them all those things and say it with sincerity because I’ve lived that life (for going on 25 years now).”
8 – Profile 2015 Kessinger, probably one of the fittest and most active 72-year-olds around, didn’t think much about returning to Oxford when he left Ole Miss and started his 16-year professional baseball career in the mid-1960s. But all that happened along the way kept drawing him closer and closer to where and what he is now — the president of a successful real estate business in Oxford. He and his wife Carolyn — their 50th anniversary is this month — were right at home in the Chicago area for all those years he played with the Cubs, but then after he was traded to St. Louis in 1976 they moved “back home” and settled in Memphis. He played (and was one of the last player-managers in the Majors with the White Sox in 1979) another four years, and then retired from the game and lived fulltime in Memphis. In 1990, he got the call from his alma mater to be its head baseball coach, and he held that position and others in the athletic department at Ole Miss until retiring there in 2000. Meanwhile, in the mid-1990s, Carolyn and younger son Kevin started Kessinger Real Estate, and “Coach” Kessinger joined the family business. “I’ve always been intrigued with real estate and I was involved with a real estate company that did more investment real estate business during the offseason when I was with the Cubs in Chicago. We didn’t make the money they make nowadays, and that was my offseason living,” Kessinger said. “(Elder son) Keith is involved with the business now and it’s really nice to be so involved in a business you enjoy with your family.” The real estate business, by its nature, is competitive and includes lots of highs and lows. “It’s a lot like playing and coaching,” Kessinger said. “You go through adversity and you have to find ways to deal with that and improvise. I switched gears going from playing and coaching to real estate, but it was something I’d done before and knew that I could do by applying myself totally.” While people in Chicago would see him as former Cub Don Kessinger and lots of Ole Miss fans see him as former coach Don Kessinger, he’s probably known in Oxford these days more as Mr. Kessinger, the grandfather and real estate man as much as anything else. “I like that. I really do. Because that’s
Kessinger spent 16 years in the Major Leagues, the majority of that time as the starting shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. He was a six-time All Star while playing for the Cubs, St. Louis and the Chicago White Sox.
who I am,” he said. “We love Oxford and Ole Miss. We enjoy our life here. And while we never imagined that our boys and grandkids would live here, too, eventually … what a blessing that is. “It all goes back to what life is all about. Our family loves the Lord, and we’re thankful every day for all the blessings he’s given us. How blessed can you be — to be with your lovely wife of 50 years to have your two kids here and your grandkids. We are so happy.” Kessinger gives credit to God and to his family for helping him make the transition from pro athlete to the other jobs he’s done. “I saw a lot of people retire from the game and miss the limelight. We all miss the game, sure, but I don’t miss playing any more. I thank the Lord for that. I have a purpose,” he said.
He’s pretty much typical for an Oxonian these days, with his particular emphasis on family and sports. “Obviously, I’m a fan. I’m an Ole Miss Rebel. We have our season tickets for all the sports and we go to the games,” Kessinger said. “But we also go to the high school games. We were so excited about the success of the football team last fall and the basketball team so far this year. And we’ll have two grandsons on the baseball team this spring. “People around here are so good about letting you be who you are, to live your everyday life doing whatever you do,” he said. “I’m just Don Kessinger. I’m a husband, a father, a grandfather and a businessman. That’s who I am. It’s about community and family; it all goes back to that.” —don.whitten@oxfordeagle.com
Profile 2015 – Â9
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10 – Profile 2015
BRUCE NEWMAN
Jimmy Murphrey has played an integral part in Lafayette High School athletics since joining the school district in 1974. Murphrey is just a couple of years away from full retirement, but he can’t even fathom the thought.
Jimmy Murphrey — the face of athletics at Lafayette High He’s helped year-round for decades because ‘it’s fun’ By Davis Potter Sports Editor
It’s a reminder of what used to be. A photo hangs on the wall in his office inside the fieldhouse at Lafayette High School. He walks over, points out three baseball fields in the portrait and reminisces about each one since that’s all that’s left for him to do. More than a decade has passed since he last walked on the fields, touched the dirt or smelled the grass. Erected in their place are buildings that make up the Lafayette High campus, as
people around here know it today. He swiftly moves his finger over one field in particular. “That’s where we’re standing right now,” he says. Jimmy Murphrey has seen a lot come and go during his time with the Commodores. “People that are just now coming around,” Murphrey continues, “they don’t have any idea that it used to look like this.” Simply put, Murphrey is the face of Lafayette High athletics. He’s not an alum who’s come back to where he once starred as a player. He’s not a legendary coach with hundreds of wins nor is he a long-tenured athletic director. Murphrey has spent the last 41 years at the school in a variety of roles doing whatever he can to ensure coaches and players have what they need to be successful. “Everybody on campus knows that if they need something or if they need to know something, he’s always available,” says
Profile 2015 – 11 Lafayette first-year athletic director Gary “Chick” Drewrey, an LHS graduate whom Murphrey coached at one point. Now Murphrey is Drewrey’s right-hand man as the assistant athletic director, a position he’s held since the turn of the century. But his work goes much further than any title that’s next to his name. Murphrey handles everything from putting student-athletes through eligibility testing to coordinating travel schedules for high school and junior high teams — and even driving them himself. Once school hours are over, time dedication is predicated on what’s in season. Murphrey assists with the middle school football teams as well as the varsity squad every Friday night in the fall. He helped coach the defensive line this season but if needed, he’ll coach different positions. He’s also worked with linebackers. He attends as many basketball and soccer games as he can in the winter, serving as a game administrator most of the time, but he’s got no problem running the game clock, helping work the concession stand or getting the Commodores to wherever they’re going for away games. He drives the bus for the varsity and
junior high football teams as well as other sports. That’s the way he likes it. “I don’t like riding on a bus, but I’ll drive it where you want me to,” says Murphrey, whose white hair, usually hidden under a red baseball cap complete a block “L” accentuated in gold, and thick glasses make him hard to miss.
“I enjoy what I’m doing, and I enjoy doing it here. If it was work, I’d quit. It’s fun. I enjoy doing it.” — Jimmy murphrey
For baseball, softball, tennis and track, he’ll serve as an administrator if need be. Murphrey also helps drag the baseball and softball fields, line them and takes care of field maintenance year-round. Murphrey keeps the grass cut on all the fields and is in charge of purchasing chemicals to protect the surfaces from all
kinds of elements. He’s so well versed in it that coaches around the area reach out to Murphrey for his help. “This summer, we got hit by army worms twice, and I had coaches from other schools calling me and asking what to do,” Murphrey says. “I would just tell them that you can use just about anything.” Murphrey doesn’t take many breaks. He spent the better part of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in 2013 restringing the backstop at the softball field. This past Thanksgiving and Christmas, he patched up some fencing and cleaned school buses. “He feels like anything that needs to be done, it’s part of his job,” Drewrey says. “A lot of folks would say, ‘Well, you know, that’s not my job.’ Well there’s a lot of things that have to be done. If there’s something that needs to be done, he thinks it’s his job to do it.” A typical day for Murphrey starts with his College Hill bus route at approximately 6:20 a.m. He’ll usually get back to his on-campus home next to the bus shop around 9:30 at night. He’s not married and doesn’t have any children,
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12 – Profile 2015 which gives him even more freedom. “Any sport that they need me, I’ll be there,” Murphrey says.
Early influences
Murphrey’s constant on-the-go attitude comes naturally. A Water Valley native, Murphrey was born into what he refers to as a family of teachers and coaches 64 years ago. That influence piqued his interest in sports during his time at Water Valley High School before graduating in 1968. In those days, playing sports was a literal phrase. “Back then you played everything — football, baseball, basketball,” he says. “Whatever the season was, you played.” After two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College, Murphrey graduated from Ole Miss in 1972 with a degree in health, physical education and recreation with the idea of continuing the family coaching tree. A year later, he earned his master’s degree in the same field. Murphrey got his first coaching job as the head junior high football coach at George County in 1973. He also doubled as the girls and boys basketball coach. His stay in Lucedale lasted just one season, but the rookie coach was getting a taste of the time and commitment it was going to take to survive in the profession. He landed at Lafayette in 1974, coaching seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade football as well as the varsity baseball team until 1991. He coached all four teams by himself while also serving as an assistant for the varsity football team. “You just did it,” Murphrey recalls. “There wasn’t any other option.” Murphrey also started a
BRUCE NEWMAN
Jimmy Murphrey looks on as Lafayette High School takes on Desoto Central.
summer program for baseball and softball players in the Lafayette School District that same year, which was played using those three fields on the old LHS campus before expansion did away with them in 2004.
Staying busy Murphrey has stayed busy ever since. He’s yet to miss a day of school since he started at Lafayette for anything other than a school-related function, which usually means attending the annual Mississippi Athletic Administrators Conference in Natchez for a few days every January or traveling to Jackson for meetings
as part of the Mississippi High School Activities Association legislative council. He claims he hasn’t missed Sunday school at Water Valley First Baptist Church in “about 55 years.” The last vacation he can remember? A visit to the old Yankee Stadium back in the early ’70s to take in a baseball game. Murphrey makes it a point to get back to Water Valley every Sunday — and to the city’s Watermelon Carnival every summer — but he doesn’t see the need to leave Lafayette County often. “I enjoy what I’m doing, and I enjoy doing it here,” Murphrey says. “If it was work, I’d quit. It’s fun. I enjoy doing it.”
Murphrey is just a couple of years away from full retirement, but he can’t even fathom the thought. Not while coaching on the field at Lafayette and doing whatever he can to help off of it still brings him this much enjoyment. “As long as I keep good health, I’m going to hang in there,” he says. “Or until it gets to be a job and gets to be work. It’s not work now.” A study hall or a game without Coach Murph in attendance? Nobody else could comprehend that either. “I don’t think anybody could imagine that,” Drewrey says. —davis.potter@oxfordeagle.com
Profile 2015 – 13
BRUCE NEWMAN
14 – Profile 2015
Silas Reed, an Oxford High and University of Mississippi graduate, formed Silas Reed N’ Da Books in 2007.
Profile 2015 – 15
Music helps Silas Reed ‘get it right’ By LaReeca RuckeR Staff Writer
“H
e made a mistake he pays for each day that he wakes up. There’s a cloud that hangs over his head that will not break. “There’s a burden he carries with each step as he paves the way. He chose money over love. Now he must surely pay.” Silas Reed IV, 26, reads the words written in a notebook filled with doodles, drawings and lyrics inside an Oxford restaurant. His words, strong and vibrant, are in the foreground of the static, noisy conversations that echo through the business. “Will you forgive me, for I am that man? Will you forgive me? Will you take me back?” The leader of the band, Silas Reed N’ Da Books, wrote the song he reads right before one of the band’s recent rehearsals. “He knew he was wrong,” he reads, “and she’s probably moved on with her life. Things are much darker. He now sees that she had the light. Where was the wisdom when push came to shove? The poor bastard is empty inside and now craves for her love. “Will you forgive me, for I am that man? Will you forgive me, and take me back?” So far, in his young career, Reed has written almost 100 songs. His writing process often involves recording his thoughts and lyrics with a
BRUCE NEWMAN
Reed plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, trumpet, violin and harmonica.
smart phone app. “It’s really like a redemption song,” he said, describing his latest. “I feel like I want songs to be multipurpose. If someone else were to hear this, and they forgot their third wedding anniversary or some BS like that, they could play this song with some roses and a nice meal that you cooked up, and it might make amends,” he laughed. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Dec. 8, 1988, Reed is the son of JoVon and Silas Reed III. His parents grew up in Memphis
and attended the University of Tennessee. Reed’s father majored in agricultural engineering, and his mother studied speech and theater. “One person can save the world; the other can talk about it,” said Reed IV, describing his parents. He turned out to be a combination of both. His father marched in the University of Tennessee marching band, and his mother sang in the church. She occasionally joins him on stage when the band plays. In Knoxville, Reed remem-
bers listening to his parents’ CD collection that included ‘90s hip-hop, The Fat Boys, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. The family moved to Oxford in 1998, and Reed IV grew up playing basketball and attending a private Apostolic Christian school before becoming a public school student in the Oxford School District. In sixth grade, he emulated his father by asking to play saxophone in the school band.
16 – Profile 2015 “I tried to play his saxophone at home, because I knew where it was,” Reed said. “It was always in the closet. But I didn’t know how to put it together. It’s like this big metal thing, and I would have never figured it out. I pretended it was like a bazooka for a long time.”
Always entertaining
He got his chance to learn with the school band, where he also played cymbals with the drum line. “That was always entertaining,” he laughed. “That’s why they got me on there, because they were like, ‘He can show out.’” Always the entertainer, Reed decided to become a cheerleader. “I was the first male Oxford High School cheerleader in like 20 years,” he said. “Not everyone in high school thought it was cool. They gave me the whole sexuality thing, but you know. I had a blast. ... It’s the South. Football was king. I wasn’t going to play football. No thank you.” Reed also cheered at Ole Miss for two years and received a cheerleading scholarship. “I felt pretty proud about that,” he said, “because the girls immediately got prettier. Everybody was cool about it.” Silas Reed N’ Da Books was formed the fall semester of 2007. Their first gig was freshman day on the Ole Miss campus when another band failed to show. Reed’s band stepped up to play, but there was one problem. He didn’t have any band members. “I had 24 hours to put together a band, so I ran around town, and I found a bass player, a drummer and a couple of vocalists, and we just jammed on through it,” he said. None of the band members assembled that day are still with him, but the band continues. Reed plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, trumpet, violin and harmonica. “I used to get my harmonica confiscated in high school all the time,” he said. This is his first year to play with the band after graduating from the University of Mississippi last year with a degree in business and marketing. Silas Reed N’ Da Books plan to release their first record called “First of 12: Book 1” this year. Reed said the band’s name was a “spur of the moment inspiration” and word play with his last name. “The goal now is to put a bunch of
character sketches in the form of songs on the record,” Reed said. Sometimes, songs take a while to write. Other times, “they spew out,” he said. “When you feel like you’re about to make that chorus too long, that’s really another verse that will drop out of it.” In life, not music — his timing is hard to predict, but it’s something he’s working on. “I’m kind of late all the time,” he said. “Silas the first was on time, so I’ve got to get it together,” he laughed. “Not too long ago, my uncle gave me this right here,” said Reed, pulling a leather pouch from his pocket. “This was Silas the first’s coin purse. So I keep it with me now. “I think Silas was born a free man. He was from Marion, Arkansas. Other than that, all I know was that he was always on time. It’s like my father says, you could
“Silas is extremely outgoing, and he’s one of these guys who always has a great smile on his face. He has a pure enjoyment of playing and performing. He has a bright future. He’s a great vocalist, a great keyboarder, a great guitarist. He enjoys life and you just see that when he performs.” — Billy ChadwiCk set your clock by Silas the first.” Reed also draws. He keeps a notebook of doodles and complex drawings. Many are illustrations of eyes conveying different emotions. “These are some of my better eyeballs that I’m not so ashamed of,” he said, opening the notebook. “I was drawing dodecagons for a long time. It’s a 12-sided polygon. I made the band logo after drawing them for months. It’s got all 12 tones of the chromatic scale on it.” Reed describes his music as “fun” and “full of love.” He said love is his motivation. “I guess you could say I’m a spiritual person,” he said. “I’ve been going to church all my life. You get in a tight spot, and something pulls you out, and you’re like, ‘How did that happen?” That happens enough times, you’re going to
develop a really strong faith. And I just brought that to my band.” Billy Chadwick, former Ole Miss tennis coach, met Reed when he played at his retirement reception. Now, Chadwick sometimes plays bass with Da Books. “Silas is extremely outgoing, and he’s one of these guys who always has a great smile on his face,” said Chadwick. “He has a pure enjoyment of playing and performing. He has a bright future. He’s a great vocalist, a great keyboarder, a great guitarist. He enjoys life and you just see that when he performs.”
Constant support
Reed said his dad, who teaches in the Coffeeville School District, and mom, who works in the Alumni Records Department at the University of Mississippi, have supported his music career. His finance, Laura Bryant, assistant band director with the South Panola School District, is also supportive. “Silas is not ever content with mastering just one instrument,” she said. “We all know that he can play guitar and keyboard. He started his career on the saxophone. Currently, he’s working on learning trombone. “There is nothing that he won’t try to play and master. He loves violin and tried to learn fiddle tunes. I’m looking in his studio right now, and he’s got a flute lying around.” Bryant said the two listen to a variety of music. “We went through this big Dave Matthews Band phase where that was all we listened to,” she said. “Then we listened to Django Reinhardt, banjo and fiddle players. Then he went through a reggae phase that kind of drove me crazy,” she laughed. “He really listens to everything. We even went through a Justin Timberlake phase.” Bryant agrees that “love” is an appropriate theme for Reed’s music. “Silas writes about what he knows, and he has parents who love him, and, obviously, I love him, and his grandparents are really close to him. “He says all the time, ‘I just want to get it right.’ He tries really hard to do right by everybody, and be nice to everybody, and take care of everybody, and I think that and the love people have for him really comes through in his music.” —lareeca.rucker@oxfordeagle.com
Profile 2015 – 17
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18 – Profile 2015
BRUCE NEWMAN
Deb Helms has led the OPC’s Leisure Lifestyles program since 2010. The program is free for adults 40 and up and most of the activities, which range from computer classes to pickle ball, are held at the Oxford Activity Center.
Recreation director’s retirement hardly leisurely By AlyssA schnugg Staff Writer
W
ith her new diploma from the University of Mississippi in music education, her Honda motorcycle strapped onto the back of a U-Haul truck and all she owned, Deb Helms was about to leave for Atlanta in August 1973. However, she stopped at her parents’ house in Pontotoc before leaving and was told someone had tried contacting her from a new place called the North Mississippi Retardation Center in
Oxford. Wearing cutoff shorts and a T-shirt, Helms turned around and headed back to Oxford and interviewed for the job as music director. “Got the job and unpacked the truck,” Helms said. Eight months into the job, she was made director of health, physical education and recreation that included art and music. A short time later, the superintendent of the Senatobia School District called and offered her a job as band director. “I had fallen for the work that was going on at the NMRC and chose to
stay with them,” Helms said. Eight years later, the center’s name was officially changed to the North Mississippi Regional Center. Helms, who remained at the center for 35 years, fondly recalls the early days when she and her co-workers were young and full of energy and ideas. “Together, we dreamed, designed and dedicated our lives to seeing that whatever we tried to do made a better and lasting life for our residents,” Helms said. Helms took part in the design and building of the first activity center at NMRC that included two indoor pools,
Profile 2015 – 19 beauty shop, gym, weight room and general store. She received her master’s of health, physical education and recreation in 1975 and later obtained a certificate as a therapeutic recreation specialist from the National Council Therapeutic Recreation Certification. She has certifications and associate work in certified public management and supervisors’ public management from the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. She has worked with area hospitals and nursing homes as a consultant for recreational theory and worked and taught at the University of Mississippi Department of Exercise Science, Health and Recreational Administration from 1982-2013. She served on several boards, including those for the School of Applied Science, Oxford Park Commission and Mississippi Recreation and Park Association. After retiring from NMRC, she worked for area nursing homes, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and Ole Miss. But true retirement was not in her immediate future and, Helms, now 62, found herself involved in a whole new organization that would again capture her heart as well as her time. During her years at NMRC, she became friendly with Arledia Bennett, who worked in the activity building. Bennett eventually moved on to becoming the director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, sponsored by the city of Oxford, under the umbrella of the Oxford Park Commission. “We both thought about directing this need for senior recreation and fitness through programming with the Oxford Park Commission,” Helms said. After discussions with the director of OPC, Rob Boyd, and Mayor Pat Patterson, Helms was asked to start a seniors’ program. She was officially hired on Nov. 1, 2010, and she was set up in an office in Oxford City Hall as the head of the newly formed Leisure Lifestyles program. “I wanted to be a part of this program for the same reason I loved working at NMRC,” Helms said. “The challenge to make better and the overwhelming benefits that this could be for our residents and community.” The program is free for adults 40 and up and most of the activities, which
BRUCE NEWMAN
Helms retired from NMRC before working for area nursing homes, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and Ole Miss.
range from computer classes to pickle ball, are held at the Oxford Activity Center. Helms has fought to keep the program free after it was recently suggested to start charging participants to attend the Leisure Lifestyle classes. Eventually, the Oxford Park Commission voted to keep the program as a free service. Helms says the program is simply giving back to the citizens who helped get the OPC off the ground. “Most the greatest generation, and many of the earlier baby boomers were the ones who gave land, taxes, support and other efforts to get their children to recreational events and sports, but they never were a participant in the personal use of such programming,” Helms explained. “I wanted us to pay back those efforts that gave to others.” Helms said she believes in staying active, both mentally and physically, and that being a senior shouldn’t mean being sedentary. “Recreation and wellness is not an afterthought anymore,” she said. “It’s a national necessity … Instead of increasing our quality and quantity of life, we have been depleting it. To turn this trend now would allow us to reduce
medical, social and care facilities that, even at best, can never replace home and family accommodations.” So what does a recreation director do for fun? “Work,” Helms joked. “I actually do love to work but I have to keep up impressions so I also try to recreate.” A softball player in her younger days, she is still an avid fan. “My family made me sign an agreement not to get back on the field in any form or fashion after the little accident when I was pitching a game at age 42,” she said. She enjoys golf, which she learned from her father. “He’s still telling me to ‘keep your head down, Deb,’” she said. Her year-round sport is watching her Rebels. When she isn’t spending her time trying to make the lives of senior citizens more pleasant and active, she’s enjoying her time with a much younger group of people — her four grandchildren. “It’s true, you do love those grandkids more every day, and have the pictures to prove it,” she said. —alyssa.schnugg@oxfordeagle.com
20 – Profile 2015
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Profile 2015 – 21
BRUCE NEWMAN
22 – Profile 2015
Scott Caradine (pictured), along with Jeff Bransford and Darby Ricketts, opened Proud Larry’s in 1993.
Profile 2015 – 23
Caradine, Proud Larry’s — serving LOU for over 20 years By Jeff euBanks Assistant News Editor
I
t seems simple, almost taken for granted now. But 22 years ago it was not the norm in Oxford for what Scott Caradine, Jeff Bransford and Darby Ricketts started with Proud Larry’s. Caradine had experience cooking in the kitchen, working at Lake Lodge Cafeteria in Yellowstone National Park and at the Harvest Cafe´ in Oxford before joining the staff at City Grocery in 1992. Bransford had graduated from the University of Mississippi and wasn’t having any luck finding work in the business world in Atlanta. “He kept calling, ‘Hey man, let’s just open a pizza joint and do live music, and offer some good beer in Oxford,’ Caradine said. “And Darby, who I worked with in the kitchen at City Grocery, was right in our ear going, ‘I’m in. I’ll do it. Let’s do it.’” Pizza. Good beer. Live music. Simple. But the trio was the first to do it in Oxford when Proud Larry’s opened in April 1993. “We had, all three, had experience travelling the country and in doing that, the West Coast was well-known for micro-brewed beer and pizza by the slice,” Caradine said. “You couldn’t get that in the Deep South. Nobody did pizza by the slice in the South and offered micro-brewed beer. That was kind of the idea behind it. Our friend, Charles Owens, helped us open the kitchen, as well, and he played an integral part in developing the food that we do today at Proud Larry’s.” Bransford handled the booking of music, Caradine stayed busy in the kitchen and Ricketts “had his foot on the pulse of everything.” “To me, they were almost an extension of the Hoka (former movie theater, coffeehouse, restaurant), maybe a
BRUCE NEWMAN
Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars performs at Proud Larry’s in 2002.
little bit cleaner and had a little better venue for music,” said Jim Dees, host of Thacker Mountain Radio Hour and former Hoka employee. “The staff that worked there, in the early days, it was all the long-hairs, and it sort of had that freaky-type of atmosphere, much like the Hoka, except maybe a click more upscale. I always looked on it as very friendly. They probably didn’t allow dogs in there like we did at the Hoka, but it was almost that wide open. It had a funky edge to it that I think was very welcoming. You didn’t have to put on a starched shirt to go in there. It was a low-key atmosphere.” Before 1993, there were a few venues offering live music in Oxford, much less to the extent that Proud Larry’s has. “They were comparable to the Hoka, Square Books or City Grocery, as far as the food scene goes, pioneering each in their own directions,” said Lisa Howorth, author and co-owner of Square Books. “They really kind of opened up the whole music scene. Ron (Shapiro) has been doing stuff at the Hoka too, but Larry’s was a real great venue. It was really exciting when it happened. Those three guys were so
committed to it and really had a clue about music.” The Gin and the Hoka hosted musical acts on occasion, but Syd & Harry’s, located where City Grocery is now, was the one constant in bringing quality music to town before Larry’s. “Chesley Pearman was one of the managers up there and he was booking all kinds of good shows,” Caradine said. “He did lay some groundwork here, bringing Uncle Tupelo, a lot of that alt-country stuff from St. Louis down here, (Widespread) Panic, (he) booked some good regional standout music and national stuff.” The Wooten Brothers, a funk band from Nashville, Tennessee, was the first band to take the stage at Proud Larry’s on April 15, 1993. Since that time, a who’s-who list of artists — Elvis Costello, Robert Earl Keen, Modest Mouse, Chris Robinson and even the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir to name a few, have performed at Larry’s. “When Larry’s came along, it kicked it up several notches,” Dees said. “To my mind they started bringing in national acts to where you were pretty amazed at
24 – Profile 2015 some of the bands they booked. It was a whole new ballgame. The Gin and the Hoka, they certainly had music, but it was nothing like Larry’s was doing when they opened up.” Caradine took over as sole owner in 1997 after Bransford returned to Atlanta to pursue a career in the music business and Ricketts, who was also an artist, moved on. “I didn’t really have anything else to fall back on,” Caradine said. “It was what I loved doing. I enjoyed coming to work every day. I didn’t have any other ideas of something else I wanted to do. This is what I wanted to do and I felt like we could make a good go of it.” The “go of it” continued with his wife, Lisa, as a partner. “She was an employee here from when we opened; doing our payroll and helping manage our books,” Caradine said. “Lisa was an integral part, it was our family. It made sense when they left that she took on the full responsibility as a partner.” Caradine seems to have a knack of booking bands/artists right before, or just as they are, gaining mainstream attention. Within the last 10 years, The Black Keys, the Alabama Shakes, Ryan Bingham, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, and 2015 Grammy nominee Sturgill Simpson have all played at Larry’s, a venue that holds approximately 300 people. “Scott really has his finger on the pulse of what is happening out there,” said Matt Patton, bassist for the DriveBy Truckers. “There are small clubs out west or up north, or even in Atlanta, that don’t do nearly as good of a job bringing in buzz-worthy talent before it breaks nationally. As a musician that came up in Alabama and relocated to Mississippi, I can assure you the Deep South can be a tough sell when it comes to booking national acts. I’m very impressed with what Scott and Larry’s has been pulling off for quite some time now.” Even with all the acclaimed national acts through the years, Larry’s has provided a stage for local and regional talent. North Mississippi Allstars helped christen the venue in the ’90s, and even came back to play for its 20th anniversary in 2013. Local acts such as Kudzu Kings, Beanland, Tyler Keith and the now defunct Blue Mountain are among the
many others who have taken the stage. “They’ve always taken the attitude of welcoming and fostering original music,” said Cary Hudson, co-founder of Blue Mountain. “And they take care of it and they appreciate it. I tell you something I’ve noticed, places that do take care of musicians they stick around for a while; places that don’t treat musicians that great, they kind of go by the wayside. “That was definitely Blue Mountain’s home base — Proud Larry’s. We could try out new songs and have some of our most memorable gigs. They were always great to us.” The respect doesn’t extend to just musicians either, just ask anyone who’s had a Larry Burger or any other popular item off the restaurant’s menu. “It certainly translates to our customers, too, in the restaurant,” Caradine said. “It’s one thing I’ve always loved is just hanging out and talking with customers, and visiting, seeing friends and
“A lot of these places are restaurants that have music, but Proud Larry’s I think of as a live music venue that is also a restaurant.” — Cary Hudson faces that come in regularly. I’ve made a lot of friends that are good customers that were customers first, then, became friends. It’s definitely an aspect. It’s not called a hospitality business for nothing.” Caradine’s hospitality extends outside of Proud Larry’s though, and into the LOU community. Larry’s recently took part in Oxford Restaurant Week, which helped raise money for the Oxford School District, and Caradine offers help to other community charity organizations. “We believe in supporting the community,” Caradine said. “Not just local musicians, the arts in general. Thacker Mountain, the Oxford Film Festival, the Arts Council are all things that really provide real assets to Oxford that make it real special. “We like to contribute. Oxford certainly does a lot for us. The people of Oxford do a lot for us and have kept us here for 22 years. It’s not always easy.
Looking Back It doesn’t always have to be catching that big-named act at Proud Larry’s to leave a lasting memory. Take a look at what left an impression on some musicians and Oxford residents on Page 25.
You can’t always afford to make real donations, but you can always donate time, some effort or some food. There’s a lot of ways to help.” Dees and Howorth both commented on Caradine’s willingness to help. “I can’t even count how many times there’s been a band playing there (Proud Larry’s) that night and he will help (Thacker Mountain Radio) get them,” Dees said. “He’s done it dozens and dozens of time. Drive-By Truckers come to mind. We’ve been able to have as big-named bands as we have that were playing at his place that night, it was all due to him mentioning that to them and sort of making it happen. He’s right in there with helping, just his generosity and his spirit, helping Thacker. He didn’t have to do any of that. He certainly wasn’t making any money off of it. We’re always appreciative of him, kind of feel like he’s a brother in that regard.” “Scott’s so willing and open minded and laid back, and wants to help,” Howorth said. “He and Lisa are community minded, got kids here, I think they’re really committed to making things happen, not just big acts, for the little acts, too. That’s a great thing.” Caradine moved to Oxford from Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1987. A graduate of the UM hospitality management program, he said when opening Proud Larry’s as a 23-year–old he never envisioned the success Larry’s has had for more than two decades. “I think my goal was to make it to the next month, and then the next month,” Caradine said. “Eventually, it became we can make it a year, or another year, let’s get through another year. I never had a vision that it would be 10 years, or 15 years, or 20 years. Now that we’re here 22 years I wonder. “I’ve given the reins to a really well-qualified crew of managers and chef to do a lot of the grunt work. It’s enabled me to spend time with my family. It enabled me to watch my two kids grow up.” —jeff.eubanks@oxfordeagle.com
Profile 2015 – 25
BRUCE NEWMAN
Looking Back
“There’s been so many times when I’ve just been in there for R.L. Burnside, or Blue Mountain, or T-Model Ford and the shows have been just as awesome. Just as many people dancing like crazy. Bob Weir, the time he played there for a wedding. Tyler Keith got up and totally, totally upstaged Bob Weir. There’s still a videotape of that floating around. He just couldn’t stand it. And he just got up there and took the microphone. Everybody loved it. It was really fun. That was so awesome.”
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“I can barely remember it, but a friend of mine named Tom Freeland put me there playing mandolin with R.L. Burnside one time. I don’t know why he did it. That’s one of the things that sticks in my head. We were playing with R.L. Burnside. We were both very confused, but it was fun. … Freeland is a musicologist and he kind of wanted to recreate some kind of old pre-war blues thing. He knew I played mandolin so I just got up there and did the best I could. Me and R.L. were both just grinning at each other just thinking, ‘Well, this is crazy, but we don’t give a s****. As long as somebody is bringing us whiskey you know?’” — Cary Hudson Singer/songwriter
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— Lisa HowortH Author
“I remember seeing Mose Allison there a couple of times. He was somebody that we listened to a lot and we knew he was from Mississippi. I never really thought … I thought you had to go to New York to see him and there he was, more than once. Same thing with David Lindley, a great guitar player. We listened to him at the Hoka. We had it playing through the PA all the time and he came down their a time or two.” — Jim dees Thacker Mountain Radio Hour Host “We were sort of shocked at how many fans we had when we first played there. We didn’t have a real connection with Oxford and we went in there and played that show. There were people hanging out in the street and that’s when we first met Larry (Brown). It was very memorable. It was exciting. Definitely one of my fondest memories of being anywhere on tour.” — robert earL Keen Singer/songwriter
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“I drove into Oxford in the fall of 2005 to attend the funeral of a dear friend. I ended up down at Larry’s that night to drown a little sorrow. My spirits were lifted by Wiley & The Checkmates. The show was absolutely packed. Later the following year I joined their band.” — matt Patton Bassist, Drive-By Truckers
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26 – Profile 2015
Justice Court Judge Frances Gordon will retire at the end of the year.
Profile 2015 – 27
County’s first black female judge retires her robe By AlyssA schnugg Staff Writer
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fter spending 20 years on the bench, deciding the fate of those who commit misdemeanor crimes in Lafayette County and settling civil disputes between neighbors, Justice Court Judge Frances Gordon has decided not to seek re-election in November. Gordon was the first female black judge to sit on the Justice Court judge in Lafayette County, a “first” she is very proud to have accomplished. “I felt honored, blessed and privileged as a woman who happens to be black,” she said. “It had its challenges, but, overall, I had a great experience.” Gordon decided to run for judge after serving as a clerk for nine years.
“I was inspired by the late Judge Mary Bonds,” she said. “She saw the integrity, passion and enthusiasm I had for my job.” On Dec. 31, Gordon will no longer be a judge and will spend her days doing things she enjoys, like shopping, reading and canning. “I’ve been canning all of my adult life,” she said. “I learned as a child and it became something I took interest in.” She enjoys canning fruits and vegetables and making her own jellies. Gordon is married to Willie Carothers and has three daughters. She plans on working with her husband in the ministry after retirement. The judge is involved on Clear Core Inc., nonprofit organization based in Taylor that gives scholarships to students from Taylor. “It’s just the Taylor community coming
together to give to the gift of education to our children,” Gordon said. Education is important to Gordon, who said some of her earliest mentors who encouraged her to do well in school and succeed in life were elementary school teachers. “Gerdie May Carter and C.C. Pinson, are two that, to this day, I still enjoy them and working with them,” Gordon said. The two retired teachers are also part of the Clear Core group. Gordon said she’s looking forward to her retirement come January but admits she will miss those she’s leaving behind and is appreciative of those who voted for her in the last five elections. “I would just like to thank the citizens of the northern district for allowing me to represent them as their justice court judge for the past 20 years,” Gordon said. —alyssa.schnugg@oxfordeagle.com
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Profile 2015 – 29
Johnny McPhail caught his first break on the big screen when he was cast in “The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag.”
30 – Profile 2015
Johnny McPhail – From cotton picker to movie actor By AlyssA schnugg Staff Writer
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rowing up on a small farm just outside of Bruce, Johnny McPhail never dreamed he would one day be in a movie, never mind several movies, hob-knobbing with A-list actors such as Debra Winger, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. But that is exactly where he finds himself these days. “We didn’t have drama in school, maybe did a play once a year in the school, but being an actor was the furtherest thing on my mind,” McPhail
said. “We’d picked cotton after school by hand and then maybe go see a picture show on Saturday night. They was 10 cents then.” He was 50 years old in 1992 when he was having lunch at the former Smitty’s Café. They were filming a scene from the movie, “The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag,” in Oxford and the casting director just happened to be inside the café as well. “She came over and talked to me and asked if I thought about being in movies,” McPhail said. “She gave me a card and told me to come by the office and talk. I did and they put me in the movie as the No. 1 extra but I didn’t have lines.” He soon landed roles in several John
Grisham movies, such as “A Time To Kill” and “The Chamber,” including working as Jon Voight’s stand-in for the movie “Rainmaker.” He appeared as a reporter in “The People vs. Larry Flint” and got bit parts in other films. Locally, he performed in several independent films including, ““25K,” “Where I Begin” and the local fan favorite, “The Night of the Loup Garou.” McPhail also appeared in several theater productions, including “Night of the Iguana” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and was reader at the 2006 Faulkner Conference for “Taming of the Shrew,” and for Larry Brown’s “Dirty Work” and “Joe.” Soon a fan club was formed, called “Johnny McPhail has a Posse,” which
Profile 2015 – 31
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has its own Facebook page with more than 2,300 members. But it was his role in the Sundance Film Festival award-winning film “Ballast” that brought McPhail to the attention of bigger filmmakers. The film won the Josephine Baker Award by the Toronto Film Critics Association and Best First Feature by the Women Film Critics Circle in 2008. In 2014, McPhail had his most successful year, appearing in “Big Significant Things,” starring Harry Loyd, who appeared in the first two seasons of “Game of Thrones.” It was during his audition for that film that his wife Susan got into the acting world as well. “Johnny said something about me and they wanted to meet me,” Susan said. “I was outside in the van with our daughter. I walked in and started bickering with Johnny and could see them looking at me. They wanted a couple who owned a convenience store who could banter back and forth like an old married couple. Here I was doing that and not even realizing I was auditioning.” Since then, Susan has her own posse and has appeared in several films as well, including “Bellringer,” “Killer Kudzu” and “Last Call.” “She’s incredibly talented,” McPhail said of his wife. “She’s fearless and her performances are so real.” The McPhails have three grown children – Courtney and twins, Andrew and Ashley. He auditioned and received a role in “Django Unchanged,” but the scene he appeared in was cut from the film during editing. “That happens,” McPhail said. McPhail’s break into the television world was also in 2014 when he appeared in the popular HBO show, “True Detective,” where he worked with McConaughey and Harrelson. McPhail auditioned for the show via the Internet. “That’s how you do it today,” he said. “But I had forgotten about it.” He received a call from his agent with People’s Store in New Orleans, saying the writer and director wanted to meet with him in New Orleans. “One thing about this acting business, you’ve got to be able to get up and go,” he said. During the interview, he told the
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32 – Profile 2015
Johnny McPhail stars in the Oxford Film Festival community film “The Hanging of Big Todd Wade” (above) and in HBO’s “True Detective.”
“Everywhere I go now, people say they know me from ‘True Detective.’ My wife rolls her eyes when people ask for my autograph, just teasing me, of course.” — Johnny McPhail filmmakers he would be willing to cut his long, gray hair. “They told me, ‘No! Don’t cut your hair!” McPhail said, chuckling. McPhail got the part. When he arrived in New Orleans to begin filming, he and his entire family were put up in a four-star hotel. “We were all welcomed on set,” he said. “I walked into a trailer for hair and makeup and there’s Matthew McConaughey with a little boy on his lap and he reached back and said, ‘Hey there, Johnny McPhail.’” While McPhail didn’t have any lines in “True Detective,” his presence was obvious in the two episodes in which he appeared. His character, Robert Doumain, owned a bar where McConaughey worked and was the strong, silent type. “Everywhere I go now, people say they know me from ‘True Detective,’” McPhail said. “My wife rolls her eyes
when people ask for my autograph, just teasing me, of course.” McPhail just finished filming for “American Ultra,” staring Kristen Stewart, Walton Goggins and Jesse Eisenberg, in which McPhail plays a gas station attendant. Future movies for him include “Texas Heart” and “By Way of Helena.” McPhail said he has no plans on cutting his hair in the near future. “Hey, my hair is getting me parts,” he said with a laugh. “Most men my age don’t have hair, never mind as long and thick as mine.” —alyssa.schnugg@oxfordeagle.com
Profile 2015 – 33
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34 – Profile 2015
Abbeville native Peggie GillomGranderson starred on the court for the Lady Rebels and returned to the sidelines as a coach.
Profile 2015 – 35
Gillom’s life was all part of a plan By Jake Thompson Assistant Sports Editor
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eggie Gillom-Granderson did not know she was going to become a highly regarded member of Lafayette-Oxford-University community. She did not know she would become one of the greatest players in Ole Miss basketball program history. She did not know that she would go on to win two WNBA championships as an assistant coach or an Olympic gold medal. But she does believe someone of a higher power knew and references her favorite movie ‘Simon Birch’ whenever someone asks about her charmed life. “It’s just like God has a calling for everybody’s life, and he had a calling for my life,” Gillom said. “I never knew that I was going to play basketball. Everybody told me that ‘You’re tall, you’re this or you’re that.’ I didn’t really get into it until late in my life. I had brothers playing out in the yard and every now and then I just played.” Gillom was born and raised in Abbeville, and today she still lives there, just a short walk from where she grew up and where her mom still lives. “I’m an Abbevillian,” Gillom says. While Gillom may not have taken to basketball as quickly as some in her inner circle growing up would have liked her to, once she began playing around the 10th grade, basketball took to her very quickly due to her natural ability and size. That talent earned her attention from several colleges around the area. Delta
Peggie Gillom (from l.), Ole Miss coach Van Chancellor and Glenda Springfield helped lead the Lady Rebels to a 31-9 record in the 1978-79 season.
State, Memphis and Ole Miss all wanted Gillom’s services on their basketball teams but only one would land her. In 1976, Gillom joined the Ole Miss team where she was a starter all four years of her career as a Lady Rebel, and she was instantly one of the best players on the court. “I had considered all those schools my senior year but I never did think about it until then,” Gillom said. “My brother, George, came (to Ole Miss) and played under (former men’s coach) Bob
“I never really did think I was that good. If I thought I was good, I probably wouldn’t have done as well as I’ve done.” — peggie gillom-granderson Weltlich, and I just loved Ole Miss. Still when people started coming, I was like, ‘OK, I’m getting a chance to go to other schools.’ But I had a strict mom and she was not going to let me go anywhere else.” During her time at Ole Miss, Gillom would set multiple records, many of which still stand. She scored 2,486 points and pulled down 1,271 rebounds, which remain career records in the women’s program. Gillom and her sis-
ter, Jennifer, are the only Lady Rebels to ever score more than 2,000 points in a career. Gillom’s humility and personal drive played a part in her success. “I never really did think I was that good,” Gillom said. “If I thought I was good, I probably wouldn’t have done as well as I’ve done. We played ball and I was almost embarrassed to be good. I know I did not like to run, but I knew I had to do it. I never liked being last. I may have been next to last, but I don’t think I was never really last so I was definitely competitive. Much like today’s women’s team has experienced in recent years, Gillom went through a revolving door of head coaches at Ole Miss with the legendary Van Chancellor being the only coach she ever played more than one season for. Those two years under Chancellor formed a bond that lasts to this day, and opened doors for Gillom that she never knew existed. The two, however, got off to a rocky start. “None of us really liked (Chancellor) because he was use to coaching high school and not use to coaching college girls,” Gillom said. “He came in with the attitude where if he said, ‘frog,’ you had to jump. I think he kind of learned over the years but he was definitely good at what he did and we were a great team recruiting.” Upon graduation, Gillom played two
36 – Profile 2015 seasons with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Professional League but then returned to Ole Miss in 1981 and joined Chancellor’s staff as an assistant coach. The duo helped Ole Miss get to 14 NCAA tournaments, including five Sweet 16 and four Elite Eight appearances. While a coach at Ole Miss, Gillom coached her sister, Jennifer, something that most siblings would shy away from. But Peggie loved every minute of it. “That was never, ever a problem,” Gillom said of coaching her sister. “She’s probably one of the most laid back, best kids that ever walked. She didn’t like to do much. She was never a great practice player but when those lights came on, she lit everybody up.” Peggie and her sister were also coach/ player on the 1988 United States women’s basketball team that captured Olympic gold. After 16 years on Ole Miss’ staff, Peggie made the jump to the WNBA along with Chancellor and served as his assistant coach yet again for the Houston Comets. Gillom’s run of success continued as they captured the first two of Houston’s four straight WNBA
championships. After her run in the professional ranks, Gillom took the head coaching position at Texas A&M from 19982003. While her record there was not ideal (53-86) she enjoyed her time in College Station and used past experiences to be the best coach she could be. “A lot of the things coach Chancellor taught me, I emulated,” Gillom said. “I tried to do a lot of the things he did and still coaching pro ball I had gotten some stuff there, too. I tried to instill at A&M the family type atmosphere.” After everything Gillom has done for Ole Miss and the sport of women’s basketball, her efforts have been honored throughout the years. In the spring of 2000, Ole Miss named the soccer, softball and volleyball complex the Gillom Sports Center in honor of the Gillom sisters and their contributions to women’s athletics. In 2013, Gillom was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame; she was Ole Miss’ third member to be inducted. Gillom returned to Ole Miss as an associate head coach in 2003 under Carol Ross. She served in that role until 2009. In 2013, Gillom began serving
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Peggie Gillom-Granderson looks on as an associate head coach of the Lady Rebels.
as an advisor to the women’s basketball team, as well as being heavily involved with FCA leading devotionals with many of Ole Miss’ teams. She also gives speeches to groups throughout the community. Gillom never imagined this is where her life would take her but as she did all her career, she was just following instructions. “I had nothing to do with it,” Gillom said of how her life turned out. “We all are going to go through things in life and if we just hold on, it’s there. Life for me hasn’t been a bed of roses at all, yet still I look back and there was a plan.” —jake.thompson@oxfordeagle.com
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Maralyn Bullion has been involved with the Lafayette County Heritage Foundation and Daughters of the American Revolution. She has also helped to preserve the history of Oxford by assisting with the efforts to restore the L.Q.C. Lamar House, and she supports local racial reconciliation efforts.
Bullion has deep roots in Oxford’s history By Jerra Scott Staff Writer
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s the first female president of the student body at the University of Mississippi, Maralyn Bullion has earned her place in local history. But she and her family have roots in this town that go back to the very beginning of Oxford’s history. Bullion recalls her mother’s ancestors settling in Oxford in 1836. Her grandfather built the very first Isom house, which is now a log building that is surrounded by the “newer” Isom house that’s located on Jefferson Avenue. Her mother and father were both teachers and worked in
various schools around Oxford. Her father was also the chancery clerk in Oxford for a number of years. Maralyn Bullion graduated from the former University High School and went on to major in English and sociology at Ole Miss. She was a member of the Phi Mu sorority and it was her junior year that she was elected as the first woman to lead UM’s student body, defeating a male candidate in the 1940s during the World War II years. “My local claim to fame was that I was the first woman student body president,” Bullion said. “A lot of people say that I was elected since most of the men were away in the war, but it was an honor.” After graduation, she traveled to Memphis and worked for Plough Pharmaceuticals and she also did volunteer work at the Kennedy General Hospital there, caring for
Profile 2015 – 39 those wounded in the war. After a one- or two-year stint there, she then traveled to Atlanta to fill a position as a writer with the American Red Cross. It was there that she met her husband, Col. James P. Bullion, who was stationed nearby. They were married soon after the war ended.
Traveling the world
Maralyn was drawn even further from her home of Oxford as she traveled the nation and world as a military wife and had six children to carry alongside with her. “We moved everywhere,” Bullion remembers. “He (Maralyn’s husband) served in the Korean War as well, and I lived here in Oxford with my parents that year and then we moved to Europe and were there for four and a half years. We went to Europe with four children and came home with six.” She immersed her children in the European lifestyle, which led them to become fluent in French. After Europe, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where they lived until her husband’s death in 1991. She then returned home to Oxford to
help care for her mother. It was then that she realized that her hometown was the place she loved most all along. “This place has got so much meaning for me, and no where else I have lived has meant as much as Oxford
“This place has got so much meaning for me, and no where else I have lived has meant as much as Oxford and Lafayette County. I have had friendships that lasted forever and there’s just something very special about this little town that’s not so little any more.” — Maralyn Bullion
and Lafayette County,” Bullion said. “I have had friendships that lasted forever and there’s just something very special about this little town that’s not so little any more.”
Since her return, she has worked to improve her hometown and preserve the history of Oxford by being involved with the Lafayette County Heritage Foundation and Daughters of the American Revolution. She has also helped to preserve the history of Oxford by assisting with the efforts to restore the L.Q.C. Lamar House, and support local racial reconciliation efforts.
‘Staying busy’
Bullion says that she is busy, but that’s the way she likes it. “These days it is all about staying busy,” Bullion said. “It is what has kept me around this long.” Bullion has 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren to also keep her busy along with all that she yearns to be a part of in her hometown. “Once you get involved in a community, you care more about it and it works both ways — it cares about you, too,” Bullion said. “It’s so much more meaningful when you get involved and you feel like you’re leaving something for our heritage and those who come after.” —jerra.scott@oxfordeagle.com
To serve, protect, and connect! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates and information. Oxford MS Police Department @OxfordPolice
40 – Profile 2015
Thanks to all our customers and employees in the LOU Community. We appreciate all that you do and will continue to serve you in the future. 36 County Road 166 Oxford, MS 38655 (662) 281-3350
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Visit the L.Q.C. Lamar House Museum to understand the Civil War. Visit to learn about Mississippi’s greatest statesman. Visit to appreciate his beautifully restored 1870 home. 662-513-6071
Step back in time and enjoy the Victorian splendor of Cedar Oaks. Take a docent-led tour and learn the history of the house’s role in Oxford. Enjoy the gardens and grounds or hike the adjacent park. Open Fridays, 11:00 - 4:00 and by appointment. Cedar Oaks is available for rental for private events. Email gina@oxfordms.net for more information.
Profile 2015 – 41
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42 – Profile 2015
Will Atkinson may be known best for his onstage identity, “Big E.”
Profile 2015 – 43
‘Big E’ I alive, well, singin’ and shakin’
By Don Whitten Editor
f you called Will Atkinson’s workplace and asked to speak to him, you’d likely hear silence on the other end of the call or “Will who?” at the least. But ask to speak to “Elvis” and they’ll know immediately who you want. That’s because Atkinson is known much more for his onstage identity — “Big E,” for Elvis Presley, who Atkinson looks a lot like with his dark hair and mutton chop sideburns and sounds even more like when he croons one of Presley’s hit love songs or hops around the stage singing one of Presley’s early rock-n-roll classics. There are lots of Elvis impersonators out there, lots of Elvis look-a-likes, lots of Elvis tribute artists and lots of Elvis wannabes. Atkinson has entered his share of Elvis contests, wears the outfits and sings much more like the King of Rock-n-Roll than most. But he doesn’t claim to fit any of those roles. “I just like the songs, the sound of his voice, the jumpsuit and seeing people smile and clap and be happy when you’re performing,” Atkinson, 50, said. Atkinson got his start performing like
Presley. “One of the first records I ever got — you know, a 45 and one of those old record players — was ‘Hound Dog.’ I’d try to sing ‘Hound Dog’ along with the record and they tell me I was shaking my leg like Elvis even though I’d never seen him perform on TV or anything,” he said. “It’s just grown from then when I was just 8 years old.” Like Elvis, Atkinson did much of his early singing in church. And it was at a church fundraiser that he got the idea that people might pay to see him sing and perform like Presley. “I was the music leader at a church in Courtland and we had a ’50s night fundraiser and the Rev. Rex Wilburn asked me to sing some Elvis,” Atkinson recalled. “I did some of his gospel songs and then I got to singing some of his rock-n-roll hits. Everybody seemed to love it.” His first professional gig came a few years later, in the early-2000s, when friends Larry Hall and Larry Tedford pitched him to Longshot Bar & Grill owner George Sheldon — who now, interestingly enough, plays bass behind Atkinson in the group Big E and the Mississippi Boys. “My first outfit was white tuxedo pants, a white silk shirt and black boots. And they
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44 – Profile 2015 put so much makeup on me that I felt like Tammy Faye Bakker,” Atkinson said. “George rented a limo and drove me around town and the Square and I got out with bodyguards and the whole works. “I remember walking out that night with something like $300 and I thought, ‘Oh my god.’ The biggest thing was seeing all those people. It was an awesome feeling.” Over the past dozen or so years, Atkinson has played shows, benefits, weddings and such at places large and small. “Memphis, all over the Delta, Tupelo, St. Louis, Florida. Just about any place,” he said. “Wedding receptions, fundraisers like Relay for Life. I really like doing that because I feel good about giving back to the community and sharing my blessings.” Atkinson, who finished
BRUCE NEWMAN
Will Atkinson sings at Proud Larry’s.
fourth out of 500 competitors in a Tampa, Florida, show, said he’s seen all kinds of Elvises during that time.
“I’ve seen ’em all — Elvis Herselvis, little Elvis, the psychotic Elvis,” he said. “I don’t try to copy them. I just
try to be me.” One of Atkinson’s highlights of his Elvis “career” was cutting a CD at the Sam
Profile 2015 – 45 Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis. “My wife, Debbie, got me the studio time and CD as a special gift. I got to work with longtime producer Roland Janes; he’s done stuff with Elvis, Roy Orbison, the Stones, you name it. That was really special,” Atkinson said. “We did most of the songs in one take, except for ‘Kentucky Rain.’ I was moving around as I was singing — I was so excited, I guess — and I just touched the mic, and it was, like ‘whoosh.’ It sounded like a jet landing.” The Atkinsons gave away many of the CDs, but have sold several at shows along with other things like photos and scarves. There are plans to record another one sometime soon. These days, Atkinson plays some shows as a single act and some with The Mississippi boys: Jeannie Thompson and Gina Sexton as backup singers, Tyler Keith on lead guitar, Van Thompson on rhythm guitar, Sheldon on the bass and Col. Bubba Tutt and Dwayne Smith on the drums. “They really make a difference. They’re all great and make it so much fun,” Atkinson said. “We’ve kind got a saying for the crowds we get. If we’ve got
10 or more, it’s a ‘political rally;’ if it’s 20 or more, it’s a ‘good ol’ revivial;” and if it’s 30 or more, we’re going to rock and roll.” Atkinson’s schedule often includes a couple of shows on the weekend and
“That’s my natural singing voice. It just happens to sound like Elvis. I’ve watched some videos and such, but the things Elvis does with his hands and feet and all, I do naturally, too. That leg shaking thing — I was doing that even when I was a boy.” — Will Atkinson
another one here and there during the week when his schedule allows. “My PR guy, Perry Bagnell, and manager keep me busy, and I like it,” he said. “I like playing new places and I
like going back to see folks I’ve played for before.” Atkinson said he hasn’t adjusted his voice to sing like Presley. “That’s my natural singing voice. It just happens to sound like Elvis,” he said. “I’ve watched some videos and such, but the things Elvis does with his hands and feet and all, I do naturally, too. That leg shaking thing — I was doing that even when I was a boy.” While he hesitates naming a favorite Elvis song, Atkinson said he really likes doing “How Great Thou Art” and “Jailhouse Rock.” “I love the gospel songs and, by the grace of God, I can reach those notes on ‘How Great Thou Art.’ And sometimes when I’m singing ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ I get to shaking both of my legs. That’s really wild.” Atkinson said he can’t imagine a better hobby or “part-time” gig. “I have so much fun doing it, and it seems to make folks happy,” he said. “When will I retire? Maybe about at 100. All my shaking will be natural then.” —don.whitten@oxfordeagle.com
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46 – Profile 2015
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(662) 234-0344 The Montessori Method The Montessori Method is better expressed as “The Method of the Child.” It is child-centered education, based on a lifetime of scientific study and observation of the natural tendencies of children all over the world. Montessori preserves the personal dignity of the child, believing that he must have worthwhile tasks to pursue in an atmosphere of mutual respect for himself, others, and his environment. He must have the freedom to move and to choose activities in which he is interested in order to learn most effectively and construct himself most fully. The materials in the carefully ordered, prepared environment are practical and hands-on, based on the premise that learning must be active, not passive–that children learn best through activity, self-directed discovery, and repetition. Through these experiences, the child will develop to his fullest potential the person he is to become, equipped to function as an independent, confident, contributing, and peace-loving member of society. Dr. Montessori discovered that children have an immense capacity for learning, a love of work and concentration, and the capabilities for inner discipline. Her method is quickly becoming the model for a new approach to education and has demonstrated tremendous, long-term success across the U.S. and the world. The core beliefs that children learn most effectively when self-directed and selfmotivated and that education calls for the development of the whole child are shaping a generation uniquely prepared for the demands of the 21st century–creative, innovative thinkers prepared to work together, resolve conflicts, and make a difference. Magnolia Montessori admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Profile 2015 – 47
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48 – Profile 2015
Sonja Price pours a bourbon glaze on a rum cake. Price started “A Taste of Heaven,” a home-based baking and catering operation, a few years ago.
Profile 2015 – 49
A Taste of Heaven in every bite Price bakes a little love into all her sweet creations By Jonathan Scott News Editor
Sonja Price can’t say exactly when she discovered she had a passion for baking, but her desire to prepare food is among her earliest memories. “With me, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love cooking,” Price said the other day as she and her eldest daughter Toshia baked some of the treats many in Lafayette County have developed an irresistible craving for. As Toshia focused on making a batch of cookies, Sonja experimented with what may soon be a new local favorite — a rum cake with a bourbon glaze. They’ve baked together for years now,
Best sellers A Taste of Heaven’s most popular creations include: Cakes — Chocolate Extreme, Strawberry and Pina Colada Cookies — Butter, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal with cranberries, walnuts and coconut Pies — Bourbon Pecan, Sweet Potato Cheesecakes — Strawberry and Caramel-Apple
so the two work in harmony. Each one is so familiar with their family kitchen and the desserts they’re preparing that they mix ingredients and move around the ovens in what appears to be a well-choreographed production. Visitors to their home are traditionally met with a warm, welcoming hello and an enticing aroma
of fresh-baked delicacies. The goodies these two are making are sold under the name, “A Taste of Heaven,” a home-based baking and catering operation that Sonja Price started a few years ago. She’s found that the cooking lessons she learned from a previous generation can help pay for some of the educational expenses incurred by the members of her family’s youngest generation. Whether it’s Price’s pina colada cakes, caramel-apple cheesecakes or a batch of butter cookies, the baked goods have become so popular with patrons at the Mid-Town Farmers’ Market in Oxford, they’ve helped Price’s three children — Bennie, Toshia and Dria — pursue their dreams of their own careers. All three of her children are in college, and the dollars collected from the family’s bake sales have played a part in getting the kids where they are today and, perhaps, where they want to be tomorrow.
50 – Profile 2015 When Sonja Price was growing up in Chicago, she spent hours watching her grandmother bake in the kitchen. “My love for baking comes from my grandmamma,” Price said. “I always remember baking with my grandmother.” Watching her grandmother cook convinced Sonja she wanted to do it herself. Initially, she said, she wanted an Easy Bake Oven, something that was more her size when she was a child. But Sonja’s mom saw cooking abilities in her young daughter that went far beyond the limits of a child’s toy. “I said I wanted an Easy Bake Oven, but my mom was like, ‘No, you go in the kitchen and cook something for real.’ Well that’s just what I did, and hence, I never got an Easy Bake Oven,” Sonja said with a laugh as she recalled her formative years as a baker. When she was growing up, cooking was something you did around the home; it wasn’t a career choice. So, instead of pursuing a profession in the culinary arts, she earned a degree in business. She met a man from Lafayette County, they married and moved from Chicago to Oxford in 2003. While Sonja and her husband are now divorced, she remains in the Oxford community, a place she fell in love with after making new friends in the South and getting to know her church family at the Spirit of Excellence Church. She works at the WIN Job Center, but the people she’s met at church, at work and around the community have encouraged her to pursue her passion for the pots and pans.
Extra income
She discovered her abilities to bake could provide a second source of income a few years ago when her youngest daughter Dria wanted to enroll in a summer program at the Trent Lott Institute at the University of Mississippi. The Trent Lott Institute encouraged students to find their own way to raise the money they needed to pay for the summer program, Price said. Dria asked her mom whether they might be able to hold some bake sales to help raise the money she needed. “We initially started asking friends if we could bake for them, and then a lady who worked on campus said she’d see if she could find some professors to purchase some of our baked goods,” Price said. “And then it wasn’t long before people were coming to us saying, ‘Can I
BRUCE NEWMAN
Double-chocolate caramel cookies.
have an order for my church?’” Good tasting news spreads fast, and the Price family soon found a market for their homemade desserts. That first summer they made about $3,000. The money allowed Dria to attend the Trent Lott Institute as well as some other programs, such as those offered at Camp Lake Stephens. “Then we did it every year to help pay for her summer programs,” Price said. “Dria went to Ole Miss every summer, and she went to Camp Lake Stephens.” A year or so ago, a friend told Price she should consider being a part of the MidTown Farmers’ Market. Price filled out an application and the organizers of the market told her she would be a welcome addition to the other vendors. “So the next week, me and my daughter baked stuff for like three days and took it all out there,” she said. “We almost completely sold out the first time I went. So we just kept going and kept going all summer long. But I absolutely enjoyed it, and we met so many different people. The people who work the market just welcome you with open arms. Most of the time, when I pull up in the morning, people are buying stuff as I’m getting it out of my car. So I’m selling it before I’m even selling it.” She makes more than a dozen different kinds of layered and sheet cakes,
For more information To learn more, visit http://sonjaterrellprice.muzy.com, call 662-8011991 or check out Sonja Price’s booth when the Mid-Town Farmers’ Market opens for the season later this spring on North Lamar Boulevard.
including Italian Cream, White Sweet Potato, Caramel, German Chocolate and Chocolate Extreme. She bakes a variety of pound cakes as well, including SockIt-To-Me, Root beer and 7-Up. Her many varieties of cookies range from Double Chocolate Caramel, Double Chocolate Mint and Banana Nut. Her pies include Sweet Potato, Bourbon Pecan and a variety of cheesecakes. She’s constantly experimenting with new flavors and recipes, or reworking a recipe for some baked good a friend may have given her to try. This requires her to spend a lot of time in her kitchen, but it’s clearly her favorite room in her house. And while she and Toshia will bake dozens of cookies, pies and cakes before a big event, such as a Mid-Town Farmers’ Market weekend, they work their gastronomical magic on equipment
Profile 2015 – 51 found in homes, not commercial kitchens.
Rewards more than monetary
Other than having a double oven and a stove with five eyes, about the only obvious evidence that an extraordinary amount of baking goes on in her home can be seen on her kitchen counter. That’s where she keeps her three Kitchen-Aid mixers. Price is a fan of these mixers, and the first one she got — and one still uses today — belonged to her grandmother — the woman who was so influential in her life when she was growing up in Chicago. “My mom and my aunts had got their mom a Kitchen-Aid mixer some years back, and when she passed, everyone in my family wanted me to have grandma’s mixer,” Price said. “I still have it.” Those lessons Price learned in the kitchen as a child from her family continue to resonate with her today, and she wisely shares them with her own children. “I always told my kids to pick a major in college that is based on their passion, something that they like because when you try to do a job just because it will make you a lot of money, you are going to feel like you are always working,” she said. “When I went to school, I don’t think I even knew they called it culinary arts back then. I cooked at home all the time so you didn’t go to school to cook. I went to school to get a degree, so I got a degree in business management. And now look at me. I’m 46 and what do I love doing? Cooking. So when my daughter told me she wanted to go to school for culinary arts, I was like, ‘Oh yes! You need to do that.’” Thus far, Price and her family may not be getting rich by fol-
BRUCE NEWMAN
A caramel-apple cheesecake.
lowing their baking bliss, but their rewards are much more than monetary. Being able to provide friends or family members with one of their hand-made goods is good enough. “I guess I do this because I like seeing a smile on people’s faces,” she said. “I don’t want to say that cooking equals love, but it helps me to show love more than anything.” —jonathan.scott@oxfordeagle.com
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52 – Profile 2015
BRUCE NEWMAN
Turnage Drug Store long-time owner and pharmacist Binford “Binny” Turnage has been with the store since he was a child.
Binny Turnage — compassionate heart, soul of Water Valley By Jerra Scott Staff Writer
W
ATER VALLEY — Just 20 minutes down the road from Oxford, nestled on a historic Main Street that was once the scene of a hectic bustling railroad, sits a wellknown family pharmacy, Turnage Drug Store, a pharmacy that is much more than just a place to fill your prescrip-
tion. To many in the town of Water Valley, as well as many who live in Oxford, this place is like coming home. And what makes a home more than a loving, caring person who seems to encompass everyone within his heart each time he sees them? Turnage Drug Store long-time owner and pharmacist Binford “Binny” Turnage has been with the store since he was a child. His family has owned
the store for more than 110 years. It was opened by Wade S. Turnage in 1905, and since that time, the store has been a gathering place for townies and pretty much anyone who just wants a place to rest their feet or enjoy a homemade malted milkshake that is still served behind an ornate soda fountain bar. All these ingredients give the store the good ol’ home feeling that visitors and Water Valley residents enjoy. But the store’s welcoming atmosphere is nothing
Profile 2015 – 53 compared to the warm feelings that “Mr. Binny” shares with each of his customers. Turnage was born in Greenville, and after his father returned to run the family store for his grandfather who was failing in health, Binny became a part of the store and a part of what it represents. He began working at the soda fountain when he was just 10 years old, and he helped to deliver prescriptions all over town on his bicycle. Binny met and fell in love with his wife, Janette, or “Jo,” through Jo’s cousin, who just happened to be his best friend. Binny works alongside several family members including a son and grandchildren that help run the pharmacy. He says that one of his favorite parts about his job is getting to work with and see his wife every day. “I wanted to get married earlier, but my mom said that you ought to at least let her get out of high school first,” Binny recalls. “So she graduated from high school in April and we were married in May. I had been 19 years old for three months and she had been 18 for two months.” He briefly left the pharmacy to work
as a mechanic in a car shop his junior year and he also worked at the former Chevy factory in town because he wanted to go into mechanical engineering. But it wasn’t long before he drifted back to where he always called home —
“I was determined to make Water Valley a better place to live.” — Binny Turnage Turnage Drug Store. “I spent three years in mechanical engineering,” Binny said. “My grades weren’t too good in engineering school, but Jo made me study and then our son Bobby came along and I knew that if I majored in mechanical engineering, I would have to move off and I thought if I changed my major to pharmacy that maybe my father would overlook my grades and hire me. Turns out I really loved science and I found out that is where I should have been the whole time.”
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He worked his way through pharmacy school while at Turnage and, over the years, he and his wife had a total of five kids. They were committed to staying in their hometown. “I was determined to make Water Valley a better place to live,” Binny said. And that he has. Binny goes far beyond just being a pharmacist. He’s opened the store in the wee hours of the morning for mothers with sick babies who need medicine immediately. He occasionally will still make a delivery to people who can’t leave their home. He says he comes by this naturally. “My grandma and great grandmother were always giving,” Binny said. “Free piano lessons for those that could only send one child, free bottles of milk to families with young children that didn’t have very much. They would always make sure to make it known that they would never find out who it came from.” After one of his young daughters died from cancer, Binny said he discovered another calling in life. “About nine years after Karen died, I realized that even as much as I had
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54 – Profile 2015 worked and had given and had been an upstanding citizen, it still wasn’t what God wanted, he just wanted me,” Binny said. “He got hold of me and hasn’t turned me loose yet.” He began taking mission trips to places like Honduras and then started recruiting teams each year from churches in Water Valley, Oxford and even Memphis. These teams helped with disaster relief efforts, sharing God’s word and building houses and educational buildings for locals. “It has been such a blessing to be able to go and minister to those folks and help them and get them medicine and everything that they need,” Binny said. “We appreciate all the people that have volunteered over the years and love going.” He has been on the advisory board for the local 4-H Club and the Boy Scouts. He was a charter member of the local chamber of commerce, and he kept statistics for the high school football team for 40 years. He has also been involved in the First United Methodist Church where his family has been a member since the 1890s. Every morning, he hosts a daily devo-
BRUCE NEWMAN
Turnage examines medication at Turnage Drug Store.
tional in the store for all those who want a hot cup of coffee and a daily word of encouragement. Throughout the day at Turnage, high school students congregate around the soda fountain with an ever-watchful Binny welcoming
them. And when the members of a literary club gather at the store on Fridays, every one of them gets a hug from the man himself. —jerra.scott@oxfordeagle.com
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Profile 2015 – 55
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56 – Profile 2015
Who We Are — LOU By The Numbers S
ome times, a few numbers can do more than words to describe a community. For instance, Lafayette County is the fastest growing county in Mississippi, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. The county has been growing fast, but now it’s growing even faster. Two years ago, Lafayette County was ranked No. 86 on the list of 100 fastest growing counties with 10,000 or more population in the U.S. Last year, it was ranked as No. 51 on this list. And it’s the only county in the state to make this list. The county’s population grew from 47,359 to 51,318, a gain of 3,959 people, or nearly 8.4 percent, between April 2010 and July 2013, according to an estimate by Census Bureau. The city of Oxford has doubled its population in the past 20 years, although much of this has been due to annexation. Oxford is now ranked as the 20th largest city in the state, yet it was ranked as the
BRUCE NEWMAN
35th largest city in the 2000 census. Between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2013, Oxford’s popula-
POPULATION
Oxford .....................................................................................20,865 Lafayette County.......... .......................................................51,318 University of Mississippi (Oxford campus enrollment, Fall 2013 ).......................18,423 Male................... ............................................... ..............49 percent Women................. .............................................. ...........51 percent White ................ ..........................................................72.1 percent African-American ....... ............................................24.1 percent Other ....................... ............................................... ......3.8 percent
ECONOMY
Median household income.. ........................................ $42,688 Residents living below poverty (2012).. .........23.5 percent
tion increased by 10.5 percent, according to annual estimates of the resident population released in 2014 by the Census
Bureau. During this period, the number of Oxonians grew by 1,987 people — from 18,878 to 20,865.
Unemployment rate (April 2014)... ........ .............4.9 percent Civilian labor force...... ........................................................23,400 Mean travel time to work................... ....................18 minutes
HOUSING
Housing Units (2012).... .....................................................23,283 Median home value (2008-12)...... ............................$159,900
EDUCATION
Population with high school diploma..... ......86.8 percent Population with bachelor’s degree or higher39.2 percent Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Mississippi Department of Employment and Security
Profile 2015 – Â57
Lock in your Subscription Rate for up to 1 Year! Effective April 1, 2015, The Oxford Eagle will increase the home delivery rates as well as the mail subscription rates. This is the first increase since 2012. With the added value of the Sunday edition, this increase is necessary. New Subscription Rates 1 month ....... $11.00 3 months .... $31.50 saves $1.50, monthly rate of $10.50 6 months .... $61.50 saves $4.00, monthly rate of $10.25 12 months .. $120.00 saves $12.00, monthly rate of $10.00 New EZ Pay/Senior Discount Rates 1 month ....... $9.00 saves up to $2.00 3 months .... $27.00 saves up to $6.00 6 months .... $54.00 saves up to $12.00 12 months .. $108.00 saves up to $24.00
We are offering to our home delivery customers the chance to renew their present subscriptions for up to 1 year at the present rates. Lock in subscriptions must be paid by the April 1, 2015 deadline. The Eagle will still offer the EZ Pay/Senior Discount Rate of 10% off. But hurry! This offer expires April 1, 2015
For faster service, or to pay Visa or Master Card, call the Circulation Department at 234-2222
58 – Profile 2015
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 3 Men Moving & Storage ........................................................................................................47 Abbeville Bank .......................................................................................................................36 Allen Samuels .........................................................................................................................49 B & B Concrete ....................................................................................................................... 17 Baptist Memorial Hospital........................................................................................................30 Belk Ford ................................................................................................................................ 31 Cannon Motors.........................................................................................................................3 Cat Daddy’s .............................................................................................................................4 Caterpillar ..............................................................................................................................40 Communicare .........................................................................................................................44 Crème de la Crème .................................................................................................................54 Curtis Knight Interior Designer ...................................................................................................9 Dasha McGinness ...................................................................................................................27 Deborah Kaye School of Dance ...............................................................................................20 Farm Bureau ...........................................................................................................................47 FNB Oxford ...........................................................................................................................45 Good Nutrition ....................................................................................................................... 17 Historic Sites Commission.........................................................................................................40 Hunters’ Hollow ........................................................................................................................5 J & L Carpets ..........................................................................................................................20 Johnson’s Furniture .................................................................................................................47 Kessinger Real Estate .............................................................................................................. 51 Lafayette Co Board of Supervisors ...........................................................................................33 Magnolia Montessori School ...................................................................................................46 Malco Theatre ........................................................................................................................ 21 Mimosa .................................................................................................................................. 17 Moore Bros ............................................................................................................................43 Mother Goose ........................................................................................................................41 Northeast Mississippi EPA........................................................................................................ 37 Oxford Enterprise Center ........................................................................................................20 Oxford Eye Clinic ................................................................................................................... 17 Oxford Kubota .......................................................................................................................59 Oxford-Lafayette Co. Chamber of Commerce ...........................................................................40 Oxford Park Commission ......................................................................................................... 11 Oxford Police Department .......................................................................................................39 Oxford University Bank .............................................................................................................2 Parlor, The ..............................................................................................................................20 Pickens Pest Control ................................................................................................................47 Pitner Office Supply ................................................................................................................28 Poppa’s Wine and Spirits ........................................................................................................28 Powerhouse-YAC .....................................................................................................................20 Pregnancy Test Center .............................................................................................................53 Renasant Bank ........................................................................................................................60 Rob Smith Real Estate.............................................................................................................. 13 S & J ......................................................................................................................................47 Sears .....................................................................................................................................36 The Barn Trading Co. ..............................................................................................................47 Turnage Drug Store.................................................................................................................54 University Museum/ Rowan Oak ..............................................................................................28 Walters and Balducci ..............................................................................................................36
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95 Hwy 30 E.
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662-380-5218
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