Lee Johnson

Lee is not from Planterville but has P'ville connections; he is related to my step-father, Raymon Stovall and to Burma.

Lee underwent hip replacement surgery yesterday. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Planning Session

From left: Lee Johnson, Bob Verell, unknown and Winnie at Gardner Watson.

Jo Brooks Cobb, Linda Dix Owens and Winnie

Jo, Linda and Winnie either early on Friday night at the Gardner Watson Warehouse or at a planning session, not sure which. The place was packed Friday night.

Jimmy Woods at the reunion

A profile shot of Jimmy Woods, light blue shirt, hands in pocket; on the left is Jimmy Metcalfe and that's Buddy again.

Willie at the reunion

That's Willie, Burma's husband, in the center in the dark suit; Buddy Palmer is on the right wearing the blue and white jacket.

Jean Kelly Willis at the reunion

Jean in green at the reunion Saturday night.

The lady taking the picture is Caroline Powell Willis who happens to be Jean's aunt, her husband, Jerry, being Leon's uncle.

Burma and Winnie at the Reunion

Winnie in the middle and Burma on the right during the class reunion at the Tupelo Country Club. That's yours truly in the background on the right and Bob Jackson in the center. Anne Carr Martin is pictured with Burma and Winnie.
Picture courtesy of Burma.

High School Reunion

Friday night, the class of 1958 of Tupelo High School held its reunion at the Gardner-Watson Ice Warehouse, in the old Ford place where Carole's father once worked. On Saturday night, the scene was the Tupelo Country Club. There was a nice turnout both nights, around 130.

I visited with Paul and Winnie Ballard, Jean Kelly Willis, Larry Coggin, Burma Ruff Schumpert and Jimmy Wood as well as Leon, Bettye and Willie, the spouses or should that be spice.

I drove off Friday leaving my camera behind (it was, after all, my 50th class reunion; though Carole did borrow her sister's camera for Sat. night; however, we could not get her printer to work before we left yesterday morning; I've asked Jean and Burma as well as Jo Brooks Cobb to forward the pictures they took, if possible. I hope to be able to post some pictures in the next few days.

Adopted Pig

Report on pig from Mayor Gloria: "Clay Hill has adopted the pig. She is now living out a little farther east, . . . on the Clay Hill farm. Clay is the son of Nell Westmoreland Hill and the late Gordy Hill, and the grandson of the late George and Coker Westmoreland. He has enclosed a pic, thanks for letting everyone know about her, she is, can we say, fat and happy? G"

Plantersville Pork

From the mayor: "If you think being a mayor is boring, please click on the attached pics. We have an abandoned pot bellied pig left behind in Plantersville, free to a good home. The question is, how do you get this thing to go anywhere she doesn't want to go? If you or anyone else needs a good pet, one that could definitely keep you warm (or smother you, look at the size) please let me know. In the meantime we are feeding her and keeping her watered. Any takers or suggestions? G"

From Carole Kelly
The "Plantersville Pork" addition to the Blog is too funny. "If you think being a mayor is boring . . ." This would be the interesting part of the position, I think; dealing with subjects such as garbage, sewage, right of way, etc., not so. But Poor Little Pig--who in the world would abandon such a sweetie?

Boys 4-H Club

Among the boys I recognize are Dennis Bailey, Tim Harris, Steve Kelly, Tommy Monts, Fred Westmoreland, Thomas Westmoreland, John Ellis, Jimmy Williams, Phil Russell, Benny Earl Partlow, and Jimmy Ellis.

Cathy, is that the Borden twins on the first and second rows?

Yours truly, for whatever reason, was never a member of the 4-H Club.

Girls 4-H Club

I recognize the girls from my class in the 1955-56 school year; on the back row are Mary Ellen Pettigrew, Mary Kathyrn Park, Burma Jo Ruff; Evie Lou Matthews, Bobbie Hall and Mary Jean Kelly. I also spotted Linda Stovall and Peggy Cook. I think I could name several others but need your assistance to verify them.

Girls Grammar School Basketball

This is the girls grammar school basketball team for the same school year, 1955-56.

Grammar School Basketball Team 55-56

This was the boys grammar school basketball team for the school year 1955-56, I think.

50th Class Reunion

This weekend is my 50th class reunion at Tupelo High School. I only attended my junior and senior year as did Jean Kelly Willis and Burma Ruff Schumpert. Butch Sample, Winnie Borden Ballard and Larry Coggin started at Tupelo in their sophomore year.

Jimmy Woods, who moved to Verona, is also a member of this class.

I received e-mail from Butch this week, and he will be unable to attend. I have not heard from Jimmy.

Jean, Burma, Winnie and Larry are scheduled to be there.

I look forward to visiting with the Plantersville folks.

3rd Grade Class ca. 1950

Mrs. Blackwell was my third grade teacher, and some years later she and I commuted to Ole Miss together.

Jimmy Williams, James "Sonny" Kelly, Barbara Rogers, Linda Stovall and Sherry Summer all went to Tupelo High School and were in the same class as Carole. Sherry is deceased. Jimmy was living in Germantown at the time of the last class reunion and Sonny, Barbara and Linda still live in the Tupelo/Plantersville area. These pictures come from an annual I borrowed some years ago from Sonny.

Please help with the others in this picture.

Get Well

I received notice that Mary Kathryn Parks Fowler has been experiencing some health problems recently; please keep Mary Kathryn in your thoughts and prayers.

Mrs. Aleene Partlow Sample

Sympathy to Butch, Woody and Marilyn and their families. Mrs. Aleene died Sunday in Winter Haven, Florida. Holland-Harris is in charge, but as of this time, arrangements are incomplete.

Butch and I began playing together when we were three and six months old, so I can't remember not knowing Mrs. Aleene or imagine a world without her.

4th Grade Class ca. 1951

Mrs. Ollie Pruitt's class around 1951. Can anyone confirm the date and share any information on any of these students.

Phillip Russell lives in or around Mooreville. Price Harris, as has been mentioned before on this blog, is a music evangelist living in Shreveport, Louisiana. Gwynne McFarling lives in Atlanta, and she and I have exchanged e-mails recently. I saw C. D. Peters in Plantersvile last summer. Not sure about any of the others.

Highway 6

As I recall, work on Highway 6 was in progress during my junior and senior years in high school, which would be 1956-58; can anyone verify these dates.

I remember a bad wreck on the new highway when I was in college. The man, who was an office supply salesman, I think, was talking to us; someone put a blanket around him and he seemed okay, but died later at the hospital.

Borden's Lake

The bald eagle's visit to Borden's Lake caused me to reminisce about the lake. Doris took us fishing at both Mabry's Lake and Borden's Lake. We always had more luck at Borden's; in fact, I'm fairly certain that was where I caught my first fish. Once while fishing with my cousin from Starkville, Doris caught six or seven fish and tied them to a tree to my cousin's great amusement.

Since Plantersville was not incorporated in my youth, Borden's Lake served as the northern boundary for me with the school being the southern boundary. The railroad was the western; the eastern one is more difficult. Any ideas?

Borden's Lake was there as long as I can remember; does anyone know its history?

Another Shot of the Eagle

Bald Eagle at Borden's Lake

Gloria forwarded these pictures and wrote:

"James (Punkin) Matthews sent this to me last week, and if you will look closely you can see that it is a shot of a young BALD EAGLE!!!! Punkin shot the picture in a tree in Borden's Lake, and the eagle, according to him was, checking out the nest of eggs that a crane has laid high up in one of the dead trees in the lake. I saw Punkin running from his vehicle with his camera in hand late one afternoon, and almost called him on the spot and am really glad I didn't. He is a wonderful nature photographer and wanted to share this with all past, present and future Plantersvillians."

The Blog

As I wrote the title above, I thought of one of my favorite movies from the 50s, The Blob, starring Steve McQueen and the actress who played Helen on The Andy Griffith Show; that is relevant to nothing.

March and April are busy months for us so haven't had as much time for blogging. On one of our first dates, Carole and I discovered our birthdays are exactly three weeks apart, mine was Saturday, March 22, and hers will be next Saturday; we joked about getting married on April 1 and celebrating for three weeks; as it turned out, we married on April 2. This year Easter fell the day after my birthday, and since Carly is in school for the first time, I spent most of spring break taking her to movies, the park and to the zoo.

I just had time to copy and paste the updates on Linda Partlow, and thank goodness, she seems to be recovering from her ordeal. Hang in there Linda, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

I am short of material for the blog, so please send pictures and posts. I need your help.

Carl Richard Bass

Sympathy to the family of Carl Richard Bass. Does anyone know if he was related to Richmond Bass?

42 Years

Around seven thirty p.m. on this date forty two years ago, Brother Silas Johnson pronounced Carole and me husband and wife in my grandmother's living room across from the old post office in Plantersville.

Forty two years sounds like a long, long time, but it has passed in a flash. To quote Lou Gehrig, " I consider myself the luckiest man in the world."