Columns

Wed
19
Jan

Hey, Let’s Talk!

Hey, Let’s Talk!

A Twelfth Night Birthday!

One of my Daughter Ashley’s late arriving Christmas gift finally came in last week. I called to see if she and her Husband, Paul, could meet me for dinner so I could get it to her. We all agreed on her favorite Mexican Food Restaurant, El Compadre’, on Kings Hwy. just a block away from their house. It had been a cold and wet day that was just perfect for some Tex-Mex and our “Chili Pheromones” were kicking in.

Wed
12
Jan

Hey, Let’s Talk!

Hey, Let’s Talk!
Hey, Let’s Talk!

You Need a Yam Beater

Get a Beater they said; It’ll improve your cook ing preparations they said; you can’t really do desserts unless you have one they said; (plus) You really need one. So with all the after Thanksgiving sales on kitchen utensils and all I picked up an inexpensive one at the Discount Store.

I was planning on doing our yearly Christmas dishes and one of them is a Yam Casserole with sweet potatoes and cream and beaten eggs topped with cinnamon and nutmeg. Every year it would take me a fair amount of time to bake the potatoes then scoop them out and mash it all up with a fork. Soooo, with my new mixer and two cans of prepared sweet potatoes I figured this would end up being one of my easiest dishes. Oh ha ha! You know those of you who enjoy my “Disaster Recipes”? Well you’ll get a grin out of this one.

Wed
12
Jan

Did You Know?

Did You Know?
Did You Know?

It is interesting to take a few minutes and peruse through the old Mansfield Enterprise Newspapers at the Mansfield Female College Museum. Newspapers from the 1930’s to the 1960’s are available for your inspection. The 1951 issues reveal some items that many of you probably have forgotten. The DeSoto Hospital Fund Drive to add to the original facility was kicked off for the $100,000 expansion in 1950 with J.C. McLauren, Sr. and J.W. Caraway as Co-Chairman and Mrs. B.W. Goss, Vice Chairperson. Roger H. Silver, General Gifts Chairman, built an organization of 77 to serve as Division Chairman. The Big Gifts group was headed up by Oliver H.P. Sample, Claude Roberts, P.E.Dixon and Marshall Calhoun. Team Captains were H.L.Wiggins, Raymond Powell, Ned W. Jenkins and Riemer Calhoun, Sr. Special Gifts group consisted of Hartwell Smith, Floyd Knott, R.U. Johnson, A. N. Latham and Sam Murray.

Wed
05
Jan

Hey, Let’s Talk!

Hey, Let’s Talk!

Epiphany Feast

Or Three Kings Day is normally around two weeks after Christmas Day. In England and Europe it is also called Twelfth Night and commemorates the day when most scholars agree that the Magi or Three Kings ( of Orient “Or”) visited the Christ Child. I first became aware of this mainly Catholic Holiday when I lived in the New Orleans area. I’d been curious of my eccentric neighbor’s Christmas lights still being up and was informed by old Mr. Jimmy that lived behind me that he was probably leaving them up until Epiphany weekend. Hmmm, sounded very “convenient”, but being the new guy I decided to withhold judgment.

Sure enough Epiphany weekend came and went and my weird neighbor’s lights were still up. Now, I didn’t want to be a smart aleck (but I kinda am) and when I saw Mr. Jimmy picking up in his yard I worked my way over to ask about the lights. He shrugged and smiled and offered that maybe he was gonna wait until …. Easter. What?!

Wed
05
Jan

Did You Know?

Did You Know?
Did You Know?

The Gifts and Travels of the Magi

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 (NKJ). We are all familiar with the nativity scene showing the holy family and the “Three Wise men” or “Three Kings”. As a twelve year old boy I could have written up the story with a great deal of confidence but with further study and reading how much do I really know about the Magi? Where did they come from? What was the star they followed?

Thu
30
Dec

Happy New Year! Welcome 2022!

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Celebrating a new year is like being given the gift of a fresh start. We now have a clean slate before us. We want to make the best choices possible to make this the best year ever.

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions. Some of those are the same ones we make every year – lose weight, save money, get organized. And although those are all great resolutions, maybe it is time to make a few others that can help us ‘fly high’ and make all the difference in the world – to us, and others.

Here are a few suggestions:

1) R.A.O.K. – Random Acts of Kindness not only makes you feel better but can lift the spirits and put a smile on the face of others. These can be a simple smile, a kind word, or a helping hand. An RAOK can also be done through sending a card of encouragement, taking a meal to a sick neighbor, or letting someone else have that coveted parking space.

Thu
30
Dec

Did You Know?

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Did you e v e r think of yourself as a writer of historian? Probably not but most of the “History Buffs” are people who enjoy reading things pertaining to the past. Most of the history books were written by people who didn’t actually live history but read and heard history.

Our children and grandchildren will know us if we write it down or – second best – tell them of our lives when we were younger. Even though they seem to have their heads buried in a phone they will listen if you make it interesting. Often times children listen and retain a great deal more history than you realize. Children normally are interested in your early life and your parents and grandparents. How your fore parents migrated to this part of America and why they came is also interesting.

Thu
30
Dec

What’re You Wishing For?

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I hope everyone’s Christmas was blessed and fine and good. Mine was and I’m so thankful for that! Mama’s cornbread dressing was … perfect – I’ve really got it down now. Just to be sure we will always be able to enjoy it and evoke her love I made copies of an old column of mine on the creation of the actual recipe like my Mother made and notes on changes I’ve made over the years to perfect it. I gave all the women in my family that as a gift and I can share with you that there were a few tears shed. I tried to give “one-of-a-kind” or personalized gifts to everyone so that this Christmas would be memorable. I pray that I succeeded.

Wed
22
Dec

Did You Know?

Did You Know?
Did You Know?

There are several very important historical events that took place during the Christmas Season. Of course the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was the most important and the “Reason for the Season”. But on December 21, 1620, the first landing party of Pilgrims came ashore in Massachusetts at the place they named Plymouth. There they founded the second successful English settlement in America. The first settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, up the James River. Tradition says that as they came ashore the Pilgrims set foot on a large granite boulder that they named Plymouth Rock. That rock became a famous symbol of the revolution and of our faith. Nearly a century later the second president of the United States, John Adams, urged the early American Colonies to not forget the trials the early settlers faced and the reason they came to America.

Wed
22
Dec

On The Bright Side

On The Bright Side
On The Bright Side

Everybody recalls some of their favorite Christmas gifts “from Santa.”

I remember the trampoline that “Santa” hid in the woods before Christmas, and how my sister Ann and I inadvertently discovered it during a hike.

I recall the three Cabbage Patch Dolls that I got during Christmases in the 1980s. Their adoption papers had such hideous names that I renamed them “Haley, Matthew and Jonathan”.

There’s the red turtleneck with the little white specks that I got from The Gap as a teenager. That’s one of many that my sister Ashley told me about before Christmas.

Ashley loved telling people what their Christmas gifts were, but she wouldn’t directly tell you. For example, that Christmas, Ashley asked me, “Allison, did you see that red turtleneck with the white specks on it, near the front of The Gap yesterday at the mall?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well, I sure do hope you like it,” says Ashley.

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