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R E A L S T O R Y P U B L I S H I N G . C O M

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EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.B. ST. JOHN [email protected]

SPORTS WRITER

JEREMIAH SHORT [email protected]

FEATURE COLUMNISTS

RON [email protected]

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PUBLISHER J.B. ST. JOHN

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THE REAL STORYP. O. Box 403

Columbus, MS 39703

Editorial 662.497.2914Advertising 662.574.3893

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by Joseph B. St. JohnEditor-in-Chief Editor’sNote

Nothing ever comes easy in the world of politics. Even being fair and forthright,turns into the politics of power. Despite ef-forts to portray an image to the contrary,the simple fact is that politics is about con-trol and those who participate in it oenhave their own best interests at heart.

In the meantime, “regular folks" have toght and scratch to be heard. e city of Columbus and the state of Mississippi arefacing two critical situations, during thenext year. e rst issue to confront ourcommunities is the fact that Voter ID leg-islation has been passed by the MississippiSenate, and is awaiting approval from theU.S. Justice Department.

On April 16, 2012, the Daily Mississip-pian On-line reported:

If approved, Mississippi voters will be re-quired to show current photo identica-tion, which would include a Mississippidriver’s license, an Indian tribe identi-cation, a U.S. passport, a Mississippi pis-tol permit, or a student ID from any public or private college in Mississippi.

Voters will also be able to present anyother form of identication issued by the federal or state government or a Missis-sippi city, county or local agency.

At rst glance, it does not appear to be adifficult task, but as the article quickly re-minded, "Proponents of voter ID laws tendto like the idea of limiting voter fraud,while those against it think the rules goback to Jim Crow Laws."

And, there is the crux of the matter.How are the sins of the past and the needsof the future to be reconciled? When doour communities become one people and

eliminate the politically-charged nature of the issue of fairness?

Nan Lott, Chairman of the LowndesCounty Republican Party, stated, "A cou-ple of years ago, we, along with the localTea Party chapter, worked hard to get thepetition signed to make Voter ID the law.We went to football games. We wenteverywhere where people were, to get sig-natures. I am really perturbed that the Jus-tice Department is going to ‘dilly dally’until aer the election. Democrats say itis racist, but many African-Americanssigned the petition. Some Democratscompare this to poll taxes, but over120,000 signatures were gathered inNorthern Mississippi - District One (thearea roughly between Lowndes County and Desoto County) alone."

To add to the confusion, waiting for theJustice Department could be a crap shoot.As Ms. Lott added, "Alabama voters haveto show an ID, but the Voter ID laws inSouth Carolina and Texas were rejected by the Justice Department. I don't under-stand it."

District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks took a different position, in regard to the situa-tion. “I disagree with it. It discouragespeople from going to the polls," he said."ere is no documentation of voter fraudin Mississippi. If there are any problems,it would be in absentee voting."

e Voter ID debate should not be ablack-or-white issue, but it does deal withfundamental problems from the past. Indiscussing this article, no one who spokewith e Real Story wanted people to votefraudulently or be denied their legal rightto vote. Unfortunately, in a world whereblack and white does exist, there is nodenying that it revolved around the issueof trust.

Requiring that voters present an easy-to-

obtain State ID seems a far cry from "JimCrow"; however, there is the simple matterof faith in the process and, therein, lies theproblem, for many people. ey do nottrust the system to work, because they donot trust the government. It makes peopleleery, even in something as simple asshowing an easily-obtained State ID card.e reality is that most people who arepro-Voter ID, want people to vote. ey

just don't want people, whose address is ineither Friendship or Union Cemetery, vot-ing. However, like most things political, itis never that simple. Let's hope the JusticeDepartment evaluates the law solely on itsmerit, rather than on arguments whichmay have no basis in fact. Hopefully, theday will come, where the past and thepresent converge to form a palatable fu-ture.

Nowhere does the area of race and poli-tics rear its ugly head as much as in redis-tricting. In what can only be described asan "uncomfortable situation", the politi-cians who are in office have to divide agiven geographical area into segments thatare demographically balanced. It wouldtake an exceptional individual to refrainfrom loading the dice to maintain theirposition of power. We will soon learnwhether we have such people, here, inColumbus. If the last redistricting meet-ing was any indication, the City and its cit-izens had better brace for a long process.

e May 2013 elections are fast ap-proaching, and it appears that "e Nightof the Long Knives" may be in our future.e ghting has already begun, and peopleare showing their true motivations. Forbetter or worse, redistricting will be thebattleground – especially at a time wheneveryone on the Council feels vulnerable.Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin, whochaired the last redistricting meeting, inplace of an absent Mayor Smith, was quick

to point out the dilemma. 'is is some-thing we have to do,” he said. "I want tokeep all the people in my ward, but I haveto give up 300 people. I don't want to, butI have to."

Gavin went on to explain that it is notonly about race, but is, instead, about re-structuring the districts in regard to pop-ulation. He added that the racial makeupin each ward may not see any radicalchange.

Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem wasquick to point out one of the problemswith last Wednesday's meeting. "I wasunder the impression that we were going

to listen to Watkins (the consulting rmhired to oversee the project) about whatour direction was going to be. I get hereand some things have already been de-cided,” Karriem stated, in explaining thecomplexities of changing the boundariesof the wards. "I am down 269 people, Mr.Stewart is down 427 and Mickens wasdown 118. Box and Gavin are over 300people, each. We have to do what we haveto do to move this community forwardand get the wards balanced, and I don'tthink we should do anything until we ad-dress all the options."

Karriem even spoke about the difficult

situation of race. “Gene Taylor's ward is90% African American. He does not wantto change anything. But, anything over65-70% is stacking. No ward should beover-stacked with one race."

When questioned about the conict be-tween Mickens and Ward 3 CouncilmanCharlie Box, which was reported by nu-merous sources, Kabir addressed the issue.“Mickens never said anything about ex-cluding anyone from his ward, but if hehad to lose people, he would select thedowntown area. Box was the one whomade the accusations about why hewanted to lose the area."

A phone message le on Mr. Box's voice-mail, by e Real Story, was not returned.

As the elections approach, thecommunity has to look at theseconcerns with a suspicious eye.No one wants anybody to becheated, as a result of thisprocess, but no one wants a “feelgood” attitude to triumph over

justice. Every option should beemployed, to ensure it is a fair

vote.

Let's just hope the politiciansinvolved keep this in mind andkeep their own desires second-ary. It is not an exaggeration tosay our future depends on it!

Joseph B. St. John Mr. MoJo Rising

Voter IDs, Redistrictingand the Future

of Mississippi Politics

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e April 16, 2012 Columbus Conven-tion and Visitors Bureau (CCVB) Boardmeeting was smoother than past gather-ings, with calm and decorum reigningthroughout most of the meeting. Withthe exception of a slight air-up by Bernard Buckhalter over a perceivedomission in the minutes of the February Board meeting in regard to budgeting for

the festivals, the meeting strongly resem-led order.

Highlights of the meeting included theown of Crawford asking for funding for

the Crawford Cotton Boll Festival.ayor Fred Tolan and Town Secretary

Beverly Harris reiterated the needs of thecommunity, to ensure that the festivalcontinues. Mayor Tolan stated, "Withoutyour (CCVB) assistance, there will be nofestival."

e Tennessee Williams Tribute wasthe next group to address the board, withGeorge Courington and former Main

treet Manager Martha Lee Porter doinghe honors. Both speakers conveyed theeed for funding and the desire to presentpositive program. Mr. Courington wasuick to point out that, over the last fewears, the Tennessee Williams Tribute haseen very successful, but that they hadeen very careful in managing expenses,o ensure there was no shortfall, aer theeeklong celebration.

Jeff Smith and Gene Taylor came to theable, next, in regard to the successful

Southside Blues Festival. Reassuring theBoard that they were there as private cit-izens, Smith and Taylor asked the Boardto assist in sponsoring their festival, also.Mr. Smith advised the Board that, withthe CCVB’s support, festival organizerswere condent that they would be able tosecure a major musical act, which wouldbring in a diverse crowd of citizens to

enjoy the show.

e City of Artesia also asked for sup-port for their event and pled their case tothe CCVB. City representatives, albeitlate, made the same plea and requests asthe other events. Each group will receivea response at the next CCVB meeting.

In other news, Nadia Dale spoke out toadvise her colleagues that she felt that theExecutive Committee of the Board wasskewed toward the County, with all threemembers of the Executive Committee -George Swales, Bart Wise and Mark Castleberry – having been appointed by

the Board of Supervisors. Ms. Dale feltthat it was not fair that there were no City representatives on the committee. Eventhough elections for new ExecutiveCommittee members are just twomonths away, there was a discussionabout increasing the size of the commit-tee to four members, with two memberseach representing the City and theCounty. A decision on this matter wasput off until next month’s meeting.

Also, Board Member Harvey Myrick

triumphantly announced that his petproject, "Grilling on the River" will beback with a vengeance. Armed with aMississippi Ethics Commission opinion,Mr. Myrick is now comfortable in mov-ing forward as both the head of theGrilling on the River organization and aCCVB Board Member. During thecourse of this conversation, Nancy Car-

penter pointed out that Mark Castleberry,Bart Wise and George Swales resignedfrom the LINK Board to avoid a conictof interest.

Below is an excerpt of the AdvisoryOpinion:

Question Presented: May the boardof directors of a convention and vis-itors bureau fund an event stagedby a non-prot corporation in whicha board member has a personal in-terest but no nancial interest?

Brief Answer: Yes. The board mem-ber has no nancial interest in thenon-prot corporation, and it is nota business with which he is associ-ated. Therefore, no violation of Sec-tion 109, Miss. Const. of 1890, orSection 25-4-105(1), (2) or (3) (a),Miss. Code of 1972, will occur if theCVB provides funding for the event.

The Mississippi Ethics Commissionissued this opinion on the dateshown above in accordance withSection 25-4-17(i), Mississippi Code

of 1972, as reected upon its min-utes of even date. The Commissionis empowered to interpret andopine only upon Article IV, Section109, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and Article 3, Chapter 4, Title25, Mississippi Code of 1972. Thisopinion does not interpret or offerprotection from liability for any

other laws, rules or regulations. TheCommission based this opinionsolely on the facts and circum-stances provided by the requestoras restated herein. The protectionfrom liability provided under Sec-tion 25-4-17(i) is limited to the indi-vidual who requested this opinionand to the accuracy and complete-ness of these facts.

In other notes: During the review of the Dream 365 post-event report, RissaLawrence expressed concerns about thefact that some of the ads for Dream 365,which she personally observed, did not

have the CCVB logo affixed to them. Arepresentative of e Real Story spokewith members of the Dream 365 Com-mittee who were present, and they statedthat some advertising materials had beenpurchased before they received theirgrant. ey explained that this has beentheir practice, over the last few years, toensure that the program receives maxi-mum exposure.

MoJo

The April 16, 2012 CCVB Meeting

Editor’s Note: is was originally posted on our website, on April 20,2012, under “At Week’s End”.

Oen, what is seen is not reality. And,the April 17th City Council Meeting may have been one of the better examples of this principle. While it would be easy tosay that the meeting was calm - with justa few hiccups - that would be a great mis-statement. Like many magic tricks, it washard to see the sleight of hand.

At no time was this more prevalentthan during the Citizens Input Agenda,

hen Mayor Smith acted like he had nodea who Larry Golden is, during

Golden’s ve-minute presentation. Whatost people in the audience did not

now is that Robert and Larry have beenriends, for years. And, whether you callolden’s nightclub, Club Heidi Ho or theray Goose, Mayor Smith has had a

ongstanding relationship with Mr.olden.

Without that knowledge, it appearedthat the Mayor was standing toughagainst a nightclub owner, but, in reality,Smith and Golden are friends. ey havebeen for years. e battles about parkingand occupancy limits at the club havebeen going on for years.

Part of Golden’s confusion over hisconviction in court for over-occupancy stemmed from the fact that, in the past,Smith had intervened in numerous situ-

ations involving Mr. Golden. And now,in public, Mayor Smith was acting like hehas no clue who Golden is. is is all partof the “bait and switch” that Smith playsso well.

His friends and allies come into themeeting and Smith acts like he has nocontact with them. It is a farce and what’sworse, it is a total misrepresentation of re-ality. Anyone who witnessed this spec-tacle could see Mr. Golden and his

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

See “CURTAIN” Pg. 4

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partner, Dan Griffith, becoming frus-trated. Robert was, once again, pullingthe old “chameleon act” of being whathe thinks people want him to be. Un-fortunately for Mr. Golden, he wasthrown under the bus by the same per-son who has been his proponent foryears.

roughout this charade, City per-sonnel were called up before the Coun-cil and questioned. Mr. Golden and Mr.Griffith were asked questions, and the

crowd laughed. Unfortunately for theCity, the joke is on us. Golden wasused, and whether you like him or not,the City loses. Robert, once again,turned the meeting into amateur hour,while the city crumbles.

As this portion of the meeting cameto a close, Robert made sure that thecrowd knew he could not help Mr.Golden - which is a joke. He has helpedhim a million times. But, elections areon the horizon, so even friends getbeaten down. Everyone needs a few

votes - even Robert Smith.

Also, at this meeting, it became ap-parent that Chief McQueen has loststeam as the Police Chief. Between BillGavin and the rest of City Counciltabling his re-organization plan and PatMitchell calling him out for not havinga potential new hire, Eric Lewis, turn inan application to her, McQueen did nothave a good night. He looked confusedand lost, as every request that he madewas either denied or ignored.

Add to this the threat of lawsuits,from both inside and outside the de-partment, and it looks as if it is going tobe a long, hot summer for the Colum-bus Police Department. As the elec-

tions approach, citizens will likely seemore wackiness from the Mayor,Councilmen and department heads.Be alert to anyone who appears beforethe Council. It may be someone with alegitimate reason to address the Coun-cil or it may be a “plant”. Only time willtell.

Based upon the verbal sparring thattook place at the Council’s re-districtingmeeting, it appears that the knives arealready out. So, stay tuned, campers - itis going to be a heck of a ride!!

MoJo

“CURTAIN” cont. from pg. 3

e April 13, 2012 Lowndes County Board of Supervisorsmeeting deviated from their normally mundane routine, withthe introduction of two big issues. County AdministratorRalph Billingsley addressed the complicated matter of the per-sonal use of County Vehicles and District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith tackled the tough task of paving in the Temple CoveSubdivision. Each issue seemed simple, on the surface, butbecame very complex, when observed under the microscope.

In regard to the personal use of county vehicles, the answeris, at rst glance, simple - employees can't use them for non-work-related reasons. However, just when you think the issueis resolved, reality rears its ugly head. And, the Road Depart-ment is a good place to begin this discussion, because, for theCounty, they exemplify the conict of personal vs. work usageof a County vehicle.

On the one hand, it would appear that driving the vehicleback and forth to work is a personal perk. However, uponcloser scrutiny, one learns that Road Department personnelare expected to work at a moment's notice, without any warn-ing. If a storm occurs or an emergency arises, they are ex-pected to hit the streets working, without asking any questions.

e rub, however, is the IRS. Yes, your tax dollars at work --- making sure the government gets ALL of your tax dollars.Ensuring that Uncle Sam is in your pocket every chance hecan get, a person who has a work vehicle available to them,has to be taxed on its use.

Unfortunately, this tax burden is not placed on the County,but on the employee, themselves. And, to their credit, eventhough they did not agree on how to x the problem, Leroy Brooks and Harry Sanders were in agreement that the concernwas not about gas prices and that no one wanted to take the

vehicles from the Road Department.

Harry made it clear, when he stated, "It is not the county'sresponsibility. It is the employee who has to make sure they ll out a 1099." What was at stake at the meeting was the factthat, if employees were not careful, they could be taxed without

any knowledge it was considered taxable income.Leroy was also concerned with the employee; however, he

felt the need to have substations located in strategic places, tohave the vehicles parked accordingly. In addition, he believedthat there should be a strong policy in place, to ensure that

employees don't get caught up in a dilemma, when addressingthis issue.

Leroy began his comments with the affirmation, "Let memake it clear, I do not want to take the Road Department's ve-hicles from them."

Both before and aer the meeting, Ronnie Burns (Road De-

partment Manager) felt compelled to express his concern thatthe Road Department was on call 24 hours a day and that it isimpractical to run back and forth to the Road Departmentshop, to pick up a vehicle.

e Supervisors agreed with him and, at the next meeting,Ralph Billingsley is expected to have a policy in place for thecounty. Some employees, such as the E-911 Supervisor, EMADirector and the Fore Commander were not so lucky. eir vehicles were taken from them, to ensure that there are no IRS violations.

In other news, Jeff Smith attempted, once again, to have theCounty pave the Temple Cove Subdivision. Smith's requestsfell on deaf ears, as Sanders repeated his mantra that theCounty had already given the City $600,000 for paving andthat paving Temple Cove was inappropriate.

Smith countered, "We do other projects within the city."However, Harry was quick to point out, "We have Memoran-dums of Understanding with those projects."

In the end, the County decided that they would cover a thirdof the project that they had said they would complete, whenthe project started.

Harry pointed out, "e County will do the work, use ourequipment and our personnel." Even thought Smith was notsatised, he has learned to live and ght another day and, aer-ward, even Leroy seemed satised with the deal. e County will not pay for the paving materials for Temple Cove.

In another note:

e Sups should be commended, because even though the

atmosphere became lled with passion during the meeting,everyone remained respectful and on point. In the County, itappears the overall goals and success for all are more importantthan personal agendas.

MoJo

Lowndes County Board of SupervisorsMeeting: Strangely Simply Complex

Kudos, Kate! Everybody at The Real Story would like to congratulate our friend and

Feature Columnist, Kate Spencer, on receiving her 200-hour teacher training certificate from Joyflow Yoga! We are proud of you!

It's that time of year, again, when all of us need to clean out our closets, drawersand storage sheds. Everything that youhaven't worn in a year or items that youhave not used, needs to be discarded. Asthe saying goes, “Out with the old; in withthe new.”

All of the items can be sorted andbagged for a Saturday morning rummagesale. If you are not a seller, then take theseitems to local organizations, as a dona-tion. In our city we have two places: eSalvation Army ri Store and ePalmer Home ri Store. Both of these

thri stores will take your good usedclothing and furnishings. If that is not anoption for you, call any of our localchurches and ask if they have membersor know of someone in need. Chancesare that they will know people who haverecently had a house re or some type of loss, and are in need of clothing andhousehold furnishings. e extra itemsyou have laying around just may besomething that a needy family can use

and would be greatly appreciated. Insteadof these items lying around, collectingdust, and taking up room in your house,you can see that they are put to produc-tive use. If you haven't used them in thelast year, chances are you will never usethem again. Why let them deteriorate,when they could be in use by someoneelse?

It’s Spring Cleaning Time!

See “CLEANING” Pg. 5

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e Columbus Municipal School District (CMSD) isroud to announce that Nancy Bragg, Principal at Salenternational Studies Magnet School, is the 2012 CMSDistrict Administrator of the Year.

Bragg is a 31-year veteran, with seventeen years in ad-inistration. She has an outstanding ability to inspire

and lead her staff and students. She is described as a mo-ivator and a driver for excellence in education. Dr.

artha Liddell, Interim Superintendent stated, "Mrs.ragg is an enthusiastic leader, with a determination torovide a high quality education for the Sale students.he is an inspiration to all who know her and is very de-

serving of this recognition. Mrs. Bragg brings excellence veryday to Sale School, where she models high expec-tations for all of her staff and students."

Bragg began her administrative career in July 1996, ashe assistant principal at Hunt Intermediate School and

ser ved in that position until July 2002, when she took the reins at Sale. She holds an Education Specialist De-gree in Curriculum and Instruction from Mississippitate University, and is a graduate of the prestigious

illsaps Principals' Institute. She has presented trainingworkshops at the local, state, and national levels.

Under Bragg's leadership, Sale School has achieved theMississippi accountability rating of a High PerformingSchool. In addition, Sale has become an authorized In-ternational Baccalaureate (TB)-Primary Years Programand currently holds the distinction of being an IB WorldSchool, one of only three in Mississippi. Most recently,

Sale School received the Governor's Award for theirpartnership with MUW’s College of Education andHuman Sciences.

Mrs. Bragg understands and has a vision for what ittakes to succeed and will tell you that her goal is to al-ways be an administrator of integrity. Every day, shestrives to be the best leader possible, because she believesher students and staff deserve nothing less. Bragg alsobelieves that each child has different gis to offer to so-ciety and that school personnel must unwrap these gisthrough student learning. Knowing that every studentis unique, each one deserves the very best we can offer.Bragg is the rst one to acknowledge her hard workingand dedicated staff as a major part of her selection asDistrict Administrator of the Year. As the principal of

Sale, she shares that it is truly an honor and privilege towork alongside her school family.

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Remember, when you are organizing items for asale, go ahead and separate the items into differentcategories. is will make it easier for you, when youset up for your rummage sale. It will also make sizingand pricing much easier. Try to bag and box itemsfrom each room, separately. Mark the boxes so thatyou know what you have packed inside them. Forsmall, loose items that may fall out of boxes or bags,place those items in Ziploc bags. en, you can pricethem by the bag, for quicker sale. is idea also workswell for small toys from your children's playrooms,costume jewelry, crayons, markers, stickers, hair ac-

cessories, and other small items.

Rummage sales are fun and exciting to a lot of peo-ple. Finding good used items that they have neededand getting them at a reasonable price is worth thehunt. is is a great month to start having rummagesales. e weather is just right and, with school aboutto be nished for the summer, it is the time to rid yourkids' closets of everything they can't or refuse to wear.

If you have nothing to sell, then get your friends upearly on Saturday mornings and spend a day rum-maging. ere are many spots that sellers set up atand there are ea markets in different areas, nearby.Have some fun and see what you can nd on yourhunt. Sometimes, you can nd old items of value.

You can search through the newspaper classieds andget locations of many rummage sales throughout ourcity. If you are going to have a rummage sale, pleasemake sure you put an ad in the rummage sale sec-tion, at least a week ahead of time, to make sureeveryone gets a chance to read it.

Spring cleaning can be fun, if you are making a littlemoney from it. Get your kids involved. Entice thechildren to be a part of the sale, by assisting you. Givethe kids a share of the money earned at the sale, topurchase something new they have been asking for.is will teach them a lesson in nances. So, get yourboxes and bags ready and start making room for newitems.

“CLEANING” cont.frompg.4

Joyce Shaw White

Joyce is a single mother and grandmother, and serves our community as the night supervisor for Lowndes County 911.

She enjoys researching genealogy and has lived here all her life.

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Porkchop is becoming very wellknown, and I think it may be going tohis head (or, maybe, his belly?!) Wehave received many requests for Pork-chop to make rounds to visit everyonethat has been asking about him.Hopefully, once he has mastered theharness and learns to walk (and be-have) on a leash, we can start gettingto know everyone.

In the meantime, however, Porkchopand e Real Story crew will be at theLowndes County Relay for Life this

Friday night, April 27th, beginning at6pm. e event will be held at the oldsoccer eld at Columbus High School,

on Hemlock Street. Porkchop will bethere, and will be ready to take his pic-ture with anyone who is willing tomake a donation, to help our teamreach our goal to support Relay forLife. Porkchop wanted to be sure thatI mentioned that additional donationsfor massages wouldn’t hurt his feelingsat all, as he loves a good massage!

e Real Story will also have all of our rst 11 issues, bound togetherwith purple and white ribbon, avail-able (with a donation). All proceeds

will benet Relay for Life; all of us, in-cluding Porkchop, ask that you tocome out and show your support. All

photos that are taken with Porkchopwill be printed in one of the May is-sues of e Real Story, and your indi-

vidual photo can also be emailed toyou, for an additional donation.

Porkchop is growing every day, or soit seems. We have decided it won’t bemuch longer until I won’t be able topick him up easily, nor will he t in theback seat oorboard of our truck!We’ll have to build a ramp that he canuse to get in the truck, or we can usethe portable steps that allow him to geton the couch with me. I look at pho-tos of him when he was a tiny baby (allof 12 weeks ago) and it is so hard tobelieve how fast he has grown. He wasthe cutest little baby, and is now thecutest little “teenager” (at least that’swhat I call him, now, because he

throws some “I know everything” ts,sometimes. Ha-ha!)

I’m writing this at nearly 2am on aSaturday morning, and I just heardPorkchop grunting and fussing, as hewaddled into the living room. It wasas if he was wondering what I was stilldoing up, and did I not realize that Iwas disturbing his beauty sleep? Oh,and since I’m awake anyway, did I no-tice his food bowl was low? He thenwaddled off to his eating area,smacked on some pot-bellied pigfood, slurped up some water, and thengrunted and grunted, as he waddled

back off to bed. I don’t think I canstress “waddled” enough to convey toyou the visual that I had.

Earlier, we went on our secondnightly outing with the dogs. My hus-band and I sat on the swing, listeningto music (and the dogs play with anold squeaky toy they had forgottenabout) and the beautiful song of thefrogs. We stayed out for a while, and,the whole time, Porkchop was scav-enging for acorns that are apparently multiplying by the hour. When it wastime to come back in the house, we al-ways hollered, “Where’s the pig?!” and

as we opened the gate, he (most of thetime, anyway) would come running.Sometimes he acts pig-headed (punintended) and acts deaf and blind (likea human teenager, once again; ha-ha!).As we were approach-

ing the front door, I said, “Last one indoesn’t get a biscuit (grain-free dogtreats)!” Porkchop picked up speed, asif he was thinking, “I only have to beatONE of those dogs!” It is too cute tosee him sit down at the door and gethis treat, next to the three pit bulldogs.ey know he rules the roost! And Iguess we do, too!

Porkchop and I are looking forwardto meeting our loyal readers, this Fri-day night, (hint! hint!!). We hope tosee you there!

If you can’t make it to the Relay forLife, but would still like to donate tothe cause and help our team reach ourgoal, log on to: http://www.relayfor-life.org, then follow the instructionsbelow:

• Enter “Lowndes County” in thesearch box.

• Select “2012 Relay For Life of Lowndes County MS - Columbus,MS”.

• To the right, in the purple Donatebox, select “Support a Team”.

• Enter “e Real Story” and click on “Go”.

• In the “Team Name” box, select“e Real Story”.

• en select “Donate to Our Team”.

By the way, Porkchop now has hisown Facebook page!!! All the photos,

videos, and updates you can stand!Visit us at https://www.facebook.com/PorkchopsPigTales.

Aimee [email protected]

Aimee is the Office Manager at MaloneElectric Company, Inc. and also has her own

freelance graphic design business.She is married to Kenneth Shaw of Columbus.

Porkchop pouts because he can’t eat 24/7.

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C ULT URALLY S PEAKI N G

A pr i l 2 5 ,2 0 1 2

R E A

L S T OR Y P UB L I S HI N G. C O M

119 Poplar Street

Roast and Boast Gala

Highlighted by thesweet sounds of Swing Shi , the Roast andBoast Gala, which washeld at the Trotter Con-

vention Center, was awonderful night thatwill be remembered by one and all.

Howard and Jo Ann Ferguson enjoy a night at the Roast and Boast Gala.

e Real Story Staff Report

e’re sure that many of you are quite familiar with a variety of erms that relate to artwork. However, we also recall how it felt,alking into an art gallery or museum, as novices in the artorld. e experience can be a tad bit intimidating, especially

f you’re unfamiliar with the “lingo”. So, for those of you whoonsider yourselves novices, we hereby offer the rst in an oc-

casional series called “Art & Culture 101”.

Let’s start with the different visual art disciplines. e most-commonly seen are painting, sculpture, and photography. eprimary difference between the three is that paintings and pho-ographs are, for the most part, 2-D or at, whereas sculpturesre, by their very nature, three-dimensional.

Although paintings may consist of a variety of media, the pri-ary ones are oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Acrylic paint dries

uite quickly, because, since it is water-based, it evaporates; oilakes much longer to dry, because it oxidizes, not evaporates.

is is why oil is preferred by experienced ne artists, becauset affords them the opportunity to go back and make adjust-

ents to the work. Watercolor tends to produce a more subtlemage than either oil or acrylic.

Another media employed by painters is known as “mixedmedia”. is is a catch-all term that refers to a piece of art thatincorporate a variety of materials in its composition and utilizestwo or more media, such as watercolor and pencil drawing.“Collage” is a type of mixed media that involves affixing images

r objects onto a at surface. A related term is “assemblage”

(ah-sem-blahge), which utilizes many of the same elements, butusually involves a more constructionist or three-dimensionaltechnique. A term that is closely associated with mixed mediaartwork is “found object”. is is the name for any item that anartist discovers or “nds” and decides to incorporate into thepiece of art; examples are broken jewelry, keys, and buttons.

Photography is the art discipline with which most people arefamiliar. Although photography is, technically, a form of print-making and all pictures created by a camera can be considereda “print”, there is a big difference, both in desirability and price,between single-edition or “one-of-a-kind” images and multi-edition series prints. In addition, technological advances overthe last ten years have enabled photographers much greater lee-way in manipulating the images. Some purists, however, wouldargue that photos that involve digital “sleight-of-hand” by any-thing other than the settings built into the camera, are not really “art”.

ere is a vast amount of information involving the world of art and culture – too much to be covered in one column. Wehope that you have enjoyed this rst “dip into the pool” and thatyou will look forward to the next installment of “Art 101”.

Remember…

Get out and get your culture on!

In the April 11 2012 article, “ Cale-donia: e Problem with a Con-

ict of Interest is at it is aConict ”, e Real Story reported that Trey Robertson was brought before the Caledonia Board of Al-dermen to be disciplined by his boss,Benny Coleman. is was not cor-rect. Mr. Robertson and Mr. Cole-man were addressing why Mr.Robertson’s work certication pa-

perwork had not been signed by Mr.

Coleman.We apology for any discomfort thismight have caused.

MoJo

Art & Culture101:

Terminology

Correction!

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R U T H . . . N O c o m p r o m i s e


A

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S A F E T Y • L E

T T E R T O T H E E D I T O R

Safety Tipsfrom the NCPC

SecretsMany kids tell and share secrets with friends andsiblings. Most of the time, these secrets are harmless,even silly. Unfortunately, sometimes secrets can hurtpeople and even be dangerous. It's important thatchildren be able to differentiate between secrets thatare okay to keep, and secrets they should never keep.Adults can help children learn this, by teaching themwhen to keep a secret and when not to, and by instilling in them positive decision-making skills, self esteem, and trust in adults.

e rule is• If a secret can't hurt someone or something, keep it.

• If a secret can hurt someone or something, tell an adult.• If you're not sure, tell.

It's okay for children to keep surprise parties and presents secret, because thesesecrets will make someone happy and won't be a secret forever. But children shouldnever keep it secret if someone is being bullied, or if someone is involved in dan-gerous behavior like ghting, vandalizing property, and using drugs.

Sometimes it can be hard for children to decide whether to tell a secret or keepit. e possible consequences may not be clearly negative or positive; the child may not want to violate someone's trust; and he or she may not want to get in trouble.

You can help children practice making the right decisions by role-playing differentscenarios about secrets. Brainstorm possible secrets with children, and ask themto say which ones they would keep, and which they would tell to an adult. Havethem decide which adult they would talk to, and what they would do if the rstadult they tell doesn't help.

Here are some more ways you can help your children make positive decisionsabout secrets.

• Take time to listen carefully to your children's fears and feelings about the peopleand places that scare them or make them feel uncomfortable.

• Tell kids to trust their instincts. If they think something may be wrong or may hurt someone, act on it.

• Make sure they know that no one has the right to ask them to keep a secretfrom their parents.

• Remind your children that no one, not even a teacher or close relative, has theright to touch them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.

• Tell them that NO adult should ever ask them to keep a special secret,especially one that makes them feel uneasy.

• Tell kids that, if the rst adult they tell a secret to doesn't believe them or won'thelp, to keep telling an adult until they get help.

• Let children know that they can tell you anything and you'll be supportive. Makeit clear that you won't blame them, and that they won't get in trouble for tellingyou.

• Take complaints seriously and take action.


Big Joe Shelton & eBlack Prairie Blues Ambas-sadors have been tapped toperform at the 33rd BluesMusic Awards ceremonies,which take place at the Cook Convention Center inMemphis, TN on May 10th.

e Blues Music Awardswill be broadcast live, intheir entirety, on Sirius XM'sB.B. King's Bluesville; thenext best thing to beingthere. ey will be broadcaston public television, later inthe year.

Big Joe Shelton & e Black PrairieBlues Ambassadors are based in theColumbus area of the Mississippi Black Prairie.

Band members are as follows:

Big Joe Shelton - Vocals, HarmonicaBen Ferrell - GuitarEd Swan - BassBob Damm – Drums

Big Joe Shelton to Performat 33rd Blues Music Awards


Dear Editor:

Congratulations to K. K. Norris, for her shop, eAttic, being selected by the national newspaperUSA Today as one of the 10 most distinguishedplaces in the country to nd ne vintageclothing. Aer reading your story, I visitedher bountiful shop, to ask why she had in-cluded the fact that her shop was across thestreet from the National Literary Landmark - Tennessee Williams' childhood home. Herperfect answer was “I wanted to tell the world

about my hometown and am also proud thatAmerica's greatest playwright is from here and he isknown all over the world."

She has received an overwhelming response from around the world, from theUSA Today article, and she deserves it for realizing what an important tourismtreasure Columbus has in Tennessee Williams' childhood home - our Columbus-Lowndes Welcome Center at 300 Main Street. ank you, K.K., for being atourism ambassador for your hometown.

Brenda Caradine

LettertotheEditor

Fifty Employers, Thousands of JobHunters Expected at EMCC Job Fair

With hiring on the rise and more thany employers set to participate, East Mis-sissippi Community College is anticipat-ing one of its best Job Fairs ever, May 1.

From 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Lyceumat EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus in

Mayhew will be a urry of resumé ex-changes, impromptu interviews and busi-ness attire. Local, state-wide and nationalemployers will be on hand, but don’t comelate, warns EMCC District Director of JobPlacement Linda Gates, because employ-ers want time to evaluate candidates, and

vendors will depart at 2:30 p.m.

“All indications are that the economy isturning around. Now is the perfect time tosee what career opportunities are available,as employers are eager to visit with jobcandidates. Also, if someone wants to re-tool, to be more competitive in today’smarketplace, there will be a wide variety of options to review,” said Gates.

e list of employers already signed upto participate can be viewed on the Com-munity Calendar of EMCC’s website,www.eastms.edu. It includes local indus-tries, such as American Eurocopter, EllisSteel, Mississippi State University and Ok-tibbeha County Hospital; statewide em-ployers, like Mississippi Power; andnationwide entities, such as the Trans-portation Security Administration andUnited Blood Services.

East Mississippi Job FairTuesday, May 1, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.Lyceum auditorium at East MississippiCommunity College’s Golden Trianglecampus, 8731 S. Frontage Road in May-hew, off U.S. 45 Alternate

Visit www.eastms.edu for a list of em-ployers who will be attending the fair, aswell as the “Job Fair Survival Guide,” whichcan help job-seekers get the most out of their visit.

For more information, Contact LindaGates, EMCC district director of jobplacement, (662) 243-1978 [email protected].

Danyell Gingell of Severstal speaks withChristy Hudson of Columbus at the 2010

East Mississippi Job Fair at East Mississippi Community College's Golden Triangle

Campus. The 2012 Job Fair will take placeMay 1 at the Golden Triangle campus from9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with more than fty

employers expected to participate.


EMCC Job Fair, May 1st

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C O N S UMER C OR NER

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R E AL S T OR Y P UB L I S HI N G. C O M

by Mo & No-Mo

Have you ever been sitting at youresk, working hard, when all of a sud-

den - grrrrrrrr. What on earth wasthat sound? Sitting back in your chairto ponder the sound that broke yourrain of thought and, then, suddenly -

grrrrrrrrrrr - there it goes again. Yes,our stomach is talking to you. Plac-ng your hand on your belly, to calm

that unrelenting beast, you notice anempty feeling. Looking at your watch,you realize - yes - it's time for lunch.Where oh where are we going to eattoday? Getting tired of the “same olesame ole”, you decide to try some placenew. You get in your car and point ittoward that new restaurant - Farm-stead.

e rst things that grab your atten-

tion, when you walk through thedoors of Farmstead, are the tables andchairs. How refreshing to be able tosit in a nice comfortable chair witharms, and huddle around a table thats just the right size to promote con-ersations while you eat. e decor is

rustic; we are having trouble walking,because we are fascinated by the noveluse of buckets for lighting (you haveto see this, to believe it).

ere are many choices, here; youhave the a la carte menu, plus there aresome slips of paper on your table,from which you can select one of the

plate lunches. To be honest, our groupalways eats the plate lunches, and we

have neverbeen disappointed.Upon speaking with many of the otherdiners, I only hear good things aboutthe a la carte menu items, as well.Good food prepared the Southern,home-style way - it just doesn't get any

better than that. Can I recommendany one particular item? No, because

it’s too hardto narrow it down

to just one. ere are favoritesamong our group; for instance, webarter and trade among ourselves forthe squash dressing, but it is all good.

e folks that work there are

friendly and fast. But, be careful, thelady in the green outt will twist your

arm to take the dessert – just kidding!Oh, but they are all so tempting andwonderful!

e atmosphere feels like home. Youare comfortable, f rom the minute youwalk through the door. For a place toenjoy a delightful meal with all thexin’s, as well as great service, driveover to Farmstead Restaurant on Mc-Crary Road, across from MagnoliaBowling Lanes. You’ll be glad you did!

If you have a local business or establishment you would like us to consider for review, please e-mail us at:[email protected].

You will get our honest opinion of the business, their personal customer service, and the services offered.

We strive for fair, unbiased reporting, so we hope to hear from you.

Mo & No-Mo

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In a book review in e New Republic,Michael Kimmage discusses the premierrole that religion, and in particular Chris-tianity, has had in American politics sincethe founding of the nation; perhaps themost interesting observation is the fol-lowing:

Seeking to explain why “U.S. foreign pol-

icy has oen acquired the tenor of amoral crusade,” Preston rst turns his at-tention to the seventeenth century. Avidly Protestant, “the American colonies neverunderwent a counter-reformation,” heobserves, and they waged almost contin-uous war against enemies deemed theo-logically other - i.e. Catholics and NativeAmericans. ese Christian soldiersprided themselves on ghting holy wars,regularly tting themselves into Old Tes-tament patterns, the New World’s Is-raelites imbued with “a consistent belief in America as a chosen nation and inAmericans as a chosen people.”

is is of particular interest and impor-tance because that sentiment is as true,today, as it was in 1776. e Neo-Consof the Bush Administration went to warin Iraq, among other, more practicalgeopolitical reasons, because of a deep-seated belief in the rightness of Americandemocracy, our vision of freedom and in-dividualism, and the anointed role wehave in promoting it. American “excep-tionalism” is a result of our fundamentalreligious beliefs:

American exceptionalism refers to thetheory that the United States is differentfrom other countries, in that it has a spe-cic world mission to spread liberty anddemocracy. In this view, America's excep-

tionalism stems from its emergence froma revolution, becoming "the rst new na-tion, "and developing a uniquely Ameri-can ideology, based on liberty,egalitarianism, individualism, populismand laissez-faire. is observation can betraced to Alexis de Tocqueville, the rstwriter to describe the United States as "ex-ceptional" in 1831 and 1840. HistorianGordon Wood has argued, "Our beliefsin liberty, equality, constitutionalism, andthe well-being of ordinary people cameout of the Revolutionary era. So, too, didour idea that we Americans are a specialpeople, with a special destiny to lead theworld toward liberty and democracy.”(Wikipedia)

Although Tocqueville may have been

the rst to observe and chronicle thisphenomenon, its roots are thoroughly Puritan and Calvinistic. Kimmage goeson to write:

Going forward, Preston [the author of thebook Kimmage is reviewing] accents theProtestant origins of the American Rev-olution. London was equated with Rome,and “the new political order [in America]

newly codied a very old and very Protestant tradition of hostility to arbi-trary power,” Preston observes. Americanhistorians have outdone themselves inanalyzing the Founders and the Enlight-enment, the legacy of Hume and Mon-tesquieu in American political thought.Preston notes that “Adams, Washington,and, especially, Jefferson cited Milton to justify or explain their political views,” ci-tations that reect the rise of an Ameri-can-style Christian republicanism. In theplace of an established church, and op-posed to the Church of England, not tomention the Church of Rome, was therst amendment to the constitution.

Both Milton and Jefferson “derivedtheir coherence from their Creator”(Camus), and the Declaration of Inde-pendence’s citing of inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinesswere inalienable because they came fromGod.

e book not only describes America’sreligion-based national and internationalimperialism, but what the author de-scribes as its “double helix”, whereby bothexpansionist and humanitarian senti-ments are part of our national DNA”

e double helix has two strands. Onestrand entails the melding of Christian

sentiment with state power, throughdiplomatic maneuvers and the waging of war. is is the sword of the spirit, cher-ished by the Puritans and by George W.Bush alike. e other strand inverts theideal of the church militant, appealing in-stead to a Christian hunger for interna-tional peace, for the beating of swordsinto ploughshares, for a fraternity of na-tions liberated from war...

Anti-war movements would continue toemanate from New England for centuriesto come. In antebellum America, Chris-tian republicanism nurtured the aboli-tionist spirit, and the Civil War was(among other things) a war over theproper relationship between the Chris-

tian faith and the American polity.

FDR’s was a “serene spirituality,” and noless tenacious for its serenity. Synthesizingcenturies of historical experience, FDRheld “the Christian republican view thatreligion was the source of democraticfreedom because it was the source of con-science and private belief,” Preston writes.Roosevelt pushed this conviction in anecumenical direction. Catholics and Jewswere invited to participate in an Ameri-can project sure to outshine the authori-tarian evils of Nazi Germany andimperial Japan.

An extension of this religious-basedconviction to promote peace and har-mony not written about in the article(and presumably not the book) is Amer-ica’s “humanitarianism”, also a compo-nent of exceptionalism. We, the anointednation, have the responsibility of bringingenlightened civilization to the rest of theworld, for alleviating poverty and misery.Our foreign aid program, although very geopolitical in nature, is fueled by the be-lief that democracy and liberty, God-

given in nature, must be extended to therest of the world. ere is a missionary zeal, therefore, in our attempts to reformauthoritarian governments, to extend po-litical representation and civil liberties.

We are not simply extending a viablepolitical system. We are extending fun-damental religious principles. e focusof the Founding Fathers on individualliberties was not only a reaction againstthe tyrannies of Europe, but a statementof the Calvinist belief in a personal rela-tionship with God. Communism andother statist regimes are particularly odi-ous, because they limit the ability of the

individual to seek spiritual fulllment, if not salvation.

e French also had a “mission civila-trice” – a mission to bring French civiliza-tion to the rest of the world, but they werepropelled more by secular traditions of “liberte, egalite, et fraternite”, and, as im-portantly, the preeminence of the Frenchintellectual, literary, and artistic tradi-tions, than by any religious sentiment.Although many of the goals of the mis-sion may have coincided with the French,ours was unmistakably religious in ori-gin.

Our foreign humanitarian programs

are derived from the same religious foun-dation. Such concerns always trump re-alpolitik because it is consideredun-Christian to refuse to offer help tothose who need it. When I challengedthe NGO I worked for on its decision towork in Burmaunder the generals – pro-

viding additional and free resources to acorrupt and tyrannical regime wouldonly serve to strengthen its power, I ar-gued – I was told, “Perhaps, but there arestarving children in the country”. I usedthe same argument to reject the NGO’srush to work in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, butagain was rebuffed.

is scenario has played itself out overand over again. ere is no good reason

to continue to prop up corrupt and self-serving regimes with grants and soloans. History has shown that few of theessential political, economic, and nan-cial reforms necessary for real self-suffi-ciency and progress are ever adopted,regardless of the “conditionalities” or ex-ternally-funded donor programs; but, wekeep giving money because of “the chil-

dren, the suffering, and the disadvan-taged”. A better outcome for these

vulnerable groups would certainly ensuefrom more objective policies designed towean irresponsible countries from for-eign assistance; but, our Christian con-science gets in the way, every time.

e inuence of religious convictionwithin American politics has never beenstronger, as evidenced by the recently-concluded Republican primaries.inly-veiled in conservative political ar-guments is the belief that America is aChristian country, and even though itmay now be populated by increasing

numbers of non-Christians, the religiousprinciples of freedom of expression, re-spect for life and liberty, and the right toknow God on a personal basis have notchanged.

One further aspect of Protestant and,particularly, Calvinistic theology that isoen overlooked, is that of pre-destina-tion. We are all pre-destined by God forsalvation or damnation.

Calvinism's most distinctive dogma is thedoctrine of pre-destination. Good workswere not a means to salvation, but theywere a sign of having been chosen.

Wealth has always been an indicator of material and spiritual success, ever sincethe founding of the republic. erefore,the link between individual liberty, free-dom of religious expression, and the pur-suit of happiness through individuallabor has always been a strong one. Oneof the strongest arguments used in theNorth against the South in the antebel-lum period was that of free labor. It wasagainst good Christian principles to sitback and become wealthy without work-ing for it, as the plantation owners of theSouth did. Not only was slavery wrong,but so was the principle of riches withouttoil. Of the many sentiments that Lincolnfelt about slavery, free labor was perhapsthe strongest. Slavery denied slaves re-wards for their work; and permitted slaveowners to benet from others’ labor,without investing any of their own.

Although the Biblical parable of thecamel and the eye of a needle is oen re-cited; and although Catholic Popes may argue for Christian charity and a rejectionof materialism, Protestant theology reins.Conservative politicians are very right inassuming that the pursuit of individualriches is the lowest common denomina-tor of American society, a principle towhich all newcomers aspire and soon es-

pouse.

e book is a welcome addition to thesociological literature concerning religionin America, especially because it focuseson the historical antecedents of modernreligious fervor and commitment. Westarted as a religious nation and our pol-itics have been guided by Christian prin-ciples throughout our history.

America - A Christian Empire

Ron [email protected]

Ron Parlato is a writer living in Washington, DC.

He has close ties withColumbus which he visits

frequently. His writings onliterature, politics and

culture, travel, and cooking can be found on his own

blog, uncleguidosfacts.com.

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April is Autism Awareness Month and,still, very few people have an understand-ng of Autism or what it truly means. Outof compassion for all affected by Autism,

yself and my son included, I want to givea brief description of what Autism mean.

“Autism. A developmental disorderthat appears in the rst three years of life, and affects the brain’s normal de-

velopment of social and communica-tion skills.” (PubMed Health)

Now, that may be how science viewsautism…but not how Mommy and

addy view Autism. Parents of childrenaffected by Autism know what it’s like to

atch a beautiful, happy, smiling, laugh-ing, playful baby turn into a screaming,biting, head-banging, crying, rarely smil-ing toddler. We watch our child grow andlose speech they had learned during thoseprecious rst 18 months. ey get upsetbecause they can no longer communicate

ith anybody. ey scream in public andwesome parents get ugly looks or very

ude comments. We usually just smile itoff…because we know how amazing ourchild is…and that we are doing a greatob…WE CAN’T EDCUATE EVERY-

BODY. Our joy as a parent of a specialchild at birth remains, even when ourchild begins the transformation into si-lence. It is almost as if they become lost intheir own little world. (is is just a very

rief description, Autism causes so many ore things that it is impossible to list in

his one article.)

As a parent of a child with Autism weork harder and longer than ANYBODYnows. We are thrilled when the obses-

sion with carrying and sleeping with aspoon has passed. We buy locks to put athe tops of our doors to keep our child

safely inside. We will react like a tigerguarding her babies when you mess withour kids. WE ARE THEIR VOICE. Weget excited to tears when our eight year oldnally toilet trains, throws a ball, speaks aword or sleeps through a full night…thethings most parents saw as “just normal”.

Today, I got to watch my son at NewHope Elementary Special Olympics-eldday. He threw the ball…over, and over,and over, and over… for those with autisticchildren…you understand the repetitivehumor here. He told mommy, “I love you”about 15 times in the short 1.5 hours I was

blessed to spend there. He is my heart.Having a child with Autism isn’t some bighorrible curse or always stressful…it is the

most amazing thing I could have ever wit-nessed. My son is DIFFERENT! He canbe extremely loud and sometimes saysthings that he doesn’t mean. He has behav-ior issues on a daily basis. Autism is notsomething that a spanking will ever cure.He isn’t a bad child…HE IS AN AUTIS-TIC CHILD…and he is mine, I will lovehim and cherish him always.

Please visit AutismSpeaks.org for morefacts and signs of Autism. “1 in every 88children will be diagnosed with Autism.” (ABC)

Next time you see a child acting like atwo-year-old in public or apping theirarms, have some compassion…with rates

of 1 in 88, that could be your child orgrandchild being diagnosed, before youknow it.

I would like to take this opportunity togive a special thanks to all the educatorsand students involved in the SpecialOlympics. God bless you.

Mrs. Bowden, Special Education Teacher aNew Hope Elementary School, with Jack.

Summer Rushing poses with her son, Jack Rushing at New Hope’s Special

Olympics Field Day.

Jack enjoyed the hamburger meal!

A UTI S M: APER S O NA

LPER S PE CTI VE

A pr i l 2 5 ,2 0 1 2

R E AL S T OR Y P UB L I S HI

N G. C O M

Autism: A Personal Perspective

Summer Rushing

Summer is a single mother of ve children,works two full-time jobs, and enjoys shing

writing, and family-time.

There are 12 buttons on a

touch-tone phone. What

2 symbols bear no digits? Look for the answer on page 22!

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S O C I E T Y

I recently saw e Hunger Games, amovie based on the book of the samename. e lm has become a worldwidephenomenon, over the past month. It isprojected to make north of $1 Billion,worldwide, which will make the fantasy ick one of the highest grossing moviesin history.

As I was watching the lm, I couldn’thelp but notice the different themes in the

movie. e obvious ones are “corruptgovernment” and “a love triangle”. But Ifelt other elements in the movie parallelcurrent American society.

Death Match

e central plot of the movie, the deathmatch, is what I want to focus on rst. Iknow some people might ask, “How doesthis relate to American life?” But, it re-minds me a lot of the “rat race” mindset;trying to reach the American dream iscomparable to the Death Match in eHunger Games. e different districtshave to sacrice themselves to reach the

ultimate prize. How does that differ fromAmerica? Different ethnicities have tosometimes sacrice their own traditionsto succeed, at times.

e country gets divided along racialand political lines, and brother has to takeout brother, sometimes - like in e

Hunger Games. e last thing the higher-ups want to see is for brethren to cometogether, like at the end of the movie,when Katniss and Peeta refuse to adhereto the nal rule change. It infuriated Pres-ident Snow and they planned to makethem pay for their deance.

Katniss

I actually thought Katniss mirroredPresident Obama, in several ways. Hercharacter represented “hope and change”in the ctional world -just like Obama inthe United States. She also came out of nowhere, similar to the way Obama did,to become the favorite in the Presidentialrace. e fact that Katniss was beautifuland had a good public image helped hergain support from sponsors; Obama’sbeing considered handsome and havinga great public image made him desirableto voters. Is it art imitating life? Perhaps.

Rue’s Death

I feel Rue’s death compares to what hap-pens in America, when an important g-

ure dies ghting for a cause. It resulted incivil unrest, which has happened inAmerica when certain leaders have died;Martin Luther King is a good example.It’s just a coincidence that Rue wasAfrican-American from an agriculturaldistrict - or was it?

“Don’t Go e Easy Route”

e mentor in the movie, HaymitchAbernathy, played by Woody Harrelson,tells Katniss not to go the easy route by using her weapons, right away, because itis a bloodbath. He told her to, instead, gofor higher ground and try to outlasteveryone. is is actually the formula forsuccess in America. If you follow thecrowd, then you might have some suc-

cess, but, eventually, you fail because of it.If you remain above it all and take yourtime and strategically strike when it’sneeded – then, you will be successful.ere is luck that plays into what Katnisshad, but viewing life as a marathon -in-stead of a sprint – is the smarter route tomove up the ladder.

“Don’t Give Too Much Hope”

e nal thing I wanted to address wasPresident Snow telling Seneca Crane, thegame maker, not to give the people toomuch hope, but, rather, to contain it. Ithink America does that, also, but in adifferent way.

I remember, in a class, once, I told my teacher that I didn’t know why people gotso emotional over affirmative action, be-cause black people haven’t said muchabout anything since then. Some viewthat as controversial, but - speaking as an

African-American - I feel that I’m qual-ied to make that statement.

I’ve always felt that America is an aris-tocracy—not a democracy -meaning thecountry is ruled by the elite. I feel the elitegives the regular citizens just enough tokeep them satised; things like sports ca-reers, entertainment careers, and solidnine-to-ve jobs. But they know Ameri-cans should really strive to work for

themselves and dictate their own futures.We have social welfare programs andgovernment assistance that breed com-placency, and that’s how the elite like it.

Again, is it art imitating real life? Itcould be.

In the remaining two books in eHunger Games trilogy - Catching Fireand Mockingjay - the citizens of theworld begin to grow restless with the gov-ernment and look to rebel against it. Idon’t think America needs to have a rev-olution literally; mentally, people shouldtake some cues from e Hunger Gamesand wake up to what’s really going on.

The Hunger Games Parallels American Society

Jeremiah Short [email protected]

New Alabama Record for Blue Cat

e new record for a blue catsh was certied on Saturday, March 10, 2012,with a more than 9 pound gain over the last record of 111 pounds. Mr. JohnNichols, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, caught the 120 lb, 5 oz. giant blue catshwhile shing out of the Holt Reservoir in Tuscaloosa County, Al. A 40-lbline, and chicken gizzard did the trick.

Courtesy Photo

W a sWhere That?!

Pavilion on College Street - Across from formerParker’s Furniture location.

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Across

1: Pea capsule4: Alien’s craft (abbr.)7: River in Eqypt11: “_____

whillikers!”12: Cuts grass14: Neglect15: _____ de Triomphe16: Prayer17: Fuzz18: Eager20: River of song22: “L’il _____”24: Mariner’s dir.25: _____ Dame26: Aromatic trees30: Denials31: Dads

32: Great deal34: Quake shake36: Moses’ mountain37: Use leverage38: Frighten39: Predicament

43: Took a plane44: Hamburger order45: Emanate47. Rearward50. Where theprincess schooled

51: Roam52: “_____ Send Me”53: Closely conned54: Sleeper’s spot55: Male or female

Down

1: Woods’s org.2: Poet’s “above”3: Wine bottle4: Baseball “judge”5: Do a laundry job6: Have unpaid bills7: 1916 hit song

8: “___ the Mood forLove” (2 wds.)9: Boundary mark 10: Diminutive suffix13: Talks back 19: Poem part

21: Married22: ColumnistLanders23: Cowboy’s shoe24: Hair-raising27: Walk ___ in my

shoes (2 wds.)28: Fugitives29: Dueler’s me-mento31: Composer Cole____33: That fellow35: Speed rate(abbr.)36: Word on aPlanter’s jar39: Ready a patient40: Overdue41: Curling _____42: Lady’s

companion43: Nickel’s number46: Throng48: Enemy49: Groom’s outt,for short

CROSSWORD 04.25.2012

S E E A N S W E R S T O T H I S C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L E I N O U R N E X T I S S U E

Candi Vezina

Candi is involved with several community groups. She enjoys doing things for others and

spending time with her family.

It is that time of year. Young women aredressed in beautiful gowns and the youngmen are looking sharp in their tuxedos.Corsages have been purchased, limou-sines have been rented and curfews havebeen extended. Life is full of milestones.“Senior Year” has to be one of the mostanticipated and eagerly-awaited times ina person’s life! ink back to when you

were a senior. Do you remember the feel-ing of excitement and pure joy of nally being in your last year of high school?ere are few monumental events thatyou look forward to and remember withas much fondness as “Senior Year”. It hasbeen built up into something of mythicalproportions. Students begin to look for-ward to such traditions as Prom, SeniorSkip-Day, Senior Prank, Graduation andSenior Trip, almost as soon as they stepinto the hallowed halls of high school asa freshman.

With each year that passes, you are onestep closer to being a senior. You make it

through freshman year, and, hopefully, itwasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.Sophomore year is somewhat anti-cli-mactic. e best thing about being a

sophomore is that you are not the “new-bie” anymore. Moving on up the highschool hierarchy, you reach your junioryear. Being a junior is great, because youget your rst taste of “senioritis”. Finally,you make it to your senior year. You havereached that rst point at which you areconsidered an adult. Life is great!

“Senioritis” is dened as(noun) A crippling disease that strikeshigh school seniors. Symptoms include:laziness; poor personal hygiene; and lack of interest in one’s appearance,which leads to an over-excessive wear-ing of track pants, old athletic shirts,sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweat-shirts. Clothes are wrinkled and hair isnot brushed and, for women, pulled upin a messy ponytail. It is also evidenced by inattention to schoolwork, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive at-titude toward any type of labor. eonly known cure is a process known asGraduation. is malady also mani-

fests itself in a feeling of being better than EVERYONE, including school staff and parents, as well as a belief that one is unbeatable and immortal; this

continues until August, at the end of the Senior Year, when the patient onceagain becomes a freshman - this timein college. (Urban Dictionary)

Senior Year actually begins the lastmonth of your junior year of high school.Juniors slip into the celebrated role of asenior as soon as the current class throws

their caps into the air, on Graduation Day.During the last week of school, the hallsare “technically” free of the senior class.e new seniors have already startedwriting “Seniors 2013” on their cars andcannot wait for school to start. (If youlook at cars, as you drive around Colum-bus, you will see the next generation of seniors anxiously awaiting the beginningof the next school year.)

If only these seniors would maintainthe same level of enthusiasm for going toschool, during the academic school year.ere are academic hurdles that still mustbe completed, prior to Graduation Day.

e most dreaded is the Senior Project.is is the last torture that seniors mustendure, prior to graduation. ey feel itis a pointless waste of time, which really

does not benet any one. Maybe this isthe reason they feel it is necessary to havea Senior Skip Day. e staff and admin-istrators think that this is a pointless wasteof time that really does not benet any-one. It is a source of frustration to them -kind of like the senior project is to the stu-dents!

I remember my Senior Year. It waswonderful time. I could not wait to grad-uate and stretch my wings. I had it all g-ured out, back then. Like the rest of us,seniors cannot wait to join the ranks oadulthood. If only they realized that thisis the best time of their lives. We can tellthem all day long (just as our parents toldus), but they will not understand, untilthey are telling their children the samethings that we are trying to tell them.en, that dreaded truth comes screech-ing into their mind: “I sound just like my parents!”

Life is Full of Milestones

Just off the main channel of the Tennessee-TombigbeeRiver, there lies a hidden oasis - the Waverly Marina.is little piece of paradise is about as close to a day atthe beach as you will nd in northeast Mississippi. Lo-

cated at mile marker 338.8, by water, and on Old High-way 50, by land, it is the perfect spot to spend a lazy summer aernoon.

New owners Lee and Mary Horn have made it theirgoal to enhance this long-standing local watering hole.ey have succeeded, by creating a full menu of new of-ferings for breakfast, lunch and dinner; extending busi-ness hours; and by putting up roll-away plastic “walls”,so that they can entertain customers, year-round.

Many improvements have been undertaken to makethis Golden Triangle landmark even better than before.A new stage has been built for the live bands that willperform, every weekend; a dance oor has also beenconstructed, to complete the entertainment experience.Patrons can sit at the bar and enjoy a frosty beer or soda,

or they can “brown bag” their own wine or liquor.If the music and drinks haven’t already won you over,

then there is the food. e Marina serves up deliciousfare in this beautiful waterfront setting. From biscuits

and gravy to cheeseburgersand fries, po boys, chicken,and even amazing salads -e Marina has something

for everyone in your family.Be sure to try the quesosticks; you will not be disap-pointed.

Lee, Mary and theirfriendly staff are workinghard to make e Marina afun-lled location for the en-tire family. On May 26th,e Marina will host a Mardi Gras Boat Parade, to raisemoney for more wonderful improvements. For $20($10 for children, ages 6-12) you get an entire day of wa-terfront fun, which includes; a barbecue plate and onebeverage; musical entertainment from Fast Scarlet andSouthern Style; e Mardi Gras Boat Parade; and a

dunking booth and jumper for the kids.If you would like to enter e Mardi Gras Boat Parade,

you may do so May 1-20, for $50. First prize in the pa-rade will receive a NASCAR Grill; many other prizes will

be given away by theMiller Lite Girls, allthanks to sponsorMiller Brewing. is

fun-lled day is just thestart of river season at e Ma-

rina, and is sure to get your summer started off on theright foot!

Check them out on Facebook, to stay up to date withthe bands and events happening throughout the year.

Locals and newcomers, alike, are all treated like family

at e Waverly Marina and Tiki Bar, so stop by and ex-perience this unique riverside gem for yourself. And,seriously, get the queso sticks.

Tori Hawkins

Waverly Marina: Now, Better Than Ever

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To the Editor of e Real Story:

I am writing this letter so that youmight publish it. e concern I amabout to report has been going on forquite some time.

Each month, the City of Columbusbills its residents triple charges. e City of Columbus has now started billing itsresidents three separate charges: (1) acharge for electricity; (2) a charge forwater; and (3) a charge for sewer. In ad-dition to electricity, why do residentsnow have to pay two separate chargesfor water and sewer?

e City of Columbus did publicizethat water charges would be increasing;but the unfair part is that now, eachmonth, the water and sewer bill are sep-arate and the same amounts. Residentsare being billed two separate charges, inaddition to their electric bill. e sewerbill did not used to be that high or equalto the water bill. It is unfair that waterand sewer charges are steadily increas-ing.

I am asking that this fact be broughtto light to other City of Columbus resi-dents, the Mayor, City officials, and theLight and Water Department and thatwe can see a stop to the overcharging of residents.

ank you for your attention to thismatter.

A Very Concerned City of Columbus, Mississippi Resident

On April 28, the YMCA, e Colum-us Kiwanis Club, Stark Aerospace, Carlogan Dodge and the City of Columbusill be celebrating YMCA Healthy Kidsay® with a free, community event for

ids and families.

Healthy Kids Day, a national initiative

f the Y to improve health and well-eing of kids, will take place at theolumbus Riverwalk on Saturday orning, April 28, beginning with a

family fun run at 8:30 a.m.; other activi-ties will take place from 9:00 a.m. until12 noon. It will feature tug-of-war chal-lenges, relay races, face painting, blood

ressure checks, re combat challenge,emovable tattoos, ngerprinting, eyexams, dunking booth, karate demon-

strations, Mother Goose, the Snack hack, nutrition fun and much more.

Mayor Robert Smith and Supervisorarry Sanders will welcome attendees at

9:30 a.m., and participate in a tug-of-wart 9:45 a.m. e community is invited toake part in this fun time between ourommunity leaders.

Mother Goose will entertain at 10:15.m. and 11:15 a.m. by reading a story,nd a Hula Hoop Contest will take placet 11:00 a.m. ere will be karateemonstrations every half hour, begin-ing at 9:30 a.m.

Again this year, participants will receive

“passports” that will be stampedwhen activity stations are visited.Passports are turned in for achance to win prizes, such as oneweek at YMCA summer camp,one week at Y art camp, swim-ming lessons at the Y or a child’s

birthday party at the Y (values upto $150.00).

e passport is a fun way to getthe kids and parents involved,”said Barbara Bigelow, Director of Community Relations. “is isthe fourth year that the Y has of-fered this fun-lled family timeto our community and wewanted to expand it and change it up abit, this year, by moving it to e River-walk and adding additional opportuni-ties for kids and families to participate”.

“At the Frank P. Phillips YMCA, weknow that when the school year ends,

many kids lose exposure to activities thatkeep them moving and learning. Healthy Kids Day will help parents begin think-ing early about what their kids need inorder to stay physically and intellectually active in the summer,” said Andy Boyd,Executive Director of the Y. “Summer is

just around the corner and is an idealtime for kids to get out and grow, so they are healthier and sharper when the nextschool year begins.”

e Y will waive the enrollment fee onHealthy Kids Day.

For more information, contact thedowntown Y, at 662-328-7696, or visittheir website, at www.columbus-ymca.com.

A leading nonprot committed tostrengthening community throughyouth development, healthy living andsocial responsibility, the Y holds Healthy Kids Day to teach healthy habits and in-spire a lifetime love of physical activity through active play.

Frank P. Phillips YMCAEncourages Kids to Play and Learn

LettertotheEditor


Jordan Wyers poses for the perfect picture. Jordan’s parents are Allison Blair and Devan Wyers.

A Perfect PoseA Perfect Pose

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WWW.SUDOKUPUZZL ES.NET • SEE SUDOKU PUZZ LE ON PG 15

For local artist and art teacher,Angie Jones, “unusual” and “differ-

ent” are two words she loves to liveher life by. "My childhood was likeliving in a fantasy world; we were al-ways doing something fun and dif-ferent," says Jones.

Jones grew up around creative par-ents - her mother did oral designand interior design, while her fathercould pretty much cra anythingwith his hands. With her parentspushing her to try everything, they enrolled her in private art lessons; asa result, she fell in love with art. Aertrying different career paths, shecame back to it, knowing that art was

"just her thing"."I love to stand out and be different"

says Jones.

From what we have seen, in cra-ing everything from oil portraits, topottery, to sculpture, we wouldn’t besurprised to learn that her true giand talents will be recognized by people, far and wide.

Local Artist Marches to theBeat of a Different Drummer

The artist, Angie Jones, standing beside a self-portrait.

Angie painted

this portrait

of her son.

Molly [email protected]

A bust sculptureof TennesseeWilliamscreated by

Angie.

Nell Bateman and Glenn Lautzenhiser pose with the National Day of Prayer Proclamation. The event will feature the following list of prayer leaders:

Rev. Charles Mullins, Pastor Immanuel Baptist Church; Charlie Box, Columbus City Councilman; Rev. Kevin Jenkins, Minister to Families Fairview Baptist Church; R. H.Brown, Reporter WCBI TV; Ms. Sherry Kostka, Blue Jean Outlet; Rev. Joe Peoples, Pas-tor, Stephen Chapel MB Church; Captain Fred Shelton, Columbus Police Department;

Ms. Taylor Williamson, Senior, Immanuel Christian School; and Lt. Colonel JosephSpeed, Columbus Air Force Base.

National Day of Prayer

ursday, May 3 • NoonLowndes County Courthouse

Columbus, MS

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Part II of II

Editor’s Note: Part I appeared in the April 18, 2012 print edition of e Real Story and can be read on our website at

http://www.realstorypublishing.com.

But, the saying in Boston is “the walliveth and the wall taketh away”. Overhe years, Sox teams were tailored with

right-handed power, to try to take ad-antage of the wall. Many of these right-

handed pull hitters would be seduced by theapparent closeness of the wall and try to “muscle up” and go over the “Mon-ster”, only to be frustrated by savvy pitchers keeping the ball on theoutside corner of the plate andinducing ground ball outs.Le-handed pitchers oendreaded starting assign-

ments at Fenway. It hasoen been said that

ed Williams wouldhave hit over .400more than once,had he been willingto hit to le moreoen. But, the wall“gaveth” to Bucky “Bleepin’” Dent in the1978 playoff gamewith the Yankees, as he“deposited” a home runbarely over the wall, into thescreen, for the Yankee win, asthey punched their ticket to theWorld Series. In June of 1978, the Sox

ere 14 games up on the Yankees, only o see another year of the so-calledCurse of the Bambino” frustrate Soxans, again, in early October. I personallyave many memories of that year and

that team, as I went to spring training and as in Boston several times during the

eason; at the apex in June and the col-lapse in September, but no memory asivid as Carl Yastrzemski dejectedlyatching, as Dent’s ball landed in the

creen. It is no wonder that Sox fans con-tinue to have empathy for Cubs fans.

So, that is the story of the “bricks andortar”, the grass and the dirt, and the

ther amenities of the “Back Bay Base-ball Basilica”. But, Fenway is more thanthat to generations of Sox fans, who roseup en masse when the park was threat-ned with demolition, in the lateineties. Where John Taylor was respon-

sible for the building of Fenway, it wouldremain for John Henry and his group,who purchased the Sox in 2002, to pre-serve Fenway into the “indenite future”,and spare no expense in refurbishing thepark.

e park has served as the venue for arite of passage for generations of young

fans, over the last 100 years. Fathers

would bond to sons and grandsons overthe years, and the tradition of the RedSox as the “Old Towne Team” wouldcontinue. My father took my sons totheir rst Fenway game. Now one of those sons, Kevin, has taken my youngest grandson Keegan to his rst

Sox game. Although that was not at Fen-way, I am sure that a trip there is in hisfuture. I have heard more than onediehard fan say, “I grew up believing thatif you died and had been good, the goodLord sent you to Fenway Park.”

My own Sox pedi-gree involves my Grandfa-ther, who attended the rst World Seriesin 1903 as a member in good standing of the “Royal Rooters”. en, my father, asa ten-year-old in 1909, was able to getinto the Huntington Avenue Groundsone day a week on the strength of hisspecial newspaper badge, allowing himto sell papers on the street cars. He laterwas able to attend the 1918 Series. I willnever forget my rst game, in 1948, andmy rst impression of Fenway as a very special place. Up to that point in my life,I had never seen as much green grass,perfectly mowed, in one place. My dadpointed out Philadelphia A’s managerConnie Mack, sitting in the visitor’sdugout, and telling me to “always re-member you have seen that man, as hehas been around since the start of theAmerican League.” At that time, all Iwanted to do, as did all my buddies, wasto, someday, play ball on that eld. Well,obviously, that never happened.

But very special good memories wouldbe built, over the years. Back in my high

school and college years, when the Sox

were decidedly mediocre and cynically referred to as “Ted Williams and theSeven Dwarfs”, attendance was spotty atbest, rising to respectable numbers only for Yankee games. In the waning days of the 1960 season, a few of my Boston Col-lege friends and I had decided against

going to see Williams’ last game at Fen-way, due to the raw, miserable weatherthat day, with the east wind coming off Boston Harbor. A sparse crowd cheered,as he hit a homer in his last at bat, and

John Updike chronicled theevent, noting

that, in

f u t u r eyears, thousands

would claim to have beeneye-witnesses. I refuse to be one of thosepeople.

However, the sparse crowds, in thosedays, made the centereld bleachers agood place to work on the tan (or burn,in the case of my red haired, fair Irishskin) and study for college nal examsbetween innings of the traditional mid-May home-stands. A twenty-ve-cent

street car ride down CommonwealthAvenue to Kenmore Square and a dollarticket put you in Yawkey’s Yard. Chanceswere good that, by the seventh inning,you could end up in a box seat. You alsoknew you stood a better than evenchance of seeing the bottom of the ninthinning. Not so today, as the Red Soxstarted this season with a record 712straight sell outs, and counting. Mydaughter Meagan and I were able toscrounge some seats from a season

bleacher seat-holder in Harvard Square,during the year she lived in Boston, for $30 per ticket. It was well worth it.

en, in the mid-seventies, aer hav-ing moved to Columbus, MS, and thenbeing aced out of the 1975 World Series

games 1 and 2, on the promise of twotickets that did not materialize, I

turned to sports feature writingas a way to scratch the Fen-

way itch. e memory of my rst step onto the

eld, as Dwight Evansopened the gate for meand my guaranteed-not-to-tarnish presspass, will remainetched in my mind,as long as I have amind. Due to a curi-

ous set of circum-stances during that rst

series, in August of 1976, vs. the Brewers, I

was asked to sign an auto-graph by a fan seated near the

Pesky Pole.

Assuring the man I was not aballplayer, he insisted, saying he prom-ised his kid he would get “somebody’s”signature. So, I signed and when helooked at my name, he said, “Yeah, sure,I’ve heard of you!” Yeah, right!!

At that point, I was surrounded by about 30 kids wanting autographs. Somehad baseballs, one had a bat, another hada glove, and one kid had a small roll of wallpaper, asking for six autographs as hehad some buddies up in the stands.Again, insisting I was not a ballplayer,one young lad said, “at’s OK! You canstand on the eld and we can’t!”

In that moment, I realized that youngTimothy Francis Sullivan was speakingnot only for thousands of Boston kids,but for me, as well, as far back as 1948.

Happy 100th Birthday, Fenway!!

by Dick “Big Mo” Mahoney #46 on your scorecard TheOnDeckCircle

Fenway Park Celebrates 100 Years

Dick “Big Mo” Mahoney [email protected]

#46 on your scorecard.

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by Jeremiah ShortSportsTalk

I’ve done several Mississippi State Clas-sics, over the past six months, but I feelthat I have neglected Ole Miss. I have de-cided to change that, and it was only t-ting that the rst Ole Miss Classic be Billy

Brewer. Brewer, a Columbus native, is thesecond-winningest coach in Rebel history.

He compiled a 67-56-3 record, during his11 years roaming the Rebel sidelines. Hespecialized in turning programs around;winning at every stop in his career.

Brewer was a great football coach; but healso had an outstanding playing career. He

suited up for Johnny Vaught, who is thewinningest coach inOle Miss history, from1957-1960. As a Rebelathlete, he played

quarterback, defensiveback, punter, and placekicker, all of whichearned him a place onthe Rebel Team of theCentury, which wasannounced in 1993.

Brewer had a shortplaying career in theNFL, before returningto Columbus. He wasoffered the Lee HighSchool head coaching job, which he reluc-tantly accepted.

Brewer proceeded toreturn Lee HighSchool to prominence;they had been nationalchampions in 1936.When Brewer was atthe helm, the programwas ahead of its time.ey had a weight

room and ew to foot-ball games - amenities

that were rare, then. He was the highestpaid coach in Mississippi, at that time.

“Columbus hadn’t won in twenty years,when I took the job. I had just come back

from pro ball, with the Washington Red-skins. I really didn’t want the job, but I

took the job in 1962,” said Brewer.

“We never had a losing season, in thenine years I was there. We had some greatkids that came through there. We won thenorth half of the big eight. We had greatseasons. Friday night was the time to be

in the Magnolia Bowl; it was wall-to-wall.”“We had great success and had a lot of

kids go on to Division I, Division II, and junior college football.”

“It was unbelievable - the support we gotfor high school football at Lee HighSchool, during that era. Some really goodteams and great athletes, that went to play for Georgia Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Mis-sissippi State, and Ole Miss. It was a funand a great time”.

Brewer ushered Lee High Schoolthrough integration. He indicated that itwasn’t that tough for him, because he had

grown up with the parents of most of hisincoming black players.

“It just gelled. You know how many problems we had? None. Race was not aproblem; people create problems,” saysBrewer, on the integration of his team. Itwas really good for the town. ey just letit get away from them, throughout theyears.

Current Columbus Mayor RobertSmith played for Brewer at Lee HighSchool.

“He didn’t get to play at the black highschool. If he were playing, right now, hewould be a number-one dra choice. He

See “BREWER” Pg. 21

Brewer Knew How to Win Games

Courtesy PhotoOle Miss Coach Billy Brewer.

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was really a terric defensive end - speed, size, and greatquickness - and very intelligent. He was just a great guy,”said Brewer, on the player Robert Smith was.

Aer a short stint at Heritage Academy, Brewer movedon to Division II Southeastern Louisiana. He spent twoyears as an assistant, before getting the head coachingspot. In six years, he turned a program that hadn’t wonin 20 years into a viable team. e Lions went 10-3 during

is nal season, in 1979, and Brewer was named the Di-ision II Coach of the Year.

Brewer was then given a chance to coach Louisianaech, which was a Division I team for a few seasons, from1980-1982. He concluded his tenure there with a 19-15ecord.

Brewer eventually got the call to come back to his almaater, Ole Miss, and right the ship. He couldn’t refuse

he offer.

“It was a lifetime dream. Growing up, I thought I wasgoing to Mississippi State or Alabama. When I got intocoaching, it inuenced me to want to come up here. Itwas a dream come true, to come back to your alma materand be the football coach,” Brewer said.

He was able to work his magic on an Ole Miss programthat had been down for close to twenty years. e Rebelshad six winning seasons and went to ve bowl games

nder Brewer - making Ole Miss a respected programagain. He had several big victories, including one against

ennessee. e greeting as the team returned home fromthat game is remembered, vividly, by Brewer.

“We ew back into Oxford, and we couldn’t land be-cause students were running up and down the runway.

ey were just so excited. e guy said ‘if I land, I’m goingo kill about 50 students’, and I’m like ‘we better land, be-

cause we are about to run out of gas’,” said Brewer, with aslight chuckle.

Coach Brewer actually lived with his players, in the ath-letic dorms in 1988, aer selling his home. He discussedliving with his players, which occurred the same year thatChucky Mullins was critically injured on the eld.

“I would come in there at 10:30 at night, from work.ere would be twenty players in there, in our area of the

orm. We had twenty rooms; we lived in a wing. ey ould be eating Oreos and drinking milk, watching As

the World Turns. She (Brewer's wife Kay) would tape thatstuff. ose kids were into that, and I’d have to run themout of there,” Brewer said.

Brewer’s teams were able to defeat in-state rival Missis-sippi State eight out of eleven times.

“It has alway s been a rivalry, like that. State use to con-

trol the rivalry; we had a good run. Of course, when Iwas a player, they never won. We tied one time. We justhad the better athletes, at that time. Later on, they werean outstanding football team; we were just fortunate towin some games,” Brewer said.

He does feel that the rivalry between Mississippi Stateand Ole Miss was nastier, back then.

“It was a lot rougher then, than it is now. I’m not sayingthey were toting knives and guns, but if they caught youin a honky-tonk somewhere by yourself, you would haveto ght yourself out of it,” stated Brewer, describing how

vicious the in-state rivalry was, during his era.

Brewer didn’t just enjoy success, while he was at OleMiss - he also had to deal with sanctions, on two separateoccasions - 1987 and 1993. e latter sanctions ultimately led to his dismissal. Brewer felt that his long-standing warwith the Chancellor, Gerald Turner, had more to do withhis ring.

“e rst sanction deal was Alumni. You can’t controlAlumni. e second one was nothing. We won the courtdeal; so, there was nothing on the court deal,” said Brewer,on the sanctions.

“Ole Miss turned themselves in, because the Chancellordidn’t like me and I didn’t like him. I didn’t blink. You reme if you want to, but I’m not going to buy that pin fromyou for 1,000 dollars, for my lapel. I’m like ‘our coachesare underpaid and you’re trying to have everybody buy

a 1,000 dollar pin’ - I’m not into that.”“I can show you, on the record, where he met with the

Commissioner and the NCAA. ey schemed it. I’m not just saying this; it’s on les and on record. ey set it up.e Commissioner told him ‘if you re your coachwithin 30 days and any sanctions you get, I will controlthe infractions committee and there will be no infrac-tions.’ e chairman nailed them. ey turned them-selves in on false stuff.”

“I was not implicated. It was called ‘lack of institutionalcontrol’. Institutional control? I’m twelh on the list. Howmany ahead of me? It starts with the Chancellor; hisname is Gerald Turner. I’ll leave it at that, and let it go. It’sout of my life, now, and I don’t want anything to do withit”.

e veteran coach decided to give up coaching, aerthe ordeal with Ole Miss - suffering from burn-out.

“I had opportunities to and could have been adminis-trators to assist other guys. I had 39 years of playing andcoaching. It was enough for me,” stated Brewer, on why he gave up coaching.

He was able to stay busy aer his retirement—headingup the Tupelo Furniture Market, writing for Ole MissSpirit (an Ole Miss fan site), and doing a post-game call-in show called “Hoddy Toddy Hotline”.

Brewer didn’t have the best relationship with the Rebeladministration, aer leaving, but he was invited back in2009 for a ceremonial coin toss, when the Rebels facedSoutheastern Louisiana, his rst college team. It’s some-thing he considered a special moment.

He denitely felt more of a part of the Rebel programwhen his son, Gunter Brewer, was hired in 2011 as an as-sistant, under Houston Nutt. e younger Brewer hadbecome an accomplished wide receivers coach. e elderBrewer is very proud of what his son has done as a foot-ball coach.

“He has been in some great programs. He coachedRandy Moss, Dez Bryant, and Justin Blackmon. He is the

only receivers coach who has coached three Biletnikoff winners,” said Brewer, with elation, discussing his son’sresume.

I would have been remiss, if I hadn’t asked Brewer, withhis all of his coaching experience, about how he felt thegame has changed over the years.

“e kids are bigger, stronger, and faster. ey are justa lot bigger. e high school kids are college size, now,and some are NFL size. ey get faster, every year. eNFL is changing the rules because of that. If you can’t runas quarterback, you have to be a guy, like Peyton Man-ning, that can read defenses and get rid of the ball realquick. en, you can’t play as a drop-back passer,” saidBrewer, on how the game has changed.

“If you can’t run as a defensive player, then you can’tplay. You got receivers that can run 4.3s, 4.4s, and somerun 4.2s. It’s amazing - the speed and talent these kidshave, now. If you’re down there to watch them take off their jerseys, in their shorts, and see what they do in theweight rooms, now, and how they’re cut and the strengththey have. Now they feed them two times a day for train-ing meals. I’m going to tell you - these guys are bowedup. ese kids get to the combine, they look better thanthe guys already in the NFL”.

Billy Brewer had a stellar career—compiling a 124-95-5 overall record. Most high school and college coachescan only dream of realizing the kind of accolades that hedid. Brewer’s name will forever be remembered in thestate of Mississippi, because he just knew how to wingames.

“BREWER” cont. from pg. 20


Jeremiah Short covers Mississippi StateUniversity football and basketball.

Follow him on Twitter, @JeremiahShort26;or join his Facebook blog, Real StorySports: J.Short’s Blog.

Instant Analysis: e spring game is thefans’ rst chance to see how good theiream will be, in the upcoming season.

any people wanted to see if the offenseould nally show the explosiveness that

t has lacked, during the rst three yearsf the Mullen era. e offense didn’t dis-ppoint them, as Tyler Russell led the

Maroon team to a 33-22 victory. e twooffenses combined for 55 points on theday.

What I Liked

1. Russell’s Command of the Team: I wasimpressed by Russell, today. He seems tohave taken control of the team; the

Meridian product may nally be ready tobe a top-shelf SEC quarterback.

2. Running Back Depth: I was really im-pressed by all the running backs, today.Josh Robinson looks like the best back of the bunch, but Derrick Milton surprisedme with his shiiness. e depth at run-ning back is good when you can say that

Nick Griffin is debatably the fourth-bestrunning back.

3. Young WRs: Joe Morrow and JameonLewis really shone; they ashed the big-play ability that the Bulldog offense haslacked.

Maroon-White Game Review

See “REVIEW” Pg. 22

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22

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4. Autry and Hughes: Denico Autry showedwhy everyone was so high on him, when he wascoming out of junior college. He made a fewsacks on the day. Hughes was very active - mak-ing several tackles and playing well in pass cov-erage.

What I Didn’t Like

1. e Defense: With all the hype surroundingthe defense, I was very disappointed at the levelof intensity coming from the supposedly stellardefense. e spring game is tailored more forthe offense to succeed, but I expected strongerplay from the Chris Wilson-led defense.

2. Kickers: I’ll take a cue from Drew Rosenhaus- Next Question.

Final Analysis: I came away impressed with theoffense aer this game, but as I mentionedabove, the defense has to step it up. I’m still for-mulating my complete thoughts on the game. Iplan on breaking down the Quarterbacks and

other positions; in a feature I call J.Short in theFilm Room. Also be on the watch out for my position by position breakdown, where I willtalk about the strengths and weaknesses of eachplayer on the roster.

Real Story Player of the Game

Tyler Russell and Jameon Lewis: I felt it only fair to give the player-of-the-game to both Rus-sell and Lewis. Russell nished the game 24 of 43 for 312 yards, with two touchdowns, throughthe air. Lewis amassed 10 catches for 144 yards- to go along with one receiving touchdown.ese two could be the Bulldogs’ dynamic duo

in 2012. I said it rst!

Courtesy Photo

Jameon Lewis, one of our “Players of the Game”.

TRiV IA A N s W Er: #, *

“REVIEW” cont. from pg. 21

On Saturday, April, 14, 2012, theTOPSoccer jamboree was held atthe Joe Cook school gymnasium.TOPS stands for TheOutreach Pro-gram for Soccer. TOPSoccer is acommunity volunteer-based train-ing and team placement programfor young athletes with disabilities.It was developed in 1992, when theSpecial Olympics Organization re-quested assistance from the UnitedStates Youth Soccer Association in

developing a soccer program fordisabled children throughout theU.S. TOPSoccer was formed to helpfulll the US Youth Soccer missionstatement, which is, in part, to fosterthe physical, mental, and emotionalgrowth and development of Amer-ica’s youth, through the sport of soc-cer, at all levels of age andcompetition."

Chris Glenn, father of player Waverley Glenn,who was born with Spina Bida, stated "Parent-ing a special needs child is tough. It’s a blessingto get to see these children play. Just seeing thesepeople commit their time to make these chil-

dren's lives a little better, is awesome."For more information about TOPSoccer con-

tact Greg Lewis with the Columbus-LowndesRecreation Authority at (662)-327-4935.

Molly [email protected]

Molly is a resident of Columbus, who enjoys reading, cooking,cake decorating, and spending time with her family.

She is a member of Lighthouse Baptist Church.

Above: Waverley Glenn,Reggie Lewis, Director

of Programsfor CLRA,

Elizabeth Howell, and Assistant.

TOPSoccer Scores for Area Youth

Even the Service Dog got to join in!

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CO M P R O M I S E

CI R C ULATI O N

A p

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R E AL S T OR Y P UB

L I S HI N G. C O M

• look for us in even more stores soon •

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