The story of North Mississippi College
This week Oxford EAGLE columnist Jack Lamar Mayfield gives readers another lesson Lafayette County Education. Last weeks column he wrote about the formation of a new state university in which the Mississippi Legislature voted for Oxford to be the home site. This week, is about another another institution of higher learning that preceded the University of Mississippi in Lafayette County. (August 27, 2010, Page 2B)
Film maker chooses Oxford for independent film backdrop
With the first act to his new independent movie finished, filmmaker Thomas L. Phillips found himself needing some fresh ideas to complete the script. In May, he called Melanie Addington, whom he had met two years ago at the Memphis International Film Festival, and asked her to help finish writing the script.
Cast and crew have been shooting for the last three weeks in and around Oxford and expect to wrap up this weekend. (August 27, 2010, Page 1B)
Local actress hooked on movie-making
As a long-time Oxford resident, 29 years and counting, I have become accustomed to celebrity sightings and the filming of movies in and around our community. This time, however, I am personally involved with an outstanding local film, “Where I Begin.” (August 27, 2010, Page 1B)
James Alexander Ventress: The Father of Ole Miss
Mississippi House of Representatives member James Alexander Ventress, in early February of 1840, introduced a bill “to provide for the location of the State University.” He was chairman of the house committee on the seminary fund. The House passed the bill on Feb. 10 and then sent it to the state Senate. The Senate quickly passed the bill and sent it on to the Gov. Alexander G. McNutt, for him to sign into law. He signed the bill on Feb. 20, 1840. (August 20, 2010, Page 3B)
Feeling like an orphan when mom leaves town
My dad and I have been orphaned this sweltering month of July. I find no other words to describe it better: My mom has been out of town.
She and my sister left for Taiwan at the beginning of the month. Shortly after they left, I was walking through the house when I was struck by a faint memory. (August 20, 2010, Page 1B)
Freshman looks forward to being Ole Miss student
Incoming freshman Nicholas Smith is looking forward to his new college career at the University of Mississippi. He, along with hundreds of other students, moved into his dorm room Thursday. Read about his new adventure in today’s Oxford Living. (August 20, 2010, Page 1B)
Taylor artists turn former shopping center into art workshop
Local sculptor Bill Beckwith is taking the green trend to another level: He’s recycled part of an old shopping center to a new artists’ workshop.
The workshop is located in Taylor off County Road 323, just a mile or so from Taylor Grocery. (August 13, 2010, Page 1B)
With the return of the clock, the renovation of the courthouse will be complete
When I was a child growing up on South Lamar, a little way before you got today’s Highway 6 bypass, I first lived at my grandfather’s home and you could hear the hourly ringing of the town clock while sitting on the front porch. Later on, my mother moved my sisters and I a little closer to the Square on South Lamar just south of where Johnson Avenue comes into South Lamar. The chiming of the clock was even more audible.
It has been way too long since any of us has heard the clock strike any sort of sound. (August 13, 2010, Page 3B)
Learning a new way of growing older together
Oxford EAGLE columnist Susan Boehm and husband are making up new rules as they travel into their golden years. Despite a diagnosis of dymentia for her husband, Susan and Byron have agreed to be open with others and continue to have a sense of humor about his condition. “Byron has dementia, but I can tell how very much he loves me and he is so proud that I love him as much as I do.” (August 10, 2010, Page 1B)
Crape myrtle murder and mayhem
Introduced to the United States in 1747, the crape myrle is a favorite in Southern gardens. Layfayette County Master Gardner Dianne Smith Ferguson describes how these tolerant trees survive drought, extreme weather, and excessive pruning. (August 6, 2010, Page 2B)
