Articles by Jan Swoope
Caledonia High School faithful mark 75th anniversary of alumni gathering
With all due respect to the late novelist Thomas Wolfe, Caledonia High School alumni would argue that you can go home again. Many of them do every Mother’s Day weekend, maintaining a long-held reunion tradition dating back 75 years.
Arc hopes to bowl a strike at Market Street Festival
Bill Smith, of Columbus, considers himself a “pretty good bowler,” and relishes his Saturday mornings at Columbus Lanes Bowling Center with his buddies in the Gutter Busters league. But this Saturday, the friends plan to take their game to the street — Market Street Festival, that is.
Good tunes, good times highlight Market Street Festival
As the clock ticks down to Market Street Festival 2009, organizer Main Street Columbus and an army of several hundred volunteers are busy with final preparations for the city’s largest gathering Friday and Saturday. An estimated crowd of near 40,000 is expected to enjoy all the festival has to offer – renowned live entertainment, more than 200 arts, crafts and food vendors, and dozens of special events and children’s activities.
A funny thing happened on the way to the polls:“Dottie” and “Mollie Golly” run for mayor
As the May 5 primary elections draw near, political talk of promises and platforms escalates. Earnest candidates vying for the voter’s nod pull out all the stops to generate interest. In Starkville, the mayoral race is drawing a little extra attention — from two write-in candidates whose only real platform is the one they’re discreetly bolted to on the graceful wrap-around porch at 501 Louisville St.
CAC brings Robinson’s ‘smooth’ music back to Columbus
“Smooth” is an adjective often associated with Jesse Robinson’s rich repertoire of blues and jazz. The “seventh son, thirteenth child, baby boy, and a preacher’s son” first picked up a guitar at 6 years old and hasn’t set it down yet.
Nature heals the human spirit in YMCA’s “The Secret Garden”
One of literature’s most heart-warming classics is the inspiration for the YMCA Drama Team spring production. “The Secret Garden,” based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, will be presented by the Frank P. Phillips YMCA troupe Friday, May 1, in Rent Auditorium on the Mississippi University for Women campus at 7 p.m.
Wok-N-Roll Cafe: Chinese cuisine and global missions mix at youth all-nighter
Nothing says “feed me” like 75 hungry teens bent on staying awake all night. And when it came to satisfying those robust appetites, the mood was decidedly Oriental as youth pastors Pat Davidson, Aaron Lane and Tim Bentley joined forces recently for a Wok In with their respective youth groups from Evangel Church and First Assembly of God, in Columbus, and First Assembly of God in Amory.
Belk, Ala., hosts bluegrass fest this weekend
Sometimes the best things come in small packages. Take the third annual Bluegrass Festival in the rural community of Belk, Ala., about a half-hour’s drive from Columbus.
Local soap and candle maker is one of nearly 200 vendors preparing for Market Street Festival
Chris McDill has been creating something from almost nothing since he was “ … old enough to have my hands on anything.”
Saturday marks opening day for Farmers’ Market
As sunshine and mild temperatures become more consistent, Mother Earth is beginning to yield the first of what promises to be months of delicious, homegrown goodness for the table.
‘Boss’ Sweet Potato Queen Jill Conner Browne to appear in West Point
They’re gaudy, brash and shamelessly funny. And if you can’t tell that from the Sweet Potato Queens’ lime sequined outfits and big red hair, maybe one of the “Boss Queen’s” books — like the No. 1 New York Times Best Seller “The Sweet Potato Queen’s Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love is Either Married, Gay or Dead” — will clarify the point.
Curtain opens on ‘The Pajama Game’ at Heritage April 24-26
There’s trouble brewing on the pajama factory floor, and only delicate negotiations will quell it. But while the leader of the union grievance committee and the handsome new factory superintendent square off — and fall in love — the audience can count on “The Pajama Game” to entertain with Broadway-style show numbers at Heritage Academy April 24-26.
Heart of the home: Three kitchens welcome visitors during Columbus Girlchoir fundraiser
The kitchen, it is often said, is the heart of a home, a central place of gathering and sharing. To get it “just right,” to create that place of comfort and welcome, is always an aspiration. And who doesn’t enjoy a glimpse into how homeowners, designers and builders turn the vision into a reality?
Art and architecture meet the past in artist’s detailed drawings of Columbus
Tracie Grace Lyons is convinced old buildings have stories to tell. Armed with rulers, watercolors and a keen eye to the past, the Mississippi State University fine arts major is giving visual voice to as many of those as she can.
Ean Evans’ friends to rock Columbus at Mississippi Kid Festival
Those who know him best will tell you he’s one of the good guys. Selfless, generous with time, talent and encouragement. Ean Evans — “The Mississippi Kid” — has spent years doing for others. And now friends want to do something for him.
Golden Triangle gears up for Relay for Life
Eager supporters of every age are breaking in their walking shoes for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life April 24 at Saunders Field (Magnolia Bowl). This signature event celebrates courage, survivorship and remembrance for every individual and family who has battled the disease.
Friendship Cemetery to get a face lift
Rakes and garden gloves are encouraged, but not essential. A willing heart and pair of hands are the primary tools needed to be an integral part of the Community Day of Service April 18 at Friendship Cemetery.
Church dessert auction raises ‘hoots, hollers’
It’s an unlikely place for a bidding war, but the action in the church fellowship hall has everyone riveted. Back and forth the spotter’s attention flies, following competition spurred on by a shrewd auctioneer. The dollar amount increases; delighted gasps rise from the crowd.
Building back: Virginia volunteers resurrect burned Tabernacle cabin
The Rev. Ron Thomas remembers the phone call that came that late November Sunday.
A century later, Friendship’s weeping angel still inspires
She is one of the most photographed ladies in Columbus, her image gracing magazines, brochures and gallery walls. She captures imaginations and inspires artists. And, even after 118 years, the weeping angel of Friendship Cemetery still keeps a silent and poignant vigil over the grave of the Rev. Thomas Cox Teasdale, the ninth pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbus, who died in 1891, at the age of 83.
