Articles by Jan Swoope
Down on the farm: Getting to know your food and where it comes from
Old MacDonald made room for a younger generation of farmers Sunday, plus an estimated 50 to 70 people who wanted to check out their farms. The fairly new Mississippi Sustainable Agriculture Network coordinated free tours Sept. 29 of Black Creek Farms in Columbus, Beaverdam and High Hope Farms in Cedar Bluff, and Bountiful Harvest Farm in Starkville.
Clothesline project: Silent messages speak out against gender violence in stirring display
They barely fluttered in a scant breeze Wednesday, as watery sunlight strained to break cloud cover. One thousand T-shirts or more, hanging on clotheslines on Mississippi State’s drill field. They were of all colors, covered with messages in turn stark, poignant, angry, hopeful, emancipating — each silent, but powerfully speaking out against violence, especially sexual violence, against women and men.
‘Vibrations of Color’ opens in Columbus Thursday
In his lifetime, artist Kennith Humphrey has lived in many places and had numerous jobs. He has been a carpenter, a shingler, a landscaper and
Parker to visit Table Talk with debut novel
Laurie Parker of Starkville knows a thing or so about books. She’s had 13 of them published and has won awards for several. But “The Matchstick Cross” is a new venture for a new audience; it’s her first novel
Chickens, herbs and homebrewing, anyone?
Getting back to basics and having plenty of fun while doing it is the top priority at the Mississippi Modern Homestead Center Hobby Farm and Homesteading Fair Saturday in Starkville.
Game day: Tailgaters share a few favorite recipes for an easy-going outing
When it comes to tailgates, the SEC has a reputation for doing it right. Whether you’re in the Junction, the Grove, USM’s District, Alabama’s Quad or any other university’s tailgating epicenter, it’s all about fans, good food, fellowship and tradition.
Boomtown for butterflies: Have you noticed? There’s a lot of feasting and fluttering going on in downtown Columbus
If ever there was a case of “build it and they will come,” the Lowndes County Master Gardeners found it. What they built is a 4,000-square-foot butterfly garden at the Columbus Riverwalk. And, indeed, the winged insects have come, clad in brilliant coats of autumn amber, ultramarine and buttercup yellow. The pipevine swallowtails, eastern tigers and little skippers, the Gulf fritillaries and monarchs. Cloudless sulphurs, buckeyes, too.
P is for pretzel buns: Get on the pretzel bun bandwagon by making your own
Unless you’ve been under a rock, it would be hard to have missed the recent pretzel bun craze on the culinary landscape. The “hottest new food trend” has made headlines in publications from USA Today to Time.com.
Extraordinary tales: Internationally known ‘tellers’ weave words, connect cultures in storytelling festival
Storytelling is a timeless art, a tradition at the heart of the human experience. It preserves history and entertains. It captures moments in time and links us together, culture to culture. With a trio of internationally known storytellers whose heritage is rooted in Japan, Cuba and West Africa, the second annual Possum Town Storytelling Festival in Columbus will open windows on the wider world.
Eccentric characters and the paranormal meld in novel set in Columbus
Emma Grace wants to become a ghost hunter, and the storied cemetery in her hometown seems the natural place to begin. Her adventure unfolds in the pages of Adele Elliott’s debut novel, “Friendship Cemetery.”
Freezer pleaser: A yummy raffle, free assessments and block party highlight National Recovery Month
As fundraisers go, it’s a delicious one. Picture a new 15-cubic-foot chest freezer. Imagine it filled with steaks, lasagna, casseroles and ice cream. With ground beef, pork tenderloin, pecans and French bread. Don’t forget pizzas, cheesecake and ribs. The mouth-watering list of food donated by local restaurants and others goes on. Then imagine yourself winning the freezer and food, and helping someone — maybe someone you love — on the path to recovery.
Portraits in paper: What’s an Italian architect doing in Columbus making paper dolls? Read on.
Not so long ago, Caterina Mendolicchio was studying and photographing the splendid architecture of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Chiesa dei Gesuati church in Venice and other stunning structures in storied cities like Milan, Sicily, Edinburgh and her hometown of Rimini, Italy.
Tuesday marks book launch for Smith’s heralded ‘Rivers’
Sept. 10, 2013. That red letter date has been a long time coming on Michael Farris Smith’s calendar. It was ear-marked many months ago by
Inside the vault: Take a peek inside one of the least known — and most important — rooms in Lowndes County
The vault. Just a few letters strung together that invoke connotations of something slightly secret, even mysterious. A sanctum where valuables are protected, where treasures are housed. Their contents are seldom intended for public eyes, but that is not the case with one particular vault in downtown Columbus, one most people are not even aware exists.
Artists, merchants, musicians to kick off fall with Columbus Art Walk
A buzz of anticipation is building in downtown Columbus as final preparations are made for a brand new event. The Downtown Columbus Art Walk Thursday,
Locally donated handbags headed to missions in Mexico
In February, the Women on Mission group of Murrah’s Chapel Baptist Church in Columbus launched a drive to collect new and gently-used purses for use
Whole health: Local integrative health coach reminds us ‘you are what you eat’
Remember when your grandmother passed on that wise adage, “You are what you eat?” No one believes that more than Lacretia Scarboro.
Tribute time: The Tennessee Williams Tribute’s ‘Period of Adjustment’ shows another side of the famous playwright
It’s Christmas Eve in Nashville, 1960, but the mood is anything but merry for George Haverstick and Ralph Bates and their wives. George and his brand new bride, Isabel, are fast discovering they have very different expectations of marriage. Ralph and Dorothea, married for several years, are on the verge of divorce. Both squabbling couples are going through a “Period of Adjustment.”
Fine arts, crafts, music and fun headline Prairie Arts Weekend
The approach of Labor Day triggers autumnal dreams and football fantasies, but it also heralds West Point’s Prairie Arts Weekend. The Clay County city’s population
Home tours with a twist highlight Tennessee’s Tribute
In addition to its antebellum belles, Columbus boasts many Victorian era homes that graced the city when Tennessee Williams lived on College Street, by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Some will open their doors for tours from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, the final day of the 2013 Tennessee Williams Tribute.
