Annual Caledonia Day festival adds cooking contest to roster of fun

Some of the area’s best cooks are sharpening up their skills for one of the latest additions to the Caledonia Day Festival set for Friday and Saturday.

Blitz build: Habitat for Humanity and Fairview church team up to build house in nine days

Night has fallen, and dew forms on sparse tufts of grass. It’s a time when most residential construction sites have gone silent and still until sunrise. But not this one. The thump of nail guns and banter of a roofing crew break the rural dark. The hour draws closer to midnight, but volunteers work under powerful flood lights, committed to getting the job finished before calling it quits.

Club notes

Northwood Garden Club

The first meeting of the new club year for Northwood Garden Club of Columbus was a salad luncheon held at the home of Lucy Phillips.

Temptations with Dennis Edwards, Rare Earth headline ‘Legends 2′ at Columbus’ Riverwalk Oct. 8

“I’m that guy that started off singin’ behind the bar … and I’m still waitin’ for somebody to say, ‘Hey, man, you gotta go get a real job,'” chuckled Dennis Edwards, speaking via phone Tuesday from St. Louis.

No slowing down Kathleen Hedgepeth and her iconic ‘silver bullet’

Hedgepeth now confidently drives the Suburban that pulls her 2005 34-foot, triple axle travel trailer. She often travels in caravan with other Airstreamers, who all stay in ready touch with each other by CB radio.

Lee Home legacy: Docents share favorite recipes and prepare for historian’s visit

After a disastrous fire destroyed most of S.D. Lee Junior High in December 1959, it looked for a while as if the smoke-damaged Stephen D. Lee Home that had served as the home economics building and cafeteria would be bulldozed with the charred remains of the school.

British-American historian opens MSU lecture series

On Tuesday, British-American historian Amanda Foreman will explore U.S.-British relations during the Civil War, as she opens the Mississippi State University Institute for Humanities Distinguished Lecture Series.

West Point film ‘Illumination’ will premiere at The Ritz

West Point’s Michael Williams has always admired filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s attention to detail, captivating storytelling and ability to create movies with the right mixture of heart, wonderment and suspense grounded in reality, no matter how fantastic the subject matter.

The eyes have it: Some find life-altering results in vision therapy

On Wednesday, 10-year-old Matt Morel of Caledonia came home from school with a social studies assignment and 10 or so questions to answer about Christopher Columbus. The everyday task might seem ho-hum in most households, but that the fifth-grader could tackle it on his own is cause for joy as far as his parents, Melanie and Keith, are concerned. A year ago, he couldn’t have.

The dogs of 9/11

In the shocked aftermath of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, brave search and rescue dogs and their handlers from across the country were mobilized. For frantic days they sniffed for survivors. For numbing weeks, they searched for casualties.

Canine heroes: Intelligent, courageous, all heart — search and rescue dogs have what it takes

“Check!” Kathy Doty commands, and R.I.P. is off in a blur of buff and black fur. The 20-month-old Belgian Malinois runs straight toward an agility ramp, his sensitive nose already on scent. He circles the wooden structure, sniffing continuously.

An apple a day: Nutritious, delicious fruit suits any season

This week’s welcome cool snap in the Golden Triangle fulfills the calendar’s promise: Autumn has not forgotten its appointed rounds and will be knocking on our door before too many more weeks have passed. With it, our culinary thoughts begin to turn toward foods that will soon be at their peak. One of those is apples.

From crypt keepers to desire: TWT scholars offer insight

Just as they have for the past nine years, scholars’ presentations during the Tennessee Williams Tribute and Tour of Victorian Homes in Columbus Sept. 6-11 will explore inspirations and internal demons that propel some of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s work.

More than wee fun: Fuchsia Band to showcase Irish music

Máirtin de Cógáin is a singing, dancing, storytelling bodhrán player who pledges plenty of Gaelic ceoil agus craic (music and fun) when the Fuchsia Band of Ireland performs in Cromwell Theatre Monday, Sept. 12. The Columbus Arts Council and Mississippi University for Women Department of Music and Theatre presentation on the university campus begins at 7 p.m.

Life on canvas: From portraits to possums, Columbus artist is inspired by it all

“You can’t look at eyes as eyes and just draw them,” mused Renée Sheridan in her soft, sing-song cadence. “You can’t think, ‘I know how eyes are — they’re oval and have a circle in the middle.’ You look at eyes as light and dark. You’re always looking at where the light is meeting the dark … and you draw what you see.”

PHOTO GALLERY: High on the hog: Roast n’ Boast 2011 (link)

Fine eatin’ and hot competition were all part of the 2011 Roast n’ Boast barbecue cooking competition at Columbus Fairgrounds Aug. 26-27.

PHOTO GALLERY: High on the hog: Roast n’ Boast 2011 (link)

Fine eatin’ and hot competition were all part of the 2011 Roast n’ Boast barbecue cooking competition at Columbus Fairgrounds Aug. 26-27.

Howlin’ Wolf Blues Fest to host multiple award-winners

Blues festival fans are an intrepid bunch, used to putting up with muggy temperatures, dust or mud to get their live fix. But the annual Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival every Labor Day weekend in West Point offers a welcome break.

Howlin’ Wolf Blues Fest to host multiple award-winners

Blues festival fans are an intrepid bunch, used to putting up with muggy temperatures, dust or mud to get their live fix. But the annual Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival every Labor Day weekend in West Point offers a welcome break.

Community Counseling’s new shops in West Point: Retail with real purpose

When Elizabeth Schaffenburg unlocks the doors of The Shops at Community Commons in West Point each morning, she knows the day is going to be about much more than selling an antique armoire or a gently-read copy of a New York Times best-seller.