MSU vs Ole Miss Baseball

Every state in the United States have what we call college in-house rivalries. Mississippi is no different. Ole Miss and Mississippi State are big time rivals in all sports. Typically, you don't look at the records when they play. As they say, "Anyone can win on any given day."

Trustmark Park is the home of the Mississippi Braves, AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves network of players.

On Tuesday night, March 30th of this year, these two teams hit the diamond. Called "The Govenor's Cup", our Govenor threw out the first pitch. Nothing to write home about, but appropriate for the game.

Ole Miss at the time was ranked in the Top 20 of all Division I baseball teams in the country. MSU was still trying to find its identity with a very young club.

Ole Miss performed up to its current standing, and MSU couldn't keep from making errors. Final score---Ole Miss 5, MSU 1. Big emotional win for Ole Miss, and back to the drawing boards for MSU.

UMMC Transplant Guild

I had the privilege to attend and take digital images of the first UMMC Transplant Guild "Day at the Derby" event, Saturday, May 1, 2010. The location for this event is the lovely and incredible Providence Hills Farm in northwest Hinds County.

The "Farm" is hundreds of acres purchased several years ago from a prominent Jackson family and converted into a lodge, stables, competition arena and man-made lake to ski.

Entertainment for this event was the Jackson AllStars. They are a small group of professional musicians who played music from the oldies, to jazz, to dixie land, to Lousiana Cajun music and everything in between!The women attending were asked to wear a Kentucky Derby type hat for the event. The men wore a tie that they hoped would win a prize as the best looking tie contest.

Two young ladies who received donated organs at

UMMC Hospital in Jackson, MS, were in attendance, recognized and spoke briefly to the gathering to express their appreciation to the hospital, donor and the difference it has made in their lives.

The horse owner who stables her stallion at Providence Hills Farms was gracious enough to allow me to take the attendees pictures with the horse. What a wonderful and unique setting for images!

Plans are in place to hold the second annual event May 7, 2011 and the organizers want me to take digital images!

NWR vs Brandon Girl's Fast Pitch Softball

Several years ago dear friends of ours took on the responsibility of taking care of a newborn girl until their parents could straighten out their situation. That young baby is now graduating from high school this year and plans to enroll at the University of Mississippi in the Business Department. My how time can fly!

Lauren attended a local private school until her senior year and transferred to the local high school to finish. Her position on the fast pitch softball team is pitcher and she has been working with a pitching coach to improve her skills.

This final home game of the senior was appropriately called Senior Day to honor their four senior players. Once that was completed, the game began.

Lauren pitched three innings, but her team was behind by three runs. Another pitcher for the team and two more runs by the opponent.

While the outcome of the game wasn't what Lauren's wanted, we were proud to watch her play the game.

She probably won't play softball in college, but we'll get to visit with her when our travel plans take us to Oxford, MS.

Ole Miss vs USM Baseball 2010

Ole Miss asked that I take digital images of two interstate baseball games--Ole Miss vs USM and Ole Miss vs MSU, both at Trustmark Park, home of the AA Atlanta Braves farm team.

Tuesday, March 23rd was the first game. While the weather was great, it would have been a better game to photograph if it had started earlier than 6:30pm. But, I'll take the good weather and run.

The first image is the Ole Miss baseball coach, Mike Bianco. He has created a very competitive SEC baseball program. It seems he is well respected by his players, the administration, alumni and the SEC.

The starting pitcher for Ole Miss had a rocky start. Two walks, one hit batsman and a balk led to four runs in the bottom of the first inning. But, the next five innings no runs scored on him.
Ole Miss bats started to the top of the first inning with two runs and finished the evening with an 11-6 win. Next up Mississippi State University.

Lake Harbour Dr. church of Christ Ground Breaking

Dianne and I moved our membership to Lake Harbour Dr. church of Christ March 1, 2008. What our spiritual life needed, the leadership and membership has provided! At the time of our addition, the church was approximately 160 attendance on Sunday mornings. Now we have broken the 200 barrier on a regular basis!

Due to that growth and the future growth of this congregation the leadership determined a strong need to make changes to our facilities. More classroom space, larger sanctuary, larger greeting area, more parking, larger office space are the major areas.
















With excellent pre-planning, involvement and prayer, the church made an outstanding monetary pledge to the needed areas of our facilities. Coupled with that pledge was an incredibly quick purchase of church bonds to gather the necessary funds for this committment.


Sunday, March 7, 2010, we had a wonderful lunch and ground breaking ceremonies, which included the Mayor of Ridgeland, our bond company and our contractor's construction manager.While it will be a few more weeks before the actual ground and building work begins, patience will be the key word as we combine classes and do without certain parts of our facilities over time. But, the end result will be worth the temporary incoveniences!

Church Wii Bowling Tournament

Danny and Lynn Spain are very active in our local congregation. They are very much servant-type people, both in the church setting, community and business. One of the recent activities they developed was a Saturday night meal from Waffle House and a Wii bowling tournament.

If you aren't familiar with the different video gaming units, Wii is one of the more recent offerings. There were four "projectors" and screens to have four bowling lanes for the competition. Teams were created and the games began.



There was no doubt that everyone had a wonderful time from the time we ate, bowled and heard who the winning individuals and teams announced.

What a wonderful evening of food, fun and fellowship. Thanks Danny and Lynn--mission accomplished!

Canton Community Concert Series

With my participation in the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band and the Mississippi Baptist Symphony Orchestra, my circle of fellow musicians has grown. Each member of those organizations are dedicated to producing the most professional concerts they can. It also exposes us to people in the state of Mississippi who enjoy well-played music covering a broad spectrum of music styles and composers.

Martha Morgan is the principal flute player for the community. She also participates with the MBSO and First Baptist Church orchestra in Jackson, MS.

Martha, her son, Starkey, Jr. and the pianist from Liberty Baptist were the musicians for the Canton Community Concert Series. Starkey is the professional cello player of this trio.

Together, they provided the community of Canton, MS, a wonderful concert of diverse music to enjoy.