Looking Back: 10 Years Ago: Wise Words From Jessie Lee Henson

Here are a few items of interest from issues of The Kemper County Mes­senger from one, five, 10, 25, 50 and 80 years ago.

ONE YEAR AGO

(FEB. 4 2021)

— DeKalb Mayor Clark Adams is being challenged by former mayor Homer Hall in the upcoming municipal elections. Adams is running as a De­mocrat, while Hall is running as an in­dependent.

— The Kemper County Wildcats swept a pair of basketball games from Region 5-3A rival Forest on Sat­urday.

— The Smithsonian Institution’s Mu­seum on Main Street traveling exhibi­tion titled “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” will be on display at Tubb-May Library on East Mississippi Community College’s Scooba campus Feb. 8 to March 12.

FIVE YEARS AGO

(FEB. 3, 2017)

— A nearly five-year labor of love will have its public unveiling on Mon­day, Feb. 13 when an open house will be held at the historic Perkins house located on the property of Billy and Frances Brown in the Townsend Com­munity.

— Kemper County Sheriff James Moore asked the Kemper County Board of Supervisors during Monday morning’s recessed meeting if the road that runs in front of the Kemper County Regional Correctional Facility could be closed to the public.

— After hearing a detailed presen­tation from Waggoner Engineering about development possibilities for a 49-acre portion of the property the county owns at the intersection of Hwy 16 and Away 397, the Kemper County Board of Supervisors indi­cated that they were leaning toward immediately investing the $3-4M needed to begin the development.

10 YEARS AGO

(FEB. 2, 2012)

— From USDA Report by Kelvin Jackson: Bats get a bad rap. These crop and yard-friendly creatures con­sume large amounts of insects daily. Bats are great hunters. A little brown bat can eat 1,200 insects a hour.

— From Mt. Zion/New Hope News by Jessie Lee Henson: Life will, with­out a doubt, bring obstacles, uncom­fortable situations, disappointments, pains, and hurts. However what we do with each of those is up to each of us individually. We can allow it to hold us hostage and control every thought and emotion. Or we can make a deci­sion to let it go.

— Sophomores D.J. Evans and Colin Borchert combined for 49 points to help the Lions of East Mississippi Community College to their 10th con­secutive win with Monday’s 81-71 home triumph over Coahoma CC.

25 YEARS AGO

(JAN. 30, 1997)

— A total of 14 guns were stolen from a pair of homes in Kemper County last week over a two-day period, but the Kemper County Sher­iff’s Office says it does not believe the two incidents are related.

— The Choctaw Adult Ed­ucation Department in Philadelphia recently hired local DeKalb native Robert Fitzgerald Bohannon as its new instructor. He com­pleted studies at West Kemper High School in DeKalb, East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, and Mississippi State University in Starkville.

— From Townsend News by Gladys Puckett: Every­one in the Townsend com­munity has settled down to a regular routine since deer season has ended.

— The Lady Rams of Kemper Academy won three straight contests last week, and the recent hot stretch by the KA girls landed them the second seed for next week’s Acad­emy 3-A DivisionTourna­ment. KA’s wins over Hebron, Winston, and Oak Hill ran the Lady Rams’ record to 14-7 on the sea­son, but more importantly 10-2 inside the division.

50 YEARS AGO

(FEB. 3, 1972)

— The first shovel of dirt was turned to officially begin construction of a $750,000 academic building on the campus of East Mis­sissippi Junior College. Par­ticipating in the ceremonies were Billy Brown of DeKalb, president of the East Missis­sippi Junior College Alumni Association; Dr. Earl Sten­nis, present of EMJC; and Mr. William Gilbreath, pres­ident of the East Mississippi Junior College Student Government Association.

— Sciple’s Grocery was selling five pounds of red potatoes for 29 cents.

80 YEARS AGO

(JAN. 29, 1942)

— Lt. H.A. Pickett, teacher in the Porterville public school, has resigned there in favor of service with Uncle Sam. He has been in­ducted as reserve officer at the replacement center at Fort McClelland, Ala.

— Announcement was made this week that Stennis Drug Co. has acquired the prescription files of the Sumter Lumber Co. at Elec­tric Mills. These files contain prescriptions for the pa­tients of Doctors Hasie, Alexander, McCarthy, Salter, and of the Geo. C. Hixon Hospital.

— Mrs. L.H. Stuckey, chairman of the Kemper County Chapter of the American Red Cross this week announced the progress that the local chapter has made on its quotas of garments, sewing and other projects. In many instances quotas not only were reached, but ex­ceeded.