Taking in “The Lorax” with Addi Claire; Snooky makes The New York Times

By Published On: March 30, 2012

Addi Claire and I went to see the new Dr. Seuss movie “The Lorax” last week and give it a thumbs up. We both loved it, and said she wanted to go back and see the “morax” again. I wasn’t sure at age 3 she would sit through the entire movie, but she did.

However, when we first got there, the previews had started, and she was a little unsure about that. They are quite thunderous sounding, and some were a little scary for her. At one point, she asked if it was “undering” outside. But when the movie started, she forgot all about it.
I highly recommend the movie for all ages.

Andrew Bryant of Pittsboro was part of a duo showcased as National Public Radio Music’s Song of the Day yesterday.

Bryant, with Justin Kinkel-Schuster’s, song “Dog Eaten” is beautiful. You can listen to it on the NPR music site under “song of the day archive.”
According to an Indie Rock Cafe website “The new Missouri-Mississippi musical duo, Water Liars, is comprised of St. Louis songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Justin Kinkel-Schuster (also of Theodore) and Oxford drummer, producer and multiinstrumentalist, Andrew Bryant. The new musical duo got together on a whim last year in Pittsboro, Mississippi, and with only one microphone and three days, recorded the ninetrack album Phantom Limb.”

Google it, it’s worth a listen.

Our Shady Grove writer Carolyn Bryant came by last week to give us an update on her husband Jerry who had a four wheeler accident three weeks ago. Jerry is now on the Rehab Unit– 1W– at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
She said he is recovering slowly, no more surgery is expected and the target release date for him is March 30.

Sput Deaton had hip replacement surgery yesterday, so we expect to see him dancing around town in another month or so.

Suzanne Oakley, of Bruce, has a part in an upcoming production at Tupelo Community Theatre. She will play the narrator in the Biblical story–
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Show dates are May 10-12.

Mitchell Johnson of Vardaman said the Grand Ole Opry gave him the fax number instead of phone number. If you want tickets to see him in Nashville, call 1-888-278-9844.

The spring forward time changes makes for some pretty miserable mornings. Neighboring Water Valley was featured in a story in the New York Times last week. Twenty-nine photos are available online of “On Location Water Valley.”

The feature showcases four women who “stripped and rebuilt houses and one storefront in a tiny, depressed Mississippi town, helping to spark a revival.”

You can’t write a story about Water Valley that doesn’t include Snooky Williams and this one was no exception. “One such guest was M.B. (Snooky) Williams, who wore a fake ponytail attached to a baseball cap, clearly getting into the spirit of the event,” Coulter Fussell reported.

“Williams, 80, said later that he has lived in Water Valley for 57 years. He described himself as an avid cheerleader for Fussell (one of the women
featured in the story) and her sisters on Main Street, and an expert in the
ecosystem of small-town businesses, having run a clothing store and an insurance agency through the “Walmarting of America,” as he put it.

“I think right now in Water Valley, it’s the greatest opportunity since I moved here,” he said with gusto. “If I was younger, I’d be buying property. These young girls, they’ve got spunk, they’re going to make it.”

He added: “So I was at Coulter’s art opening. She sold 15 of those framed hair pieces. This is unheard-of to me. My wife even bought one. These
girls, they are jumping on the tide, they are adjusting, finding a niche, they’re opening eyes. Even a month ago, if you had told me my wife would have bought a framed hair piece at an art gallery, I would have thought you were crazy.”

The article is available online. It’s really interesting to read about the changes in town.

Do you have a Sawmill Festival t-shirt from 2006?
Clarice Spradling, of Bruce, is looking for one to make a quilt. She has every one, but that year. Please let her know if you do, or contact Carol Shoemaker at the Bruce Chamber of Commerce office.

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