Tupelo Spring Classic

These are some of my shots from the Tupelo Spring Classic soccer tournament, which was played over the weekend at Sportsplex. I have a few more, but the host site I load the photos to (Slide.com) had a few technical problems during my upload. I’ll try to post the rest of them later today.

 I was unable to shoot photos of two age groups at the tourney: the Under-16 Boys and Under-10 Girls. The U-16 boys wrapped up play Saturday, and I didn’t make it to the tournament until Sunday. There were several U-10 Girls games Sunday, but I got caught up shooting other games. I was hoping a Tupelo or Saltillo team would make the U-10 finals and I could shoot that game. However, it turned out two Memphis teams advanced to the final. To make up for not shooting the U-10s, I’ll focus on them the next time I’m at Sportsplex and the Saltillo fields.

In addition to my many photos, I came away from the tournament with a very red face from standing in the sun and wind for nine hours. Applying sunscreen was the last thing on my mind Sunday morning. I didn’t even think about it. I was more concerned about getting to the fields and catching up with what happened Saturday.

Verona Black History Month Program

These are photos from the Black History Month Program at Verona Elementary School on Feb. 21. The event, featuring songs by the Verona Voices choir and a wax museum of historical figures portrayed by Verona third-graders, was an enjoyable experience.

Nola Berryman’s Paper Hat

This is the video clip I shot of Nola Berryman of Plantersville back in March 2007. It shows Miss Nola making a paper hat out of the Baptist Record.

I hope you don’t mind having to tilt your head to the left while viewing this clip. If you’re wondering why it’s sideways, here’s why: When I filmed Miss Nola, the camera was in a vertical (upright) position. But when you upload a video to YouTube, the clips show up as a horizontal. I’m still working on the clip so that it would show up as a vertical on YouTube. I found the clip on a jump drive that also included the photos I took of Miss Nola the day of the interview.

An amazing thing about Miss Nola’s clip … she got it right on the first take. No stopping and restarting. She explained it all on one shot. She paused about 45 seconds into the filming, as if she was stopping. But while I was holding the camera with my right hand, I was giving the hand motion with my left to keep going. She picked up on the hand signal and kept going.

As I mentioned in my column today, Nola Berryman passed away Feb. 14 at age 99. She was a very creative woman who donated a lot of the quilts and crafts she made. I’ve met a lot of interesting people while doing the “new” Lee County Neighbors section this past year. Nola Berryman ranks up there as one of my favorites.

Randell King’s photo

This is the photo 5-year-old Randell King of Mooreville shot while using my camera during the Lee County Basketball Tournament. The action is from the girls final between Shannon (white jerseys) and Nettleton (blue jerseys).

 All I did was support the camera and turn the lens to where I thought it was in focus. Randell held the camera and clicked the button to record the photo.

 I think Randell did a good job for a kindergarten photog.

Saltillo band tribute

The clip is a touching tribute by the Saltillo High School band in memory of Shelby Brown, daughter of band director Susan Brown, during the Saltillo Christmas parade Dec. 11. Shelby, 12, died that morning from injuries suffered while riding her horse two days earlier.

The 103-member band performs “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune from “Carousel.” Leading the performance is Tim Ferguson, assistant band director. Kayla Parker, a Saltillo senior and drum major, said the song is special to the band, and the bandmembers wanted to perform it in the parade to remember Shelby and to show their support to the Brown family.

Jared Burleson, a Saltillo High School senior, filmed the performance and posted the clip on YouTube. I want to thank Jared for making the clip available for us to post on the Neighbors blog and djournal.com

Lyrics to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”:

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark

At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on walk on with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark

At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on walk on with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk

You’ll never walk
You’ll never walk alone.

Egg Bowl Memories

Share your favorite Egg Bowl memories and predictions. I wish I can make to Starkville for the game, but I’ll probably be too wiped out from fighting the after-Christmas sales crowds early Friday AM.

You don’t have to register to post.

Thanksgiving – A time of thanks

Here’s your chance tell what you’re thankful for this year.

You don’t have to register to post your comments.

 Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Communities Forward Festival photos

Click the link to view the Communities Forward Festival photos taken Saturday.

http://leeneighbors.wordpress.com/2007/10/

Okeelala Festival Photos

Here are a few photos from the Okeelala Festival in Baldwyn this past Saturday. My camera and I worked a little overtime. I had planned to stay long enough that morning to get four or five photos for the Our Neighbors page in the section, and it was getting quite hot. But the longer I stayed, the more fun I had. So, I began snapping pictures just to put them on this blog. It made my job easier when people like the girls you see to the right walked up and asked for their picture to be taken. Click this link to the Lee County Neighbors Photo Page and see if you can spot your neighbors or even yourself. Enjoy!

Making Scarecrows

Saturday was a perfect morning for about 40 adults and children who gathered at the MSU Extension Center in Verona to make scarecrows for the Scarecrow Trail. Items such as plastic bottles and jugs, sticks and brooks, old shirts and pants were used to make about a dozen scarecrows. One little girl didn’t want to part with her scarecrow, so she took it home.

The photo at right ran into today’s Neighbors section, but you can visit my Neighbors photo blog to see more photos.