SERVING 10 COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
NATIONAL CHAMPION CHEERLEADERS
TAKE THE FIELD
DISCOVER
WATER VALLEY’S RENAISSANCE
TAILGATING WITH RV FRIENDS
FOOTBALL is back
We Are the Champions
Elite tumbling, stunting, basket tosses and pyramids propel Ole Miss Cheer to the top.
Color Me Ole Miss
Fans voted on the game-day colors you’ll be wearing in the stadium this year.
The RV Experience
Staying on campus is a hot ticket for owners of recreational vehicles during football season.
Home
Artist Judson Ridgway has found home in his long love of Oxford and Ole Miss.
Game Day Gathering
Share these seasonally inspired recipes with friends and family at your tailgate table this fall.
Pressure Position
Ole Miss’s highly touted sophomore quarterback, Austin Simmons, is in the spotlight this year.
At Home in the Sip
Heading into his sixth season at Ole Miss, head coach Lane Kiffin seems to be more at home in Oxford than ever.
Ole Miss in the NFL
A record eight Ole Miss players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, including two in the first round.
Down, Set, Plant
An Oxford landscape designer uses self-watering containers to create gorgeous seasonal planters.
Honoring Generations
The Lodge at Live Strive Farms pays homage to the owner’s grandfather and brother.
Water Valley Revival
Artists and entrepreneurs have brought new life to this old town where visitors and locals alike will find plenty to see and do all year round.
OXFORD: Entering his sixth season as Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin is at home in Oxford and fans are ready for another big year. Read all about him on page 66.
NORTHEAST: This month, football season returns to the South.
PHOTO BY OLE MISS ATHLETICS
PHOTO BY JOE WORTHEM
OUR TAKE
WITH
IT'S FINALLY FOOTBALL SEASON IN MISSISSIPPI!
We asked publisher Rachel West to reflect on her favorite things about fall.
Q Q
What does fall in Oxford mean to you?
Fall is my favorite time of the year. Temperatures begin to come down, trees are my favorite hues of yellow, orange, red and everything in between. Oxford turns into a giant city for eight weekends in a three-month span, and it’s busy and bustling. Add some fun wins of football games, friends and family visiting throughout the season and it’s my favorite time of the year — but I’m usually exhausted and ready for a rest when it’s over.
When did you first become an Ole Miss fan?
I wore red my entire life, but for my first 18 years I was an avid Arkansas Razorback fan (along with generations of my family). I crossed the Mississippi River in 1996 to attend Ole Miss and have lived in the state of Mississippi for 30 years now. Time marches on.
Where are you most likely to be found on Ole Miss game day?
I’ll be found at the Ole Missfits tent or 1810, which are very close to each other in the Grove. It’s a fun tradition. I had been a member of the 1810 tent for many years, but after my divorce, I was asked to join another friend’s tent, and so for the last four years I am at two different tents. I love the people in both places, so I just decided to do both. Sometimes I stay in the Grove and visit with friends from out of town. But often I’ll head over to the game.
What’s your favorite color to wear to a game?
I find that I like to wear shades of blue in the fall more so than red. It’s nice when it’s cool enough to wear boots and pants and a nice felt hat. I know fall is really here when I can wear long sleeves and pants.
Q Q Q A A A A A
What’s something else you’re looking forward to this fall?
I’m looking forward to Friday night lights this year. My daughter is on the color guard team, and she will be on the field with the band several Friday nights this fall in addition to marching in homecoming parades and so forth. It’s exciting for her, and I love to support what she loves to do.
PUBLISHER
Rachel West
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Emily Welly
EVENTS EDITOR
Jiwon Lee
FOOD EDITOR
Sarah Godwin
COPY EDITOR
Ashley Arthur
SOCIAL MEDIA
COORDINATOR
Meg Kennedy
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Leslie Criss
Dawn Denham
Eugene Stockstill
OFFICE
BUSINESS MANAGER
Hollie Dalton
DISTRIBUTION
Allen Baker
Brian Hilliard
MAIN OFFICE
662-234-4008
ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Holly Vollor
SENIOR EDITORIAL
PHOTOGRAPHER
Joe Worthem
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS
Catherine Ann
Herrington Davis
Will Day
Frank Estrada
Jiwon Lee
Lauretta Piesko
Lisa Roberts
ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS
Alise Emerson
Melissa Holder
Leigh Lowery
Lynn McElreath
Keith Rainer
Moni Simpson
Whitney Worsham
ADVERTISING DESIGNERS
Paul Gandy
Markka Prichard
For advertising information, contact ads@invitationoxford.com.
To subscribe to one year (10 issues) or to buy an announcement, visit invitationmag.com.
To request a photographer at your event, email invitationmag.events@gmail.com.
Invitation Magazines respects the many diverse individuals and organizations that make up north Mississippi and strives to be inclusive and representative of all members of our community.
THE TALENT
EMILY WELLY EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Editorial director Emily Welly has worked for Invitation Magazines since 2007. She started with the magazine as a freelance writer shortly after moving to Oxford sight unseen with her husband, Nick, who attended law school at Ole Miss. She currently lives out of the area but is thankful to remain so connected to northeast Mississippi and the Oxford community through the magazine. When she’s not busy writing and editing, she is mostly likely found sitting on a sideline or a pool deck cheering on her three daughters.
MONI SIMPSON ADVERTISING CONSULTANT
FRANK ESTRADA ILLUSTRATOR
Frank Estrada is a native of Memphis who got stuck in the “velvet ditch” while attending Ole Miss in 2007. Since then, he’s earned a BA, BFA and MS. Estrada is a creative artist specializing in various media. Printmaking is his passion, but he also explores digital illustrations and animations. His work has been showcased nationally in numerous invitational exhibitions and magazines. He lives in Oxford with his wife, Natalie, and their one dog and seven cats.
“HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE” | PAGE 66
The 2025 football magazine marks Moni Simpson’s 14th year at the magazine — she started in 2011 with the football Issue. While working at Invitation, Moni has gotten married, had two children and attended countless Ole Miss Football games in the meantime, Georgia/Ole Miss 2024 being her favorite where she finally got to rush the field! Oxford has always held a special place in her heart since coming to games as a small child. She is proud to call it home and to call many of her longtime clients friends now. Hotty Toddy!
CATHERINE ANN HERRINGTON DAVIS ILLUSTRATOR
Catherine Ann Herrington Davis is an artist and owner of Hi Yall! Made In The South. She grew up in New Albany and received a BFA from Ole Miss. Some of her fondest college memories are getting ready for game days, sharing dresses, hot rollers and hairspray with sorority sisters before donning high heels in the Grove. She and her husband, Parker, have one son, John Parker, a budding artist.
“COLOR ME OLE MISS” | PAGE 36
THE TALENT
EUGENE STOCKSTILL
WRITER
Eugene Stockstill spent more than 20 years working in newsrooms in Massachusetts, Alabama and Mississippi. An award-winning reporter, he has been published in The Oxford American. He now freelances for multiple publications and works as a parish minister in the United Methodist Church and a proctor and online instructor at Itawamba Community College. He lives with his wife and granddaughter in Hickory Flat.
“PRESSURE POSITION” | PAGE 60
“COLOR ME OLE MISS” | PAGE 36
“THE RV EXPERIENCE” | PAGE 40
“HONORING GENERATIONS” PAGE 82
LISA ROBERTS EVENT PHOTOGRAPHER
Lisa Wood Roberts has been a photographer her entire adult life. She worked for the Daily Journal and owned her own photography studio before joining Invitation Magazines almost 20 years ago. She lives in Saltillo and has two grown sons, Wesley and Jim, a daughter-in-law, Kenzie, and two grandchildren, Briggs, 5, and Waverly, 4, who she adores more than anything.
DAWN DENHAM WRITER
Dawn Denham is a transplant from the Northeast to the hill country and now calls Mississippi home. She lives in Water Valley where she is a writer, educator, arts advocate and community organizer. Denham holds an MA in Rhetoric and Composition and an MFA in Writing and teaches undergraduate writing at the University of Mississippi.
“WATER VALLEY REVIVAL” | PAGE 88
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
BEHIND THE SCENES
FROM THE INVITATION MAGAZINES ARCHIVES
To celebrate our anniversary we will rerun favorites from past issues!
This month, Invitation Magazines
senior editorial photographer Joe Worthem shares pictures from some of his favorite and most memorable photo shoots through the years. From subjects ranging from wild animals and nature to local sports stars and stunning architecture, he explains in his own words what made each of these features so special to photograph.
THRILL OF THE CHASE
NOVEMBER 2019
This shoot is among my favorites. It was a crisp early fall day, which made photographing the Longreen Foxhounds’ Opening Meet enjoyable. It was a very interesting story and shoot because I didn’t know that this happened here in the Mid-South, I thought you’d only find an event like this in New England or the U.K.
MARCH 2020
One the first and only times that I used macro photography for the magazine. There are so many interesting flowers that are right under our feet.
JET SET ART
FEBRUARY 2013
The thing that made this memorable is the fact that something like that exists in Tupelo at all. I had no idea before doing that story that a business like that was right in Tupelo. Secondly, I enjoyed photographing at that location. The derelict planes offered a lot of interesting photo opportunities.
POWER PLAYERS
SEPTEMBER 2014
I enjoyed getting a chance to set up studio-style sport sessions with each of these aspiring high school athletes. It just so happened that one of them (D.K. Metcalf), who is the son of a friend of mine, has become an NFL superstar.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
FEBRUARY 2019
A great shoot, I thoroughly enjoyed following Mike Merchant around to pick up animals I knew lived in this area but I had never seen personally. I actually got to hold a baby bobcat.
MODERN FAMILY
MAY 2013
What I find notable about this shoot is the fact that the house (owned by Ellen and Eason Leake) has such striking design and style. I took a long time photographing it because I found it fascinating, and I think that it piqued my interest in real estate photography.
MISSISSIPPI RODEO STARS
DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023
I remember this one because of the excitement of the rodeo itself. It was a humid night but there was a large crowd that had gathered to watch these guys put on a show for a good cause. Each time a rider was let out of the shoot I got a chance to try to create a powerful image.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
NOVEMBER 2014
These photos are from the early days of Home Place Pastures farm. It’s memorable because the images I captured there are some of my favorites from over the years.
Continued on page 30
LITTLE Q RANCH
SEPTEMBER 2019
Another memorable shoot. I enjoyed photographing and capturing the hunting dogs and the birds they retrieved from the hunt.
MACAWS & PARAKEETS & COCKATOOS, OH MY!
MARCH 2019
This was a fun but challenging photo shoot. We had limited space inside the facility, so in order to get the photos that we ran in the magazine I set up a makeshift backdrop to photograph the various rescue birds. The results are some of my favorite animal photos taken for the magazine.
EARLY SCOOP: NEXT MONTH WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT SOME SPECIAL FALL SCENES AND STORIES.
We are the
champions!
OLE MISS CHEER TO THE TOP.
I ELITE TUMBLING, STUNTING, BASKET TOSSES AND PYRAMIDS
n January, Ole Miss Cheer won the 2025 Division 1A All Girl Cheer national championship at the Universal Cheerleaders Association College Nationals at Walt Disney World Resort.
It was the first national championship win for Ole Miss in that category. Ole Miss Cheer also competed in the D1A Coed Cheer and DIA Spirit Program - Game Day categories.
We asked Skylar Byram Casey, coordinator of athletic spirit groups and head cheer coach, and Rachel Levetzow, director of spirit squads and Rebelettes coach, to tell us more about this huge achievement and the Ole Miss cheer and spirit squads.
Q:
A:
What is special about this national title?
This national title is special because it is the first D1A national title for our program outside of Game Day, which is remarkable to establish and implement this legacy, standard and expectation of greatness with success!
Q:
How does the “traditional all girl” category differ from the others at competition?
A:
This category is the elite skill category that consists of elite tumbling with twisting, elite stunting with flipping/spinning/etc., elite basket tosses with spinning, elite pyramids with flipping/ spinning/etc., and a huge skill set throughout the routine of performing hard and difficult skills while making it look easy in the execution and exciting confidence and performance aspect. The D1A traditional routine has a small portion of a cheer in it, with the majority of skillset.
Q:
Ole Miss ranked well in other categories as well. Were the same girls competing on multiple squads or are different athletes on each?
A:
Ole Miss achieved 4th place in the 2025 D1A Spirit Program – Game Day category and
WRITTEN BY EMILY WELLY
9th place in the 2025 D1A Coed Cheer category (which is the traditional routine). There were eight All Girl athletes who competed both Spirit Program – Game Day and D1A All Girl: Emma Allen; Savannah Hardin; Malina Sayaovong; Madeline Kepner; Sydney Gordin; Virginia Williams; Krislyn Scroggins; and Kennedi Harris.
Q:
Is Universal Cheerleaders Association College Nationals the primary competition you attend, or are there others?
A:
This is the only competition that our teams attend and compete at! We have had a partner stunt group go compete partner stunt at National Cheerleading Association College National Championship which takes place in Daytona in April. However this is just a group, not a full team.
Q:
Is additional preparation or training required for competition?
A:
Yes! The Nationals Team is selected midOctober. Not every athlete within the spirit program will compete or attend Nationals. After selection, each team has their own choreography practices (outside of their required regular practices/games. This typically takes place on a bye weekend or away game weekend.) Each team will have another national practice weekend during a bye weekend or away game that team is not traveling to cheer. They will also practice over Thanksgiving break and winter break leading up to Nationals.
Are You Ready?
The 2025-2026 season is well underway. Here’s a little about who you’ll see on the field and on the sidelines this fall:
Three teams make up the Ole Miss spirit squads: All Girl Cheer (32 athletes); Co-ed Cheer (30 athletes); and the Rebelettes (30 athletes). All three of these teams are a part of the university’s athletic department.
The spirit squads said goodbye to 11 graduating seniors from 2024-2025. This year’s squads include 8 rookies on All Girl Cheer and 10 rookies on Co-ed Cheer.
The schedules are intense. Cheer teams practice three times a week with lifting twice a week. Rebelettes practice three times a week with lifting twice a week plus one practice a week during the fall at the Band Hall with the Pride of the South. All of the athletes also put in their own work hours outside of practice, plus they balance games, appearances, clinics and more.
All of that work — plus preparation for Nationals — continues throughout the year. “Spirit does not have a ‘primary season’ we are full year-round,” said Skylar Byram Casey, coordinator of athletic spirit groups and head cheer coach.
Color Me
Ole Miss
FANS VOTED ON THE GAME-DAY COLORS
YOU’LL BE WEARING IN THE STADIUM THIS YEAR.
WRITTEN BY EUGENE STOCKSTILL | ILLUSTRATED BY CATHERINE ANN HERRINGTON DAVIS
The choosing of game-day colors is one of those insignificant things that, in Oxford, isn’t quite so insignificant after all.
After all, game-day fashion is a high point at Ole Miss where cocktail dresses, heels, blazers and bow ties are standard attire for fans in the Grove. So, by giving direction on what color to wear, the university is influencing fashion choices as well as helping fans become part of the action inside the stadium.
Game-day colors have been a thing at Ole Miss for 10 years. The first game’s color is always white, creating a “white out” look in the stadium that makes a big statement for those in attendance. Last year, it was matched by the team when they debuted new white uniforms for the first game.
A stripe-out day is when ticket holders wear the color their section has been assigned for that day. A map is circulated to produce this impressive stadium-wide effect that’s noticeable not just for attendees but also for television audiences.
This year, for the first time, Ole Miss students and alums voted online via olemisssports.com to pick what colors will be the official colors to wear to each home football game. A total of 7,475 votes were submitted.
“The feedback has been enthusiastic,” said Drew Ingraham, a senior associate athletics director at the university. “Fans are excited to be a part of the voting process.”
Fans who voted could also make donations to the Grove Collective to boost voting influence while raising money to be put toward Ole Miss student athlete NIL agreements.
If you donated $50, your vote counted five times. If you gave $100, your vote equaled 10 votes. If you happened to donate $250,000 to the Grove Collective when you voted, then you got to pick the color for a game yourself.
This year’s colors were chosen back in February and published in March on the annual, ultra-popular yellow poster — making yellow the
other color that’s at play every Ole Miss football season. The iconic, much-anticipated schedule poster is distributed in the spring at special events and is available for pickup at the university’s main office for athletics.
Red seems to be the top pick this year, being the color of choice for four home games and one away game. Aside from the Aug. 30 white game and the stripe out on Sept. 13, navy and powder blue split the remaining five games.
All of this game-day color drama unfurls in the name of school loyalty, but it’s evident that with loyalty comes a degree of opinionatedness.
“What does everybody have against wearing navy?” one fan wrote online.
Another commenter asserted that royal blue is the true blue of Ole Miss.
In past years, some fans wondered why red was chosen as the day’s game color when Ole Miss was playing a school like Georgia, whose primary color is also red.
“Powder blue is not an official color,” opined yet another fan.
To set the record straight, official Ole Miss colors are cardinal red and navy blue, but powder blue is a secondary color and is used quite a bit.
“It is a fan favorite,” Ingraham said.
The shade made its modern comeback in 2014 when the team surprised fans by wearing powder blue helmets during a game celebrating the legacy of Chucky Mullins. The color was worn in the 1980s when Mullins played on the team. (More specifically, according to Ole Miss, powder blue helmets were worn from 1948-77 and then again from 1983-94.)
Mixed with commentary about the color choices, fans this year were also quick to share their feelings online about the upcoming season — and many predict it will not be much of a burden for the Ole Miss football squad, regardless of who’s wearing what color.
“Looks like a 10-2 season,” wrote one fan.
Hotty Toddy!
RV Experience
STAYING ON CAMPUS IS A HOT TICKET FOR OWNERS OF RECREATIONAL VEHICLES DURING FOOTBALL SEASON.
WRITTEN BY EUGENE STOCKSTILL
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE
WORTHEM
There are 197,054 recreational vehicle licenses within a 220-mile radius of Oxford, at least according to the most recent data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Most home-game weekends at Ole Miss, you’ll find more than a few of those parked in reserved lots on campus.
“It’s like a neighborhood block party,” said Augusta Weaver, who, along with the rest of her family, is a happy campus RVer.
The Weavers notched a season pass for the South Lot at the university last year and discovered the joy of staying in their own hometown while having a first-class staycation.
Here’s the skinny about what exactly is available on campus these days.
Season RV passes in the Baseball Lot and in the South Lot across from Old Taylor Road near the Ford Center are sold on a seasonal basis for $2,000 to those who donate to the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation. There is a waiting list. The old South Campus Recreation Center lot run by the Department of Campus Recreation will not offer RV spaces this year but will be used for overflow parking.
The Wesley Foundation also has RV parking at Jackson Avenue across from the Stockard/ Martin dormitories for $375 per game or $2,500 for a season pass. Proceeds support the foundation’s campus ministry. There are additional parking spaces elsewhere on Jackson Avenue, too, which go for $500 per game or $3,500 for a season pass (see what’s available at hottytoddyparking.com).
Game days are usually booked solid. On campus, RV check-in starts at noon Fridays. Additional time is available upon request. RVs have to leave by noon Sunday after a home game. Off campus parking lots also provide check-in and check-out times as well as guidelines including whether a car can park with the RV and how many guests are allowed.
Long story much shorter: RV’ing on campus is a hot ticket. Why?
Continued on page 42
Continued from page 41
"It's like a neighborhood block party."
-Augusta Weaver
“Getting to spend an entire weekend on campus during a home game right in the center of it all is pretty special,” Weaver said. “These are memories our children will cherish forever. They’ll hopefully continue the tradition with their own families one day. That’s what it’s all about.”
It is no mystery that tailgating is a big deal at Ole Miss and a bucket-list item for the curious and uninitiated, and from the sound of it, bringing your motor home only amps up the fun.
“Kids are riding bikes and scooters, everyone has an outdoor living room set up, food is plentiful,” Weaver said. “You can tell that the Grove is rooted in these RV tailgates. It’s very Ole Miss. Some of the RVs are like miniature five-star hotels: Marble countertops, high-end appliances, roomy sleeping quarters, exceptionally clean bathrooms with all the bells and whistles.”
The Weavers’ Airstream Globetrotter 30RB has a classic, retro look circa the 1930s and tons
of modern amenities. They’ve used it to market Nest and Wild, their Tupelo-based mattress business, even at the Masters golf tournament.
When they parked it on campus for a weekend, they found a new definition of neighborhood, Weaver said. Their kids met other kids. Watching ESPN morphs into a community event. The Weavers’ oldest child once made friends with a youngster camping with his grandparents who live in the Weavers’ hometown in Tennessee, and a follow-up trip to Tennessee has already been planned.
“It was so wholesome,” she said. “We tailgate, have friends stop by and visit, walk to the stadium for the game, pop into The Grove for a bit and return to the Airstream for nightcaps, more food and fun and crash in our cozy camper. Easy cleanup and rollout Sunday morning.”
Jennifer Guckert Griffin lives in Nashville with her husband and their young son. They bought a Rockwood travel trailer in 2021 and now own a Tiffin mobile home. They started RV’ing on campus the same year they bought the Rockwood trailer, park in the same lot as the Weavers and come to all the home football games and some baseball games.
“We have been parking in the same spot for four football seasons so far,” she said. “So we have really had an opportunity to become great friends with the families around us. We have been on camping trips with them.”
The sense of community, Griffin said, is genuine. And having the luxuries of home like your own kitchen, bathrooms and air conditioner is an added bonus for the weekend.
“There are retired couples, parents of college students and families with young kids,” she said. “It is like the Grove on game day. Everyone is always welcome. The more, the merrier.”
Continued on page 44
Park Play
OXFORD’S NEW RV DESTINATION FEATURES A WATER PARK AND SO MUCH MORE.
Builders broke ground for Roundabout Oxford last year after two local couples dreamed up the idea that Lafayette County was long overdue for an RV park with an abundance of water-themed amusements.
Jay Hughes and his wife Cris had an RV and traveled all over the place. So did their friends, Andrew and Alison Ross. They knew all about water-themed RV parks in Louisiana and Florida, like the former Cajun Palms that was later renamed Margaritaville.
And voila! The inspiration for the very same sort of thing in the heart of North Mississippi.
“It was a team effort,” Hughes said. “We knew the things we liked and didn’t like.”
The $25 million project, which opened April 24 at 750 Highway 6, is just three miles west of Oxford.
In addition to 150 RV sites and 20 luxury cottages, Roundabout has huge water slides, multiple fire pits, a 912-foot-long lazy river, a miniature golf course, a swim-up bar, kid and adult pools and spas, a fitness center, basketball, volleyball and pickleball courts and a 20-foot inflatable TV screen.
“First and foremost, we are an RV park,” Hughes said, so amenities are primarily for those guests. But the business now offers a MondayThursday park-and-play option, too, that allows four people to come in per vehicle after making online reservations two days in advance and stay from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“We have guests from all around,” he said. “The majority come from within a two-hour radius of Oxford.”
Roundabout Oxford, which is open all day every day, has water, sewer, power and internet hookups, which other RV sites do not, and that makes it a nice option for those who may not be pros at boondocking (an RV term that refers to self-sufficient camping).
And since Mississippi often stays warm through early fall, the water park should be available at Roundabout for several more months this year.
“The water amenities will stay open as long as guests are enjoying them,” Hughes said. “It was 80 degrees last Thanksgiving.”
Interested? Call 662-371-0496 or email info@roundaboutoxford.com.
HOME
ARTIST JUDSON RIDGWAY HAS FOUND HOME IN HIS LONG LOVE OF OXFORD AND OLE MISS.
Judson Ridgway may have been born and raised in Memphis, but it seems his heart has always been in Mississippi.
His grandfathers both graduated from Ole Miss, as did his parents, James Wallace Ridgway and Betty Jean Langston Ridgway.
His maternal grandmother was a kindergarten teacher at Tupelo Elementary School for many years, and his grandfather, Judson Davis Langston, taught high school in Tupelo and went on to become Superintendent of Schools there.
His paternal grandfather was born in 1893 in Jackson and graduated from Ole Miss before
moving to New York. There, he met and married Dorothy, a German immigrant who was a musician and artist. She taught young Ridgway the basics of drawing.
“As a child, I would always draw pictures of Rebels in football uniforms, especially Archie,” Ridgway said, adding that his house was filled with his sketches — often on prescription pads of paper since his dad was a pharmaceutical rep and had an endless supply.
Ridgway never had any formal art training; artwork was a hobby. For years, he created portraits of family members and friends to give as birthday and Christmas gifts. But in 2011, he
Ridgway’s latest work, “Are You Ready,” was a commissioned piece for a huge Rebel fan, Betty Graham. He expects print and canvas reproductions of it to be popular.
WRITTEN BY EMILY WELLY | ARTWORK COURTESY JUDSON RIDGWAY
ARTWORK FOR THE REBELS
decided to show some work at the Double Decker Arts Festival and took the occasion to concentrate his work on Oxford and Ole Miss subjects.
It started with a pastel of Taylor Grocery, then a pregame scene in the Grove, and then the Double Decker Arts Festival in full swing.
“I couldn’t write down art print orders fast enough,” he said. “From there, I was off and running. I started painting, Oxford and Ole Miss every year … and every year I did only one show and that was Double Decker. Every April I would fill my vehicle with paintings and easels and tents and set off on my yearly spring pilgrimage to Oxford.”
One year, he started setting up his easel to paint live at the festival, which draws people to stop and talk. “Their children help me put dabs of paint on my canvas, making them part of the painting and its story,” he said.
Double Decker is still the only show he attends each year, but traveling to it is about to get easier.
recently relocated to Oxford.
“I’ve never had formal
training, and my
Ridgway
art
Ridgway’s “Juice with Owner” painting was included in the Grove Collective Kickoff Auction held online in August to raise funds to support Ole Miss athletes through the NIL program.
Ridgway said his most popular pieces are “The Grove” (pictured above), “Swayze Showers” (pictured on page 50), “Juice with Owner,” “Taylor Grocery,” and any and all vintage Colonel Reb pieces. “The originals usually move pretty quickly if they are not commissioned and both limited edition signed and canvas reproductions are popular,” he said.
creative talents are truly a gift from Him,” he said. “I’m not only thankful but blessed to be doing what I love to do in my favorite town.
“It’s been nearly 40 years since I’ve lived in Oxford, but the moment I landed here this summer, I knew I was finally home.”
Ridgway offers both prints and full-size canvas reproductions of his original work. See his portfolio at judsonridgway.com. Contact him at judsoncreative@gmail.com or 859-913-7231.
Ridgway also draws equestrian life, animals, figure study, and — most notably — pencil renderings of children that he said have actually been the heart of his work for nearly 50 years.
OLE MISS MEMORIES
“I have so many great memories dressing up in my Archie uniform and playing football with my cousins in the backyard when I was only 5 or 6 years old. I remember being devastated when he broke his arm in 1970. I can still remember looking at his picture in the newspaper article.
“While attending Ole Miss in the ’80s, I never missed a home game and went on many a road trip throughout the conference to watch my Rebs play. I was there in Jackson for the immaculate deflection and was also there in 1989 on about the 5-yard line to witness Chucky go down right in front of me during the Vandy game. During my senior year, I was asked to be on the Senior Executive Committee to help raise funds to Save the Grove. At the time, the school needed an irrigation system to help save the trees from dying. I designed a T-shirt in partnership with Coca-Cola that helped raise a lot of awareness and money for the cause. There is a small statue that stands in The Grove today that has a bronze replica of that design with all the members of that committee. I love Ole Miss, and I love my Rebels. Hotty Toddy!”
Game Day Gathering
SHARE THESE SEASONALLY INSPIRED RECIPES WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AT YOUR TAILGATE TABLE THIS FALL.
Astrong sense of family permeates football season in Oxford in so many ways: from Coach Lane Kiffin’s early season reflections on his own family (see page 66) to the sense of community that fills places like the Grove and the campus RV lots many fans call home on game day weekends (see page 40).
The other thing that brings everyone together on game day? The food. These original recipes feature comfort food with a twist that your family and friends are sure to love wherever you host your tailgate parties this fall.
Continued on page 56
RECIPES BY SARAH GODWIN
STYLED BY HOLLY VOLLOR
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
COOKIES BY BREMMA’S BAKERY
PAPER NAPKINS, PLASTIC CUPS AND BUTTONS BY OLIVE JUICE GIFTS
Continued from page 55
Spinach & Artichoke
CRAB DIP
1 tablespoon butter
1 (12-ounce) bag frozen chopped spinach
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (14-ounce) can chopped artichoke hearts, drained
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus extra for topping
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
8 ounces lump crabmeat
Preheat oven to 375°F. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add spinach, garlic and artichoke hearts, and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is thawed. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, mayonnaise and cheeses, and stir together until well combined. Add cheese mixture to skillet, and stir into vegetable mixture until combined. Add crabmeat, and stir to combine. Sprinkle evenly with additional cheeses, and bake in preheated oven until bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.
Sweet Potato
3-4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
½ red onion, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ cup toasted walnuts
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
Preheat oven to 375°F, and toss sweet potatoes, red onion, salt and pepper with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Place on a baking sheet, and bake in preheated oven until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool. In a large bowl, combine walnuts, cranberries, feta cheese and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk together apple cider vinegar, mustard, honey, cumin, garlic powder, paprika and remaining olive oil. Once sweet potatoes are cool, add them to the large bowl, toss with olive oil mixture, and serve.
SALAD
Chicken Taquitos WITH
AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, at room temperature
2-3 chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, with 2 tablespoons sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 small corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
Olive oil for brushing
Preheat oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl, stir together chicken, cream cheese, chipotle chiles, cumin, chili powder and salt and pepper until combined. Cover tortillas with damp paper towel, and microwave until pliable, about 45 seconds. Scoop 3 tablespoons of chicken mixture onto half of a tortilla, top with a pinch of each cheese, and then roll tightly. Place taquitos, seam-side down, in a baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven until crispy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite pico de gallo or salsa or Avocado Cream Sauce.
Avocado Cream Sauce
1 large avocado
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ tablespoon minced garlic
Juice of 1 large lime
Salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 tablespoons water, as needed
Add first 6 ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. Add water to blender, and process until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Continued on page 58
Continued from page 57
Hotty Toddy
BERRY TRIFLE
1 (16-ounce) container heavy whipping cream
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 prebaked pound cake, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh blueberries
In a large bowl, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer to a separate large bowl. In the original bowl, add cream cheese and powdered sugar, and beat until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add 1/3 of whipped cream to cream cheese mixture, and beat about 20 seconds or until combined, then transfer cream cheese mixture to whipped cream, and fold until combined.
In a trifle dish, add a scoop of cream cheese mixture, spreading to lightly cover bottom of dish. Top with a layer of cubed pound cake. Add berries, then a layer of cream, and repeat until the trifle dish is full. Top with remaining cream and berries. Cover and chill 2 to 3 hours before serving.
APPLE CIDER
1 750 ml bottle red wine
2 cups apple cider
½ cup orange juice
3 cinnamon sticks
2 apples, sliced
1 orange, sliced ¾ cup brandy
Add all ingredients to a pitcher, and refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to overnight. Serve over ice.
SANGRIA
OLE MISS’S HIGHLY TOUTED SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK IS IN THE SPOTLIGHT THIS YEAR.
Ole Miss sophomore Austin Simmons is on the hot seat and in the catbird seat all at the same time. This season’s highly touted starting quarterback, who has received the blessings of both Archie and Eli Manning, has lots of pressure riding on him. The Florida native graduated from high school early, crammed lots of coursework into his first months on campus, earned his undergraduate degree early, too, and successfully subbed some for Jaxson Dart, last year’s QB who was drafted by the New York Giants. A former two-sport athlete, Simmons is studying for his master’s now and will be calling the signals when Ole Miss opens its season against Georgia State. We caught up with him and asked him a few things about life, football and the upcoming season.
HOW HAVE YOU STAYED GROUNDED OVER THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR AND MOVING INTO THIS SEASON?
Honestly, I would say it comes down to how I approach days. I’m just happy where I am. Frankly, I’m just looking forward to progressing more and more each and every day, getting better as an overall quarterback and as a leader on the team.
WHO HAS HELPED YOU THE MOST AS YOU NAVIGATE THIS PERSONAL GROWTH AND WHY?
Definitely, my quarterback coach at home, Oliver Bozeman. And on top of that, Joe Judge (Ole Miss quarterbacks coach). They’ve actually been some major pieces in the whole journey. Since Joe Judge got here, he’s been my biggest tool. I talk to him on a personal level. He’s just a great person to have when it comes to football. And also, I’ve been with Oliver Bozeman since I was in fourth grade. So that’s been a connection I’ve built over time.
Continued on page 62
Continued from page 61
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE AT THE MANNING PASSING ACADEMY AT NICHOLAS STATE IN THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA, THIS SUMMER?
It’s been good being around them and building that connection with them. There’s a lot of history that comes from their family at this university. So it was really just great to be around them and to get to know them as people and just building that connection.
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN THESE HOT YOGA SESSIONS (WITH LANE KIFFIN)? HOW HAS IT HELPED YOU WITH CONDITIONING?
I’ve only been to a few hot yoga sessions with Coach Kiff, and every single time I went, I felt more alive, more in shape. Being in there for an hour, that really does something to you. I might do them more often.
WHAT DID JAXSON DART MEAN TO YOUR GROWTH?
You know, he meant a lot, seeing how he progressed from 2023 up to where he is now with the Giants. It’s great seeing how much he’s grown not just as a player but as a person. I’m just really excited to see where he goes. He’s been one of the great pieces for me to be a better player over time, seeing how he handled adversity and all the stress that came with a starting role.
WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST FACTORS THAT WENT INTO MAKING THE DECISION TO SET ASIDE BASEBALL FOR NOW?
It was just really the best decision for me and my family, honestly. I had to set it aside for bigger reasons … stepping up to this new role. I just want to focus on that.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FROM LAST YEAR WHEN YOU WERE PLAYING BOTH (FOOTBALL AND BASEBALL)?
Really, it just came down to taking care of my body. My body felt sore. My body had never felt that way before. I think I handled myself differently in high school … It was really stressful.
DO YOU FEEL ANY ADDED PRESSURE AT YOUR AGE, ALREADY HAVING YOUR DEGREE AND BEING IN THIS POSITION? DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT’S MORE CHALLENGING FOR YOU THAN FOR SOMEONE WHO’S MORE EXPERIENCED?
Not necessarily. I’ve really had to do a lot of maturation since I got here, coming here at a young age, being sent into a bigger stage … Setting those two years aside, coming here early … I think that’s helped me grow more not just as a player but as a person, really seeing how I could handle things outside of football, but on top of that, handling the adversity and the pressure that comes with football.
WHO WERE YOUR BIGGEST ATHLETIC HEROES GROWING UP? WHY?
Definitely, my dad. I’ve been at his hip ever since I’ve been able to walk. Everyone knows me by being next to my dad all the time. Whenever he coached, whenever I played flag football, it was always in a football setting. It really just came down to me falling in love with the game because of him. That love grew more because of Oliver Bozeman, just being around him, as well, and him teaching me the core values of football. Those are my two heroes right there.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER YOU'RE DONE PLAYING FOOTBALL?
Honestly, I’m not really there yet … I’ll see where life takes me after I’m done playing football, after I’ve put the cleats up. Right now, I’m just focused on going into the season and just having a great season. I’m focused on Georgia State.
at home in the sip at home in the sip
HEADING INTO HIS SIXTH SEASON AT OLE MISS, HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN SEEMS TO BE MORE AT HOME IN OXFORD THAN EVER.
WRITTEN
BY
EMILY WELLY | ILLUSTRATED
BY
FRANK ESTRADA
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY OLE MISS ATHLETICS
Alot can happen in five years. Just ask Lane Kiffin.
A“It’s really been an amazing five years personally and professionally there in Oxford,” he said during his press conference at SEC Football Media Days, held in Atlanta in July.
To be sure, when Kiffin came to Ole Miss, fans were ready for something new. Kiffin has delivered. Here’s how it has played out.
Kiffin was announced as Ole Miss head coach in December 2019. The team was fresh off a 4-8 season that ended with a disappointing Egg Bowl loss in Starkville. With years of coaching experience in college and the pros, Kiffin brought a certain level of fame to the head coach job. He was a bit of an enigma with confidence and swagger and an energetic and somewhat mysterious social media personality. 2019
The team went 10-3. It was the first 10-win regular season in school history that included a perfect 7-0 record at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium; and also included a Sugar Bowl berth. The Oct. 9 52-51 win over Arkansas was named the No. 1 college football game of the season by ESPN.
Bigger picture: In July of 2021, the NIL era began in college football, presenting a whole new challenge for college programs to navigate, especially while balancing the still relatively new transfer portal. Kiffin simultaneously became an expert at using the portal (he’s been called the “Portal King”) while being outspoken against its negative consequences, insisting it needs to be fixed.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on his first season with the Rebels, “The Lane Train” was definitely on the tracks, and Ole Miss fans were ready to get on board. Around this time, Kiffin’s “Come to the ’Sip” campaign for recruiting and crafting a culture for Ole Miss football began to take hold. It has since evolved to also include “Transfer to the ’Sip,” “Party in the ’Sip,” “Drip in the ’Sip” and more. Hype videos with those themes went viral, and Kiffin’s fashion choices began to be closely watched and mimicked.
Jaxson Dart’s first year on the team. He was part of a highly ranked transfer portal class (hence Kiffin’s “Portal King” title) that included J.J. Pegues, Zach Evans, Ulysses Bentley and several others who went on to play in the NFL.
This was also a debut year for Juice Kiffin: the family dog who has his own presence on the field and on social media. Juice has around 63,000 followers on X and 35,000 on Instagram. He is a regular in the stadium and on the Walk of Champions.
2022 2022
The most winning season in Rebels history. The team went 11-2, with a Peach Bowl win (38-25) over Penn State. Another highlight was a huge (55-49) fourth-quarter comeback win in Oxford against LSU.
Another 10-3 season, with a dominant 52-20 Gator Bowl win over Duke. Led by Dart, the Rebels set new program records in total yards (6,845), yards per play (7.3), passing yards (4,561), passing yards per game (350.8), sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120). The biggest and most memorable win of the year was the 28-10 victory over highly ranked Georgia — after which fans tore down the goals posts and carried them into town.
It remains to be seen what the Ole Miss football team will do on the field this season, but Kiffin spent much of his conference at SEC Football Media Days reflecting on his family.
Kiffin’s daughter Landry is a junior at Ole Miss who can be spotted doing yoga with her dad and impressing fans with her fashion sense on and off the field. His other daughter Presley just started college at USC where she’s playing volleyball. Meanwhile, son Knox and ex-wife Layla recently moved to Oxford from California, and Knox will be a sophomore and quarterback at Oxford High School. Kiffin’s brother Chris (now linebackers coach at Ole Miss) along with his wife and four children also live in Oxford, reportedly right next door to Kiffin.
“Awesome that there are so many Kiffins in Oxford to experience everything together,” he said, reflecting on so much of his family reuniting in Oxford.
He also recently lost two of the people most important to him. Kiffin’s father, Monte, died in July 2024, and his mother, Robin, this past June. Kiffin drew attention at SEC Football Media Days when he showed the inside liner of his jacket, which was custom-made to feature pictures of his dad.
“My guy Mark Shoemake in Oxford made me this jacket, and it’s pictures of my dad and me and all the different places that he coached. It’s pretty awesome,” Kiffin said in an SEC Network interview.
Losing his parents has further shaped his view of Oxford, he explained in his press conference.
“The people of Oxford, when you lose your parents, and you see how they are and how they helped take care of them towards the end or how much they really cared about them, it just opened my eyes to a totally different way.
“I owe so much to Oxford and the people there. It’s just been awesome.”
stability at ole miss stability at ole miss
In the world of NIL and the transfer portal, college football programs struggle to maintain stability in rosters. Kiffin has taken that challenge on with force.
“Like we say in recruiting, you know, you get what you see with us,” he said in his July press conference, adding that the result is fewer players leave Ole Miss for the transfer portal and more are looking to join the Rebels.
However, the program’s success alone has led to a need for recruits — this spring, the most Rebels in school history (eight) were drafted into the NFL.
“I think that the groundwork of these last players over the last few years, what they laid, what they taught the players, has been very beneficial,” Kiffin said.
He also points to stability in the program’s culture and staff for success despite player turnover and a need to restart each fall. This year should continue to build on the past. Notably, the entire staff will return. “To be able to keep our entire staff from last year, that’s very critical,” Kiffin said.
LANDRY KIFFIN KNOX KIFFIN PRESLEY KIFFIN
CHRIS KIFFIN ROBIN & MONTE KIFFIN
Ole Miss
IN THE
A RECORD EIGHT OLE MISS PLAYERS WERE SELECTED IN THE 2025 NFL DRAFT, INCLUDING TWO IN THE FIRST ROUND.
In April, Ole Miss fans were on the edge of their seats waiting to see how the NFL Draft would play out for its top players. By the end of the weekend’s seven rounds, a record eight Ole Miss players had been selected.
As the 16th overall pick, defensive end Walter Nolen III became the highest draft pick of the Lane Kiffin era. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals. Nolen was named first-team All-American in 2024, and finished the year with career highs in tackles (48), sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (14), passes defensed (3) and fumble recoveries (2).
The New York Giants used the No. 25 pick for quarterback Jaxson Dart who holds Ole Miss records in total offense (12,115), passing yards (10,617), passing efficiency (162.8), 300-yard passing games (15), rushing yards by a quarterback (1,498) and more.
Chargers and Trey Amos to the Washington Commanders. Princely Umanmielen went to the Carolina Panthers in the third round. In rounds 4-6, Jordan Watkins went to the San Francisco 49ers, Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. went to the Los Angeles Rams, and Oxford native J.J. Pegues was picked by the Las Vegas Raiders. Additionally, in recent months, several former Ole Miss players who remained undrafted free agents following the NFL Draft signed with pro teams, including Juice Wells Jr., Jared Ivey, Ulysses Bentley, Caden Prieskorn, John Saunders, Trey Washington and Caden Davis.
In the second round of the draft, Tre Harris went to the Los Angeles
The Canadian Football League also added two Ole Miss Rebels to its ranks: Lineman Julius Buelow made the Saskatchewan Roughriders roster, and punter Fraser Masin was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders — he was the No. 1 pick in the CFL draft.
Continued on page 74
Walter Nolen III
Jaxson Dart
Trey Amos
Princely Umanmielen
Tre Harris
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
ARIZONA CARDINALS
Jaylon Jones | Cornerback | #37
Royce Newman | Offensive Lineman | #71
Walter Nolen III | Defensive Lineman | #97
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Tavius Robinson | Outside Linebacker | #95
Dayton Wade | Wide Receiver | #82
BUFFALO BILLS
Caden Davis | Kicker | #36
Dawson Knox | Tight End | #88
Elijah Moore | Wide Receiver | #18
CAROLINA PANTHERS
Princely Umanmielen | Outside Linebacker | #33
CINCINNATI BENGALS
Daijahn Anthony | Safety | #33
Cedric Johnson | Defensive End | #52
DALLAS COWBOYS
Nick Broeker | Guard | #64
Jonathan Mingo | Wide Receiver | #81
Sam Williams | Defensive End | #54
DENVER BRONCOS
Evan Engram | Tight End | #1
D.J. Jones | Defensive Tackle | #93
Caden Prieskorn | Tight End | #86
DETROIT LIONS
Isaac Ukwu | Defensive End | #45
Kenny Yeboah | Tight End | #88
GREEN BAY PACKERS
Malik Heath | Wide Receiver | #18
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Ulysses Bentley IV | Running Back | #37
Laquon Treadwell | Wide Receiver | #13
Trey Washington | Safety | #41
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
De’Antre Prince | Cornerback | #24
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
J.J. Pegues | Defensive Tackle | #92
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Tre Harris | Wide Receiver | #9
Deane Leonard | Defensive Back | #33
LOS ANGELES RAMS
Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. | Linebacker | #54
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Benito Jones | Defensive Tackle | #95
John Saunders Jr. | Safety | #35
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Ben Brown | Center | #77
NEW YORK GIANTS
Jaxson Dart | Quarterback | #6
Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. | Wide Receiver | #2
PHILADEPHIA EAGLES
A.J. Brown | Wide Receiver | #11
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
D.K. Metcalf | Wide Receiver | #4
Mark Robinson | Linebacker | #93
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Jordan Watkins | Wide Receiver | #17
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
A.J. Finley | Safety | #30
Jared Ivey | Linebacker | #51
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Trey Amos | Cornerback | #23
Laremy Tunsil | Tackle | #78
A calf injury sidelined Walter Nolen III before Cardinals training camp started. Nolen is reportedly rehabbing the injury until he can return to play. At press time, his status for the start of regular season was unknown.
Super Bowl champion A.J. Brown gave the 2025 Ole Miss Commencement speech in May. Brown has played six seasons in the NFL and is a three-time Pro Bowl honoree.
Wide receiver John Rhys Plumlee, who played two seasons at Ole Miss, joins A.J. Brown at the Philadephia Eagles this year.
Jaxson Dart hosted a youth football camp through FlexWork Sports at Oxford High School in July.
Tre Harris
Down, Set, Plant
AN OXFORD LANDSCAPE DESIGNER USES SELF-WATERING CONTAINERS TO CREATE GORGEOUS SEASONAL PLANTERS.
WRITTEN BY KRISTINA MAY AND LESLIE CRISS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
When Invitation Oxford asked for an Ole Miss-inspired container, professional container designer Kristina May set out to capture the spirit of a Saturday in the Grove — effortlessly stylish, deeply Southern, and ready to welcome guests all season long.
The result is a fall container that blends design savvy with down-to-earth performance. Tall white Angelonia anchors the arrangement, surrounded by layers of White Christmas caladium, airy asparagus fern, and vivid red ivy geranium. Blue My Mind evolvulus spills gently over the edge, tying in the color palette in a way that’s fresh and unexpected — think of it as a pep rally in a pot. A classic bow made with Ole Miss ribbon finishes the look.
The real game changer lies below the surface. This entire arrangement is planted in an EarthPlanter self-watering container — a product May exclusively retails in Mississippi. Made in the USA with a lifetime guarantee, EarthPlanters grow plants up to 20% larger than traditional
Planter Pointers
Know where the pot will go. Do its plants need sun, shade or a combination of both?
Choose the right container to make your space visually pleasing and to scale. “I use the rule of thirds,” May said. “For example, if the container is going to be by a door, the container should make up at least half the height of the door.”
Use the key three planting method: tall, thick and trailing. “A container needs all these elements for good structure,” May said. “Vary leaf shape and size, so after blooms are gone, the growth in container will still have texture.”
pots and drastically reduce watering frequency, even in the height of summer.
“Mississippi heat turns most containers into Crock-Pots,” May said. “These are designed to keep roots cool and happy. Even in August, you only have to refill the reservoir once a week.”
To enhance scale and impact, May used a technique often reserved for professional-level design: a smaller container is hidden inside the larger one, elevating the thriller plant for added height. The base is then seamlessly filled with contrasting textures and color, disguising the trick while adding even more visual interest. Faux white branches and botanical blueberries lend additional structure and make the planter feel festive and full from every angle.
Combining natural beauty, practicality and performance, this container is built to shine from kickoff to frost — making it the perfect addition to any porch this fall.
To see more of May’s seasonal designs or to schedule a consultation, follow @oxfordgardenco on Instagram visit oxfordgardenco.com.
Passion for Plants
Kristina May says credit for her penchant for plants definitely goes to her mother.
“When I was in the eighth grade, my mom homeschooled my four sisters and me,” said the Atlanta native, who now lives in Oxford. “When we were studying biology, my big project was to identify every plant in our yard.”
May said she’d never paid attention to things growing in the yard before, but while completing her project, she developed a passion for plants. In fact, she received a degree in landscape design from a community college in Georgia.
These days she runs Oxford Garden Company, which she started in 2022 and currently runs out of her home. (She also went to nursing school and at times still takes care of humans, too.)
One of May’s favorite gardening tools is the selfwatering container she uses for plants.
“We are the only retailer in the state that sells these wonderful containers,” she said. “Sometimes we just don’t have time to water our plants, and this is such an amazing product.”
The EarthPlanter containers, which have a lifetime guarantee and are made in the U.S., have a water reservoir in the bottom, so plants only need water once a week, even in the heat of the summer.
“The planters are sold to municipalities and universities,” May said. “It takes all the brain work out of it. I grow my garden crops in them, too.”
May loves designing containers for people.
“You don’t have to have the perfect landscape,” she said. “With planters and pots filled with color and variety on your front porch or patio, you can turn those spaces into your own little personal oasis. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and you just change them out seasonally.”
Honoring Generations
THE LODGE AT LIVE STRIVE FARMS PAYS HOMAGE TO THE OWNER'S GRANDFATHER AND BROTHER.
You could say that The Lodge at Live Strive Farms, one of Lafayette County’s newest and most popular event venues, has been in the making for at least three generations.
Mississippi College graduate Austin Haynes, 27, runs the lodge, which opened this year and has plenty of dates inked through 2026. He says the place pays homage to his grandfather, a rowcrop farmer in the Mississippi Delta who built a lodge back in the 1960s.
“The current one was built absolutely because of the old one,” Haynes said. “Just the fact that our family had a lodge for 50 years, we were just like, ‘How do we not have a lodge?’”
That old Delta lodge itself, which was used by family and friends, was only one small part of the big show. A museum that included rooms filled with old cars, old radios, sports memorabilia and items from old barber shops and schoolhouses really made people’s eyes pop.
“It was so massive that there couldn’t be a list,” Haynes said of his grandfather’s 20,000-square-foot museum and its contents.
But Austin’s granddaddy, Fletcher Sanders “Buddy” Haynes of Lambert, Mississippi, in Quitman County, had an even bigger claim to fame. He was a collector of exotic animals, and his personal zoo included buffaloes, zebras, camels, deer, elk, wallabies, kangaroos and emus. Some of the zebras still live at the young Haynes’ home, by the way.
The most interesting bit, though, may have been Oscar the junkyard ostrich.
“The junkyard had two Doberman guard dogs in it, but people still kept stealing parts off the cars all the time,” Haynes said, and that’s when his granddad bought a mad-pecking ostrich to help. “He would leave him loose at night in the junkyard. Nary a windshield wiper went missing after that.”
That put the elder Haynes in People magazine and on an old TV show, “Real People,” as well as a Japanese game show that asked contestants to distinguish between two lies and a truth. Oscar the ostrich was the true story in one
Fletcher Sanders "Buddy" Haynes with Oscar the junkyard ostrich.
The Details
The Lodge at Live Strive Farms sits on 170 acres of land eight miles outside Oxford, just 15 minutes from the Square, at 855A MS-30.
The venue seats up to 280 people and includes a wedding chapel consisting mostly of glass on three sides. The 12-foot panes are separated by posts, and the front of the chapel includes antique stained-glass windows.
Overnight accommodations include 4,000 square feet of space and room for 10 to sleep and has a 32-foot vaulted tongue and groove-pine ceilings.
The event space includes 8,000 square feet of space, a bridal suite, a groomsmen’s room, a bar, a catering prep area, a coat closet, a 2,500-square-foot ballroom, a large stage and foyer and balcony overlooking the foyer.
There is also a 4,000-square-foot wraparound porch, a 150-inch television that can be used for event visuals and a sound system that can be heard all over the site.
Interested in having an event there? Contact Austin Haynes at 662-444-8141 or thelodgems@gmail.com.
episode of the game show.
All of that history was at still bubbling behind the scenes when the first part of the family’s current lodge went up in 2013.
“I have this tour that I give people,” Haynes said. “I talk about my grandfather collecting … and that we have antiques that have been passed down and are in the lodge.”
Those antiques include multiple pieces of furniture and three stained-glass windows at least 120 years old that came from a church in Belgium.
“Those stained-glass windows have been with us for almost 50 years,” he said.
Two years later, the unexpected death of Haynes’ older brother served as additional inspiration for completion of the venue now known as The Lodge at Live Strive Farms (read more at right).
Haynes, who has worked with his father in construction and also runs another business, Oxford Wedding Cars, drew up the plans for the venue, plans that a draftsman and an engineer fine-tuned for him later.
Builders broke ground in 2023, construction ended earlier this year, and not long after that, the venue hosted an event for a Farm Bureau group. Weddings and other events have also taken place.
Perhaps the biggest draw of all at the locale that’s so loaded with history and attractions is the glassed-in wedding chapel, which includes the antique stained glass and whose indoor space exudes a decidedly outdoor feel without the hazards of heat and rain.
“Our big draw is the chapel,” said Haynes, who lives with his family two miles away. “There’s something about the simplicity of it.”
If Haynes’ grandfather, owner of the original Haynes family lodge, could only see him now.
A Memorial to Justin Haynes
Justin Haynes, the older brother of The Lodge at Live Strive Farms’ manager Austin Haynes, is very much a presence at the property. Justin died in a car crash in 2015, years before the lodge and chapel were built. When he was alive, he had a cabin that is still on the site of the now popular venue, and he was a Marine veteran, which inspired the “Live Strive” name itself. Marines attempt to live up to the standards of being a Marine while they strive to set even higher standards. Justin was engaged at the time of his death, and the family decided that the day of his wedding should somehow turn out to be a tribute. As a result, the canceled wedding date became a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project, an event that brought in more than $50,000. They called it the Live Strive Memorial Benefit — wristbands, T-shirts and license plates were made, too. “After that we kind of ran with the Live Strive thing,” Austin said.
Justin Haynes (right) with friend Eric Nic
WRITTEN BY DAWN DENHAM
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Water Valley, Mississippi, 15 miles south of Oxford off Route 7, is enjoying a renaissance. A historic railroad town, this artist enclave of less than 4,000 people was once the division office for the Illinois Central Line with a bustling Main Street, including a hotel and grand opera house. Casey Jones rented an apartment when he engineered the Cannonball Express between Jackson, Tennessee, and New Orleans.
After the flood of 1927 and the demise of the cotton industry, the town fell into the oft-told plight of a time and place left behind. The rails were removed in the 1980s, and much of what is left of this rich history is housed in the CASEY JONES RAILROAD MUSEUM at the center of town (105 Railroad St.). From the Great Depression and up until the late 1990s, the Valley saw little economic development or growth.
All that began to change when folks, looking for a reasonable cost of living, quiet and a place to make and promote art, brought their passions and an entrepreneurial spirit to downtown. By the mid-aughts, Mickey Howley had established and directed the new Main Street Association and his wife, Annette Trefzer, a professor of American Literature and art curator, opened BOZARTS GALLERY (403 N. Main St.). Artists Bill Warren and his wife Pati D’Amico arrived post-Katrina and with new neighbors Cliff Lawson and Ramona Bernard launched the Water Valley Arts Council and the annual Art Crawl, now in its 16th year.
In 2012, writer Alexe van Beuren; writer, photographer and arts promoter Erin Austen Abbott; and visual artists Megan Patton and Coulter Fussell were featured in The New York Times for restoring their old houses and launching new businesses and arts ventures in town. Those include van Beuren’s B.T.C. OLD FASHIONED GROCERY , Coffee Roaster, and Diner (301 N. Main St.), named for the Ghandi quote “Be the
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Bozarts Gallery
B.T.C. Old Fashioned Grocery
Yalobusha Greenway
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change you want to see in the world,” and Fussell and Patton’s Yalo Studio and Gallery, now VIOLET VALLEY BOOKSTORE (303 N. Main). In 2016, van Beuren’s husband Kagan Coughlin opened BASE CAMP CODING ACADEMY now housed at Everest, Mississippi’s First Rural Education & Innovation Hub (802 Central St.), and Patton’s husband who is the bassist for the band Drive by Truckers launched the recording studio DIAL BACK SOUND (1204 Bergland St.).
Today, Main Street — from Crawford’s Sports Complex to the newly restored Civic Center — is bustling again with eateries, arts and crafts, shopping and live entertainment. If you’re looking for a getaway day of retail therapy, history and good food, come check out all that a Saturday in Water Valley has to offer.
Start your morning in the center of town at the funky Southern eatery SWEET MAMAS
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HUBERT CREEKMORE LITERARY SOCIETY
Hubert Creekmore, born in Water Valley in 1907, was a notable Mississippi poet, novelist, playwright, critic and editor. Creekmore’s family lived a block from Main Street at 114 Panola St. You can’t miss the two-story Victorian built by Creekmore’s father thanks to its historical marker erected in 2015. In 2023, University of Mississippi Press reissued Creekmore’s 1948 novel “The Welcome,” a story loosely based on his experiences in Water Valley and its people. The cover was painted by Jonathan Kent Adams. The HCLS honors Creekmore’s life and works by offering literary events for Water Valley year-round. Read more at creekmorelit.com.
Base Camp Coding Academy
Sweet Mamas
Dial Back Sound
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(205 N. Main St.), where local chef Dixie Grimes serves up an elevated, reimagined and twisted take on good ole southern cooking in honor of mothers everywhere. Breakfast favorites include The Royale, a crispy fried rice base with crumbled country sausage, smoky bacon and maple syrupkissed caramelized onions and melted cheese, topped with your choice of eggs; Donna’s Diner Cakes; and The Hollywood Swinger-Hipster Avocado Toast. Check out the rest of the menu at sweetmamaswatervalley.com.
Two blocks north, find the best sourdough based bagels, breads, scones and chocolate croissants at Best of Mississippi 2025 finalist
HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY in the old Hendricks Building (102 Main St.). On the way, check out THE STITCHERY (32 S. Main St.) for all your needlepoint supplies and inspiration. Head around the corner from Hummingbird Bakery to True Blue Boutique and Decor, and then visit the Casey Jones Railroad Museum. Shop local at the Farmer’s Market every first Saturday at Railroad Park.
For antiquing and great finds, visit Backtrack Antique Station (200 Railroad St.), and then cross Blackmur St. at the mini mall across from the city’s courthouse and visit MULBERRY LANE , (220 Blackmur) a thrift, vintage and antique shoppe. For lunch, grab aptly named sandwiches at the Courthouse Cafe (224 Blackmur), including the “Peanut Butter and Justice” Southern Living magazine called the best PB&J around. Next door, visit painter Jonathan Kent Adams’ studio. Back on Main Street, eat in or take out Shimmy Shake Shrimp Tacos and hand-cut fries with comeback sauce at the B.T.C. or BBQ and burgers from Main Street Treats (formerly
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Family owned and operated Mulberry Lane offers an eclectic mix of vintage, antique and contemporary items such as quilts, pottery, art, records, books, clothing, toys, purses, jewelry, crystals, plants, furniture, home decor and memorabilia. For info and hours, visit mulberrylaneresale.com.
Hummingbird Bakery
The Stitchery
Dunn’s) (111 N. Main), and have a picnic in the Pocket Park under Bill Warren’s wave mural. Catch painter Kate Donovan’s studio above the B.T.C. before heading to the only LGBTQ bookstore in the state, Violet Valley Bookstore heralded in O, The Oprah Magazine. Down the block try GG’s Flowers and Gifts (213 Main) for funky home decor, and step into history at the family-owned and operated TURNAGE’S DRUGSTORE (323 N. Main), where you can sit at the soda fountain for a cream soda.
Looking for more art? Visit Bozarts Gallery (403 N. Main) and The Blue Melon Rendevouz (500 Main). Next door, on the ground floor of the old Blu-Buck Mercantile Hotel, you can rejuvenate with a homemade lemonade or specialty coffee and baked goods at The Magnolia Coffee Company. Just up the hill, visit artist Hannah McCormick’s studio (1629 N. Main).
If it’s some exercise you’re looking for, walk the 1.5 miles of the YALOBUSHA GREENWAY . Play pickleball on the refurbished court in City Park. Tour the city’s murals along Main Street.
On your way out of town, hit South Main Boutique (310 Main) for women’s apparel and MelonVine Marketplace (817 Main) for thrifting.
If you stay for dinner, visit any one of the city’s mainstays: El Charrito (119 N. Main), The Crawdad Hole (129 S. Main), Yukon Ice BBQ (327 A S. Main), Hometown Pizza (407 Main) or Chopsticks Chinese Restaurant (502 N. Main).
End your Saturday in the Valley with an art opening at Bozarts, live music at Voyager’s Rest (129 S. Main) or an annual arts and crafts festival event. See our list of events (at right) and follow the Water Valley Area Chamber of Commerce on Facebook to keep up with more upcoming events.
WATER VALLEY UPCOMING EVENTS
YOU’RE SO WATER VALLEY
Saturday, September 27
WATER VALLEY BOOK FEST
Saturday, September 27
ANNUAL ART CRAWL
Saturday, October 4
CHRISTMAS PARADE
Friday, December 5
CRAPPIE DROP
Wednesday, December 31
Turnage's Drugstore
MINI MAESTROS & MOVERS
he North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra hosted its Mini Maestros & Movers event Aug. 9 at GumTree Museum of Art. The family-friendly event gave children a delightful introduction to orchestral music with live performances and interactive movement.
TPHOTOS BY LISA ROBERTS
Krystyna Burenok, Passion Anderson, Fergy Sanchez, Brice Stone, Avery Coleman, Ethan Killough and Roxie Clayton
Kacie and Kelsea Metcalf with Gracie Killough and Cameron Stevens
Finn and Jack Clayton with Jack McMillan
Chris and Ruth Potts with Amelia and Francie Kat Foote
Rosie West, CeCe West and Savannah Dorr
Roxie Clayton and Brooke Burleson
DANCE LIKE THE STARS
he Boys and Girls Club of North Mississippi hosted its 20th annual Dance Like the Stars event on July 19 at Cadence Bank Arena. The evening featured local celebrities paired with professional dancers in an exciting showcase of ballroom and Latin dancing.
TGiGi Arar, Deana Gentry, Elizabeth Lair, Casey Franks, Robin Satcher and Brittney McGee
Shelby Miller, Sloane Jones, Mary Morgan
Burks and Chelsea McKnight
Sonya Marbry, Sonia Alford, Laurie Woodward, Deloris Jenkins and Lisa Lansdell
Depra Loving and Angela Chapman
Monica and Melonie Kight with Brittney
Calvert, Marsha Williams and Kathy Enddy
Cameron Stevens, Gary Hancock, Tammy
Wilson and Shad Spight
Rashni and Binita Barath
Sara Wood Davis, Gabe and Emme Rulewicz
Case and Ashley Knight with Natalie Tutton and Patrick Honan
Anthony Knight, Alyssa and Allie Martin
ELVIS PRESLEY FAN APPRECIATION
he Birthplace in Tupelo hosted its annual Elvis Fan Appreciation Day Aug. 9. The celebration featured two free performances by tribute artists Dawson Horn and Jack Curtis along with a welcome program and complimentary tours of the house.
TPHOTOS BY LISA ROBERTS
Sasuia and Peter Van Gompel, Cassia Dawson
Lisa Gilbert and Kim Miller
Chase and Rita Windham, Rita Tyson
Blayze Windham
Katarsha White and Judy Carpenter
Tupelo Community Theatre presented Mary Poppins Jr. July 17-19 at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Tupelo.
George Evelyn Brooks, Tosunda Hill, Krashawn Hendrix, Zimiko Turner, Lonnice Ward and Iika McCarter
Tammy Stevenson and Tameko Brooks
Lena and Kathy McLaurin
Zoey Harrelson, Ella Smith, Aurora Fowler, Diane Tackitt and Mary Kiley Lovorn
Caitlyn Tutor, Charlie Martin, Warren Funderburk and Carter Murphy
Sarah McCord, Andrea Grissom and Zoey Wafler
Thomas Roper and Andrea Brohawn
Bronwyn Teague, Denise and Charles Truscott and Lisa Ross
Wynn Funderburk, Addison Upton and Mallory Kendrick
Harper McCustion, Mara Jade Hooper, Penny Laubhan and Elsie McDaniel
Gabi Dickie and Anne Kate Henson
Kathleen Gurner, Ruthie McCord, Lucy Hays and Ambree Kate Tally
he
Ben Basil, Jade Treadaway and Tristan Baldwyn
Wesley Roberts and Josh Logan
Rett Johnson, Clayton Russell and Ethan LaMontagne
Jamie Wanner and Amber Elder
Nathan McLellen, Tim McDonald, Chris Basil, Josh Blythe, Jamie Russell, Bo Sandlin and Marshall Johnson
Scotty Harris
SNAPSHOTS SOCIAL HOUR
Kylie Boring, Jennie Bradford Curlee, Stephanie Coomer and Samatha Hudspeth
Robert Smith and Susan Parker
Kara, Karlyn and Karaline Courtney
Georgia Claire Stroup, Lily Coombs, Nona Ballard, Lacey Ruth Swords, Bridget Spencer, Corinne Spencer, Blakely Allred and Louisa Smith
Mandalyn Black with Brooks, Aurora and Alexis Glidewell, and Adalyn and Abby Sanders
Roxie Clayton, Ryan Claire Wiygul, Brooke Burleson, Margaret Claire Richter and Jessica Archer
Doniphan Dance Project Dancers performing with North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra musicians
Jessica Archer, Brooke Burleson, Audrey Neill, Karly Pickett and Logan Garner
Amelia Foote and Rachel Davis
PHOTOS BY LISA ROBERTS
PHOTOS BY LISA ROBERTS
MSU FOOTBALL VS. ARIZONA STATE
SEPTEMBER 6 hailstate.com
9/11 MEMORIAL STAIR CLIMB
SEPTEMBER 6 facebook.com/Tupelo911MemorialClimb
NEMCC FOOTBALL VS. MDCC
SEPTEMBER 11 nemccathletics.com
PONTOTOC BODOCK FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 12 -13 pontotocchamber.com
TUPELO TOUCH A TRUCK
SEPTEMBER 13
tupeloparksandrec.org
SHENANDOAH: THE EXTRA MILE TOUR
SEPTEMBER 13
crossroadsarena.com
OLE MISS FOOTBALL VS. ARKANSAS
SEPTEMBER 13 olemisssports.com
MSU FOOTBALL VS. ALCORN STATE
SEPTEMBER 13
hailstate.com
OASIS MEDICAL CENTER FUNDRAISING BANQUET
SEPTEMBER 16
omcfriends.com
ICC FOOTBALL VS. EMCC
SEPTEMBER 18
letsgoicc.com
ALCORN COUNTY FAIR
SEPTEMBER 18-20
thealcorncountyfair.com
TUPELO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL VS. OXFORD
SEPTEMBER 19
tupeloschools.com
MSU FOOTBALL VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
SEPTEMBER 20 hailstate.com
OLE MISS FOOTBALL VS. TULANE
SEPTEMBER 20 olemisssports.com
TUPELO COMMUNITY FORWARD FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 20
tupeloparksandrec.org
SINGER/SONGWRITER
JAM SESSION AT OREN DUNN
SEPTEMBER 23 orendunncitymuseum.com
“BILOXI BLUES” AT TCT
SEPTEMBER 25 - 27 tctlyric.com
NEMCC FOOTBALL VS. NWMCC
SEPTEMBER 25 nemccatheltics.com
DOWN ON MAIN CONCERT
SEPTEMBER 26 tupelo.net/event/celebratetupelo2025
WILLIAM FAULKNER LITERARY COMPETITION LUNCHEON
SEPTEMBER 26 williamfaulknerliterarycompetition.com
MSU FOOTBALL VS. UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
SEPTEMBER 27 hailstate.com
OLE MISS FOOTBALL VS. LSU
SEPTEMBER 27 olemisssports.com
TALLAHATCHIE RIVERFEST
SEPTEMBER 27
visitnewalbany.com
MAIN EVENTS
NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
CELEBRATE TUPELO 2025 DOWN ON MAIN CONCERT
TUPELO
SEPTEMBER 26
PONTOTOC BODOCK FESTIVAL
PONTOTOC
SEPTEMBER 12-13
Downtown Tupelo hosts a special Down on Main concert as part of its Celebrate Tupelo 2025 campaign to highlight milestones in the city’s history, including Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday earlier this year. The show will commemorate the anniversary of Presley’s historic 1956 Homecoming concert. It takes place in Fairpark starting at 7 p.m. and features performers John Clayton White, Cedric Burnside and Paul Thorn. Local food trucks and beer tents will be on-site. The concert is free and open to the public. tupelo.net/events/celebratetupelo2025
Pontotoc’s annual Bodock Festival is coming to town. The festival kicks off Friday, Sept. 12, with Twilight on the Tanglefoot Trail, a 5K race and fun run that starts at 6 p.m. The next day, Sept. 13, includes a car show, children’s activities, train rides, arts and crafts vendors, food trucks and live music by the Cody Riddle Band and headliner Chris Cagle. pontotocchamber.com
TALLAHATCHIE RIVERFEST
NEW ALBANY
SEPTEMBER 27
Tallahatchie Riverfest takes place in downtown New Albany Sept. 27. Bankhead Street will be lined with artists, craftsmen, writers, musicians and food vendors from the Tallahatchie River region. A kids zone is also planned. New this year is Tanglefoot Sounds, live music from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Tanglefoot Trailhead Plaza. In the evening, country music artist Sara Evans will headline the River Stage. Other River Stage performers include Presley Barker, Shameless All-Star Country Band and the Pip Project. visitnewalbany.com/tallahatchie-riverfest
