June 2017
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Today in Mississippi
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with funds given by Sears, Roebuck and Company president Julius Rosenwald. The Julius Rosenwald Rural School Building Program operated under the encouragement of Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee Institute. The Prentiss campus contains one of the remaining 15 buildings out of the original 557 appropriated by Rosenwald for Mississippi; there were almost 5,000 Rosenwald school buildings constructed throughout the country, primarily in the impoverished southern states. The Rosenwald Building was renovated several years ago with a state-funded Community Heritage Preservation Grant. It is recognized as a historic landmark by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and last year became listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the Rosenwald Building serves as a museum and a community banquet hall. For more information about the upcoming reunion, contact Armstrong at 601847-1984 or James Jenkins at 601-249-5643. With gleaming hardwood floors and vintage light fixtures, this space in the Rosenwald Building serves as a community banquet hall. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nancy Jo Maples has been a professional journalist for 30 years. She can be reached at 188 Ernest Pipkins Road, Lucedale, MS 39452 or nancyjomaples@aol.com.
Old habits are hard to change r. Roy and I have a bad habit that we have tried to break over the years, but with little success. We know it’s not healthy to eat dinner late. We normally eat between 8:30 and 9:30, and then go to bed immediately after that. Looking back over the years, this habit probably started after both of the girls left home for college, and it became more entrenched after we both retired. We both enjoy our time together at the end of each day with our cups of coffee or iced tea, while solving the world’s problems. As we have grown older, one of our primary topics is “Do you remember when we went there, or saw this, or that?” Sometimes these memories bring laughs, but other times they may bring tears. We thank God for all of our mem-
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ories, both good and not so good. Many times Mr. Roy and I relive trips we took in the motorhome as well as the trips abroad. We are so fortunate that we were able to travel over most of the United States and much of Europe. Now that we have gotten (a little) older, travel is not as much fun. The desire to just stay in the comfort of our home is stronger than it used to be. Yesterday afternoon as we met for our afternoon board meeting—that’s what we call it—and Mr. Roy said, “Well it’s May 21, I’ll never forget that date.” Every year at this time he says the same thing, but this year he seemed to want to talk more about the memory. We had only been married one month when Mr. Roy had to leave for basic training and Army duty. Many young couples our age experienced the same thing, and today many are separated for long periods while one of them is
serving in harm’s way. After basic training I was able to go with Roy to his duty station, and we had our own apartment. In fact, it was in a group of old World War II barracks that had been renovated several times. So we talked about our Army life and the friends we made. And we jumped to the subject of technology and the remarkable differences from the way we live now. In the late Grin ‘n’ 1950s when Bare It Roy left for his by Kay Grafe Army duties, I didn’t hear from him for several days. That’s hard to believe. We take cell phones for granted today. They give us immediate information and updates on “what’s going on.” In the movie “American Sniper,” the actor who played Chris Kyle is actually in a battle, crawling on the ground.
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Where? Afghanistan, talking to his wife on his cell phone. A few years after Roy had served and was discharged, we drove back to that exact area to look around. We wanted to see our old apartment. The apartment building was gone and the entire area had changed. It upset me so badly that I cried. One thing that adding years to our lives teaches us is that most everything eventually changes. And big changes are inevitable. Back to our problem of eating dinner too late every night. (This is another change that I can not accept: Growing up in the late 1940s and mid-50s, we ate supper at night and dinner at noon time.) So, about our problem now of eating “supper” too late. Since it hasn’t killed us yet or caused some medical problems we are aware of, I believe I’ll just continue visiting each afternoon with my husband-handyman until the visiting is done. By the way, another change that has taken place is my lack of desire to cook. Maybe that’s the reason I put off eating supper until close to 9 p.m. By that time Mr. Roy is ready to eat anything, or he says, let’s go get fast food. I’m starving! Kay Grafe is the author of “Oh My Gosh, Virginia.” To order, send name, address, phone number and $16.95, plus $3.50 S&H to Kay Grafe, 2142 Fig Farm Road, Lucedale, MS 39452.