Mississippi Is...
The Old Depot Museum opened last month in the 105-year-old Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad depot building in downtown Vicksburg. Exhibits include the Gray & Blue Naval Society collection of models and model railroad layouts, as well as models of ships, riverboats and naval vessels. The museum also houses “The Fall of Dixie,” a diorama of the Siege of Vicksburg manned by 2,300 miniature soldiers. The museum is located at 1010 Levee St. For details, call 601-638-6500 or go to www.theolddepot.net.
. . . sitting on a front porch swing sipping iced tea,
Just my grandma and me
Watching a woodpecker in a cedar tree.
Grandpa and me sitting in a boat,
Fishing, watching the cork float,
Hearing stories about the Old Folk.
All dressed up, going to town,
Sunday best, church bound.
After services, dinner on the ground.
— Lynda O’Quinn, Church Hill
Roots. The five branches of my family tree spread from New Jersey to Oregon, but the tree is a Mississippi magnolia with deep roots. I was born here, and I can visit the silent neighborhoods and point out grandparents going back six generations, and more. I expect to join them some (hopefully distant) day, but until then I’ll proudly breathe Mississippi air!
— Jerry Wolf, Starkville
This is where I come from, where my heart will always stay.
Country roads and winding streams, the smell of fresh cut hay.
Dogwoods and azaleas blooming underneath the pines.
Butterflies and daffodils and honeysuckle vines.
Singing hymns on Sunday, having dinner on the ground.
Swinging on the front porch, with my family all around.
This is where I come from, this is where I made my start.
Mississippi memories are forever in my heart.
— Karen Bryant, Ellisville
