Mississippi Is...

Laurel’s Pinehurst Park was built on the site of the old Hotel Pinehurst, a downtown landmark built in 1914. The hotel was the first in Mississippi to have air conditioning. After the brick hotel and its fountain were demolished in 1989, the city built the park to commemorate its historical significance. In 2009 a group of Leadership Jones County participants added a gazebo, a historical marker and other enhancements to the park.

The scent of sweet magnolia blossoms in the air,
Family reunions and the country fair,
Old Glory flown from every pole and ledge
Where people salute and repeated the honored pledge.
Where Sunday is for church and family dinner,
Where every boy and girl can be a winner,
Where people say excuse me, thank you and hello
Whether your skin is black, white or yellow.
Where we still can pray and say “Have a blessed day”
To everyone as we thankfully go on our way.
Where we can thank those in uniform for what they’ve done
And where freedom of speech is for everyone.
— Dell Magee Clawson, Kokomo

Mississippi summer hot and dry
Not a cloud to be seen in the western sky.
As a youngster I remember I would bring
   cold water from the spring.
Now the hill is much steeper and I’m a lot weaker.
I just sit in the front porch swing and listen,
   and watch a mockingbird sing
   and feed her babies in a magnolia tree.
That’s what Mississippi is to me.
—Barney Morgan, Winona

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