PICAYUNE —
Today I walked through the rooms of the two story farm house that was home to my family for over fifty years. The appliances were gone from the laundry room, all of the furniture gone from the living room, den and dining room — even the piano was absent from the parlor. Upstairs the rooms were bare and the shelves of books were missing from my office and the sunroom.
I stood in front of the wide windows of the sunroom and gazed out across the acres of young pine that had once been a pecan orchard before the onslaught of the hurricanes. One Sunday afternoon in September after I had preached at the First Baptist Church in Carriere, Miss., I was visiting with F.S. Lumpkin Sr. on his front porch when the conversation turned to the beauty of Pearl River County.
I said, "Someday I hope to own a piece of land in a place like this before I die."
"Well, I happen to have an option on a 50 acre farm just two miles west of town" Mr. Lumpkin responded. “Would you like to see it?”
To make a long story short, I walked through the pear orchard, the twenty acres of fully loaded pecan trees and through the woods. Without waiting to ponder the matter I asked Mr. Lumpkin to hold the place until I could find money for the down payment. He agreed and I went home and confessed to Johnie that I had bought a farm without talking with her about it first. What I had just done was against our rule that all major decisions would be decided by the two of us together.
When Johnie walked over the place with me the following week I explained to her that the farm house with its rusty tin roof would have to go.
"Hold on, Jack,” she responded, “the house has a good design, is well built and appears to be solid. It might be worth fixing up."
Well, she proved to be right. I was told that a highly respected minister/mason had built the house in the late 1930s, that the dimension timbers were heart pine and that the stucco structure would last a lifetime. We wondered how we could finance such a remarkable find on my limited salary at the Seminary but the answer turned out to be quite simple. By living on the farm and driving a VW beetle to and from the Seminary every school day, we found that the cost of living in New Orleans and living on the farm were about equal.
By arranging a small down payment and financing the place for twenty years the monthly payments on the farm were actually less than our monthly rent on campus. We enjoyed country living, gained financially from farming and for over half a century the Spring Meadow farm served beautifully as a launching pad for our children.
Our sons loved the place and Johnie found the woods and orchards to be a veritable garden. The boys cut pulp wood, we raised calves in the meadow with a running spring and wesold pears, pecans, and numerous farm grown items on Grandpa Thigpen's Hardware Store radio program.
I was often invited to preach and our boys courted the local girls. In fact, the two youngest, Mark and David courted and married two wonderful girls whose families were among those who had built this great community.
The house itself became a fifty year hobby. We built a carport onto the house then turned it into a den. I was planning to build a small porch among the branches of a massive two hundred year old live oak tree on the south side of the house when Johnie and Bobby Easterling turned my plan into a sun room that served well as a counseling room. Below the sun room we built a patio from which we could enjoy the bluebird sanctuary and evening sunsets.
The farm became the "old home place" where our sons brought their young families for reunions during the holidays. Daughter Anne was a favorite as a lively and entertaining hostess and the two daughters-in-Iaw happened to be talented musicians, Linda at the piano and Cheryl with her beautiful singing voice.
Well, Johnie and Anne have gone to be with the Lord and the boys families have expanded to married children and grandchildren so they naturally use their own homes as the proper place to gather. I find great satisfaction in my role as dad, granddad and great granddad when I join one or the other family for holidays and special events.
After Johnie passed away I lived in the home place writing this weekly column, attending church and community affairs and watching selected shows on TV. After a bit of coaching by some friends I escorted some single ladies to social events, became enchanted with Sheila Wallace and convinced her to marry me. At that point we needed to chose one of our houses to live in but neither of us had perused the home of the other.
Well, we chose her beautiful place on Anchor Lake instead of my farm house which was built in stages for raising four children, cattle, pecans, gardens, Christmas tree and a passel of wonderful memories. It would never be considered for the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval but was a great house to live in and raise a family.
The two story stucco house is newly painted, has new floors and sits on 14 acres of meadow and young pine trees and includes a guest cottage, a large barn and a workshop. I pray the next owners will also find happiness on this farm.
The Spring Meadow farm house will be occupied by a young family until it is placed on the market and sold. Don't you agree I should reserve the right to move that live oak tree to the south yard of our Lakeside home? Anybody know how to move a 200 year old live oak tree? The good book says faith can move mountains. Would that apply to a live oak tree?
Lifestyles
Leaving the house we called home for so long
- Lifestyles
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- 2013 Partners for Pearl River County By Jodi Marze The 10th class of Partners for Pearl River County celebrated its graduation at First Baptist Church on Friday, May 10, in the Fellowship Hall. The graduating class included: Jason Bounds, Nacole Dillon, Christy Goss, John Huck, Jeff McClain, Teenia Perry, Paul Reese, Brooke Rester, Eric Stafne, Richelle Stafne, Kristin Thibodeaux, Pat Tidmore, and Jim Walker. The staff is comprised of: Jo Woods, Tricia Knight, Shirley Wiltshire, Marilyn Bailey, Rod Lincoln and Scott Langlois (Program Chairman).
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Tami Harris takes state
Local business owner and community volunteer Tami Harris has won the coveted title of 2012 Greater Federation of Women’s Clubs-Mississippi Federation of Women's Clubs (MFWC) Club Woman of the Year for the state of Mississippi. A member of the Civic Woman’s Club of Picayune, Harris is one of only three club members, along with Darlene Adams and Leslie Lincoln, to take the state title.
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Arboretum Paths
Last week, students participating in the 2013 Mississippi Master Naturalist Program visited the Crosby Arboretum for an all-day training. The session was part of 40 hours of field and classroom instruction they will receive, educating them about natural resource management and environmental stewardship, and is a part of their preparation to become Certified Mississippi Master Naturalists.
- Chamber Ribbon Cutting Children's International Medical Group held a grand opening and Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at their first Mississippi location, located in Picayune.
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Historic City Hall Dedication Friday
Friday, May 3 at 10 a.m. the New City Hall will be dedicated on Goodyear Boulevard. This event will coincide with the 75th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Old Historic City Hall building.
- PRC Community Band presents: An American Legacy The Pearl River County Community Band, under the direction of Johnny Baker, will present “An American Legacy: An afternoon of American music for concert bands,” on Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m. at the Picayune Memorial High School Auditorium.
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Arboretum Paths
On their recent tour, fifth grade students from Lamar Christian School in Purvis encountered a seemingly endless variety of wildlife, ranging from crawfish to inchworms, to writhing masses of spiny, newly-emerged caterpillars. There is no such thing as a “typical” walk around the Arboretum’s Pond Journey and Pitcher Plant Bog. Every venture reveals something new to every group of visitors.
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Beebe returns to Main Street
“I was excited when the Picayune Main Street, Inc. Board of Directors asked me to return as manager to the local Main Street program. Also, extremely grateful to Picayune City Manager Jim Luke, Mayor Ed Pinero and city council for their blessings and approval to relocate our office,” says Beebe. “One of my favorite sayings is ‘There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.’ I have to say, I had a blast working on committees, projects and events with the most dedicated staff and group of volunteers in Pearl River County from March 2005 to May 2010. I look forward to getting new committees in place and working with ‘seasoned’ volunteers as well as new volunteers who share the same passion and desire to keep Picayune moving forward.”
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15th Annual Rotary Fishing Rodeo held in McNeill
“We are all fortunate to play a small part in the joy we see in their faces when they get a bite on their line and see the fish they catch. My wife, Sharon, and I hosted it last year on our anniversary and we would not have had it any other way. It was a perfect day.”
— Rotarian Tony Paternostro -
Picayune Main Street relocates to Intermodal
Picayune Main Street, Inc. has relocated to the Intermodal Transportation and Tourism Center at 200 Hwy 11 South. With the change in location the organization is also shifting focus back to the four points of the Main Street Approach according to President Bill Edwards.
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