OurTupelo

Tupelo Downtown NYE Street Party!

Holiday/Seasonal

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November 29, 2019

Via Mayor Jason Shelton in The Daily Journal:

“The year 2020 is the sesquicentennial of Tupelo’s founding which was on July 20, 1870. An easier way to say that is Tupelo’s 150th birthday is in 2020 and we are going to celebrate the occasion with many wonderful events throughout the year. Next year will also mark what would have been Elvis Presley’s 85th birthday. We will shake, rattle and roll more than ever as we welcome people from all over the world to celebrate the life, legacy, and music of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

The New Year’s Eve celebration will feature two live music stages featuring a diverse lineup of incredible bands, special children-friendly events, a Toyota Corolla giveaway, fireworks, and a ball drop to coincide with the countdown to ring in the New Year. There will be something for everyone and we hope that you will join us here in Downtown on that magical evening. There is also a special New Year’s ticketed concert at the Elvis Presley Birthplace and a limited ticket event at the privately held Silver Moon Club which will attract guests from all over the country.

The downtown restaurants and other businesses will be part of the celebration and each will add their own unique twist to the evening. With your help, the success of this inaugural event will lead to this becoming an annual event for the City of Tupelo.”

January 1, 2020, marks the dawning of a new decade and we are starting a new tradition of revelry in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Here is all you need to ring in the New Year with style on the streets of Downtown Tupelo on December 31, 2019 from 7pm to Midnight with music starting at 8:15pm:

Diverse line-up of bands on two different stages
Ball drop in a beautiful, secure environment
Fireworks on the downtown streets of Tupelo
Fun options for kids early in the night including ice skating at BancorpSouth Arena from 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Festive food and drink throughout the city’s restaurants and on the event grounds.
Tupelo is ramping up the revelry by giving away a car!

Tupelo New Year’s Eve Party kicks off a year of celebrations including the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Tupelo and Elvis’ 85^th birthday.

NYE Schedule December 31, 2019:

1pm–9pm: Ice-skating at the BancorpSouth Arena

6pm-8pm: Children Activities on the Green in front of BankPlus at Fair Park

8:15pm-9:45pm: DJ Keith de Soul Explosion on the Broadway Street Stage

9pm-10:30pm: G3 Show Band on the Fair Park Stage

10:15pm-11:30pm: The Band U.S. on the Broadway Street Stage

11pm-12:15am: Black Jacket Symphony on the Fair Park Stage

Midnight: Ball drop, fireworks, and Toyota Corolla XSE Giveaway

Stage locations:
— Fairpark Stage is located in front
of Tupelo City Hall at 71 Troy Street.

— Broadway Stage is located at the
intersection of Main Street and Broadway Street.

Promo Video via My Tupelo

Christmas in Cotton Plant

Holiday/Seasonal

MyLove Barnett

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November 28, 2019

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Christmas in Cotton Plant, LLC., colloquially referred to as simply “Cotton Plant,” is a Christmas lover’s dream!

Located north of New Albany on Hwy. 15 at the Union/Tippah County line, it’s just under an hour northwest of Tupelo, and it is worth the drive.

Once there, you can drive or walk through a 12 acre Winter Wonderland Christmas Display.

Their displays include:

Over 700 Inflatables
Over 700,000 Lights
Displays synchronized to Christmas music
Shooting Stars
4 Projection Screens
Over 60′ LED Merry Christmas Sign
Leaping Arches
Driveway Gingerbread Arch
30 foot Mega Tree of Lights
Drive through 1000 feet of light displays
Stroll the mile-long walkway

Other features to do and see include:

Stop by the Elf Cafe and purchase hot cocoa and other sweet goodies such as cookies (limited availability nightly).
Visit Santa’s house to give him your Christmas list and receive a candy cane.
Have your picture and/or small group made with Santa (pictures made through December 23rd).
Enjoy the light show synchronized to Christmas music.

COST: There is no entry fee to enjoy Christmas in Cotton Plant, but donations are greatly appreciated to help pay their enormous electrical costs and to help continue this unique Christmas tradition!

For more information, you can check out their website, their Facebook page, or call them at 662-266-1887.

Hours for 2019: 

November 29th through December 14th — open on Thursday,
 Friday and Saturdays only

Wednesday, Dec. 18th through Dec. 25th — open every day,
 except Christmas Eve, Dec 24.

HOURS:  6 - 9 PM

https://www.facebook.com/groups/christmasincottonplant/photos/

Posted by Elizabeth Thornton-Vasquez on Thursday, November 29, 2018

Posted by Karin Dreher on Sunday, November 25, 2018

Tupelo Flea Market – Holiday Market

Events

MyLove Barnett

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November 28, 2019

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The Tupelo Flea Market is held monthly, every second weekend, with additional dates seasonally. This is an additional holiday market!

Dates: Friday, Nov 29 – Sunday, Dec. 1

Special Flea Market Hours
Friday, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Saturday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Address:
1879 N Coley Rd
Tupelo, Mississippi 38801

PUBLIC PARKING
Free parking, including handicapped spaces, is available.

ADMISSION
Admission is $1.00 per person. Children 5 and under are free.

If any of you guys need some Scentsy come see these lovely ladies!
Posted by Justin Washington on Friday, June 7, 2019

‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️🎣‼️Y’all come on out to the Tupelo Flea Market and see us, Bass Swacker Baits. We will be there…
Posted by Lindsey Floyd on Saturday, March 9, 2019

If you’re in the Tupelo area today, stop by and see us and OUR BLING!!!!
Posted by Brittney Borden Lytle on Saturday, May 11, 2019

Posted by Charity Boyd on Friday, May 10, 2019

Posted by HARE And The Hounds Crafts on Friday, November 8, 2019

What In The Cat (Chicken) Hair?!

Thompson Hill

Jerry Thompson

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November 27, 2019

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Friends, as my Granny Turner used to say, “What in the cat hair is going on?!”

What is this world coming to?

And I’m not talking about current events in the news!

I’m talking about trying to find a whole chicken to cook!

Pam needed one to make her dressing, so we tear out to town late last nite. She needed a few other things, too — a hundred dollars’ worth, but who’s counting.

Don’t know why I had to go. I was enjoying the quiet after the kids left!

But, I do as I’m told and ride shotgun! (Which ain’t a bad thing to have in your car, the way people drive and act, but that’s another story!)

One store didn’t have any, so we go to another! Didn’t see one there, either, so I saw the butcher guy — you know the one in the white apron, that look like he just field dressed a deer — and I ask him.

He said, “No, we don’t have whole chickens! Got chicken strips, chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, chicken tenderloin, chicken legs, chicken thighs, chicken necks, chicken breast, chicken beaks, and chicken toenails — but don’t have any whole chickens!

Then he said, “Wait, I got chicken halves! I can sew you two of them together, and you can call it a whole chicken!”

I didn’t care for that remark, so I said, “No thanks! When my wife wants a whole chicken to make her famous Walton family recipe chicken and dressing, then that’s what she’ll get!”

He just laughed and said, “Good Luck, that’s a rare bird!”

Well, I’m hard headed and I know where some whole chickens are!

So we head down there at John Barry’s barn!

“Pam hold the light still! No, John Barry ain’t going to catch us! He’s asleep! Quit waving that flashlight around, you gonna scare ’em all off the roost! Yes this one will do fine! Hold the sack open! And No I ain’t climbing back up there just because that one looks fatter! That’s a hoot-owl anyway!”

And life goes on, on Thompson Hill.

New Holiday Heist Room Is Open

Events

MyLove Barnett

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November 26, 2019

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Christmas is almost here and something very bad has happened! The Holiday Hyperdrive has been stolen from Santa’s sleigh by the evil Abe Snowman. The Holiday Hyperdrive is what gives Santa’s sleigh and reindeer super speed and allows Santa to travel to every child’s house around the world in a single night on Christmas Eve.

Somehow evil Abe managed to sneak past the North Pole Security and make it to the Sleigh Garage. It is believed that evil Abe has taken the Holiday Hyperdrive to his lair on the dark side of the North Pole.

Santa is asking for your help! Sneak into Abe’s lair, recover the Holiday Hyperdrive, and make sure that Christmas is not ruined for millions of children around the world.

Book Holiday Heist Now!

Use promo code ‘turkey’ for 20% off all bookings made from 11/25 through 11/30. *excludes new room, Holiday Heist.

Kevin Thornton – Artist Spotlight

The Music

MyLove Barnett

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November 26, 2019

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Artist / Band Name: Kevin Thornton / Thornton

Genre: Country-Blues Fusion

Raised in Okolona in north Mississippi, Kevin Thornton taught himself to play the guitar. He started songwriting around 18, which lead him to learn guitar. He will be recording his third album at Tweed Studios in Oxford.

If you had to describe yourself, what would you say?

I write songs; some are hippie licks, some are rocking, and some are just plain ole country and blues. I was raised on cornbread and shotguns. I taught myself how to play guitar, and have my own style of beating on the guitar to have percussion. I live to make music.

Who or what would you say has been the greatest influence on your music?

I think just growing up in Mississippi lends itself to shaping and cultivating folks musically. There is a reason why our road signs say “Birthplace of America’s Music.” I think it is our accent and dialect, which often rounds off and shortens words, that helps with songwriting and singing in general, This corruption of words makes it a lot hell of a lot easier to create rhyme schemes.

Waylon Jennings and Howlin Wolf are two huge influences on my singing style, but lyrically everyone from Too Short to Bob Dylan have had an impact on me. And I will mix song lyrics together in a second. One of my more interesting pieces is a hip hop Fusion of Merle Haggard, Nelly, and my own stuff thrown in.

Favorite song you’ve composed and the story behind it?

The song is called “Change.” The story? Well, one evening there was a lot going on at my house. People coming and going, and just a bunch of overall mischief. I was sitting in my living room, playing the kazoo and guitar while an old acquaintance of mine ate chicken breast, (bone and all!), while he sat there on the floor ranting about how good the chicken was. It was at this point that I realized that maybe it was time for a “change.” And the song was born nearly fully formed right then and there.

If you could meet any artist, living or dead, which would you choose and why?

i would have to say if given the opportunity i’d like to meet Mississippi’s own Mr. Fred Mcdowell. That dude was an alien or something. I thought Hendrix could play guitar, but he’s nothing compared the unearthly skills of Mr Fred Mcdowell. Also Linda Lovelace.

Most embarrassing thing ever to happen at a gig?

Nothing comes to mind as far as true embarrassment, but I was once asked by a bar manager to stop playing because someone wanted to hear “Roller Coaster of Love” on the jukebox. And I’ve played empty gigs for 3 out of 4 hours before, but I have learned you gotta perform like there is a full house anyway or the stragglers that do come in will not stay at a dead and quite bar.

What was the most significant thing to happen to you in the course of your music?

I met my wife Sommer, while playing at the old Boondocks in Tupelo. Now THERE was a place and a scene. Scott Chism was running open mics and doing the all booking. The Bad Hand came out of there, Vinyl Dust, Vinnie C, Jon West… It was quite a time and a unique place for Tupelo. It truly was a golden age musically at Boondocks.

I started writing better songs, and I’m still striving to be myself on stage and just let it all hang out there. I won the Miss 98 “Smoking the Stage” songwriting contest a few years ago.

If music were not part of your life, what else would you prefer to be doing?

Writing. I wrote a 100,000 word novel that has been sitting in my desk for years now. I have been meaning to get back on it, but I am lazy like that. I really just wanted to write a novel, but I doubt if even 10 people have ever read it. But music will always be my outlet.

Do you have any recommendations for other local artists that our readers should know about?

John West and Vinnie C

Interested in seeing your own artist profile highlighted here on Our Tupelo?

Simply click HERE and fill out our form!

How To Survive Holiday Photos

MyLove Barnett

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November 25, 2019

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Holiday photos can be frustrating and exhausting, but it’s still kinda mandatory that you at least get a few pictures of the family for posterity. The problem? Taking a GOOD family photo will bring you to the very edge of insanity. Here are some helpful tips for how to take the perfect family photo:

1. Time your photos well. About 45 minutes past nap time seems to be a popular time for the self-elected photog to jump up and shout, “Hey everybody! Let’s grab a picture of the WHOLE family while we’re all here!”

Poor clueless Cousin Jack. He means well; he’s just never tried to get a cranky two year old to sit still and smile on command.

Holiday smarter this year and form a preemptive strike! As soon as everyone has arrived, and preferably before your holiday feast (see #2), gather the fam bam for a quick photo shoot. Everyone should be a bit more jolly at the beginning of the visit.

2. Take pictures before you eat. Perfectly prepared parent though I’m sure you ARE, (you probably have an extra change of clothes and ten metric tons of baby wipes in your diaper bag!), not everyone will have come as prepared, and cranberry sauce isn’t really a good look on anyone.

3. It’s almost impossible to get more than two people at a time to look in the same direction; work it. I know most people would prefer a full-on formal portrait with everyone sitting straight and smiling deeply into the camera lense, but 98.54% of the time, that’s not going to happen, and that cruel expectation is what causes a majority of photo frustration.

You probably don’t want a picture to include the back of someone’s head, but other than that, it’s perfectly okay if not everyone is staring at the same spot. And if they are, it’s probably that gravy stain on your shirt (see #2), but that’s okay, too.

4. Don’t be afraid to use bribery. “If everyone will just look this way and smile, I promise to only take three pictures, and then we’ll have pie!” Who could say no to pie?

5. If you have a very large family, skip the props. You don’t need a bale of hay or shafts of corn stalks or even a Christmas tree when you have a ton of people in the photo. Focus on the important stuff and skip the nonsense. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have Grandma or one of the kids holding a sign with the year or family name on it, but anything else is taking up space that you probably don’t have in the frame.

6. Know your camera’s limits. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your iPhone 4 is not going to take a great photo of 40 people scrunched up in the dining room, unless they’re piled on each other’s laps (see #7). And even then, it’s still going to cut off two or three people on each side. Break up the family into smaller bite-sized groupings for a family collage later if you have to. Or go outside if the weather’s nice, so that you can get far enough away to get everyone in frame. Or you could, you know, dig out a real camera. (Or spring for a newer iPhone, but I’m not ready to sell a kidney on the black market to afford that yet.)

7. Squish everyone together. It’s entirely possible that your family isn’t all lovey-dovey with people they see only a couple times a year, and it’s also entirely possible that one of the kids needs a diaper change, or Great-Uncle Gus passed wind, and the smell is wafting across the group as we speak. Even so, they’re going to have to tighten it up and get ALL up in each others’ personal space if you want this picture to actually contain everyone who’s supposed to be in it.

8. Don’t forget to GET IN THE PICTURE. They make tripods and auto-timers for that. Or you could just take turns swapping out grown-ups behind the camera. You could even call a neighbor over to snap off a few. Just make sure you don’t turn into the invisible-always-behind-the-camera lady. Floof your hair and pop a kid in your lap, and BOOM, you’re ready to go.

9. Don’t spend hours snapping impromptu family pictures. Kids get bored and cranky. Adults get bored and cranky. If you haven’t gotten some good pictures by now, they aren’t going to get any better the longer you drag it out.

10. When all else fails–screw it and use Photoshop. Massive amounts of wine and Photoshop have produced large amounts of some perfectly ~~mediocre~~ decent family pictures. No shame in it. In fact, it’s probably less stressful and much quicker than trying to get the kids to sit up straight and be still for a once-a-year photo with all 37 first cousins.

Christmas Tree Poll

POLLS

MyLove Barnett

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November 24, 2019

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On Thompson Hill: Socks and Splits

Thompson Hill

Jerry Thompson

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November 23, 2019

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Friends, aint it funny how you remember things that you used to do, and now wish you hadn’t done them? Well I do!

I used to make sport of old people who had to wear them little socks with the little grips on the bottom — sort of like a mudgrip tire tread!

And these old people always had to be shuffling their feet like they was dusting the floor while they was walking along, just to keep from falling because the floor was slick!

Well, I can add making fun of all that to a long list of things I won’t ever do again! Here is why:

We have laminate floors in part of the house — you know, we got them when everybody said to get rid of the carpet cause it was bad for your health!

Well, I’m here to tell you that these darn laminate floors aint no better for you!

I looked up the words “Laminate Floor” and it turns out that it’s a French phrase that means TOO POOR FOR REAL WOOD!

Anyway, I was just getting up the other morning, and I put on some [regular] socks, and started to walk into the kitchen…but then I decided to turn and go to the porch instead.

That’s when all heck broke loose! My big ole feet decided to go in two opposite directions!

That dang floor was slick as glass!

Now folks, ya’ll that know me know that I’m tall — six feet and seven inches — and most of that is legs! AND on top of that, I got size 14 feet, which means I would have been even taller if the good Lord hadn’t turned down so much for a foot!

And i’ve never been graceful, so my mind already knew that my body couldn’t do the splits like my feet and legs were thinking they were going to do!

Somewhere in the middle of this, I managed to catch hold of the countertop corner, and I tried to correct my legs. Well, I overshot the landing and cut an almost perfect flip! And I say “almost” because one of my ankles got caught on my front teeth!

I guess this laminate floor did help some, because I only slid part of the way under the couch!

It took me a while to get my breath, but man, it sure did feel good to get it back!

I was sort of hazy when I first came to, with Pam standing over me asking, “What the heck are you doing down there? And why is your ankle bleeding? Now get up from there and clean up that blood! You aint supposed to get moisture on my new laminate floor!”

And life goes on, on Thompson Hill.

Man Kicked Out Of Library For Using Computer To Do Actual Work Requiring A Computer

The Chew

Zach Bragg

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November 22, 2019

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Man Kicked Out Of Library For Using Computer To Do Actual Work Requiring A Computer

TUPELO – On Monday, at the Tupelo branch of the Lee County public library, Brian Dufresne of Tupelo was asked in no uncertain hushed words to exit the premises. The reason? He was using a computer for legitimate work requiring a computer.

One user at the computer station recalls the whole scenario as bizarre.

“I was sitting there, minding my own business, searching for pictures of celebrities’ feet, and this guy sits down next to me and opens up a spreadsheet or something. Like he thought he was better than me.”

When asked about the alleged incident, Dufresne submits that it wasn’t a big deal.

“I was typing out a bibliography. My printer at home was out of ink, and I have a paper due this week.”

Lee Presley-Gills put his online poker game on hold to tell how he remembers it.

“Bibliography? No, he was making a list of books is what he was doing. Why do you need to make a list of books? We’re in a library. Ain’t nothing right about it, if you ask me.”

The library staff were caught completely off guard by the alleged act.

“We’ve never seen someone do anything like this in our media center,” one librarian reports. “We weren’t trained on how to handle this kind of situation.”

“Our regulars spend hours on stuff like games, social media, and trying to circumnavigate our firewalls to access blocked sites. He really caused quite a disturbance. We didn’t have any choice but to ask him to leave.”

Dufresne has since decided to buy a new ink cartridge.