Christmas in Bude

Yesterday, I was most honored to be the Grand Marshal of the Franklin County Christmas Parade -- not Santa, but the Grand Marshal. According to Franklin County native and former Chair of the Mississippi Arts Commission, Melody Maxey and Editor of the Franklin County Advocate, Mary Lou Webb, I was the first ever GM of the parade that was not a politician. Some would argue that point, but I was, nevertheless, the GM. I was typically under dressed and had to borrow a pair of green gloves from Melody and an overcoat from the Superintendent of Education. I walked the two blocks of downtown Bude well-clothed and confidently waving and wishing the residents a Merry Christmas. The local children called from the curb, "Who are you?, Where is Santa? and Why don't you have any candy?"! I kept a positive outlook in spite of these distractions.
The best news is that we made many good contacts with school, community and local business leaders. We have long worked to get an arts foothold in SW Mississippi and this outing was a great start. The Holiday Luncheon that preceded the parade was an amazing spread of good, homemade foods prepared by the locals and stretched across three rooms of Melody's gracious old home just a stone's toss from the shore of the Homochitto River. There were two dessert tables, one full length dinning room table just for relishes and two roaring fireplaces. Talk about good. There was pork roast, dressing, green beans and FOUR different styles of devilled eggs. The hundreds of folks who attended the gathering ranged from High Schools kids to State Senators. And then there we were.
Malcolm