Terry Headlight News

Sadly, there is another Terry death to report. Mark Williams, who grew up on Pine Grove Road, passed away on Saturday. I have no obituary information to publish, but Mark’s obituary will be shared as soon as possible. (Nancy Hynum Stapp is to be thanked because she informed me of this death.)

Halloween has now passed, and we are now into November 2022. Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day are 3 of the holidays that will be celebrated before the beginning of Advent.

Sunday, Nov. 6 is the day on which clocks are set back for the beginning of Central Standard Time in MS.

The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity. The Senate approved the measure, (called the Sunshine Protection Act) unanimously by voice vote.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the bill’s sponsors, said supporters agreed the change would not take place until November 2023 after input from airlines and broadcasters. The change would help enable children to play outdoors later and reduce seasonal depression, according to supporters. “I know this is not the most important issue confronting America, but it’s one of those issues where there’s a lot of agreement,” Senator Rubio said. “If we can get this passed, we don’t have to do this ... anymore. Pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come,” he added.

Supporters say the change could prevent a slight uptick in car crashes that typically occurs around the time changes and point to studies showing a small increase in the rate of heart attacks and strokes soon after the time change. They argue the measure could help businesses such as golf courses that could draw more use with more evening daylight.

“It has real repercussions on our economy and our daily lives,” said Senator Ed Markey, another leading sponsor.

Daylight saving time has been in place in nearly all of the United States since the 1960s after being first tried in 1918. Year-round daylight savings time was used during World War Two and adopted again in 1973 in a bid to reduce energy use because of an oil embargo and repealed a year later.

The bill would allow Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe daylight saving time, to remain on standard time as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As many of you regular Gazette readers know, I am a church musician who enjoys sharing the texts of hymns with others. Here is a time-change hymn which may be sung to “God of Grace and God of Glory.” “God of sleep, and God of slumber; Help us not be late we ask. Changing clocks one forward number; May we not forget this task. Worship leaders, preachers, teachers; All will bless Your holy Name; If to church on time we came.”

This Sunday, November 6, will be the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. The New Testament readings are 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 (Evil things will happen.) and Luke 20:27-38 (Some Sad-duceses attempt to trick Jesus.).

Please keep Mr. Barry Ivers in your prayers as he recuperates following his recent surgery.

The Terry Grove Baptist Church on Raymond Street honored the pastor (Dr. Dion Porter) on Sunday, October 23.

On Halloween evening, the Terry High School 9th-grade basketball team played Vicksburg High School (Warren County). The four basketball teams of Terry High School played Brandon High School (Rankin County) on Nov. 1, and the 9th-grade basketball team played Brandon on Nov. 3. Friday is a busy day for Terry High School, as the basketball teams play Forest Hill High School at 5:00 and the football team plays Petal High School (Forrest County). On Monday, the 7th, the ninth-grade basketball team plays Northeast Rankin High School. Tuesday, the 8th, will also be a busy day: the four basketball teams play Clinton High School (beginning at 5:00) and the soccer team plays Canton High School (Madison County) at 5:30. The ninth-grade basketball team will play Brandon High School at 5:30 on Thursday, the 10th, and the soccer team will play Raymond High School.

Among those from Terry who have early November birthdays are:

Nov. 1- Ladona Anderson; Nov. 2- Rose Rice Pace; Nov. 3- Joyce Jones Wallace; Nov. 4- Election Commissioner Bear Atwood and Judge Edward Watson; Nov. 8- Gay Price.

The birth flower for Nov. is the chrysanthemum—or mum for short— It is the flower most associated with the fall season, providing the last pop of color in the garden. They make a great decoration for autumn displays and have a long history of symbolism that dates back centuries.

The birth stones for November are Topaz and Citrine. Throughout history, topaz and citrine have often been mistaken for one another. Although they both occur in yellow and look similar, they are in fact unrelated mineral species.

As usual, there are two voting precinct loctions for Terry. Terry-A is located at the R.O.T.C. Building of Terry High School on Cunningham Avenue. Terry-B is located at the Harbor Building of Wynndale Baptist Church on Springridge Road. Here is the sample ballot for Nov. 8.

for U. S. House of Representatives: -BRIAN FLOWERS (Republican) -BENNIE G. THOMPSON (Democratic)

Non-partisan Judicial Election:

for Court of Appeals, District 4 Position 1 -BRUCE W. BURTON -VIRGINIA CARLTON

for Chancery Court, Chancery District 5-4 -TIFFANY GROVE (unopposed)

for Circuit Court

Circuit District 7-4 -ELEANOR FAYE PETERSON (unopposed)

for Hinds County

County Court, District 3 -JOHNNIE MCDANIELS (unopposed)

There will not be a race for the Hinds County School Board in Terry.

Do not forget the date of Tuesday, Nov. 8. And, if you are 65 years of older or will be away from this county on that date, absentee voting is available for you at Circuit Clerk Zack Wallaces offices in Raymond or in Jackson. There is no excuse for not voting! Others have died for this right, and those in the Ukraine are presently fighting as hard as they can to insure that country’s democratic form of government.

I close with some news from my middle niece, Dr. Lisa Gaye Johnson. She is a professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is the middle daughter of my late brother, Glen Johnson. She recently won awards in the State Olympic competitions as a pickleball player. I had never heard of “pickleball,” so I had to look up the specifics of this sport. Below is what I found out:

Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport in which two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net, hit the ball back and forth until one side commits a rule infraction. Pickleball was invented in 1965 as a children’s backyard game on in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was adopted as the official state sport of Washington.

The appearance of a pickleball court, and the manner of play, resemble tennis, but the court is the size of a doubles badminton court, less than a third the size of a tennis court. Court lines and rules are specific to pickleball and include two 7-foot-areas on either side of the net known as the non-volley zones, where the ball cannot be hit with the paddle unless the ball bounces first. The official rules specify side-out scoring, where only the serving team can score a point. All serves are made with an underhand stroke. The hard polymer ball used in Pickleball produces significantly less bounce than softer flexible balls, such as a tennis ball. The minimal bounce combined with the non-volley zone and underhand serve result in a game with dynamic pace and strategy ranging from soft dink shots that stay within the two non-volley zones, to powerful drive shots and overhead smash shots. To minimize any advantage the serving side or receiving side might have at the beginning of the game, the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before either team may volley the ball, which is to hit the ball in the air before it bounces. Many paragraphs could be written about this new (to me) sport, but I have shared all that I care to (and probably all that you would care to read).

The Terry Board of Alders will have met for the month of November by the time that you are reading this.

Veterans Day will be on Nov. 11, and, in next week’s Gazette, there will be information about the history of this special day (once called “Armistice Day”).

As you are thanked each week for your readership, you are again thanked. You have read the oldest newspaper in the county, and it may be read weekly. Your submissions, corrections, and additions are always welcomed, and this writer may be reached at terryj1@bellsouth or 601-878-5714. (Pray for PEACE, people everywhere!)