Terry Headlight News

As I have been writing about, this year’s general election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Here is the sample ballot for Terry (with each voter allowed to vote for 1 in each race):

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)

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There will not be a race for the Hinds County School Board in Terry. “The fiddles are playing the tune that you know: ‘Heigh ho! come to the fair!’ The drums are all beating, away let us go. Heigh ho! come to the fair! There’ll be racing and chasing from morning till night, And round-a-bouts turning to left and to right, So it’s come then, maidens and men, To the fair in the pride of the morning So lock up your house. there’ll be plenty of fun. And it’s heigh ho! come to the fair!”

How I love the State Fair. It comes to Hinds County every year in early October. These words comprise the second stanza of a favorite song of mine about fairs which was first published in 1917. I remember singing this each October (along with our Haloween songs) in the public school music classes of Mrs. Lillian Aldridge Lee. I also remember getting out of school every year on Friday to attend to go to the State Fairgounds in Jackson to attend.

This year’s Mississippi State Fair opened on Thursday, Oct. 6 (rather than on Wednesday, as it had for a number of years - but not always). Friday, Oct. 7 and Friday, Oct. 14 were designated as “Kids Day.” On those 2 days, the gates were to open at 12 noon, and children were able to ride the rides for one less coupon (until five o’clock). So plan to escort your children to the fair on this Friday!

Also on Friday evening, October 4, Terry High School will be playing Oak Grove High School (Lamar County) in football. On Saturday, the 15th, the school’s cross-country squad will be competing in Clinton.

The Cherry Grove community south of Terry celebrated National Night Out last Thursday. Several of our elected officials were invited to attend. I know that our sheriff, Tyree Jones, was one of them.

Tax Collector Eddie J. Fair was a surprise guest at the monthly meeting of the Terry Board of Alders last Tuesday. Also attending was Ms. Terrell Flowers Wilson, who is the office manager of the tax collector’s office in Raymond. She is a native of Terry.

I learned Saturday of the death of Roy Able. He is a former resident of Terry. He and his two younger brothers lived with their mother, Marilyn Hudson Able, in the house south of town on Highway 51 where the family of Dr. and Mrs. A. E. Holmes once resided. That family had moved to Terry in the late 1970s from Natchez. The family attended the Terry United Methodist Church, and Roy attended Perryman Elementary School. Here is his obituary:

ROY LAMAR “DUKE” ABLE, II (1969-2022)

Roy Lamar (Duke) Abel, II, 53, died October 1, 2022 at St. Dominics surrounded by his family. A graveside service was held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 8, 2022, at Harland’s Creek Cemetery in Lexington.

Duke was born on July 7, 1969, in Natchez, to the late Roy Lamar Abel, I and Marilyn Hudson Abel. He graduated from Pearl High School in Rankin County.

He worked for his family business, Turnkey Service as a furniture installer most of his adult life.

Everything Duke did was big. He laughed big, worked hard (and played even harder), loved fully, and fiercely defended the things he believed in. Anyone who spent much time with Duke believed that their favorite things were his favorite things, because connecting to people was so important to him. Duke never met a woman without recognizing her beauty.

He is predeceased by his father, Roy Lamar Abel, I. He is survived by his mother, Marilyn Hudson Abel; longtime partner, Glenda Wallace; brothers, Jay Abel and Hudson Abel; and nephews, Hugh Parker Abel and John Hudson Abel.

I learned on Monday of the death of Mrs. Beverly Pope. No obituary has been released to be shared. It will be published in next week’s column if possible.

This Sunday, October 16, is the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The New Testament readings are 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 and Luke 18:1-8 (God will answer His people).

This Sunday, the 16th, is the date for the fish fry being sponsored by the First Baptist Church on Raymond Street.

You have in your hands the greatest newspaper in Hinds County, our beloved Gazette. It has began publishing in 1845. Please contact me with your submissions, etc. at terryj1@bellsouth.net or 601-878-5714. (Pray for peace, people everywhere!)