Terry Headlight News

January 2023 has come. It is already the 16th when I write this week’s column. 2023 is the year during which most of our elected officials in Mississippi will be elected (on November 7th) after being elected in the party primaries (on August 8th).

I hope that the people who may not usually read the column from Terry will read it this week because I do have some interesting information to share. Or, if you know someone who should be aware of the following information (any voter who will be affected by this), you will share the information with that voter. Anyone who votes in Cayuga, Learned or Utica will now be voting in the Fifth Supervisor’s District. This is the district whose supervisor is currently Bobby “Bobcat” McGowan. This is a change from the past.

The last time I checked, four candidates (all Democrats, no Republicans or Independents) have signed up for this election is August. (Please note that signing up for a primary does not automatically mean that a candidate will be on the ballot, as there are certain things that must be confirmed prior to the printing of the ballots.) These four candidates (who may be joined by others between now and February 1) are Ashley Floyd of Precinct 1 in Jackson, Dr. Kerry Gray of TE2 (Terry 2) precinct, Freddie Schuller of Utica, Robert Wall of TE2 (Terry 2). February 1 is the deadline on which may enter a race in Mississippi, and, again, I am pretty sure that there will be more candidates, and their names will be shared in this weekly column.

Also in District Five, there are two other races which will be on the ballot - constable and Justice Court judge. Two candidates - Beverly Wade Green (the incumbent) of Precinct TE1 and Larry White of Precinct 49 in Jackson - have signed their names to compete in the constable’s race. Our own Judge Pearlie Owens of Terry will be running for re-election in the race for judge.

Please remember that the list of candidates’ names above are probably incomplete. There are the candidates who have signed the book in the office of the Hinds County Circuit Clerk in Jackson and have paid the fees to be on the ballot in the Democratic primary on August 8 of this year as of last Tuesday. More may have done this, and more candidates will be entering the races before the first of February. The most important thing that I wanted to share was that all voters in Cayuga, Leaned and Utica are now in District Five and will be voting as such in August and in November.

Recently celebrated birthdays include: Jan. 16- Timothy Lewis; Jan. 18- Mamie Catherine McFarland Ray, Christopher Demarais; Jan. 20- Marty Moore; Jan. 21- Nancy Kister Cohn; Jan. 22- Janell Walden Veach.

To your prayer lists, the name of Rhonda Mangold should be added.

This Sunday, Jan. 22, is the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany. The scriptures for this Sunday are Isaiah 9:1-4 (A new day is coming.), Psalm 27:1, 5-13 (a song of trust in God), 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (problems in the Church; Christ is God’s power and wisdom) and Matthew 4:12-23 (Jesus begins work in Galilee; Jesus chooses some followers.).

The First Baptist Church of Terry is planning a woman’s retreat. This is to be held on Jan. 27-29 at Tara Wildlife Recreational Center in Warren County.

The congregation of First Baptist also has plans for a dedication service for Howard Buford Hall on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 5, at 2PM This is a newly renovated fellowship/education area in the former church nursery.

The congregation also held a “hand and foot tournament” in the First Baptist church building yesterday. I am not sure what that was, and, if anyone could possibly tell me, I will be grateful! Communion will be observed on Jan. 22.

Terry High School does not have as many ballgames planned for the upcoming week. The ninth-grade basketball team is competing in the Little Six Tournament in Pearl, MS (Rankin County) through Jan. 21. The other basketball teams (Varsity and Junior Varsity) will play Northwest Rankin High School on Jan. 20, (beginning at 4:00) and Clinton High School on Jan. 24 (also beginning at 4:00).

The annual Terry Community Prayer Breakfast in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was held on Saturday morning at the Little Bethel C. M. E. Church on Brown Street in Terry. This was first planned by the late Miss Fannie Jackson of Terry over thirty years ago. She asked a number of other people from Terry to help her to begin the practice of having breakfast and a prayer service for all of Hinds County.

The speaker this year was Highway Commissioner Willie Simmons (originally from Dry Grove in Hinds County). Rev. Eric Knapp, pastor of Greater Clark Street M. B. Church in Jackson offered several songs. (His voice really reminded me of the voice of singer Jeffrey Osborne!) Another appropriate musical selection was sung by Rev. Willie Mitchell of Shady Grove Baptist Church. Nathan Slater offered the welcome, and Judge Clyde Chapman offered the occasion.

Each year during this service, drum-major awards are presented to those whose unselfish abilities are shared with the rest of the community. Honored this year were Dr. Linda Jones West, Minister Nancy Gaynor, and Dr. Willie P. Taylor.

The mistress- and master-of ceremonies were Judge Pearlie Owens and District Attorney Jody Owens, II., who also delivered remarks to the congregation.

The delicious breakfast meal was catered by Monte’s Steak and Seafood, located in Hinds County.

Among the dignitaries attending were Tax Collector Eddie J. Fair of Jackson, Senator David Blount of Jackson, Judge Johnnie McDaniel of Jackson, Rev. James L. Henley, Jr. of Jackson, Commissioner Connie E. Little of Terry, and Hinds County Justice Court Administrator Patricia Woods. Alderman Terry P. Johnson of Terry also attended.

In last week’s column, I normally would have included information on Dr. King’s Day. However, I thought that so much had been shared in the columns of previous years that I decided to only mention that the offices of government and the Ella Bess Austin Library would be closed today.

I since have found a list of nine facts about the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and I want to share them this week:

He was named Michael, not Martin! The civil rights leader was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. When he was only five years old, his father—a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church—traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. (His father changed his own name as well as his son’s name.)

Martin was a gifted student! He entered college at the age of 15. He skipped grades 9 and 12 before enrolling at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather, in 1944.

Although he was the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, he considered becoming a doctor or a lawyer instead. He later decided that the Bible had “many profound truths which one cannot escape” and entered the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, graduating with his PhD at the age of 25.

He was a harder worker! It’s hard to believe now, but Martin got a C in public speaking during his first year at seminary. By his final year, he was receiving straight As and had become the valedictorian of his class.

When Martin won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he was the youngest person to do so, at age 35. (Malala Yousafzai now holds the record, winning the 2014 prize at age 17.)

His recording of “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam” won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for 1971.

He was jailed 29 times, often on trumped-up charges such as driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone in Alabama in 1956.

In a speech on April 3, 1968, he told the audience: “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” He was assassinated in Memphis the next day.

He is the only person born in the United States whose birthday is a federal holiday. (George Washington was born before the United States came to be.)

It was President Ronald Reagan who signed a bill in 1983 which named the third Monday in January as the holiday observance “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday.”

In devotion, I read as a call-to-worship Dr. King’s Day both Psalm 82 and the fifth chapter of Amos. (I especially appreciated verses 16 and 17 from Amos that say, People will be crying in all the streets; they will be saying, ‘Oh, no!’ in the public places. They will call the farmers to come and weep and will pay people to cry out loud for them. People will be crying in all the vineyards, because I will pass among you to punish you,” says the Lord.)

I close this column with a hymn of which I was reminded upon the reading of this verse entitled “Man Was Not Made to Mourn.” The words were written by Salathaniel Cleaver Kirk (1845-1913), a legislator and county clerk from Pennsylvania in the year 1900. The poet sings a mournful song, Whose melancholy part Has doubtless found an echo strong; In many a human heart; But in the great Eternal Mind Where first a soul was born, No such stern fiat do I find; As Man was made to mourn. When fresh from the Creative Hand, He stood a lordly king, To have and hold supreme command; O’er every living thing. And Heav’n had given of its best; An Eden to adorn, Man had not even there been blest, Had he been made to mourn. God looked upon the finished earth: Behold, ‘tis good, He said; Nor thorn nor thistle yet had birth, Nor human tear been shed. ‘Twas meant that man should live, not die, And he had never worn The stamp of immortality, Had he been made to mourn. ‘Twas not until a crafty foe, With rank and poisonous breath, Had entered Paradise below And sown the seeds of death; ‘Twas not till man had disobeyed, And sin its fruit had borne. That Paradise began to fade; And man began to mourn. Alas! though Adam sinned and died, The seed which then took root, Has grown and scattered far and wide, And borne its bitter fruit; E’er since, life’s flowers of sweetest bloom; Have grown beside the thorn, And from the cradle to the tomb, Man ceases not to mourn. Through Eden’s long continued gloom This star of hope has gleamed: When Shiloh shall again have come And Paradise redeemed, When earth, as Heav’n, shall do His will, Then Satan shall be shorn; Of all his potency for ill, And man shall cease to mourn. Till then, we’ll wait, endure and toil, In sunshine or in showers, Content to know that when we call The promised help is ours; Some day, beyond this lower land, When earthly ties are torn, We’ll see and better understand— Man was not made to mourn.

You have been reading the best newspaper in Hinds County, the Gazette. Your readership each week is greatly appreciated! The writers of this newspaper all welcome comments, corrections, or submitted news.