Restore Or Replace?

January 17, 2013

Things move pretty fast here in rural north central Mississippi. Just 446 days after the Courthouse burned, the citizens of my little county are voting-- in a non-binding referendum-- on whether to restore or to replace the crappy old Courthouse.

We've been debating this-- and by "we" I mean the county supervisors and other officials, the mayor of the little village which is the county seat (who just happens to be an architect specializing in old building restoration), Mr. & Mrs. County citizen, and folks who haven't lived here in a coon's age but just happen to have been born here-- for over a year. These discussions (along with my Books Bygone column) have kept the weekly county newspaper in business! Some fellow even wrote poems about the Courthouse that appeared in the newspaper. And a coalition of citizens had machine-made signs made up supporting restoration!

We also are being sued by the company that insured the courthouse. And almost lost our opportunity at a half-million dollar grant for restoration. 

Diddle daddle.

The Supes (as we call our supervisors) finally decided to put the question to the People. 

Today Mr. Big Food and I voted. O'course, we couldn't vote where we usually do because our polling place burned down. I was #56 to vote in our precinct. 

This is such a BIG DEAL the mainstream media out of Tupelo even sent a reporter to cover the event!

I might be on television!!!