Homecoming at Ole Miss

OXFORD-----The Ole Miss Homecoming weekend was outstanding. Coupled with an Ole Miss shutout victory over Louisiana Tech, another fine group of alumns were inducted into the University's Alumni Hall of Fame: Dr. Wallace Conerly, General Augustus L. Collins, JamesMcClure, Jr., Nancy Van de Vate, and William F. Galtney, Jr.
Harold (Hardwood) Kelly, longtime Yazoo City educator and coach, and former Johnny Reb basketball star, received the Alumni Service Award.
Bill Galtney's tennis coach was Mack Cameron, a Jackson Touchdown Clubber, and author of a new book involving Al Capone and his Mississippi Gulf Coast days. One of Hardwood Kelly's students was an ambitious youngster,who ran for President of the Student Body as a high school junior and won, a lad named Haley Barbour.
Gus Collins was promoted to General while serving in Iraq. Jim McClure, like his Dad, has been prominent in alumni and athletic affairs during most of his life. Dr. Conerly was the Chief Executive Officer of the University Medical School in Jackson.
Markeeva Morgan was the recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, who served America well after 9/11 in New York. Morgan is destined for even greather things. Nancy Van de Vate, who lives now in Vienna, was delighted to be back on campus. A major author of marvelous musicals, she once taught Music Appreciation at Ole Miss, a course many athletes took at that time including a young kicker from the Gulf Coast , Robert Khayat.
Nancy admitted she told the football players the questions that might appear on exams. She said times were different then and some students had to drive to Memphis to buy whisky, which might have caused Chancellor Khayat some concern.
In the Grove the morning of the game Charlie Flowers and Billy Ray Adams, who won All-America acclaim expressed hope that the four game losing streak be broken. Squire Ed Wilburn Hooker and Dr. Shed Hill Roberson agreed. The fact that Kent Jr. Lovelace and Warren (Beaux) Ball were absent made their pals wonder whether they could have been the jinx.
When Beaux was President of the New Orleans Alumni Chapter R. Gerald Turner was Chancellor. Dr. Turner preferred to be introduced as R. Gerald. In his remarks he informed the group of the progress had made since he became Chancellor, also citing the beauty of the campus and the trees and shrubbery he had ordered planted. Beaux thanked Turner for being in New Orleans and said: "Jerry, we had no idea when we hired you as Chancellor we were getting a Johnny Appleseed."
Now the Ole Miss football team plays the Three A's in a row, Alabama and Arkansas in Oxford and Auburn in their backyard. Florida came close to beating LSU just as Ole Miss did a year ago. The Rebels' defense is much improved. They lost in overtime to the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa a year ago and will be piously pointing for an upset win at Vaught Hemingway Stadium.
Sylvester Croom hopes that the Bulldogs can shock Tennessee , while Southern Miss hosts
Southern Methodist in their Homecoming game Saturday.
Let the second half of the 2007 campaign begin.
---30-------