Today Is My 68th Birthday!

Today is my 68th Birthday and this picture of me was taken this morning by my wife, Marian.  I am holding one of my birthday present, a walking stick, made in TN.  I am very fond of walking sticks and have collected quite a few.  I intend to have a relaxing day with my family and enjoy my Birthday again. 

I'm also a very avid deer and hog hunter and I'm looking forward to a trip in a couple of weeks to the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club in the MS Delta to a big hog hunt.  Rex is at the deer camp this weekend laying out the bait for those crazy disgusting wild hogs.  We both are looking forward to being in the great outdoors with our good friends and I hope that my wife, Marian, will get her a hog this time. 

Boys Town Alumni Mini-Convention

Washington DC - June 25-27, 2010 - Save The Date

To: Brother and Sister Alumni and Friends,

I hope that your new year is going well and that everyone is in good health. Below you will find a link to the "Save the Date" notification for the 2010 BTNAA Mini-Convention to be held in Washington, DC from June 25-27th.

The Washington, DC Site Executive Director, Jeff Peterson, has invited us to the Campus for a presentation, tour and picnic to be hosted by the youth and families on Campus. This promises to be a rewarding and visit.

Father Steve Boes, Boys Town's National Executive Director will be in attendance and this will be a great opportunity to visit with him and share your Boys Town story and hear what is going on today at Boys Town.

You will have time to see the sites of Washington, DC and to visit with classmates and friends.

We are negotiating for a hotel in Northern Virginia and plan on keeping the rates to around $70-75/night. This is pretty reasonable for Washington, DC at this time of year.

On Sunday, Father Boes will say Mass near Arlington National Cemetery and we will place a wreath at the grave of Lt. Col. USAF, (Chap.), Msgr. Joseph Ariano, '40 in remembrance of all alumni veterans past, present and say a special prayer for those alumni now serving our country.

Click on the link below to print a copy of the "Save the Date" card and mark it on your calander. Call the 800# or send us an email at alumni@boystown.org and let us know if you are planning to attend and how many people will be with you.

http://www.boystownalumni.org/miniconventionsavethedatewebsiteversion.pdf

God bless.
John


John C. Mollison, '64
Senior Advisor for Alumni Matters
Office: 800-345-0458
Office: 402-498-1150/51
FAX: 402-498-1159
john.mollison@boystown.org
alumni@boystown.org

Copper Trees At Old Court House

Taken from handicapped ramp while leaving.

I had the pleasure to meet George "Bubba" Bolm, Curator/Director of the Old Court House Museum ~ Eva W. Davis Memorial.  We had talked about putting my copper trees there to sell in the gift shop and he graciously accepted.  He also gave me some information about the 28th Annual Old Court House Flea Market that will be held in October of this year.  I'm really looking forward to selling my trees at this event.  Here are some pictures that my wife, Marian, took while we were visiting Mr. Bolm today.  This impressive historical  building withstood the American Civil War that was fought here in the Seige of Vicksburg in 1863.  (Double click on pictures to get a better view of the tree)

Mardi Gras Parade 2010

Well, here I am with Mardi Gras beads around my neck and I caught every one of them.  Marian and I attended the 9th Annual Mardi Gras Parade this afternoon in downtown Vicksburg.  It was around 35 degrees but we wrapped up pretty good.  Marian took a bunch of pictures and will post them on her blog (Marian's Hunting Stories, etc., etc., etc.,) tomorrow.  We really enjoyed the parade and it was a nice turn out regardless of the overcast of clouds and snow on the ground.

PS:  My beads around my next was mailed by Marian to Kathy H., who teaches school in Ponotoc, MS, for her students as an award, would get a string of beads.  Glad to know that I made a young child happy!

My New Spiral Stick

The other day while I was in the Corner Drug Store with Marian, I noticed that Joe had some walking sticks.  I showed it to Marian and she said...if you like it, get it for your Birthday present.  My Birthday will be next Sunday.  I really liked it and was made by Mountainside Crafts, 200 Kimball Cove Road, Kimball, TN  37347.  It's made from tough Tennessee hardwood.  The spirial shape of it is different and may have been burned into the wood.  I really do like my new stick!

Last Hunt Of Deer Season With Son

I was sitting in my easy chair relaxing Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago making my copper trees, which is a hobby of mine, when the phone rang. It was 7:30 and could not believe anymore would call that early and I reached for the phone. It was my son Greg. He sounded tired but he wanted to go to his camp to tie down his stands so the MS River would not carry them away when it flooded. I agreed to go and got my hunting clothes on, that had just been washed, since I thought my hunting season was over with. He arrived 30 minutes later and off we went. We got to the camp north of Vicksburg about 40 minutes later.  We crossed the Yazoo Canal on a ferry boat to get to an island called Kings Point. The camp is located on the island and is called Brown’s Point where Marian and I used to hunt about 15 years ago. After saying hello to the camp members that were there we got ready to go and headed out on our 4-wheelers. It was cloudy, cold and damp and around 35 degrees.

We arrived at stand No. 38 and commenced to take a rope and tie down the climber. We then went to the nearby stand No. 39 and took down Greg’s stand and brought with us. Then we went to stand No. 3 and tied it down and we were through. It was noon and we headed back to camp to eat lunch.

We signed in for stand No. 37 which I got into and Greg went further down the road. The road we traveled is right next to the MS River, already approaching flood stage. I saw 5 bucks and one big 8 point that was a shooter. Greg saw 6 bucks and one that looked like a shooter but was not sure. So he decided not to pull the trigger. We both saw so many does that we could not count them all. Greg was muzzle loading and I was watching and the reason was that I could not shoot a deer as a guest due to a $100.00 guest fee per day. The deer started moving around 2:00 and continued to move heavily till 4:00. The next thing I knew Greg was coming down the road to pick up a chair out of stand No. 38 to take back to his house in Vicksburg to keep the flood waters from destroying it.

We arrived back at the camp and said goodbye to our campmates and loaded up the 4-wheelers onto the trailer and drove almost to the camp gate and water was as high as the wheel hugs. There again 7 deer ran across our path in order, one by one. That was the end of my hunting season for 2009-10.  (Picture taken by Greg's cell phone)