A Mailbox Groans With Love

By Editor | September 23, 2026 |

Oakland News
By Linda Aldy

Congratulations to both Ole Miss and Mississippi State on their wins this past Saturday. They have now both landed a spot in the AP Top 25 poll. Ole Miss moved to No. 4 and State jumped onto the list at No. 24. Prior to this week, the last time they shared a spot in the national rankings was nearly a decade ago in November 2015, according to my Google research! Additionally, Google told me that Mississippi is absolutely dominant across multiple levels of college football right now and “is arguably the best in the nation” in the community college ranks. We have four teams ranked in the NJCAA Division I Top 15 with Miss. Gulf Coast at No. 3, East Mississippi at No. 5, Copiah-Lincoln at No. 10 and Northwest at No. 14.

The Jackson State Tigers are off to a perfect 3–0 start and lead the SWAC East Division. The Delta State Statesmen are off to an elite start and are widely recognized as one of the top Division II teams in the entire country. Belhaven competes in Division III and are undefeated early in its schedule and is considered a prime contender to win its conference.

My husband said that if he ever owned a football team, he would name them Hummingbirds because he has been watching the hummers at our feeders and they are ferocious, especially on defense! He’s surprised they aren’t killing each other or at least knocking each other out because they will definitely ram into each other as they try to claim a feeder as their personal property. We’ve never had so many and they are draining the feeders sometimes twice a day. A group of hummingbirds, in case you are playing trivia or end up on Jeopardy, is called a charm. It will drive you nuts trying to count them because they do not sit still for more than a few seconds at a time, but they really are fascinating.

We’ve gotten numerous grants in Oakland the past few years. The great thing about receiving a grant is that it allows your community to move forward in some specific way. The thing few people see is that it also requires (and rightly so) a lot of documentation for the end-of-grant report. I’ve been working on collecting all of our information on the America250 Mississippi and Mississippi Humanities Council grant so that I can make sure we have everything ready when the time comes for the final report and to make sure we have done the things we said we were going to do and to see what remains to be done.

The grant allowed us to purchase American flags and hardware to fly the flags down Oakland’s main street which is Hickory. I am especially happy about this because we will be able to use these flags each year for our special patriotic holidays. We also used a portion of the grant to support Danica Hart entertaining at our Yalo-Ribbon Festival. We hosted a July 3 Community Birthday Party and a “What Freedom Means to Me” art competition and exhibit. We bought additional patriotic décor and a time capsule which we will fill with items which will help future generations understand what was going on in the year 2026. We are working on oral histories and a youth-led community project. We will soon have our final event which will include burying the time capsule! We are still tabulating our community’s volunteer hours as a part of the grant report, but I’m certain we will exceed the hours necessary for the grant.

Sherry and John Cook recently attended her 40th high school class reunion. She still looks likes a college coed! She graduated from Grenada High School as Sherry Huddleston and worked in the district for years. Even after she officially retired, they’ve needed her help!

Lillian and Gena Lee Standridge came by last week to wish Mother (Margaret Ross) a happy birthday. We had a wonderful visit with them. They brought beautiful flowers and a bag with soaps and candy. Later that day, Kay Conner Peeples came by with some of her fabulous home cooking. She got out of her car with a large laundry basket, and it was full of a variety of meats and vegetables and pies. Kay was our neighbor growing up out in the country and we are thankful for her! I was in my car leaving for a Chamber Board meeting when she drove up, so I didn’t get to visit, but I surely was happy when I got back to Mother’s for supper! After supper, sisters Janet and Martha, along with niece Lindsey and nephew Ross, and I played Mother in a very competitive game of Mexican Train. We have a lot of fun and much laughter. especially the later into the evening it goes. Mother won.

I had no idea that my two older grandchildren were doing this, but they had their classmates each write a birthday card to Mother as she has been celebrating her 94th birthday this month. They didn’t just sign their names, they wrote special notes and included drawings of birthday cakes and candles. They were just adorable. Mother’s mailbox was groaning and she has loved every minute of it. Y’all steal that idea and find someone to shower with cards—maybe for a birthday or maybe just to let them know you’re thinking of them. Have your friends join in! I think we all still enjoy getting personal mail.

The Associated Press recently had an article by Cheyanne Mumphrey that I found very interesting on the need to let children struggle. As parents and grandparents, our first instinct might be to rescue a child who forgets a lunch, struggles with homework or cannot figure out what to do next. However, experts remind us that these small problems can become valuable lessons. Children build confidence and independence by making decisions, trying different solutions, asking for help when they truly need it and learning that mistakes are not the end of the world. Sometimes the best response is not to provide the answer but to ask, “What do you think you could do?”

Of course, adults should always step in when safety is at risk, but everyday frustrations—including boredom, impatience and forgotten assignments—can help prepare children for adulthood. We can start small by letting them manage a little money, complete age-appropriate chores, keep track of their schoolwork or make simple choices. If they handle the responsibility well, give them a little more. It may be hard to stand back and watch them struggle, but allowing children to solve manageable problems may be one of the most helpful things we can do for them, according to the experts she interviewed.

I hope this week brings that cool front we’ve been promised!

Text or leave a message with your news at 601-853-3942. Email me at oaklandareachamber@gmail.com.

Posted in Herald Columnists