Oakland News 8/21/25

By Marie | August 20, 2025 |

Mahaley Hames and her sister Lou Whatley have been wandering around Mississippi and Tennessee lately. Mahaley said they decided to visit a friend near Maryville, Tn. Here is her report: “My sis is 83-years-young and I will be 87 in December. We went through Oxford, Holly Springs, and Bolivar, TN to catch highway 40 at Jackson. Many will know that it is farther from here to Knoxville than it is from here to Dallas, TX. We were ready for rest when we arrived.

“Our friend June Carlton is a wonderful hostess. She is a quilter that has quilted hundreds. We enjoyed looking at her handiwork.” Mahaley said that one year June quilted 100 quilts by hand! They ended up putting an addition on their home just for quilting. She said it was a pleasant and uneventful trip for the two sisters to spend together.

Laura Hames is starting her 9th year as a teacher in Grenada. She was named Teacher of the Year last year. Laura, we are hoping you have a great year this year! Teachers everywhere are having huge impacts on lives. If you have a chance to encourage and support a teacher, do it!

I am so excited to share with you that James and I have a new granddaughter! I am writing this from Glenview, IL where I am “helping” out for a bit. Josh and Rosy have named her Huckleberry Margaret Nara Aldy. She was born in the early hours of July 23 weighing 7 lbs, 6 oz and she is just wonderful! She sleeps up to 6 hours a night and loves being outside. So far, I’ve had pretty easy assignments! Saturday night, she attended her first outdoor concert where she slept through all of the selections performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra!

Oakland is getting new water meters. Mayor Stephanie Patterson is overseeing the end of this project which was begun by former Mayor Riley Swearengen.

My great-nephew Kash Mastrangelo, who loves all things sports and outdoors, is in the running for Youth Athlete of the Year. He has made through several rounds of voting and is still in the mix for his age group. You can vote for Kash daily. The winner will be featured in an ad in Sports Illustrated and takes home $25,000. The competition also supports the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Why Not You Foundation. Check on my Facebook page, his mom’s (Lindsey Burney) or his grandmother’s (Janet Ross Caulder) to find the link to vote. Right now, he’s in 11th place and he must be in the Top 10 by Thursday, Aug. 21 to continue in the competition! He is an amazing youngster–from working at the Cypress Creek watermelon stand to entertaining his younger cousins (who all adore him) to playing tricks on his grandmother and his Aunt Linda, he makes life fun. Kash, I hope you win it all and buy me a Hershey bar!

A recent report on the average time for each state to eat dinner reminded me that growing up in a farm family, we had breakfast, dinner, and supper. Now, most people call the meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At any rate, Mississippians and Texans typically sit down to eat at 7:02 p.m. followed by residents in Washington, DC, which was the latest at 7:10 p.m.while Pennsylvania eats earliest at 5:37 p.m. and California at 6:19 p.m.which was the average time that people across the nation eat.

Speaking of eating, Oakland needs a restaurant! Residents have indicated having a place that they can go for Sunday lunch as well as other times during the week is high on our list of businesses to recruit! If you know of someone wanting to expand a restaurant or start one, get them in touch with me. My primary role on the Chamber Board is to bring new business to town. Contact me at [email protected] news items or business leads.

Posted in Columnists