Scene - Blogs - A Mississippi picnic New York has one so why cant Tulsa

A Mississippi picnic: New York has one, so why can't Tulsa?
Published: 5/22/2012 11:42 AM
Last Modified: 5/22/2012 11:42 AM

Courtesy of (as in I totally ripped this from) the University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association.

This blog can go one of two ways:

1. No one's gonna be interested in my idea.

2. Enough people actually WILL be interested, then it'll be up to me to get off my butt and do something.

As those of y'all who've read me over the years know, I am a Mississippi native -- born at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Miss., raised (for the most part) in Laurel, Miss., where I graduated from Northeast Jones High School before earning my journalism degree at the University of Southern Mississippi -- a.k.a., Brett Favre's home school.

I love me some Mississippi, and I miss it VERY much. So, for a decade-plus, whenever I hear about big cities like Los Angeles and New York hosting annual Mississippi picnics, I've always wondered, "Why can't Tulsa have one?"

New York's annual shindig, for example, was started in 1979 by a handful of native Mississippians living in the Big Apple, according to info from the event's web site. They created a picnic party that would highlight Mississippi's attributes and help change the perceptions others had about the state, as well as New York City.

The first picnic attracted some 500 individuals, and that number has steadily increased over the years. The 2012 picnic, to be held June 9 in Central Park, is expected to attract more than 2,000 picnic-goers. The theme, by the way, is "Southern Fried Hollywood," and it's free to attend. Donations for catfish lunches, tea and soft drinks, however, are gladly accepted, with all proceeds benefiting the New York Society for the Preservation of Mississippi Heritage. (Just in case y'all are in the neighborhood, lunch plates are $15 for adults, $10 for children, and beverages are just $1 -- try finding those prices anywhere else in NYC!)

But back to the 918: Any Mississippi transplants interested in this idea? Are there enough of us out there? Or should we just meet up occasionally and have catfish? And even then, WHERE do y'all go for good catfish? Lord, help me ...

Peace, love and southern-fried intentions ... XOXO

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Living Wright

While other kids were watching "The Smurfs," Scene Writer Jason Ashley Wright was tuned in to "Style with Elsa Klensch." By fourth grade, he knew he wanted to write, and spent almost three years publishing a weekly teen-oriented magazine, Teen-Zine -- circulation: 2. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, he became the medical reporter and teen board coordinator for the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, a Gannett newspaper. Eight months later, with visions of Elsa dancing in his head, he applied for the fashion writer position at the Tulsa World, where he began working on Aug. 3, 1998. He is now a general assignment reporter for Scene.

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