oaklandareachamber@gmail.com<\/a>, or you can leave a message at 601-853-3942. Be sure to include your name as well! We will get organized and include you in what we are doing. <\/p>\nTo adequately prepare for the 2027 legislative session, we will need to start planning within the next few months. <\/p>\n
I was just heartbroken to learn of the death of Zandra Walker. There have been and will be many accolades and memories about her. She certainly represented Water Valley with a big heart. As we were forming the Oakland Area Chamber, Zandra was one of the first people I sat down with. She was such a source of great information and excited that we were doing this in Oakland. Much love to her family and to all who are at a loss without her in your world. <\/p>\n
Our family gathered this past week, coming in from across the country, to say farewell to Richard Sosebee and be with Ginny and Andrew. Even though they are members of Oakland Methodist, the service was held at Batesville Methodist and for good reason. The church was packed there. The impact of Richard and Ginny and Andrew and wherever they have lived, worked or played was in great display. There was a Jimmy Buffett- styled reception following at the Ice House and it was packed, as well. <\/p>\n
I had the chance to see and visit with so many people with Oakland connections. I saw but did not get to visit with the Fly girls, Ann Kirk and Betty Neal. I always looked up to them as a kid on the school bus. I did get a little visiting in with the wonderful Donnie Toole. I want to be as elegant as Donnie when I grow up. It always does my heart good to be in the same room as Kathy Tippit Burkhalter. I don\u2019t think there is a sweeter person anywhere. There were so many others there that I only got to say hello to before the crowd pushed us along.<\/p>\n
As all of my sisters were in town for this, we had some lively and fun discussions including about social media and cellphone usage. Sister Martha assured Mother (Margaret Ross) that she was as fast as Facebook on being in the know and delivering the news. Martha also found some napkins in Mother\u2019s collection that said \u201cI\u2019m having people over later to stare at their phones if you want to come by.\u201d All these communications channels have pluses and minuses, but personal connection is the most important.<\/p>\n
Increased communication technology has also increased scams. The bad guys are getting quicker and smarter. Don\u2019t fall for any calls, text messages or emails that ask you to share personal information. Don\u2019t fall for messages that tell you there is a warrant out for your arrest for missing jury duty or failing to pay a traffic fine. Hang up and call the sheriff\u2019s office, the police department, the bank, or whoever is trying to steal your hard-earned money or savings. A law officer has no authority to collect money, as only the courts do. So, if someone pretending to be an officer says you should pay them, don\u2019t fall for it.<\/p>\n
The newest ruse is that the crooks are using artificial intelligence to create the voices of your children, grandchildren and friends. They sound just like the people they pretend to be. The FBI says they are putting out tens of thousands of these scam calls per minute. Scammers like AI so much they are replacing the callers in their call centers. <\/p>\n
Do not give your information over the phone. Do not give gift cards or money or bank account information to anyone. Have a family \u201csafe word\u201d that you can ask for if someone calls you and asks you for money. Remember, always verify any call that asks for money. Simply say, \u201cI\u2019m going to hang up and call you back soon.\u201d Don\u2019t let any caller make you panic, which is what they want you to do. <\/p>\n
Kids love to come over to Mother\u2019s and look at her goldfish pond. This week, Mahaley Hames and her granddaughter Daisy came over. It just so happened that Mae Whitley Smith from Cleveland, Mother\u2019s great- granddaughter, was there so Daisy and Mae Whitley had a great time playing together.<\/p>\n
I may not have a column next week as I am taking a long weekend to visit my newest granddaughter in the burbs of Chicago. I haven\u2019t seen her since Christmas and I\u2019m quite worried that she needs to see me in person! She\u2019s 8 months old and starting to do some amazing things. She needs her grandmother to witness and cheer her on! My son sent a photo Monday of snow covering their yard and reminded me to bring my coat!<\/p>\n
Let me know if you have news to include. Contact me via email at oaklandareachamber@gmail.com<\/a> or text or leave a message at 601-853-3942. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are excited to announce that Oakland has received another grant. We were waiting Monday morning to hear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-227455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}