FanPost

Toccopola Tuesday

Toccopola, Mississippi is barely on the map. A quick google search says the population was 246 as of the 2010 census. That seems high.

You probably haven't found yourself in the great metropolis of Toccopola, but there's a chance some of your elders did. You might have even had a great-great-great grandparent that knew someone who graduated from the 1915 class of Toccopola High School. Ok so that's unlikely, too. At best, to you Toccopola is a sign off of Hwy 6 between Pontotoc and Oxford, or it's a reason that when you're driving on Hwy 334 to slow down to 25 miles per hour for that crazy hill at the intersection near Toccopola Baptist Church, Toccopola Presbyterian Church, Toccopola Grocery and the Community Center. Seriously, be careful at that hill.

I bring it up because for about 16 years of my life, Toccopola held great significance to me. Yes I went to both churches. Mainly because my grandmother played (and continues to play) piano at both. For many of those 16+ years, it was up at 7 a.m., Presbyterian Church at 10 a.m., Baptist Church at 11 a.m. Then back on Wednesdays for bible study at the Baptist Church. Like many in MS, this wasn't exactly a huge gathering. That attendance board at the baptist church usually read about 45-50 from the Sunday before. 60 if it was Easter or revival.

But you know what I remember most about Toccopola? It was the sound of David Kellum's voice on Wednesday nights listening to Ole Miss basketball. Those were my favorite nights at church (and yes that doesn't make sense because that's got nothing to do with). But it's true. Riding in my grandmother's beat up old Buick on a rainy Wednesday night, listening to that bellowing, beautiful voice of DK yell "HE GOT IT!" when guys like Ansu Sesay, Jason Harrison, Rahim Lockhart, and Keith Carter hit a big shot.

Toccopola is still there. They even tell me there's a little restaurant in the back of the gas station now. The churches are fading, and have less than 30 in attendance regularly. I haven't been there in 10 years, and I suppose I'm overdue. But admittedly I'm a little afraid that if I go back those memories of grandma and DK will be replaced with the picture of another small MS town that starts seeping back into the earth, in a losing battle with kudzu and good ol' father time.

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