Before the Gateway to the Delta 10-Miler Race becomes too distant a memory, I want to offer belated congratulations to my high school classmate, Gerald Dye, who at age 66 was the oldest runner to complete the course.

Gerald ran the 10-mile course in 1:42:36. He was the 111th runner to cross the finish line out of 166 who finished. Of course he finished first in his age group, because he was the only runner in the age group. But he also finished ahead of 55 other runners, all younger.

That’s no reflection on any runners who finished. It was a challenging course. I overheard an exchange between the first and second place finishers, Brian Barnett of Oxford and Sam Garner of Tupelo, shortly after they crossed the finish line. Both said that they had been surprised by the hills they encountered. They said when they saw the “Delta” in the race name, they had assumed it would be a level course.

Meredith Fleming, who had a very respectable time herself at 1:37:01, heard similar comments from out-of-town runners who had assumed a flat course because of the “Delta” in the race name. They had paid too little attention to the Gateway part.

Nothing dramatic in elevation, just long uphill pulls, first up Lakewood Drive, then on Shamrock between Lakewood and Keating, then on Woodland to Redbud, then on the long stretch on Hickory Lane and finally on Eureka Road.

Runners come away with a healthy respect for those gradual changes in elevation that we take for granted when we drive over them in our vehicles.

While we’re handing out kudos (I always feel strange handing out kudos; it’s such a weird-sounding word. But several online dictionary sources assure that it has a respectable Greek pedigree and means praise or respect that you get because of something you have done or achieved.)

So, kudos to Gerald Dye and all the 10-milers and also to the Heflin House Museum in Sardis.
You may have read in last Friday’s paper that the Heflin House has broken ground for an addition that will expand the facility’s capacity, both as a museum and as a venue for social events.

That comes at a good time, especially when Sardis residents have been counting too many losses, including the loss of their newspaper that closed in Sept.

But the Heflin House is a great success story for the whole county. It has been over 40 years since a group Sardis citizens organized around their concern that the historic 1858 home was going to be razed to make way for the construction of a dollar store.

Not only did they save the structure, they turned it into a viable museum and opened it to the community for weddings, receptions and other social occasions. They’ve done it mostly with donations and fund-raisers.

Now they are likely to get a grant to help pay a portion of the renovation cost. That’s huge. For the Heflin House to be eligible for that grant means that they have jumped through many hoops and hurdles.

In the first place, before the Heflin House could be considered for the $50,000 Heritage Preservation Grant, the City of Sardis had to be recognized by the Dept. of Archives and History (MDAH) as a Certified Local Government. Then the addition and renovation plans had to be approved both by Sardis’ own historic preservation commission and by MDAH.

There was a lot of back and forth between project manager Dale Hart as plans were presented, revised, then presented again.

“We had to keep everything in a style that would be recognized by the Lincoln Administration,” contractor Brian Elder said at the Heflin House Association annual meeting.

The contractor’s work started last week.

The ongoing work by Heflin House members continues with a fund-raising Christmas Bazaar Nov. 21-23. It has been moved from the museum to the home of Grace West at 305 South Pocahontas.

The bazaar will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thus. and Fri. with lunch served. Lunch tickets are $10.

Sat. hours are 10 a.m. until noon. No lunch will be served Sat.

Sale items include baked goods, jewelry, scarves, gloves and related accessories as well as Christmas items. You might even find a red and green kudo!