Mailbox.

Opening your magazine has become like a surprisingly cool breeze on the hottest, most humid of summer days. When Mississippi Magazine arrives, it triggers a sudden desire to grab a glass of ice-cold sweet tea, turn up the A.C., and plop down on the couch for some reading time. After all, so much wonderful information and vibrant photography should be absorbed and appreciated. Just ask my 11-month-old son Jordan--I recently had him "reading" about the "Best of Mississippi" in your July/August issue!

Please know that someone in "Perk" appreciates your hard work on this magazine. As an editor/writer (and sometimes photographer) at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, I know what it takes to put this together.

Kimberly Jones

Perkinston (Mendenhall native)

I love Mississippi Magazine! I only wish it could come every month. The article "In the Beginning" in the July/August edition was fantastic. The photos were great, and the article was written with such description that mere words painted a picture in your mind. Keep up the good work. Thanks for a wonderful magazine!

Vicci Hall

Brandon

You could have knocked me over with the green onion you used to garnish the Bacon, Tomato, and Onion Pie that was my entry in your recipe contest when I opened the July/August Mississippi Magazine and realized I had won the side dish category! To say I was surprised (and delighted) is an understatement!

I collect cookbooks and have really enjoyed my prize of Patty Roper's cookbooks, Easy Hospitality and Easy Does It: Entertaining. We are about to start construction on our new home, so the large color photo of my dish will be framed to go in my new kitchen.

Thanks again for a most wonderful surprise. I'm already working on next year's entry!

Debra Hardy Mason

Flora

With American manufacturing having been added to the "endangered species" list, we are pleased you chose to feature Heartwood in your July/August publication ("For the Birds"). Your gracious description and remarks are most appreciated by us and our associates. We are proud of our hometown and the support of all of our relatives and friends. This encouraging atmosphere provides the stimulus for our creative processes. Thanks again for exposing Heartwood to your loyal readers.

Larry Glass, Partner

Heartwood, Architecture for the Birds

Star

All of us were so pleased and inspired to see that Fairview Inn had been named among the "Best of Mississippi" in the July/August 2005 issue. We thank you and your staff for this distinguished recognition. With the honor, we realize a greater sense of responsibility in trying to meet the expectations this arouses among our guests. This we will do our best to try to meet.

Carol and Bill Simmons

Fairview Inn

Jackson

I was delighted to see my father's picture (above) in the July/August issue of Mississippi Magazine. I was just beginning to read and stopped to check out the "Farming Roots" article (Southern Scrapbook) when I thought I recognized the handsome young man in the picture. "That's my daddy!" I exclaimed. Don Blackwood and his younger brother Bob are the two farm boys in the picture of the poultry farm. That farm belonged to my grandfather, Mack T. Blackwood. He was well-known and loved around the Delta; people used to drive to Drew to buy whole flats of eggs at the Blackwood Poultry Farm. I am 30 years old now, but when l was about five, I worked there with him on the weekends and pulled the lever on the old cash register to open the drawer. Today, when I meet someone from that era and they ask who my grandparents were, they always say, "We used to drive over there to buy eggs from your granddaddy." What great memories. Thanks so much!

Beth Blackwood Crowe

Drew

Thank you to everyone who voted us as the "Best Place to Find a Special Floral Arrangement" in Mississippi ("Best of Mississippi 2005," July/August)! We are thrilled to be chosen. We truly appreciate all of our friends and customers.

Tom and Nancy McIntyre

A Daisy a Day Flowers

Jackson

Please send your ideas and opinions to Letters to the Editor, 5 Lakeland Circle, Jackson, MS 39216, or via e-mail to [e-mail]. (Please note, letters may be edited for length and clarity.)

And don't forget to send in requests for your favorite recipes from Mississippi restaurants to food editor Mary Leigh Furrh for our Dish It Out column. Send requests via e-mail to [e-mail] or in writing to Dish It Out, 5 Lakeland Circle, Jackson, MS 39216. (Recipes from chain restaurants may not be available.)