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Ole Miss Suspends Henderson

Photo by Seph Anderson / hottytoddy.com

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson has been suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules, the school announced Wednesday.

“Since the season ended, we have talked a lot about Marshall taking a greater leadership role with our team. With that comes greater responsibility, and he must do a better job of living up to the high standard we expect from him, and he desires from himself,” said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy.

A senior from Hurst, Texas, Henderson started 33 games for the Rebels in 2012-13, averaging 20.1 points and helping the team to the SEC Tournament Championship and an NCAA third-round appearance in his first season in Oxford. — Ole Miss Sports.com

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A Weekend in the Woods

Photo Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

By Scott Coopwood, HT.com blogger

One of my favorite times of the year is July 4. There have only been a few instances in my life when I didn’t spend July 4 in our cabin on the Miss. River.

Three days of redbugs, mosquitoes, ticks, heat, dust, and rattlesnakes did not disrupt our family’s bliss at our cabin over in Donaldson Point Hunting Club. In fact, now that our sons are older and spend more time with their fiends, it is hard for our family to spend an extended period of time together in one place.

This year, we were joined by our friends from Nashville, Beth Fitzgerald and Bobby Burns. Beth, who is my age and was raised in Memphis, has spent most of her life at Donadlson Point Hunting Club in western Bolivar County with her parents Robert and Hattie Johnson.

In fact, Beth learned the woods from her father –– following him all over the old Po Boy Hunting Club, which is now Concordia Rod and Gun Club. I have spent many hours with her father sitting next to Old River with him telling me about his World War II battle experiences. They were pretty significant.

For many years, Beth’s parents owned the cabin next to ours and several years ago, her parents sold that property to us because they had moved to Franklin, Tennessee, and were getting older. It was very sad for this family to release that property.

It was even sadder when they returned in the summer of 2011 for their first visit after selling it. Upon their arrival, they found their cabin no longer existed as it was destroyed by the Mississippi River flood earlier in 2011. We enjoyed that next door cabin only a couple of years before the flood arrived. Luckily, we were able to restore our old cabin after the flood, and that is what we use today.

Over the holiday, we fished, cooked, and travelled the various roads and trails throughout the 10,000-acre hunting club. This was Bobby’s first trip to the Delta. He owns a real estate brokerage and development firm in Nashville and was enamored with it all … the woods, the river, and the bear.

Yes, the bear! While we were at Donaldson Point, two Miss. State graduate students were documenting the various bear population up and down the Mississippi River. They captured a total of four bear during the week, three were captured during the weekend.

We had the great fortune of watching them sedate a bear, check all of her vitals, place a satellite transmitted collar on her, put tags in her ears, then watch her wake up and scurry off into the woods as if she was awakened from a bad dream.

As a lifelong woodsman, I’m delighted to see these beautiful creatures return to the Delta wilderness up and down the western portion of our county on the Mississippi River. We have all heard the famous story of President Teddy Roosevelt and his bear hunt in the South Delta in the early 1900s. However, not long after his trip, Delta hunters extinguished the bear population and it wasn’t until the late 1970s that a bear was spotted in the Delta. For the past ten years, they are beginning to return in respectable numbers.

Summertime in the woods, you can’t beat it! I hope you had a great fourth as well.

Scott Coopwood is the owner and publisher of Delta Business Journal, Delta Magazine and The Cleveland Current. He can be reached at scott@coopwood.net

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Hang Your Photo Among the Greats in Abner’s Chicken

Abner’s walls lined with sports photography in Oxford, Miss.

Photo by Hillary Houston

Abner’s Wall of Fame Photo Contest: Your Photo Can Hang Among the Famous

In celebration of frying and grilling chicken tenderds for 20 years, Abner’s is sponsoring its fist ever Wall of Fame Photo Contest.

Abner’s chicken fans will have the chance to display their sports photographs on the walls of Abner’s locations in Oxford, Starkville and Tupelo for an entire year. Winners’ photos will join some of sports’ finest, such as Archie Manning, Joe Fortunato, Charlie Conerly, Shorty McWilliams, Eli Manning, D.D. Lewis, Will Clark and Jake Gibbs.

“We want to thank our customers for supporting us for 20 years by giving them the chance to have their own sports memories on the walls,” Abner White, Abner’s Chicken founder and owner said. “I look forward to our customers picking the winners and adding these great photos to our Wall of Fame.”

The contest has a Youth Division as well as an Adult Division. One photo from each will be chosen for each store location, including both locations in Oxford.

“The photos in Abner’s restaurants represent ours – and our customers – passion for sports. These photos are an integral part of the Abner’s experience,” White said.

All photo contest entries should be sent to abnersphotocontest@gmail.com. Every submission will then be posted on the Abner’s Famous Chicken Tenders Facebook page, and the photos with the most “likes” will win a spot on the Wall of Fame.

The deadline for photo submissions is Sept. 15. For more information, visit the Abner’s Famous Chicken Tenders Facebook page, or visit an Abner’s restaurant location.

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Spending a little time on the square, where do you like to shop?...

Spending a little time on the square, where do you like to shop? #hottytoddynews #materialgirls http://bit.ly/14YdVaR

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Where is your favorite place to eat in Oxford? #hottytoddynews...

Where is your favorite place to eat in Oxford? #hottytoddynews http://bit.ly/12bxmL3

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Gold Strike Casino Resort’s Buffet Americana: Taking Tunica to the Next Level

MGM Resorts International’s Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, MIss. is making all-you-can-eat-history with the casino’s new $8 million Buffet Americana.

Gold Strike Casino Resort’s Buffet Americana

Photo provided by Gold Strike Casino Resort

“We’re taking Tunica to the next level,” said Niklas Rytterstorm, Gold Strike Casino Resort General Manager. “If you haven’t been to Tunica in a long time, or have never been before, give it a chance.”

The Buffet Americana’s multi-year, multimillion-dollar property transformation aims to raise the culinary bar in Tunica with fresh gourmet selections, interactive food stations, and an intriguing design concept by renowned Philadelphia-based firm SLDesign.

“In this area, buffet is king. A lot of people select where they are going to visit by who has the best buffet,” said Rytterstorm. “America is a great melting pot of diverse cultures and flavors, and this authentic dining experience is going to engage, entertain and elevate the concept of the traditional casino buffet.”

The buffet’s design pays tribute to the region. Wall panels, ceiling beams, food stations crafted from Southern heart pine, and a large skylight generate a sense of warmth, comfort and familiarity rarely found in a casino dining setting.

“What we really wanted to accomplish was something like Levis’ 501 jeans,” Rytterstorm said. “With Levis you can be out working in the yard and comfortable, they’re a work jeans, but you can also take a pair of Levis, put a nice shirt on, or a blazer and go out to the hippest club that you want. This is where the design concept started.”

The buffet’s art displays, inspired by the area’s textile industry, are a prominent design component. The authenticity, versatility and widespread appeal of Levi’s 501 jeans provide a significant design inspiration, and denim weaves its way through the space.

“We tried to celebrate the workmanship of the greater Memphis area with the textiles and art pieces we chose,” said Rytterstorm. “There are a lot of fun and regional inspirations. The space is modern, but also very authentic”

Gold Strike Casino Resort’s Buffet Americana

Photo provided by Gold Strike Casino Resort

The new 13,500-square-foot restaurant emphasizes fresh, made-to-order meals at stations designed to recreate the feeling of an upscale specialty food market. Many stations – including those offering pasta, omelets, wood-fired pizza and a customized Mongolian grill – will allow diners to design their own dishes while chefs prepare them fresh on the spot.

Buffet Americana introduces the contemporary cooking concept to the Mid-South with delicious kabobs, Tikka skewers and freshly baked Indian breads prepared in the only Tandoori oven found in Mississippi. Other sections offer traditional Southern cooking favorites and seafood selections while highlighting ingredients from local farms and suppliers.

For seafood lovers, every Friday will feature $25.99 all-you-can-eat snow crabs, and the region’s only all-you-can-eat whole lobster every Saturday night. The seafood buffet will spotlight a variety of seafood dishes such as peel and eat shrimp, fried shrimp, Potato Crusted Salmon, Blackened Tilapia with cheddar cheese grits, Seafood Stuffed Eggplant, Moroccan Fish Tagine, Jonah crab claws, oysters, sushi and much more.

Gold Strike Casino Resort’s Buffet Americana

Photo provided by Gold Strike Casino Resort

Buffet Americana guests’ also can enjoy complimentary beer and wine every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night – the area’s only restaurant offering of its kind.

Buffet Americana is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hours of Operation are: Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.- 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday 7 a.m.- 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.-12 a.m.; Saturday 8 a.m.-12 a.m. and Sunday 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Breakfast is $10.99; Lunch is $13.99; Dinner is $20.99. The Champagne Brunch, offered Saturday and Sunday, features a variety of dishes and complimentary Bloody Marys and Mimosas for $20.99.

For more information on Gold Strike’s Casino Resort in Tunica, or its Buffet Americana visit: http://www.goldstrikemississippi.com

Story by Hillary Houston, HottyToddy.com Associate Editor hrhousto@gmail.com

Provided by MGM Resorts International

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Currence Buys Lamar Lounge, Will Expand Menu

BBQ will come to forefront in new incarnation.

“I hear John Currence bought Lamar Lounge and is making it a barbecue joint.”

Seems this sentence has been a part of many sidewalk conversations in Oxford in recent weeks. Liz Barrett of EatingOxford.com confirms the rumors.

Lamar Lounge opened last year and quickly skyrocketed to popularity locally with its burger—which before long became the subject of an episode of Burger Land on the Travel Channel. At the same time, still other Oxonians remain uninitiated. “You know, it’s the place past the Beacon with the sign that just says, ‘BAR,’” one must tell them.

Recently the Lamar’s owners approached Currence, owner of the City Grocery Group of Restaurants, about selling the lounge, Barrett reports.

Currence told EatingOxford.com he plans to offer plates with whole hog barbecue, as well as as tamales, cheese and gravy fries, ribs, burger steak with onion gravy, and jerk chicken.

The Lamar Lounge is at 1309 North Lamar Boulevard.

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