MID-SOUTH MEMORIES

25 years ago — 1998

The 40 or so members of the Desoto County Blue Ribbon lobbying panel will concentrate on infrastructure needs when it meets with the Mississippi congressional delegation and other federal officials. The group is scheduled to work March 4-8 to explain county and municipal needs, seek relief from some federal requirements and carry a word of thanks for past support.

50 years ago — 1973

Audiences have a way of demanding encores when Marguerite Piazza entertains, as she will tonight as guest star of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra

pops concert in The Auditorium North Hall. But in a sense this entire appearance is an encore for Miss Piazza, the versatile Memphis singer. During the latter part of the concert, Miss Piazza will be joined by her three daughters, Shirley, 19; Marguerite II, 12; and Anna Becky, 10, for a pair of songs.

75 years ago — 1948

Miss America is getting ready to take off on another goodwill trip. This one will keep her away from the hometown for several weeks. Tomorrow morning, Barbara Jo Walker will fly via American Airlines to New York. She will participate in a fashion show, be fitted for a wool wardrobe and royally entertained

before leaving for South Africa. Walker will serve as a judge in the “Miss South Africa” contest sponsored jointly by the South African Wool Board and Margolies Photo News of Johannesburg.

100 years ago — 1923

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Sharp Williams and Rep. T.U. Sisson of Mississippi were honored guests last night at the annual banquet of the Mississippi Society in Washington.

125 years ago — 1898

E.C. Lahache, chairman of “Mysterious 113,” a big Mardi Gras parade in Memphis, says he will disband the organization next Mardi Gras for one he will call “Memphi.”

THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL FILES Feb. 24, 2017: Roshun Austin, executive director of The Works Inc., holds a sign of what the future median along South Parkway will look like while standing in the current median. A $250,000 construction project funded by a grant from the Hyde Family Foundation will extend the South Parkway median from its terminus near Gaither Street to about a mile westward, at Lauderdale. “It’s a buffer; it will calm the traffic,” Austin said. “But it’s also about beautification and to feel safer as a pedestrian.”