It takes work to make a lump of coal into a diamond. The state is making diamonds into lumps of coal.
Hugh White State Park near Grenada is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. One fishing magazine called Grenada Lake “King of the Three Pound Crappie.” Other publications rate Grenada as the best crappie lake in the US. Dogwoods Golf Course on the Hugh White property is rated one of the top public golf courses under $75 in the country. The staff people are some of the nicest, hardest working, and most accommodating professionals I’ve ever met.
It's a shame the place is falling apart.
Every year a group I belong to has a weeklong event we call Camporee. About 100 of us meet up at one of our state parks. We have fun programs to raise money for various causes and we tend to a little group business. We eat too much, laugh a lot, catch up with old friends and get to know each other better.
Up until two years ago we met at Roosevelt State Park near Morton. This year we met at Hugh White State Park on Grenada Lake.
The first day I was outside, admiring the rotted wood and crumbling sidewalks at my cabin from the screened in porch when a bald eagle flew by at eye level, not 50 feet away. It was cooler outside because the AC unit in our cabin didn’t work. We shared a duplex on a bluff with a magnificent view of sunset over the lake with friends so we left the connecting door open and stayed cool. By the time I watched the incredible full moon rise over the lake, we were able to chill literally and figuratively at our home for the week.
One of the park staff guys came out, checked the unit, and promised me someone would be out “first thing on the morning.” At 8:10Thursday morning I heard noises, looked out, and saw a man disassembling the AC. An hour later I went out and asked what he had found. “It needs a new compressor but it’s still under warranty, but we can’t get a compressor but we’re going to replace the unit as soon as my guy gets back.”
Me: “How long will that take?”
Him: “We should have you running by 10:30.”
Of course I didn’t believe him. Of course I was wrong. By 10:30 we had cold air. Score one for the park staff.
Later that afternoon our friends discovered their refrigerator didn’t work. Thirty minutes later, park staff delivered a new one.
Thursday morning, I walked to the park office. It’s a beautiful building. If you can look past the peeled paint, crumbling concrete and water stains from the leaking roof it’s really an impressive sight. Inside, it’s spotless. Outside, the grass is mowed, the bushes are trimmed, and the woodwork is falling apart. My guess is it needed renovation at least ten years ago. Hugh White should be a destination for instate and out of state golfers, anglers, and families looking for a few days next to the water. The same holds true for Roosevelt. Their positives far outweigh the negatives I’ve mentioned. Hugh White State Park is a great place to visit. I liked it so much I’ve already made reservations for another stay.
Sadly, the parks that should be a point of pride for Mississippi are instead a collection of state-owned buildings that would shame any self-respecting third world country. The problems I saw aren’t new things. The parks didn’t get that way overnight. The problems I saw are the result of decades of neglect by whoever sets the parks budget.
Is there just not enough money to fix the park?
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is responsible for Hugh White and other state parks. Last year the MDWFP had a budget of $7.6 billion. The 24-25 budget is $7.9 billion. You’d think out of a nearly eight billion dollars somebody could find enough spare change in the couch cushions to keep the cabins from caving in before I go back.
