Mike Reidy -Walter Blake and I landed in Mobile, AL, drove 1,500 miles, hosted 4 receptions, met with 32 prospects, alumni, battled a tornado and ended up at Interstate Barbecue in Memphis, TN.  I took a lot of pictures, so be sure to check out my photo album.

Our first stop was Moss Point and Pascagoula, Mississippi.  Over the last six years, Moss Point H.S. has turned into our most productive high school in Mississippi having sent us five students.  At Moss Point, we met with seven outstanding juniors – prime candidates for recruiting next year. 

After our visit to Moss Point, we traveled a few miles down the road and stopped at Pascagoula H.S., another school where we have had a fair amount of success in attracting students.  Two students from Pascagoula have become “Little Giants” in the past three years.  The counselors at Pascagoula are very supportive of Wabash and arranged for us to meet with five strong juniors.

Walter and I had some time to kill before our dinner in Pascagoula.  We drove from Pascagoula H.S., a few miles down the coast to US HWY 90 and headed to Biloxi.  The scenes of devastation are just like the TV images. Piles of trash are still waiting to be picked up along the highway.  Hundreds of foundations are all that remain of houses that until Katrina were prime locations for home owners.  White FEMA trailers are sitting in driveways of the vanished homes.

That night we hosted a dinner for admitted students and their parents from Moss Point H.S.  Lee Cline ’66 arranged for the dinner at Scranton’s.  Up until four weeks ago Scranton’s was closed due to damage from the hurricane.  Structural damage was minimal, but water was almost 4 feet high on the ground floor.  In addition to the admitted students, we had 5 Wabash students and two sets of parents of current students in attendance.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Harrison H.S. in Gulfport, MS. Gulfport was another city heavily damaged by Katrina. Fortunately the high school suffered no damage. The school was closed for five weeks due to being a shelter for many of the homeless and also acting as a headquarters for a US Army detachment.

That night Lee Cline hosted a reception at Watkins H.S., in Laurel, MS for admitted students from Laurel and Hattiesburg.

Wednesday evening we hosted at reception at Piney Woods Country Life School.  Piney Woods is another school where we have had luck in attracting students in recent years. In addition to the Piney Woods students, we were joined by alumni George Taybos ’66 and Davis Hull ’04, and current student Tamarco White ’06.  The entire counseling staff and the headmaster of the school also joined us.

Thursday was quite an adventure.  As we drove to Oxford, MS, we kept hearing severe weather warnings over the radio.  The closer we got to Oxford the darker the sky became.  By the time we hit the parking lot at the high school, the wind picked up, the sky darkened even more, the sirens went off, and the rain came.

Willing to give my all for “Old Wabash”, I made a mad dash for the front door of the school.  Although the total distance traveled was no more than 50 feet, I still got soaked.  In fact, I’ve never been so wet in my life outside of a swimming pool.

Once inside the school, I discovered I could have stayed in the car for another half-hour.  All the students were in the hallways doing the standard tornado drill. Once the drill was over, I did meet with two outstanding juniors.  One of the students is the son of Ron Rychlak’80.

After meeting with the students, I made a made dash for the ca.  It was still raining.  The next stop would be Memphis and I was hungry.  To me, that meant one thing.  Jim Neely’s Interstate Barbecue. 

Personally, I've never met a rib I didn’t like.  In Memphis, Corky’s and The Rendezvous are great places for ribs, but Interstate is the best.  The beef ribs are huge, tasty, and you get plenty of them – that’s what counts.  Their baked beans are the best I’ve ever had.  Usually when I hit Memphis, I’ll get an order of beans to take back to the motel for breakfast in the morning- yum.

That night we hosted a dinner at Boscos Squared in Memphis.  John Ryder ’71 recommended the restaurant and it was a great choice.  We had admitted students and their parents from Overton H.S., Memphis Central H.S., and St. George Episcopal School.  Current Wabash student Trey Chinn ’06 joined us for dinner.

It was a great time to make the trip.  Many Wabash students were home on Spring Break and it is always helpful for students and parents to meet our students. All of the high school seniors we met are admitted and have visited campus. It's a good time to talk with the students about their impressions of Wabash.  Most of the parents have not visited campus, but I think they get a good feel for the place when they can meet with alumni and the current students. 

Some of these students have financial aid offers and Walter and I could talk with the families about their financial aid.  Lastly, with Honor Scholarship Weekend approaching we can encourage attendance to our biggest recruiting weekend of the year.

As Yogi said:  “It ain’t over till it’s over”, but I think we will have our best recruiting year ever from Mississippi and a strong year from Tennessee.  We would not be nearly as successful without support from alumni in these states.

I’m going to the Interstate website and ordering some ribs.