Pat Starnes' Snippets: Mississippi: Brandon

Get ready for Rankin County's largest event, Brandon Day, to be held at Shiloh Park May 6-8, 2010. The outdoor festival will feature arts and crafts, carnival rides, food, fireworks, and day-long entertainment.

The headliner for this year's event is country music superstar Aaron Tippin, performing Saturday night. Also performing May 8 is Crossin' Dixon, a Mississippi country band.

Friday night's entertainment are two Christian groups -- Sidewalk Prophets and Addison Road.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the gate. For more information regarding Brandon Day, visit www.brandonday.org.

This event will be fun for the entire family. Hope to see you there!

It can't be good when your city is mentioned on the Weather Channel or the national news. A winter blast is predicted across the Deep South, especially along the I-20 corridor. The experts are predicting 1-3 inches of snow for Atlanta, Birmingham, Meridian and Jackson.

The south typically isn't prepared for snow, since we don't usually see accumulation. We don't know how to drive in the white stuff, and schools are usually closed if there is the slightest mention of snow in the forecast.

Snow has been the primary topic of conversation today, and it hasn't started to fall yet! But bring it on. I am ready. My pantry is stocked with the essentials...coffee, cream, sugar, Dr. Pepper, and chocolate. I bought a new magazine on the way home this afternoon. I have clean clothes, the plants are covered and the pipes are wrapped (I think). As long as it isn't too cold and we lose power, we'll be fine. But have your emergency plan ready, just in case.

The City of Brandon held their Annual Easter Egg Hunt Thursday evening at Shiloh Park. Hundreds of children came to the ball fields to race for the colorful eggs and to jump in the giant inflatables. Four ball fields contained over 2000 eggs each to accommodate the excited children. The well-organized hunt enabled the younger children to collect eggs in their own age category while the older children played until their turn on adjoining fields.

Several lucky participants grabbed the "prize" eggs and received special Easter baskets filled with stuffed animals, candy, and other treats.

Although many cities held their hunts earlier in the season, Flowood's Winners Circle Park will host an Easter Egg hunt Saturday afternoon from 3-5 p.m.

Hope you have an EGG~cellent Easter!

The onset of Daylight Savings Time gave our family an extra hour to spend outdoors Sunday, and we spent the time at Lakeshore Park in Brandon, off Spillway Road.

It was a great March afternoon, perfect for flying a kite, grilling burgers and hot dogs, playing on the swings, or tossing a frisbee.

It wasn't crowded, but over 300 people enjoyed the spring-like weather at the park Sunday afternoon.

Besides Lakeshore Park, there are several parks and trails located along the Ross Barnett Reservoir for hiking, boating, tennis, and soccer. Throughout Ridgeland, Madison, Flowood and Brandon, there are over 20 parks for fun family activities, like Old Trace Park, Freedom Ridge, and Wolcott Park in Ridgeland.

Visit The Rez for more information about waterfront parks throughout the Jackson Metro area. Or see Local Area Resources to learn about parks throughout each neighborhood  in the Metro Jackson area.

Yesterday I held a Realtor Open House in a popular Brandon MS neighborhood (Crossgates). Several Realtors combined efforts to open our listings for two hours to let agents tour the properties, have lunch, and register for door prizes. A preferred lender sponsored my door prize and accompanied me to the open house.

About 30 minutes into the open house, there was a loud, persistent knock at the door. When I answered, a REAL LIVE PROSPECT asked if he could look at the home. I explained it was for Realtors only, and asked if he could schedule an appointment to return later.

Are you kidding me? ha!

I welcomed him inside to take a look and proceeded to show him the property.

He appeared genuinely impressed and we exchanged contact information, He mentioned he would need to sell his current home, and he was interested in knowing what his payments would be on the new house.

I could have given him an approximate figure, but as luck would have it, my lender was on-site to answer his questions.

The day could not have turned out better. Mr. Prospect and his wife have made arrangements to tour the home again this weekend, and his current home, a 3 BR/2 Bath, 1300 square foot home should sell quickly if priced right.

Since most of us have war stories about how disastrous Open Houses can be, I thought I would share this success story with you.

I will keep you posted.

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Pat Starnes, a Realtor since 1988, specializes in Mississippi Residential Real Estate and can assist you with buying or selling in the Jackson MS Metro area. 

Search homes for sale in Brandon, Pearl, Flowood, Madison, Ridgeland, Florence, Bryam, or Jackson, MS.

Written and Published by Pat Starnes REALTOR

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