MERIDIAN — I woke up early Thursday morning and immediately detected a slight nip in the air.  I could feel a coolness that I'd almost forgotten over the oppressively hot summer we've suffered this year.  Furthermore, I knew the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles were playing the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, officially starting the college football season.  By the time you're reading this column all of the Southeastern Conference schools will have opened their seasons and another chapter of my wife's least favorite book, Saturday with One's Spouse Pervaded with Football, will have begun.

    Another book, with far fewer pages came out a while back, entitled All I Really Need to Know I  Learned in Kindergarten.   Author Robert Fulghum's premise was that there were certain essential lessons learned around the sandbox when the number of birthdays celebrated was in single digits.  These included such things as share everything, play fair, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess and, perhaps of greatest importance, the effectiveness of teamwork.

    I grew up in L.A. (lower Alabama - Mobile to be specific) and things moved at a slower pace there in my formative days.  Furthermore, I wasn't necessarily the keenest piece of cutlery in the collection so I didn't truly learn the fundamental lesson about teamwork until I was an eight-year-old playing football for the Crawford Park Tiny Mites.

    I was one of those athletes whose career peaked much too early.  No, I wasn't one of the Eastern European Olympic Champion gymnasts who reached stardom and then became a historic footnote before they reached puberty.  Nevertheless, I did receive significant note in local grammar school circles in 1954 as an all-star player on the all time greatest Crawford Park team.  We finished an undefeated season that closed with a championship victory over Galvez Park in Mobile's answer to the "big house".  I last heard my name echo from the loudspeaker of Ladd Memorial Stadium before my eighth birthday.  It was another case of Neil Diamond's haunting lament, Done Too Soon.

    But I take heart, I'm going to have another shot at a glorious, albeit metaphorical, football victory.  I am participating in one of the more important games of my life, a contest that may represent a crucial decision point in the life and resuscitation of downtown Meridian.  Why is this a crucial contest?  That one's easy, our team of Main Street Recruiters has been charged with the responsibility of enlisting star players along with their financial support. These players can provide the requisite funds to continue our efforts to stabilize and enhance Meridian's downtown.

    What is this possibly life-changing contest?  I am referring to the Meridian Main Street Membership Blitz which kicks off Thursday, September 9th.  I'm no longer the stellar defensive nose-guard that,  as an offensive lineman, could open holes for the quickest 65-pound scat back on Mobile playgrounds.   That would be David Adkins who went on to be a star sprinter for the Bama track team in the late sixties.  No, today I'm serving as a logistical "Gunga Din", as water boy to a true all-star team.

    A group of seventy-five or so of my closest friends and downtown allies will soon be hitting the streets as recruiters signing up members for Meridian Main Street.  All championship teams have a great leader, and ours is no stranger to athletic success.  Bud Thompson, Oktibbeha County’s answer to Paul "Bear" Bryant, is our Commissioner.  And he has enlisted ten or so coaches who have in turn assembled their individual teams.  These recruiters in turn will be calling on businesses, property owners and other downtown stakeholders.

    When businesses and individuals are called on, we fully expect a positive response.  Some will join at the Member level of $50, and others will be able to invest at one of the higher sponsorship levels that require additional zeros moving the decimal point further to the right.  Rest assured all participation will be appreciated, and those dollars invested will be used wisely.  The downtown belongs to all of us and we all have a stake in its future.  You are encouraged to be involved, as a player and as a cheerleader.

    You may be a Titanium Sponsor or your investment may emulate the widow's mite.  Of greatest importance, you need to be a player.  Your resources are essential to keep our program running, but your personal involvement as a member, supporter and volunteer is equally important.  We are going to have a championship season this fall, and we look forward to seeing you in the grandstands as well as on the playing field.  Remember, we're bringing out the blitz package.