New Years in Puckett

Anniston Star columnist Hardy Jackson rang in the new year in Puckett, Miss. His column about the celebration includes this nugget:

Throughout our nation are small towns like Puckett. And most are struggling to maintain their identity. Jackson, Mississippi’s state capital, is less than 50 miles to the north of Puckett and creeping that way. About 10 miles south, a major four-lane is drawing development and people.
There are lots of reasons for Puckett to disappear before the next generation of Puckettians arrives on the scene. But I don’t think it will. You see, in most small towns, folks like those at "The Shop" are the ones who start the exodus — leave for the big city and don’t come back. But in Puckett they have stayed.

The rest is here.