Ole Miss and the Southwestern Ole Miss Club want you to attend our annual meeting on Thursday.

We invite all alumni and friends of the university to celebrate with us at Bowie’s Tavern, upstairs in the conference room at 100 Main St.

For only $20 you will be served heavy hors d’oeuvres and a drink ticket. The cash bar is always open. Greet your university friends and meet new ones at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m., defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen will give us the details of our 2007 football season.

We are anxious to learn who the new quarterback will be, what our new ladies’ basketball coach has planned, and all the details of our chances to once again win the SEC baseball tournament. Our tennis team has been in the news lately as well as track and golf athletes. For those of you who are more academic than sports minded, you will be interested in knowing that our football team had the highest graduation rate in the SEC.

Great things are happening at Ole Miss. From the 80 students who enrolled at the University of Mississippi in 1848, the student population has grown to over 14,000 on the Oxford campus and over 17,300 on the three campuses including the University Medical School. Sixty-five percent of the students come from Mississippi, and 68 countries are represented. The university has produced 24 Rhodes Scholars. Our pharmacy department is No. 5 in the nation. Sponsored research has reached $102.9 million. Our engineering department is getting top recognition. One of the reasons Toyota elected to put a plant between Oxford and Tupelo was the tremendous brain power and facilities at the University of Mississippi. No wonder Ole Miss continues to be rated as one of the best buys in universities.

Come meet our very deserving scholarship winner. Anthony Davis from Franklin County High School has received $1,000 from the Southwest Mississippi Alumni Association. Your participation ensures that we will be able to help more deserving students from Adams, Franklin, Jefferson and Wilkinson counties and Concordia Parish.

As an added bonus to an exciting evening, the Ole Miss Alumni Association will raffle four tickets for the Ole Miss vs. Florida game. Other prizes are a night’s stay at the Inn at Ole Miss, a framed and signed Archie Manning picture and a basket stuffed with wonderful Ole Miss gifts. You will not want to miss the fun, so contact Leigh Pyron at 601-446-9071 or leighpyron@bellsouth.net for reservations or more information. Hotty Toddy, gosh almighty, we can’t wait to see you there!

Gayle Gresham Henry is a Natchez resident, graduate of Ole Miss and member of the Ole Miss Alumni Board.