Rucking Raiders March through Leeds on their 900 mile trek to Camp Lejeune, NC. Photo Courtesy of Leeds Police Department and the Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce.

Last week the Rucking Raiders marched down Parkway Drive through Leeds on their journey from McCalla to Oxford with their Marine Raider Memorial March.  The history behind this march is that seven US Marine Raiders and nine US Marine Aviator crew members of a KC-130T Hercules aircraft died in a tragic crash in Mississippi July of 2017 while in transit to pre-deployment training.  A team of 30 Marine Raiders and Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Navy Corpsmen are undertaking an approximate 900 mile march over eleven days from the crash site near Itta Bena, Miss. to Camp Lejeune, NC for the first anniversary of this tragedy. 

This march honors the Marines who died and symbolizes bringing them back home on the voyage they were unable to make.  These ruckers are carrying a Marine Raider Flag with packs weighted by sandbags filled with soil from the crash site which will be used to plant a tree at a memorial service at the Marine Corps Special Operations Command aboard Camp Lejeune, NC.  For more information about this march, please visit http://www.ruckingraiders.com.

Mayor David Miller just announced that Leeds will be getting a great sit-down restaurant, Wintzell’s Oyster House, which will be located in the Sakura Restaurant building.  Their owner, Bob Donlon, just posted a press release on al.com this week confirming the news.  This endeavor is the result of a three year effort to secure a good sit-down restaurant for Leeds.  It will take approximately 60 days to take the restaurant from its present condition to the Wintzell’s format and open for business.  We want to say a special thank you to the Mayor and city leaders for working to make this possible!

The Lip Sync Challenge has been a hot topic over the last couple of weeks with the different police departments producing their own versions of the lip sync.  Odenville PD produced their lip sync video and challenged Moody PD.  Moody PD produced theirs to the tune of “Thriller” and then challenged Leeds.  Leeds just finished producing their lip sync on Friday to “Ghostbusters” and passed their challenge onto other police departments.  If you haven’t seen the Leeds and Moody PD lip sync videos, they are great.  You can watch them on YouTube.  This has been a great community involvement activity for each of these cities.  We are proud of our local police departments and the work that they do to keep us safe.  They put their lives on the line every day for us and it’s great to see them have a little fun with this community outreach!

Don’t miss the finale’ of the summer musical, “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” this Friday, July 27 at Leeds Theatre & Arts Center.  For ticket information and show times, please visit www.leedsartscouncil.org.  This is a powerful event with the retelling of Victor Hugo’s epic story of love, acceptance and what it means to be a hero.

The Backpack Buddies Rummage Sale is scheduled for Saturday, July 28 at Leeds First United Methodist Church.

Leeds First Methodist Church will host their Vacation Bible School from July 30 through Aug. 2 at 5:30 p.m. each night.  Their theme this year is AMPED for Preschool through Rising 5^th Grade.  Join them for a high energy, awesome VBS experience like never before to learn what it means to be fully alive in Christ Jesus through games, jamming to music, making crafts and growing in our walk with God and each other.  For more information, please visit their Facebook page.

Thought for the Week:  “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” ~William H. McRaven

 I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news so please send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com.