Today for lunch I had Taco Soup.

I have to admit this was a first for me, and although the namedid not sound particularly appetizing, I knew it would bedelicious. That’s because the chef was Jimmie Gayle Cain, managerof our Graphics Department.

Desserts ranged from Chocolate Chip Cake to Blueberry Crunch,and I sampled them all. They, too, were served up by the GraphicsDepartment. My tab was $4, and I didn’t have to leave a tip.

This comes a week after the News Room Peanut Boil in which 35pounds of peanuts were boiled, bagged and sold to fellow staffmembers.

Talk around the water cooler and coffee pot is that there’s evenmore to come in this feeding frenzy — cookies, chili, pizza and abreakfast of some sort.

The different departments at the Daily Leader are raising moneyfor the upcoming American Heart Association Heart Walk. Not allefforts, though, are calorie-laden. Chances are being sold on atelevision and a fall decoration, and two T-shirt sales are also inthe works.

Our company’s effort to raise money for this worthy cause hasturned into an all-out competition among the departments. A memberon the production side (the name will be withheld to protectthe guilty) has already said that department is going to “kickbutt” on fund raising. Well, we’ll see about that . . .

The annual Heart Walk is set for Saturday, Nov. 4., at theExchange Club Park and officials have set a goal to raise $54,000in Lincoln County this year. Hopefully, proceeds will exceedexpectations.

The Heart Walk is special to the Daily Leader because we lostone of our own, Joe McDonald, to a stroke two years ago.

Everybody has probably been affected by heart disease in someway. Heart Walk officials report that cardiovascular disease kills2,600 Americans every day. That averages out to about one deathevery 33 seconds. Over 152,000 more suffer strokes each year.

Heart disease also kills more Lincoln County citizens every yearthan anything else.

I didn’t get to take part in the actual Heart Walk last year,and my schedule doesn’t look promising this year, but — along withmy waistline — I’m trying to do my part.

ABOUT THE POLL

The number of votes — 10,368 — cast in our OnlineOpinion Poll this week is astounding. Again, we urge you toremember that this is in no way a scientific poll. As the system isset up now, there’s nothing to keep one person from castingmultiple votes if time and patience allow. A change in the pollwill soon limit this.

If you have a question you’d like to see asked in thepoll, let us know. The answer does have to be in “yes” or “no”form.

BACK DOWNTOWN

I’m looking forward to this weekend’s Ole BrookFestival, and I’m in the contingent that’s happy to see it moveback downtown. The chamber of commerce always does a good job withthe festival, and I hope you can attend.

Write to Nanette Laster at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven,Miss. 39602, send faxes to 833-6714, or e-mail tonlaster@telepak.net. She’d love to hear from you.