community spirit unites an all-state marching band,

the hunt is on in Glenn Allen for haunting spirits

and in Ridgeland we capture the whimsical spirit

found in one artist's bottle trees.

Mississippi Roads is made possible in part by

the generous support of viewers like you.

Thank you!

Support for the Arts Segment of Mississippi Roads

comes from the Mississippi Arts Commission

whose vision is to support and celebrate

Mississippi's creative and innovative spirit.

Informaiton available at arts.state.ms.us.

♪ Down Mississippi roads... ♪

♪ Mississippi Roads... ♪

Welcome back to Mississippi Roads.

I'm your host Walt Grayson.

This week coming to you from one

of the most historic cities in the state.

We are in beautiful Natchez

for the 12th Annual Food and Wine Festival.

Every year this culinary extravaganza gathers

together celebrity chefs from across the south

for three fulfilling days of feasting festivities.

Events begin Friday night at the Natchez

Convention Center with Tastings Along the River,

where regional restaurateurs serve up

a virtual smorgasbord of scrumptious samplings.

Amongst this display of delectable delights

even the most precocious peruser is bound

to find something pleasing to the palate.

Saturday morning starts off with Biscuits, Beignets

and Breakfast at the Natchez Coffee House.

Then that afternoon there's a Wine & Cheese Tasting

at Dunleith mansion,

followed by Brews, Blues & Burgers at Bowie's tavern.

A few of the region's most prominent chefs show off

their culinary skills Saturday night by preparing

a multitude of multi-course meals at many

of Natchez's most historic homes,

treating guests to an evening of fine dining

and soulful entertainment in elegant settings.

And finally the festivities culminate

Sunday Morning with a Champagne Jazz Brunch

at The Carriage House Restaurant

where Osgood and Blaque strike up the band.

Speaking of bands, every year some of the most talented

high-school musicians in the state come together

to form the Mississippi Lions All-State Band.

(Marching band music)

I think excellence draws young people.

I think young people today are

just like they were 64 years ago.

They are drawn together to the Lions All-State Band

because they know it is a two-week period band-wise

that is going to be like heaven.

They know for those two weeks that they are going

to get to achieve a level of excellence that they

can't achieve anywhere else:

at their home schools or anything else.

Mississippi Lions Band is a group

of 145 young people from Mississippi.

They survive a two-stage audition process.

They come from all parts of Mississippi.

We have 54 different high schools

represented this year.

The Lions Band has been in existence for 64 years.

It is sponsored by the Lions of Mississippi

and its main purpose is to represent them

at their annual convention.

♪♪

They have to survive a two-stage audition.

The first stage, a student goes before five judges.

Then we bring them back to a second tryout

with a totally different set of judges.

So we are getting the very best we can.

Every year when you audition,

you go into this practice room

and you get a chance to warm up

and get ready for your actual audition

and you hear all the players in there

and you are like wow, they are all amazing.

It's pretty nerve-racking especially when you know

how great all the players are.

I had tried out my freshman year

and I didn't make it.

I made callbacks but it was really hard for me

but I took that as a way saying I need

to work harder and whenever I worked harder,

it all paid off in the end.

One of the worst things I ever saw was a child

that had been in the Lions Band for three years,

had made callbacks, made the cut for the second one

and then didn't make it at all

after having been in it for three years.

He came from a family of four brothers

that had all been four-year members.

So nobody is guaranteed a spot.

Nobody.

I think that's one of the reasons it has been

really good for a long time.

You can make it this year

and easily not make it next year.

Adjust your block, please.

Adjust to the woodwinds.

Woodwinds, make sure you are in line.

Just go to standby with your feet together.

The kids lovingly call camp Hell Week.

It's very, very difficult.

The day starts just before 6:00 everyday.

The staff wakes the kids up.

We have breakfast at 7:00.

We start marching at 8:00.

We take a little break in the middle of the morning

then we have concert rehearsal until noon.

Then we have reversals again in the afternoon,

take a little break for supper then we come back

and march for two more hours.

Take a short break

and then we do concert rehearsal till 10:00.

Then at 11:00, they go to bed

and then we start all over the next day.

♪♪

Let's just say that traveling with 145 students

is not your most ideal vacation travel arrangements.

But if you're going to travel with 145 students,

these guys are the best.

This year we have 80 seniors that have

graduated from high school.

We have a lot of repeat students,

so they are travel savvy.

They know how to get around.

We have a really highly trained staff.

We have been preparing for this trip,

really, since before last year's trip was over.

We are going to hike Diamond Head.

Were going to snorkel in Honama Bay.

We are going to let them have surf lessons

on Waikiki Beach, not to mention the performances

and things like that, so they

are going to be really busy.

(Hawaiian music playing)

Every year, Lions International has a parade competition

in conjunction with their convention.

The Mississippi Lions Band has won the competition

more than any other all-state band,

in fact more than any of the others combined.

The band has not been defeated since 1999.

I get nervous sometimes, yes,

when we go and compete.

I'm worried one year.

This is my year I'm going to be in it.

I don't want to mess it up for everybody

and ruin the streak.

But we are doing pretty well and I don't think

we are going to mess up the streak anytime soon.

Here's the thing: we never talk about winning or losing ever.

What we talk about is achieving excellence

both individually and as a group.

We understand that our streak is going

to come to an end some day.

Someday someone is going to figure it out

and they are going to do what it takes

to do what our band does.

I think, honestly, our kids will be okay with that.

That's a life lesson.

Once you have done your personal best,

how much more can you give?

They take great pride in the knowledge that if

someone beat them, they must be pretty good.

I want it to be a life- changing experience

for them, a positive life-changing experience.

I want them to make friends

that will last them forever.

And hopefully we are achieving that.

Lions Band has helped me to grow.

It has helped me lead others.

You really feel more responsible, I guess,

because you are pretty much expected

at the highest standard

and you have to meet those.

It has really grown me as a person

and I absolutely love it.

It has made me want to do music more.

It has encouraged me because it has surrounded

me with people who enjoy it as much as I do.

It's what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I'm going to major in music

and Lions Band has played a large role in that.

♪♪

(Applause)

The Old South Winery in Natchez is just one

of the local purveyors of libations that participates

in the Wine Festival every year.

Founded in 1979

by Dr. Scott O. Galbreath Jr. and his wife Edeen,

the Old South Winery specializes

in muscadine wines of varying sweetness.

But if you find muscadine wine is not your cup of tea,

the festival offers other beverages sure

to enliven even the most tepid taste bud.

There you'll find on display a dazzling array

of medicinal spirits designed to delight and gratify.

In our next story we follow a band

of paranormal investigators as they explore spirits

of a different kind.

(spooky music playing)

(heartbeat beating)

Ghost hunts characteristically take place at night.

Nighttime is the right time for ghosts.

Well, we do it at night

because the theory is between the dead time.

In between 2:00 and 4:00 is the dead time.

And that is where the most of the activity usually generates.

I mean, they're out during the daytime, too.

Grayson: But if you are undertaking a ghost hunt

you can't wait until dark to start setting up

the myriad of monitors and putting out the battery

of batteries and to untangle cables and set up cameras

and check out all of the other equipment

that modern ghost hunters have at their disposal.

Man: His power supply was dead.

So we just switched out power supplies with him.

Grayson: That is a mid-afternoon

assignment at the latest.

And a walk-through of the haunted property

in the daylight is a must.

This particular house was lived in by an elderly lady

who died of quite ordinary causes.

The home was never lived in again,

left completely furnished until it was leased out

for the filming of a movie at which time the more

valuable pieces were removed to a warehouse and

only odds and ends were left behind in the home.

But still there are signs of life everywhere.

Old film negatives and reels and reels of home movies

caught my attention being a photographer at heart.

They were just strewn across floor.

Obviously by trespassers who slipped through

the boarded up and locked doors to sight-see

and perhaps search for valuables that may have

been overlooked, either oblivious of the rumors

of the hauntings, or chancing they'd not run into

any of the other-worldly inhabitants.

Now, I was told that even when they were filming

the movie here there were instances of doors

slamming on their own and even a hammer was reported

to have flown across a room under its own power.

So today, several ghost hunters,

all under the banner of the Delta Paranormal Group

are here to investigate the house to determine,

as best as they can, if the place

is really haunted or not.

And to do that, they have invested thousands

of dollars in equipment and have already spent