1947 $1.50 NCF season ticket found
A former Neshoba County resident came across an interesting piece of local history while visiting here last week.
Leonard “Lenny” Warren, who lives in Pennsylvania, now has a 1947 season pass to the Neshoba County Fair which is in good condition. It was signed by Marvin Posey.
“I was in Philadelphia last week,” Warren said. “One of my older brothers died at the end of June. I was home, helping my family clean up a house he owned.’
His late brother, Steven Warren, seemed to have never thrown anything away.
“He was a hoarder,” Warren said. “Not as bad as some but … bad. He bought things and had some good stuff. But were a lot of things he didn’t throw away.
“My sister, Susan Shoffner, found the season ticket. I am a collector and she thought it would look good in my collection. I have it in a protector device that you put baseball cards in. It was signed by Marvin Posey. My late sister-in-law was a Posey so I’m assuming he was related to her, her father or grandfather. It was ticket number 1601.”
Along with collecting, Warren has numerous interests. Warren likes to study the Civil War. He likes to collect baseball cards and memorabilia, comic books and old military uniforms.
Warren grew up in the country near the Neshoba-Kemper County line. He was one of seven children.
“We had to work,” Warren said, “When you got out of school, you went and worked. We hauled hay or pulpwood. But my last two summers, I worked in a sawmill for one of my dad’s friends.”
Warren left home one day after he graduated from Neshoba Central in 1978 to join the Air Force. While in high school, he played for the Rocket football team his junior and senior year.
“I played linebacker and running back,” Warren said. “I played on defense mostly. Fred Kirkland was my defensive coordinator. I ran the ball one time and finished my career with three yards.”
Warren joined the Air Force and did his basic training in San Antonio, Texas, at Lackland Air Force Base. He went to school in Pensacola and then went on to college. Later during his 28-year military career, he served tours of duty in Japan, England, Germany, Texas and Maryland.
He retired in Maryland and went to work for a software company for 10 years. Now he runs his own software business. Three years ago, he moved to Hanover, Penn., which is southwest of Philadelphia.
He has fun telling people there he is from Philadelphia — Mississippi
“They say ‘what street did you live off of?’” Warren said. “Then I have to tell them I am Philadelphia, Miss., not Pennsylvania.”
He said he comes home about three or four times a year for family events. It has been a while since he went to the Neshoba County Fair.
“I have a lot of relatives in the area,” Warren said. “I come home to see my dad and my siblings. I don’t get to go to the Fair or the Choctaw Fair but I do go to the casino when I get there. The last trip, they were closed.”
Right now, Warren is self-quarantined because he just got back from Mississippi.
“It is one of 16 states you have to self-quarantine when you go there,” Warren said. “But we do the masks like everyone else. A lot of people here will wear the masks, some don’t. The mask is really to protect other people from you.”