Tuesday Sept. 20,
2011
50 cents
Daily Corinthian Vol. 115, No. 224
Storm chance Today
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63
• Corinth, Mississippi • 16 pages • 1 Section
Alcorn County Fair was a big hit BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
The 2011 Alcorn County Fair gained momentum through the week to become a highly successful new beginning, offering old time fun and a diverse program of family entertainment and events.
And fair organizers say it will definitely be an annual event. “At this point we can’t not have one next year,” said Fair Committee Chairman Chris Porterfield. “With all the positive comments I’ve heard, I would have to move out of town and find a new home if
we didn’t have it again.” Over 8,000 people attended the Fair from Tuesday, Sept. 13, to Saturday, Sept. 17 — not counting almost 300 more who attended the Alcorn County 4-H/FFA Livestock Show on Saturday morning. To put it in perspective, the
number of people who attended the Fair is roughly equal to a quarter of the population of Alcorn County. The cooperation of many local organizations greatly aided the success of the Alcorn County Fair, according to Fair organizers.
Putting people to work
“The overall success of the Fair and the Livestock Show is a fine testament to the teamwork between the Fair Committee, the Arena and the Extension Service, along with a lot of other organizations,” Please see FAIR | 2
Shiloh entry fee waived BY JEBB JOHNSTON
jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Staff photo by Steve Beavers
WIN Job Center Case Manager/Customer Service Coordinator Amanda Johnson and Governor’s Job Fair Network Director Adam Todd go over the list of the 52 employers slated to attend the Northeast Mississippi WIN Job Fair today at the Crossroads Arena. Doors to the event open at 9 a.m., and job seekers should be there when the doors open.
Corinth area residents have a new reason to explore the history in their own backyard: Shiloh National Military Park is eliminating its entrance fee. Beginning Oct. 1, the fee becomes a part of history. The Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, a unit of the Shiloh park, already operates without a fee. The change follows a comprehensive review of the fee program and its impact on visitation and local tourism. Superintendent Woody Harrell said there are a couple of reasons to drop the entrance fee, including the difficult economy. “We felt it was in the best interest of the park, especially in these uncertain economic times, to end fee collection and promote visitation to the park and the surrounding area,” he said. “I would hate to see an Please see SHILOH | 2
Corinth tourism tax tops $1M for the first time BY JEBB JOHNSTON jjohnston@dailycorinthian.com
Local officials can point to at least one piece of good economic news: Corinth’s tourism tax has topped $1 million in a 12-month period for the first time. While sales tax has struggled to hold its ground from year to year, the 2 percent tourism tax has posted growth of 3 percent during each of the past two years. This month’s deposit of
$83,556.17 is the final to go on the books for fiscal 2011, taking the year’s total to $1,007,557.60. Fiscal 2010 ended with $975,657.41. In 2003, the tax generated $687,273.85. The tax is collected on prepared food and lodging in the city, with the proceeds split between tourism promotion and retiring the debt on construction of Crossroads Arena. Tourism Director Kristy White said it’s exciting to see the tax
reaching new heights even as economic conditions continue to be challenging. “We hope to be able to continue this trend through the Civil War sesquicentennial period and hopefully continue our advertising program and local grants program for attraction development in Alcorn County that would bring in even more visitors,” said White. The tax actually had negative growth for seven out of the 12
months, but two of the remaining months had gains of more than 20 percent, helping to push the tax into record numbers. The biggest monthly deposit came in July, with a single-month record of $111,476.59, reflecting sales made in May. The mid-September deposit, reflecting sales made in July, totaled $83,556.17, down 4.6 percent from the same month a year earlier.
With the tourism tax continuing on a favorable track, the tourism board recently increased its budget for the sports and recreation committee to $61,000 and boosted festivals/special events to $42,000. The revised budget increased its monthly tax allocation to $42,000, as well. Over the course of fiscal 2012, that will total $504,000 of the tourism office’s projected total income of $629,135.
CACVB plans pair of walking tours BY BOBBY J. SMITH bjsmith@dailycorinthian.com
What would it be worth to take a journey into the past? In October Corinth residents and visitors will have an opportunity to journey into the past — free of charge — with two walking tours of Corinth offered by the Corinth Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We decided to do this as part of the Sesquicentennial — the 150th anniversary of the Civil War,” explained Kristy White, executive director of the CACVB. “The tour was very popular when we held it back in April.”
Corinth Civil War tours were last held in April, when many Civil War enthusiasts were in the area for the anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh. The tours in October will correspond with the anniversary of the Battle of Corinth, fought Oct. 3 - 4, 1862. Continuing into November, the tours will be a lead-up to Corinth’s Grand Illumination, an event centered on the lighting of thousands of luminaries symbolizing both side’s casualties in the Siege and Battle of Corinth.
Submitted photo
Please see TOURS | 2
Dressed in authentic period attire, tour guide Sean Marcum will lead visitors on an informative walk to sites important to Corinth’s story in the Civil War.
Index Stocks........ 7 Classified......14 Comics...... 13
Crossroads .... 11 Weather........5 Obituaries........ 3
On this day in history 150 years ago Sept. 20 — Col. James Mulligan surrendered the 3,600-man Union garrison at Lexington, Mo. Near the end of the siege the Confederates used dampened hemp bales as moveable breastworks.