Profile Edition 2012 by Greenwood Commonwealth

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Contents 5 Column: Tim Kalich, 4 What would Greenwood be like without Viking? Dr. John Fair Lucas III, 5 2012 Community Service Award winner Yalobusha-Yazoo Kayak and Canoe Trail, 9 Water trail to expand recreation opportunities Birdette Hughey, 15 Greenwood High School teacher found her calling Dr. Sam Sprehe, 21 ENT doctor quick with punch line Louis Coleman, 25 Royals pitcher wants to build on rookie success Goldberg’s, 29 Family business celebrating 90th anniversary Ricky Belk, 47 Glendora farmer is pioneer in planting of peanuts in Delta MVSU Fulbright Scholars, 49 Program offers local students chance to learn foreign language

73 25 YEARS OF VIKING

ENTREPRENEURS

Fred Carl Jr., 33 His vision made company’s range standard of excellence

Cindy Tyler, 57 Running business has been learning experience

Viking’s impact, 41 Company’s projects changed face of Greenwood

Roy Brown, 59 Always looking for new challenges and opportunities

Angelic Hospice, 62 Company offers more than medical care MDCC Culinary Arts Program, 66 Students’ side dishes are main attraction The Wilsons, 69 Family spends six months as missionaries in Africa Michael Bussey Jr., 71 He always knew he wanted to be farmer W.M. Sanders, 73 Family law is her passion as lawyer and judge Pottery, 76 Greenwood has growing community of potters

Pete Floyd, 61 People skills have been key to success Advanced Rehabilitation and Fitness, 81 Helps people get well and get fit Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice, 85 Company is Delta success story David Floyd, 89 Military and FedEx have taken McCarley pilot around work T’ai chi, 93 Chinese martial art can benefit young and old Dr. Douglas Bowden, 97 New cosmetic surgery practice offers unique services

A.W. Tree Service, 101 Austin Wilkey’s business off to successful start Home schooling, 105 Parents have many reasons for teaching at home Shane Sanders Tree Service, 111 Company stays busy working throughout Delta John and Cheryl Weiss, 113 MVSU choir director and wife have wealth of experience Mobile Auto Glass, 117 Third-generation glass man branches out Garden Park Adult Day Center, 121 Garden therapy proves fruitful for those with disabilities Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, 122 Clarksdale hospital adds state-of-the-art equipment Economic development, 124 New growth strategy focuses on jobs Index of advertisers, 127

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Publisher’s note O

ne of my favorite old movies is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Although the 1946 film is mostly associated with the Christmas holidays, the central theme of the movie has no season. It’s about how much one person’s life can impact others. A despondent George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is shown what he had lost sight of: namely, that his existence has not only bettered the lives of family and friends but also that of his entire hometown of Bedford Falls, N.Y. Had Bailey never been born, Bedford Falls would have become Pottersville, named for the greedy, bitter slumlord who is Bailey’s antithesis. Instead of a wholesome familyoriented community, it would have become home to sleazy nightclubs and pawn shops. Similarly, it is unpleasant to imagine what Greenwood might be like today had Fred Carl Jr. not grown up here. This would embarrass Carl. He hates attention. We had to practically beg to get him to be on the cover of this year’s Profile edition. If not, however, for his brainchild that a utilitarian product — a kitchen stove — could become a status symbol, there would be no Viking Range Corp., no Alluvian hotel, no spa, no cooking school, no author-drawing bookstore, and probably very little downtown revitalization. There would be 1,000 more

Staff Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich

Advertising Director Larry Alderman

Managing Editor Charles Corder

Advertising Sales Linda Bassie, Susan Montgomery, Ronnie Sanders, Jim Stallings and Kim Turner

City Editor David Monroe News Editor Charlie Smith Sports Editor Bill Burrus Lifestyles Editor Beth Thomas Staff Writer Bob Darden Contributing Writers and Photographers Jo Alice Darden, Johnny Jennings and Ruth Jensen

Graphic Designers Anne Miles and Joseph Cotton Production Manager Ben Gilton Circulation Manager Shirley Cooper Business Manager Eddie Ray Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050 329 U.S. 82 West Greenwood, MS 38935-8050 (662) 453-5312

people without jobs — that is, if they still lived here. There would be less creative talent in the community overall. And “The Help,” now up for four Academy Awards, would not have been made here. In short, Greenwood would still have its share of attributes, but it would be less attractive, less known and less proud than it is today. It would be more like many other towns of the Delta, where the downsizing of agriculture and the exodus of low-skill manufacturing have not only slammed their economy but weakened their confidence. In 2012, Viking is marking its 25th year of full production. The anniversary is a perfect opportunity for us to look back at the remarkable history of this home-grown company and the positive impact it has had on Greenwood. It’s one of the many success stories that we try to tell in Profile. This 128-page issue is our annual effort to shine a big spotlight what works well in this community and the great people who provide its identity. It’s full of articles, photos and ads that reflect how vibrant and interesting are Greenwood and the surrounding area. Like George Bailey, sometimes we need to be reminded of just how fortunate we are. We hope Profile serves that purpose. — Tim Kalich

On the cover Margaret and Fred Carl, center, stand with two ranges and longtime employees at Viking Range Corp.’s Cooking Products Plant. Back row, from left, are Howard Alderman, Dale Persons, James Holmes, Brian Waldrop, Robert Ervin, Ron Ussery, Tawana Thompson, Brent Noah, Jessie Harris, Terry Rias, Renae Rice, Sheila Taylor, Roy Brooks, Alesa Toole, Todd Goss, Mike Sparks, Connie Gibson and Bruce Schad. Photo by Johnny Jennings Cover design by Joseph Cotton

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2012 Community Service Award winner: Dr. John Fair Lucas III

Does he ever sleep? STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS COURTESY OF DR. JOHN FAIR LUCAS III Surgeon Dr. John Fair Lucas III grew up in Greenwood and returned to the city after his residency to practice medicine with his father. His wife of 31 years, Dr. Marsha Lucas, is a pathologist. “She’s been the one there to take care of the household and the kids when I’ve been at all these meetings and working late at the hospital,” he said.

Lucas stays busy with practice, church, community groups

hen it comes to getting a job done, Dr. John Fair Lucas III applies a principle he heard stated once when he was a medical resident. For six years of his seven-year residency, his schedule was 36 hours on followed by 12 hours off. And he remembers someone giving him this advice: “If you don’t get everything done you need to do in 24 hours, you’ll just have to stay up late.” He took that to heart then, and he still follows it — but not just in

the workplace. While keeping the demanding schedule required by his surgical practice, he also has stayed busy in activities with his church and various community groups, including the Boy Scouts, the Museum of the Mississippi Delta, Greenwood Little Theatre and various other boards. “I don’t know when the guy ever sleeps,” said Dr. Douglas Bowden, who has worked with Lucas since 1992. “He’s always doing something in some organization or helping somebody in addition to doing surgery — you

know, 10, 12, 15 hours a day. But he’s always been like that. And he’s a super guy, a great surgeon and a good friend.” Lucas, who grew up in Greenwood, says his reason for this level of activity is simple. “I’m interested in the community,” he said. “It’s where I live; it’s where my kids have grown up. And I think you have to contribute back to the community if you want it to continue to grow and thrive.” For his efforts in all of these areas, the Commonwealth staff

Previous winners 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Belva Pleasants Dale Persons Alix H. Sanders Dr. V.K. Chawla Dr. Alfio Rausa William Ware Hank Hodges Allan Hammons Mary Ann Shaw Rev. Calvin Collins Joe Seawright Fred Carl Jr.

1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989

Donnie Brock Pann Powers Janice Moor William Sutton Charles Deaton Alex Malouf Irvin Whittaker Harold Smith Charles Bowman Howard Evans Aven Whittington

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Dr. John Fair Lucas III has taken many trips with his Scouts over the years, including a canoe trip to Canada three years ago. Lucas carried his 85-pound canoe. “I think it’s good to show the kids that their Scoutmaster can still keep up with them most of the time,” he said. has chosen Lucas as the winner of the newspaper’s Community Service Award for 2012. v v v Lucas, 56, was born in New Orleans and moved to Greenwood when he started third grade. His father was a surgeon, and his grandfather was an obstetrician-gynecologist who also performed surgery. He remembers visiting the hospital in fourth or fifth grade, staying in the hall as they saw patients and admiring what they did. His interest continued into his high school years at Pillow Academy, where he was valedictorian of the Class of 1973. “I worked in the summers holding retractors and passing instruments for my father in surgery when I was about 15. And I used to make a dollar an hour doing that,” he said. “And that was my first real exposure to surgery.” He had always been good with his hands, and after observing a number of surgeries, he decided that was the kind of work he wanted to do. He was also active in athletics. After getting knocked out in football practice in ninth grade, he decided he was too small and slow for that sport, so he focused on tennis and golf. He did keep statistics and take photos for basketball and football games, though. “I taught myself touch typing so I could type for The Greenwood Commonwealth and give them a story for the next day,” he recalled. In his classwork, he enjoyed math and

showed an aptitude for it; in fact, he took senior math as a sophomore at Pillow and won the award for that class. So he decided to major in math at the University of Mississippi while preparing for medical school. He graduated summa cum laude from Ole Miss in 1977 and went on to medical school at Duke University, where he graduated in 1981 — summa cum laude again. And after completing his residency at Duke, he knew where he wanted to work. “I never really had any other plans other than to be a surgeon and come back here and work with my father,” he said. His father retired in 2008, but John Lucas III still works with Bowden at Lucas Surgical Group, which is now owned by Greenwood Leflore Hospital. He has a particular niche in vascular access surgery, which takes up about half of his practice, and has been recognized as one of the top practitioners of that procedure. “I think that we are very fortunate in Greenwood to have such a good medical community,” he said. “For a hospital and community our size, we have an extraordinary number of well-trained individuals in a number of different specialties.” v v v When Lucas returned to Greenwood, he also got involved with Scouting, which had been a big part of his life growing up. He started as a Cub Scout around third grade, became a Boy Scout in sixth

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“I appreciate all the effort that Dr. (Reed) Carroll put into the Scouting program, which I got a lot out of. And I’ve tried to give some of that back as a youth leader here.” Dr. John Fair Lucas III grade and was an Eagle Scout at 14. In addition to learning about knot-tying, canoeing, cooking, lifesaving, first aid and other outdoor skills, he learned about leadership. He said Dr. Reed Carroll, a longtime leader in Scouting, influenced him as much as anyone outside his immediate family. “I appreciate all the effort that Dr. Carroll put into the Scouting program, which I got a lot out of,” he said. “And I’ve tried to give some of that back as a youth leader here.” As an adult, he helped with Troop 200, the same troop he had belonged to in his youth. He became an adult volunteer for the Tiger Cubs when his oldest son, John Lucas IV, entered first grade and became part of that group. Still today, he’s not content just to sit and watch; he’s very active in interacting with the boys. He also participates in the annual one-mile swim at the Scouts’ summer camp, and he proudly says he has never lost to a Scout. “I don’t ask my Scouts to do things I can’t do,” he said. “So I want to try to lead by example or be able to show them how it is.” Three years ago, he took some Scouts and a 20-year-old former Scout to Canada for a 115-mile canoe trip. “I carried my 85-pound canoe on my shoulders between lakes just like the boys carried theirs,” he said. “So I try to stay in shape to keep up with them.” So how did that go? “I made it as well as any of the kids made it,” he said with a smile. He is still Cubmaster for Pack 4100, and he and Dr. Kenneth Hines both work with Boy Scouts Troop 4100. The two of them were in the same fraternity at Ole Miss, and they began working together in Scouting because they also had sons about the same age. Hines said Lucas is a pleasure to work with and is always willing to take on any project, whether it’s in a leading role or behind the scenes. He added that Lucas is a great role model who teaches boys about work ethic, spiritual life and the importance of balancing outdoor activities with schoolwork. The two have crossed paths often in various community groups, as well as their work in medicine, and “he’s just really involved and active and always glad to lend a hand,” Hines said. The Rev. Matt Rowe, rector at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, said Lucas has been the driving force behind the Scouting program there. “He’s someone that young people can certainly look up to — someone of really high character and someone who’s really achieved a great deal,” Rowe said. Lucas is active at Nativity in other capacities, including serving as an usher and sometimes leading Sunday school

not very talented as far as acting or singing or anything like that, so my contribution was on the technical side.” When Stribling Park was put in, he saw a need to have good facilities for baseball and soccer. So he made contributions toward a baseball field that now bears his name and those of his father, Bowden and Dr. Christopher Capel. He and his wife sponsored a soccer field, as well. “I didn’t go and seek out being part of these,” he said. “People would ask me, and I have a hard time saying no, and on those things where, once I was involved with them, I saw that I could contribute, then I stayed on.” v v v

Dr. John Fair Lucas III, center, became an Eagle Scout at the age of 14. Shown with him are his parents, Dr. John Fair Lucas Jr. and Sethelle Lucas. classes. He also has served on the Vestry. Rowe said Lucas’ interest in helping others is consistent with his work as a healer. “He’s faithful, he’s here all the time and he’s just a quiet, positive presence,” the rector said. v v v When Lucas sees a need, he likes to use his skills to try to fill it. For example, the self-proclaimed “techie” has built a few computers and worked on many others, so he’s been very involved in upgrading Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s equipment. “I like to understand all the systems that I’m working on,” he said. “I don’t like to have something I’m working with that if it breaks, I can’t at least try to fix it.”

As the hospital’s chief informatics officer, a job he has held since 2002, he tests proposed changes to the information system and makes recommendations on how it can be easier and more useful for doctors. Already they can access reports and images from a variety of places, and more improvements are coming, including electronic physician order entry. He helped the Museum of the Mississippi Delta, formerly Cottonlandia Museum, add a computer system to catalog its collections electronically. Also a member of the Greenwood Little Theatre board, he spearheaded improvements to the theater’s membership and reservations system, as well as its sound system. “I had a hard time hearing the dialogue sometimes,” he said. “And to me, the dialogue is 80 percent or so of the enjoyment of a theater production. ... I’m

For 31 years, he has been married to Dr. Marsha Lucas, a pathologist at the hospital, whom he met in medical school. “She’s been supportive of the things that I do,” he said. “She didn’t grow up here. She had her heart set on being a research scientist, and I dragged her back to the Mississippi Delta to be a pathologist and to live here, and I think she considers this home now.” They have a 19-year-old son, Michael, and an 18-year-old daughter, Kathryn. John Fair Lucas IV died in 2003 at the age of 17 after being injured in an accident. The memory of John Lucas IV, who played five sports, lives on in the annual tennis tournament that bears his name and has been a successful fundraiser. “It’s a nice weekend of tennis, and I think we’ve been able to contribute significantly through scholarships and various contributions to the community,” his father said. Lucas hasn’t set a date to retire, and he still loves his work. Besides, his family has set the bar high for working a long time. “My grandfather practiced until he was in his late 70s, my father practiced until he was in his late 70s, and my health is good, and I enjoy what I do,” he said. He said he gets four or five hours of sleep a night most nights, and thanks to his medical training, that’s enough. “I can go with only a couple if I have to,” he said. “Four or five, I function pretty well.” His schedule makes it difficult to attend many board meetings in the middle of the day, but he’s willing to help out at other times. “If somebody’s got a computer list they need generating or some work on something I can do by myself at 1 or 2 in the morning, I can get that accomplished a lot of times,” he said. !

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Yalobusha-Yazoo Kayak and Canoe Trail

Blazing a trail

From left, Clay Davis, Robin Whitfield and Jason Gorski relax during a leisurely portion of a kayaking trip on the Yalobusha River.

Program promotes Delta kayaking, canoeing K

ayaking can be a testing effort for those driven sorts who enjoy winning races and white water. But it can just as well be a leisurely float with frequent breaks to snap pictures and eat, say, homemade pimento cheese. Delta kayaking naturally bends toward the relaxed because of both its geography and its culture. “The kayaking we do around here is

laid back,” said Greenwood kayaker John Coleman. “Unlike whitewater kayaking, which is more dangerous and strenuous, we’re in a longer, more slender boat, traveling at low speed on flat water. “It’s a great way to relax and see areas on the water that can’t be reached by foot — and the Delta is blessed with plenty of those.” Until now, kayaking near Greenwood has been limited mostly to local outdoors

enthusiasts, but an effort is under way to develop a section of the Yalobusha River as a water trail that would serve as a template for the rest of Mississippi. Hart Henson and Robin Whitfield are serving on the Mississippi Water Trail Committee. Henson is the recycling coordinator for Greenwood and Leflore County, and Whitfield works for Communities in Schools. The committee is affiliated with

STORY BY CHARLIE SMITH ! PHOTOS BY HART HENSON AND ROBIN WHITFIELD

Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It formed in 2010 to promote kayaking and canoeing and protect rivers and waterways, Henson said. One of its first projects is the Yalobusha-Yazoo Kayak and Canoe Trail. They are mapping the route from Grenada to Greenwood using GPS and will be putting up markers. It will provide places to get in and out and lengths of different segments with

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time estimates for completing them. All the information is designed to help potential ecotourists plan a kayaking trip. Links will be available on the Mississippi Development Authority website, visitmississippi.org, as well as on brochures. They hope to have everything done by this spring so they can begin marketing the trail as the season begins. Starting with one trail, the promotional effort could expand to other nearby kayaking spots, Henson said. Beautiful lotus flowers bloom during the summer at Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge in southern Leflore County, she said. Roebuck Lake in Itta Bena and Sky Lake in Belzoni are also good for kayaking, she said. “I think the potential’s unlimited,” Henson said. She’s been kayaking for seven or eight years and loves being out on water. It gives her a chance to practice one of her passions, wildlife photography. During a trip in October, Henson, Whitfield and about 10 others from Greenwood and Grenada took off in their kayaks and canoes on a Sunday afternoon for one of their roughly monthly trips from April to October on the Yalobusha. Henson estimates it would take about three days to go from Grenada to Greenwood, where the Yalobusha joins the Tallahatchie to form the Yazoo. This journey spanned 11 miles of unspoiled river between the Holcomb boat landing and the landing at the Malmaison Wildlife Management Area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn’t dredged and channelized the Yalobusha, leaving its natural twists and bends. No motor boats passed during the four-hour trip; they rarely do, according to frequent kayakers. And no signs of human development can be seen through the trees lining the banks. The water is high and swiftmoving because the Corps is releasing water upstream from Grenada Dam. This means an easier ride and less debris to be dodged. When the water is lower, paddlers must navigate a much narrower channel, and onceobscured objects become obstacles. It also opens up more sand bars, which Coleman compares to private beaches. Today there’s at least one good sand bar, and the group pulls over for half an hour. Henson retrieves a cooler from her kayak with her homemade pimento cheese while others eat cookies, nuts and fruit and

From left, Robin Whitfield of Grenada, Clay Davis of Grenada and Jason Gorski of Greenwood prepare to launch their kayaks from the Holcomb boat landing on the Yalobusha River.

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Jason Gorski, left, and his wife, Erin Mulligan, embark on a canoe trip on the Yalobusha River near the Holcomb boat ramp. drink beverages soft and hard. They head back out on the water as the sun’s rays grow long. The Yalobusha takes a dark green shade as twilight approaches. It’s quiet, perfect for personal reflection or a nuanced conversation. It’s the type of scenery many modern people see only on their screensavers. Paddling isn’t too strenuous; the

hardest work you’ll do is likely carrying your boat up the ramp after disembarking. The kayakers see many benefits to promoting the stretch as an ecotourism destination. Henson said it can create economic opportunities if outfitters open and could also benefit private landowners. “If someone owned a lake or hunting

club with places to kayak, they could earn extra income by charging for people to paddle there,” she said. “They could serve as guides or allow guides to bring customers there for a fee.” Increased outdoors options also improve quality of life. “Certainly, the more activities available for the Greenwood area the better,” Coleman said. “You not only get

more people coming from outside the area contributing to the local economy, but it also helps us sell Greenwood as a fun place to live. “Natchez recently started a kayak race down the Mississippi River that attracts a huge number of visitors each year. They even stop Mississippi river barge traffic for the race — that’s how big it’s gotten.” !

Hart Henson, left, and Erin Mulligan enjoy some treats on a sand bar during a break Clay Davis of Grenada paddles on the Yalobusha River. from a kayak trip on the Yalobusha River.

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Birdette Hughey

Birdette Hughey came to the Mississippi Delta through the Teach for America program. She teaches Algebra I to high schoolers at Greenwood High School. STORY BY BETH THOMAS ! PHOTOS BY BETH THOMAS AND CHARLIE SMITH

Inspired choice Teacher wants to help students find calling W

hen Birdette Hughey left the corporate world a few years ago to pursue a teaching career, she never knew she would end up teaching algebra in the flat bottoms of the Mississippi Delta, much less that she would be named Mississippi Teacher of the Year. Hughey has been teaching Algebra I at Greenwood High School for the last three years. “Growing up, my dream was to be a

sports agent and one day own my own team,” Hughey said. “But I also love kids.” Hailing from Dallas, Hughey is a graduate of Desoto High School, where she finished 20th in a class of 382. She received a full academic scholarship to Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla., where she majored in business. “I was in the five-year MBA program,” Hughey said. “I did three years of undergrad work followed by two

“You have the opportunity to meet students at a pivotal time in their lives. You can show them how to go after a purpose, not just a job.” Birdette Hughey

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Birdette Hughey is shown with Tom Burnham, Mississippi superintendent of education, at a reception in Jackson after she won state Teacher of the Year on March 11, 2011. years of graduate work. I completed internships with IBM and KimberlyClark and in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, working with youth organizations.” While working with Chinese youth organizations, Hughey realized she loved working with young people. Her first post-college job was with Johnson & Johnson, where she was a sales representative. Her passion for students and education led her to tutor them at night to help them get into college. Soon, however, she realized that she couldn’t split her interests anymore, and she went to work with youth full time. She started working with Girl Scouts of America, specializing in programs for at-risk girls. She also owned a company

called “Dream Catchers,” which helped kids obtain tutoring to help them get into college. The Teach for America program brought Hughey to the classroom. “I had no clue I was going to be a teacher,” Hughey said. “I used to wonder, ‘Why do I get so inspired when I see movies like “Sister Act” or “High School Musical”?’ Then I realized, ‘I really want to work with youth.’” Hughey said teaching is her calling. “My ministry got me into teaching. I prayed a lot. I’m definitely here because God wanted me to be.” v v v Because she doesn’t have a degree in education, Hughey had to take an alter-

nate route to become a teacher. She became involved with the Teach for America program, which takes people who hold bachelor’s degrees, trains them and places them in low-income areas to teach and encourage academic growth among students. “I didn’t know I was going to be placed in Mississippi,” Hughey said. “I thought I was going to be placed in New Orleans dealing with post-Katrina aftermath, but I’m here and I’m glad. This is where I was placed, and I love it.” She moved to Mississippi three years ago, and it’s been a smooth transition, despite the drastic change in pace. “This place reminds me of where my mom grew up,” she said. “The people are friendly, and it’s like having instant family. My students, my church, they’re all like

family to me.” Hughey comes from a long line of people who value education. Her grandmother is a teacher, her mother is a university vice president and her father is a judge. “My family inspires me, and their influence helped bring me into teaching,” Hughey said. Her mother grew up on a farm in rural Louisiana. “She was able to go to school because her father would do her earlymorning chores,” Hughey said. “She then went to college and ultimately ended up in education.” Like Hughey, her mother first worked in the corporate world before leaving to follow her passion. “Her doing that inspired me, and it helped me to know that it’s OK to change professions and follow a dream.”

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Hughey’s father started out in health care administration, but he wasn’t passionate about it. “He left and went to law school because he wanted to help people,” Hughey said. “My family showed me that it’s OK to change your path if you think you find what your purpose is elsewhere.” To Hughey, teaching means having an impact on generations. “You have the opportunity to meet students at a pivotal time in their lives,” she said. “You can show them how to go after a purpose, not just a job. Teaching is more than coming into a room, delivering curriculum and raising test scores. It’s about impacting lives and showing them what talents they have.” v v v Her passion for teaching earned her a nomination for Teacher of the Year from Greenwood High School Principal Percy Powell. After she was nominated, Hughey had to write a series of essays on education, complete an application packet and send all of the information to the state. She was up against a teacher from every school district in the state. The nominees were narrowed down to one teacher for each of the four congressional districts, and Hughey took the nomination for District 2. The four finalists then headed to Jackson for an interview, and the Teacher of the Year was selected and announced at a special ceremony. “I have to pay tribute to my students for my obtaining this honor,” Hughey said. “They did well and were a huge factor in my becoming Teacher of the Year.” During Hughey’s first year at Greenwood High School, her students beat the state average in Algebra I state testing. “That was amazing,” Hughey said. “They worked so hard.” The school went from a pass rate of 51 percent to 86 percent in one year. Hughey has seen a lot of success at the school. “It’s been really neat. I’ve seen students who come in shy about math and go to the end of the year and those same students are helping others and answering questions out loud,” she said. “Not only do students do well, but they work hard to perform.” And Hughey knows about working hard to succeed in math. “My strongest subject is actually English, but I perform the same in English and math because I work hard at math.” Before Hughey entered eighth grade, her mother hired a math tutor for her and her sister to make sure they never feared the subject. They would get the algebra book in the summer and practice math problems during the break. After school resumed, the two would practice math every Sunday afternoon. Hughey is thankful for the math confidence her tutors gave her, and she wants to make sure she gives that confidence back to her students. That’s why she chose to teach math.

After Hughey’s arrival at Greenwood High School, the school went from a 51 percent pass rate on the Algebra I state test to a pass rate of more than 86 percent. Her first group of students graduates this year. “They seem pretty excited about college,” she said. “I had one student who was older than the others who is now at Ole Miss studying veteri-

nary science.” v v v Part of Hughey’s way to inspire stu-

dents is found in the way she handles discipline. “When a student misbehaves, I talk to him or her one-to-one, and we discuss purpose. I tell them, ‘You’re better than this behavior you’re showing, and there are people who are depending on you to be successful.’” A big banner that reads “Greenwood University” hangs on the wall in Hughey’s classroom, and she tries to run the classes as if it were college. “When they misbehave, I tell them, ‘I’m not upset with you because of the behavior. I’m upset with you because I know you can operate as a college student, and what you’re giving me right now is not college behavior,’” she said. Hughey said she wants them to understand that every discipline action ties back to having bigger goals than just coasting through to graduation. “You have to graduate to impact people. Education is not just to score well or have a nice report card. Your education helps you to make a difference.” And Hughey’s students are welladapted to her. “We have a lot of fun in the classroom,” she said. “I run around the room; we change up the set-up. It’s just cool to keep them engaged. Once you build that relationship and they know the expectation is to work from the beginning of class to the end, you can keep their attention.” Among the honors that come with being the Mississippi Teacher of the Year, Hughey says she is most excited about meeting President Barack Obama in April. Hughey also met former President Bill Clinton when she attended a recent S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teachers engagement on Capitol Hill. The engagement addressed the S.T.E.M teacher shortage in the United States, and Hughey lobbied on Capitol Hill for education in those areas, as well as for the Teach for America program. Hughey has also spoken at various institutes about S.T.E.M, professional development and the alternate teacher route. “This whole opportunity has been amazing,” she said. “I’ve visited all over the country doing training development with other Teachers of the Year, and I’ve been able to meet so many people.” Hughey was also appointed to the Critical Teacher Shortage Task Force and the Mental Health Issues in Education Task Force. “I’m very thankful for this honor. It’s allowed me to really see things differently and to use my voice to impact people and share my story,” Hughey said. “It’s a big part of my testimony in that choosing to teach was a way to step out on faith, leave home and come here. I want to share that with as many people as possible. Hughey said that teaching has also showed her a lot about herself. “I’ve become more reflective,” she said. “If I can find the issue with me in a lesson, then it’s easier for me to improve the lesson than to try and find the issue with the student. I can’t change the student, but I can change myself and as a result, impact the student.” !

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Dr. Sam Sprehe

Comedy and caring

Dr. Sam Sprehe talks about his work as an ear, nose and throat specialist at Greenwood Leflore Hospital during an interview at his office.

ENT doctor quick with joke, but serious about work

f you crossed Santa Claus with a stand-up comedian, you might get Dr. Sam Sprehe. The jovial ear, nose and throat specialist at Greenwood Leflore Hospital wears a long white beard and bears a rotund figure; he also likes to punctuate stories with a punch line. A few cases in point: ! Sprehe took his board exam in sleep

STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHARLIE SMITH medicine recently and should know soon whether he passed. He said he kind of hopes he fails, so he can go back to New Orleans, his kind of town, to retake the test. ! He studied zoology and microbiology as an undergraduate, “the highlight of which I had to make beer for a grade,”

Sprehe said, before bemoaning a Mississippi law preventing home breweries. ! While a medical examiner in two North Carolina and Virginia counties, Sprehe said, he was the only person with authority to arrest the sheriff. “Like I want to do that,” he said.

! The same job, which is similar to a coroner in Mississippi but done by a physician, ensured that Sprehe knew all the police in town. “Which was good if you were going home from the Christmas party,” he said. But alongside the jokes, there’s a caring side to Sprehe. He took the medical examiner job, which paid only about $50 a case when

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“Greenwood has been a great surprise and a good place to live. I hope I can finish my career here.” Dr. Sam Sprehe responding to late-night calls and having the grim task of calling families after suicides or other tragic deaths. He adjudicated more than 2,000 cases during his 19-year tenure, Sprehe said. His work — 80 percent of which involves children — is serious business. Sprehe had instilled in him during his training that “the OR is a dangerous place” and that he should treat it accordingly. That means expeditious work from the entire operating crew and no wasted movement. He said the OR staff at Greenwood Leflore Hospital is the best of the seven hospitals in five states where he’s worked. The 56-year-old moved to Greenwood in April 2011 from Amory, which didn’t have enough patients to support the position. That’s not a concern here. The retirement of three Delta ENT surgeons (among them Dr. Michael Carter of Greenwood, who works with Sprehe and retired from surgery but still sees patients) means Sprehe draws from everywhere between Memphis and Jackson to the north and south and Interstate 55 and the Mississippi River to the east and west. In the last four days of December, Sprehe and the ENT surgical team did 35 surgeries. “Without a complication,” he said proudly. One of the staff at the clinic on Strong Avenue is Sprehe’s wife, Pam, a registered nurse. He describes the beginning of their relationship — medical student meets nurse — as “like gasoline and matches.” The couple has three children, all in their 20s. Sprehe enjoys cooking, and his Weimaraner, Max, a rambunctious 8month-old. He sings in the choir at Greenwood’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, using a skill taught him by his Irish mother. She taught all of her nine children — Sprehe is the youngest — to sing and play the piano, he said. The family hails from Oklahoma City, where his forebears ended up after working on the railroads throughout the Midwest. The surname is of German origins and is pronounced “spray.” The name also belongs to a German meat company, equivalent to Omaha Steaks in Germany, that supplies meat to restaurants, he said. Sprehe went to college and medical school in Oklahoma before leaving the state for good. He said he was drawn to the ear, nose and throat speciality because it combines sophisticated surgery with microscopes and requires finesse with the intensity of head and neck cancers. But those complicated cases require a lot of hands and a big surgical group. Sprehe usually sends them to the

Dr. Sam Sprehe laughs inside his office. The Oklahoma native has worked at hospitals throughout the country, and he said the surgical team in Greenwood is the best he’s seen.

University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Sprehe puts tubes in ears, takes out tonsils, washes out sinuses and fixes facial cuts and fractures. He’s also board-certified in allergy medicine, and Greenwood Leflore Hospital has a full allergy lab. Doctors can test for breathing or food allergies,

and it doesn’t require being poked with a multitude of pins as it once did. Blood can now be drawn while you’re sleeping, perfect for testing children when they’re already asleep for surgery, he said. The patient volume is high — the highest of Sprehe’s career, he said, even higher than when he was a resident in

St. Louis. He said he’s very happy in Greenwood but has never been in a state where people bad-mouthed a region as much as Mississippians do the Delta. “Greenwood has been a great surprise and a good place to live. I hope I can finish my career here,” he said. !

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“The biggest thing (in 2011) was proving I deserved to be there and learning how to deal with the hoopla that comes with being in the major leagues.” Louis Coleman v v v Coleman is pleased with his performance as a rookie and expects to be even better with a year of experience under his belt. “The biggest thing was proving I deserved to be there and learning how to deal with the hoopla that comes with playing in the majors,” he said. “The biggest thing from a pitching standpoint is to continue to develop a third pitch, a change-up. Also, I want to improve my walkto-strikeout ratio. I hate to give up walks. “Looking back on my first season, it went pretty well. I got my first save in Yankee Stadium and my first win at Fenway against the Boston Red Sox. That’s something I will always remember. There were only a couple of rough patches,” Coleman said. That troubling stretch came late in the season. In one game he allowed three runs in 22/3 innings in an eventual Royals loss. And there was a three-appearance stretch from Aug. 21 to 27 in which he allowed three runs twice and one run in the middle outing, taking two losses in the process. Most of the season, though, Coleman did his job as a middle reliever quite well. In July, he allowed just one run and nine hits over 132/3 innings. That month, he picked up 15 strikeouts and had at least one punchout in all but one of his 10 appearances. He pitched six Louis Coleman, throwing against Detroit, earned a save and held the lead 11 times during his rookie season with the Kansas City Royals. games in June and also gave Coleman, who attended the game with going to get to pitch, I might as well be Kansas City pitchers and catchers up just one run. a couple of Leflore County friends, comfortable doing it.” reported to spring training on Feb. 20. He was named Royals Pitcher of the McLeod Meek and John Patridge, and The change worked. The regular season runs April 4 Month for July after posting a 0.61 ERA After posting a 5.59 earned run averthrough Oct. 3. And if the Royals — lowest in the American League among his brother-in-law Alex Fletcher. age as sophomore, he went 8-1 as a junsomehow make the playoffs, Coleman pitchers with at least 142/3 innings. v v v ior with a team-leading 1.95 ERA over might not get home until November. Coleman held opponents to a .167 batting 23 games. His senior season, he was a The Royals haven’t been to the playaverage and allowed just 13.3 percent of Coleman started his baseball career first-team All-America and the SEC offs since 1985. And they have had just inherited runners to score. in Greenwood at Pillow. He then Pitcher of the Year. Coleman struck out one winning season. But Coleman told Coleman says he had a great offseaplayed four years at LSU, where he 142 batters in 129 innings in 2009, finthe Joplin (Mo.) Globe he wants to help son. He spent time with friends and changed arm slots before his junior sea- ishing fourth in the nation in strikeouts. change the Royals’ fortunes. family, hunted for ducks and deer and son in 2008. He recently completed an addition on “We know the history behind it,” followed the LSU football team. “I was throwing submarine and was his family’s house in Schlater to make Coleman said. “We may not have been “I missed only one game that I just tired throwing from down there,” his time home more comfortable. But it involved in it, but we definitely want to could’ve made, the SEC championship he said. “I wasn’t happy, wasn’t getting will be a long time before he will be help get the Royals back on the map game. I was saving up for the BCS to pitch a whole lot. I figured if I wasn’t back home to enjoy the space. like they were.” ! national championship game,” said

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“The biggest thing (in 2010) was proving I deserved to be there and learning how to deal with the hoopla that comes with being in the major leagues.” Louis Coleman v v v Coleman is pleased with his performance as a rookie and expects to be even better with a year of experience under his belt. “The biggest thing was proving I deserved to be there and learning how to deal with the hoopla that comes with playing in the majors,” he said. “The biggest thing from a pitching standpoint is to continue to develop a third pitch, a change-up. Also, I want to improve my walkto-strikeout ratio. I hate to give up walks. “Looking back on my first season, it went pretty well. I got my first save in Yankee Stadium and my first win at Fenway against the Boston Red Sox. That’s something I will always remember. There were only a couple of rough patches,” Coleman said. That troubling stretch came late in the season. In one game he allowed three runs in 22/3 innings in an eventual Royals loss. And there was a three-appearance stretch from Aug. 21 to 27 in which he allowed three runs twice and one run in the middle outing, taking two losses in the process. Most of the season, though, Coleman did his job as a middle reliever quite well. In July, he allowed just one run and nine hits over 132/3 innings. That month, he picked up 15 strikeouts and had at least one punchout in all but one of his 10 appearances. He pitched six Louis Coleman, throwing against Detroit, earned a save and held the lead 11 times during his rookie season with the Kansas City Royals. games in June and also gave Coleman, who attended the game with going to get to pitch, I might as well be Kansas City pitchers and catchers up just one run. a couple of Leflore County friends, comfortable doing it.” reported to spring training on Feb. 20. He was named Royals Pitcher of the McLeod Meek and John Patridge, and The change worked. The regular season runs April 4 Month for July after posting a 0.61 ERA After posting a 5.59 earned run averthrough Oct. 3. And if the Royals — lowest in the American League among his brother-in-law Alex Fletcher. age as sophomore, he went 8-1 as a junsomehow make the playoffs, Coleman pitchers with at least 142/3 innings. v v v ior with a team-leading 1.95 ERA over might not get home until November. Coleman held opponents to a .167 batting 23 games. His senior season, he was a The Royals haven’t been to the playaverage and allowed just 13.3 percent of Coleman started his baseball career first-team All-America and the SEC offs since 1985. And they have had just inherited runners to score. in Greenwood at Pillow. He then Pitcher of the Year. Coleman struck out one winning season. But Coleman told Coleman says he had a great offseaplayed four years at LSU, where he 142 batters in 129 innings in 2009, finthe Joplin (Mo.) Globe he wants to help son. He spent time with friends and changed arm slots before his junior sea- ishing fourth in the nation in strikeouts. change the Royals’ fortunes. family, hunted for ducks and deer and son in 2008. He recently completed an addition on “We know the history behind it,” followed the LSU football team. “I was throwing submarine and was his family’s house in Schlater to make Coleman said. “We may not have been “I missed only one game that I just tired throwing from down there,” his time home more comfortable. But it involved in it, but we definitely want to could’ve made, the SEC championship he said. “I wasn’t happy, wasn’t getting will be a long time before he will be help get the Royals back on the map game. I was saving up for the BCS to pitch a whole lot. I figured if I wasn’t back home to enjoy the space. like they were.” ! national championship game,” said

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Goldberg’s

90 years and counting Immigrants built family business that still thrives STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN

Ilse Goldberg, right, the owner of Goldberg’s, is accompanied by her son, Jerome, who operates the Goldberg’s locations in

Greenwood and Indianola. The family-owned shoe and apparel store has become an institution in the Delta.

or more than 90 years Goldberg’s has been a focal point in Greenwood’s down-

town. A vibrant, family-owned business, Goldberg’s has a rich history. Morris Goldberg founded the company in 1921. “He came here from Russia or Poland, we’re not sure. He was a shoemaker in the old country,” said Ilse Goldberg, 83, the company’s owner. Morris had five children. He brought his oldest son, Harry, with him when he came to America to seek his fortune. From the port of Galveston, Texas, father and son headed to the Delta with “just bags on their backs,” she said. After stopping in Lexington and Tchula, they decided to settle in Greenwood. With help from the president of the Bank of Greenwood, Morris Goldberg opened a shop in the same 500 block of Howard Street where the downtown store stands. Harry, who didn’t speak English when he first arrived, attended Greenwood High School. After graduating as class valedictorian, he joined his father in the shoe business. “When they had a little money, they helped to bring my mother-in-law, Ida Greenberg Goldberg, and the four other children here,” Goldberg said. The four other children, Jeanette, Louis, Charlotte and Isaac, made Greenwood their home, and the two boys eventually joined the family business, Goldberg said. “My husband, Ervin, was born here in Greenwood. They called him the ‘love baby,’” Goldberg said. In the beginning, Morris Goldberg made shoes from scratch. It wasn’t until the 1930s that ready-made shoes became prevalent, Goldberg said. From the start, shoe repairs were a big part of the business. “He had to buy machinery for the shop. They had a very nice repair shop,” Goldberg said. “We were told it was the only one they could depend on between Memphis and Jackson.”

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The Goldberg’s store at 501 Howard St. has been a focal point for shoes and apparel for more than 90 years. The original store started at this location.

Goldberg’s had to close its repair facility following Ervin’s death in 1989. “We couldn’t get the help,” she said. Today, the family owns Goldberg’s stores in Greenwood and Indianola and also Conerly’s Shoes Inc. on West Park Avenue. The stores employ 12 people, including Goldberg’s two sons, Mike and Jerome, and daughter-in-law Gail. Ilse Goldberg, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, makes her role very clear: “I’m the only one that calls herself the owner. My boys work for me.” Although the stores also sell apparel, or what Goldberg referred to as “ethnic wear,” shoes are still the bread and butter of the operation. v v v The history of ready-made shoes is one of constant change. One major change was the advent of Adidas athletic shoes in the mid-1970s. The store had been carrying a number of expensive, fashionable shoes, such as Palizzio and Johansen, Goldberg said. These included dress and casual shoes. “All of the sudden, we had to change trends,” she said. “People weren’t buying those kinds of shoes. Big shoe companies went out of business. “My husband and I attended the first class offered in Dallas, Texas. We went there, and we were the first ones in the state of Mississippi that bought those Adidas shoes,” she said. “It’s coming back, too; we get a lot of calls.” Adidas was the first of many such exclusives in the state. Today, the trend is Nike, and, once again the store — thanks in large part to Mike — was on the cutting edge. “I had gone to market with my dad while in high school, said Mike, now 59. “I got familiar with it, liked it.” His wife, Gail Goldberg, said the business has been responding to customers’ needs for 90 years. “The one constant has been we’ve been able to adapt to changes in Greenwood, changes in the consumer, changes in the economy and changes in the retail business,” she said. Mike and Gail, 57, operate Conerly’s Shoes, which the family acquired in 2003. Jerome, 54, operates both Goldberg’s stores.

Gail and Mike Goldberg operate Conerly’s Shoes at 408 W. Park Ave. The store, one of three owned by the family, is always on the lookout for the latest trends in footwear. Asked what drives him as a businessman, Jerome said, “You make sure the customer is satisfied. Give them the best prices. Customers shop more price today than they ever have in the past. You’ve got to be real competitive.” Dependable service and quality generates longtime customer loyalty, Ilse said. “All the Mannings were fitted here,” she said, referring to the former NFL quarterback Archie Manning’s family in Drew and especially Manning’s two famous sons, NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli. Gail said the stores are now seeing their fourth and fifth generations of customers. “It’s a wonderful connection,” she said.

Conerly’s location. Mike Goldberg said he intended to be there just for a short period of time. “I added a lot of other opportunities to this store for a retail business. It just grew and grew and grew,” he said. “Our business has been very good.” Mike Goldberg said he has a gift — “recognizing other brands and opportunities that work in the retail environment.” A few years ago Crocs were all the rage. Now, for a retail store, that trend is dead, he said. “If you don’t continue to bring in new products that make sense for Greenwood, the right timing, you’re not going to stay here,” he said. “They’ll go shop the Internet, Jackson, wherever. “Of course, you’ve got to work it every day; you’ve got to tend to it every day,” he said. “Otherwise, the consumers won’t shop you either.” Good service is a key, too, Mike said. “We provide excellent service. We demand that from our people,” he said. “You’ve got to wait on people, you’ve got to talk to people. You’ve got to help people, or they won’t spend their money with us.” Gail said she’s been a part of the family business since she married Mike in 1977. For 15 years, Mike and Gail and Ilse Goldberg shared a house together. Described by her husband as the “backbone” of the business, Gail said she doesn’t carry a job title. “Our business isn’t big enough for someone to only wear one hat. We wear many hats,” she said.

v v v

Mike joined the family business when his dad was in poor health and when his uncle Harry ran the Goldberg’s store. “After my dad passed away and my uncle passed away, I woke up one day with all these professionals that had been there for 40 years, 30 years,” he said. “All of the sudden, it was up to me to maintain and continue the store.” Initially, Gail operated Goldberg’s Gallery, located on West Park Avenue. The change in the economic climate after Sept. 11, 2001, prompted the closing of a number of retailers around the gallery. When the family acquired Conerly’s in 2003, the gallery was moved to the

Jerome said the family believes in Greenwood. “We feel that every person we bring to Greenwood to shop at Goldberg’s Greenwood benefits from. We hope the rest of the merchants feel the same,” he said. Still, being part of a 90-year-old familyowned business is both gratifying and humbling, Jerome said. “My father would have wanted it to be that way. It means a lot to me to keep it going that way,” he said. Ilse Goldberg said relationships have made the difference. “People were so good to us here. They still are,” she said. !

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VIKING: 25 YEARS STORY BY CHARLIE SMITH ! PHOTOS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JOHNNY JENNINGS

Viking visionary Carl has built company into industry standard of quality

amed soul singer Aretha Franklin was walking onto the set of “Emeril Live” and immediately noticed the equipment chef Emeril Lagasse was using. “You’re cooking with the best here, Viking,” Franklin remarked. “They’re pretty awesome folks,” the New Orleans restaurateur answered. To which the singer replied, “I have this at home.” What better endorsement could you ask for? That little scene illustrates the depth to which Viking Range Corp. has established itself as the standard of quality in the home appliance industry. The Greenwood-born-and-bred company reached that status remarkably quickly: This year marks the 25th anniversary of full production of its ranges. Viking’s ascension is a classic example of entrepreneurial success. Founder and CEO Fred Carl Jr. had an idea that no else had thought of — a commercial-style range in the home — and brought it to fruition through years of hard work when no one else in the appliance industry believed the project could ever happen. Since Viking’s initial success making high-end ranges, it has expanded to create a total “Viking kitchen,” all the way down to the utensils. It even teaches aspiring chefs how to use its products through Viking Cooking Schools spread across the country. Viking also transformed the dilapidated Hotel Irving on Howard Street into a world-class destination, now called The Alluvian, that’s ranked among the world’s top 100 hotels by Condé Nast Traveler. As the company has grown, it has provided hundreds of jobs to Greenwood, revitalized the city’s historic downtown and done much to improve Mississippi’s perception nationally. “It’s brought back life to the streets of Greenwood. It gives you pride in working for a company that’s really known worldwide,” said Tawana Thompson, Viking’s vice president of logistics and the longesttenured employee. “I think a lot of times we kind of think we’re in Greenwood, Mississippi, and you don’t think about how we’re the Mercedes of the appliance industry.” v v v Those who work for or know Carl keep bringing up two attributes as keys to his

In this Sept. 6, 2006, file photo, Fred Carl Jr. tells lawmakers in Jackson about the benefits of modular housing in the post-Katrina hit areas of the Gulf Coast. Gov. Haley Barbour had appointed Carl to a hurricane recovery commission.

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VIKING: 25 YEARS Viking timeline 1948: Fred Carl Jr. is born in Greenwood. 1981: Carl creates conceptual drawings of first Viking range. 1983: Viking name chosen and logo designed. 1984: Viking Range Corp. incorporated. 1986: First prototype Viking range produced; American Gas Association approval received. 1987: Full production of Viking ranges by U.S. Range in California; Viking corporate office moved to present location at 111 Front St. 1988: Production moved to Brown Stove Works in Tennessee. 1989: Production of first Viking-manufactured rangetop in Greenwood. 1990: All production moved in-house to Greenwood. 1992: Production moved to new plant at current Cooking Products facility location; Stephens Inc., a Little Rock, Ark., investment banking firm, makes

success: persistence and vision. “He’s truly a person who can see the big picture but pays attention to details both. A lot of people can’t do both,” said Dale Persons, Viking’s vice president of corporate development and a 23-year employee. “He was the most persistent young man I ever saw in my life. And I’ve always said, if he had a project, a goal in mind, he was going to continue until he accomplished it,” his mother-in-law, Josephine Leflore, said in an interview for “The Range Project,” a documentary made for Viking’s 10th anniversary. “If he sees there’s a niche — I mean, who would have thought a hotel?” Thompson said, gesturing toward The Alluvian from inside Viking’s corporate offices in a former cotton factor office overlooking the Yazoo River. “Cooking schools? And they all kind of blend in; there’s a flow there.” Carl, 64, is a Greenwood native and fourth-generation home contractor. He’s stocky with fair skin and a bald pate. Although he may look more like a monkish professor, Carl carries himself with the confident bearing of a man of industry. His vision for the Viking range began forming in the late 1970s, when a hightech look featuring commercial-style products in the home became popular, although true commercial ranges are unsafe to use at home. While building his own house, Carl’s wife, Margaret, wanted a stove similar to the late 1940s model Chambers range her mother had that Margaret Carl learned to cook on. In “The Range Project,” Leflore said, “I knew Freddy couldn’t boil water, but he loved that range.” Carl sketched out drawings and began educating himself in the food-service industry. He combed through catalogs and visited commercial-range salespeople, who were uniformly horrified at the idea of their products in homes on any basis, even modified. He always made sure to ask in a roundabout way if any such product existed; none did. It was clear Carl was the first to see

major equity investment. 1993: 30-inch-wide, 24-inch-deep ranges added to product line and become a big success. 1996: Dual-fuel ranges, drop-in cooktops and refrigeration added to product line; plant expansion increases size of Cooking Products manufacturing facility by 50 percent. 1997: Outdoor gas grills and electric ranges and rangetops added to product line. 2000: Refrigeration Products facility opens; Carl wins Greenwood Commonwealth Community Service Award. 2001: Viking Europe created; Hotel Irving and adjoining properties in downtown Greenwood acquired; Distribution Center on U.S. 82 west of Greenwood opens. 2001: Carl inducted into Leflore County Hall of Fame.

2002: Viking Training Center opens in the former Myrick Ford building. 2003: The Alluvian hotel in downtown Greenwood opens; Viking Cooking School opens inside Viking Training Center in Greenwood. 2005: Carl recognized by Kitchen and Bath Business as one of the 50 Top Innovators in the Kitchen and Bath Industry in the Past 50 Years; Carl appointed to Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal following Hurricane Katrina. 2007: Viking begins hosting the state’s lone PGA Tour event in Madison, renaming it the Viking Classic; Viking’s sponsorship ends after the 2011 tournament. 2008-2010: A nationwide housing lull results in layoffs of about 25 percent of Viking’s workforce. 2012: Viking celebrates its 25th anniversary; will sponsor Delta’s first half-marathon.

This early model Viking range is on display at the Liston P. Durden Training Center at the corner of Market and Front streets in downtown Greenwood. the opportunity. But bringing his vision to market proved to be a long and trying process. v v v Carl’s first inclination was to simply take a Chambers range top with a commercial oven section and bolt them together. In 1982, Chambers showed interest, but it eventually backed out. Wolfe Range was more receptive, but after having several conversations and reviewing scale drawings, Wolfe decided it couldn’t do the project (the company

would end up being Viking’s first competitor). Throughout that time, Carl was keeping his construction business, Belmont Construction and Belmont Cabinets, going full time to pay the bills. Thompson began working for Carl’s construction company in 1979, when they were the only members of a twoperson office in downtown Greenwood. She said the construction business never took a secondary role to Carl’s range aspirations. “There were many-a-times that he might have been up two or three o’clock

in the morning bidding a job. I can’t say that we did range by day and construction by night; you had to balance both jobs,” she said. “But he never let the construction business go to the back seat.” Fred Carl Sr., a construction veteran, also worked for his son, overseeing building jobs. A breakthrough finally seemed to come with commercial range-maker Vulcan. Carl loved the company’s design, and he had a supporter in the cooking products division in Baltimore. He had decided by then to build his own product from scratch, and the two sides reached the point of working on a contract. Carl arranged to meet CEO Gordon Oates at the Memphis airport. Oates, who had landed at Normandy on D-Day, was an intimidating figure; Carl said he looked almost exactly like former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. And Oates proposed a deal that would have crushed Viking’s future. He offered a one-year exclusive, and then Vulcan, the much more established company, would come out with a similar product. Carl couldn’t believe what he was hearing and ultimately left the deal. Next Carl traveled to South Bend, Ind., to try to sell the owner of South Bend Range Co. on the idea, but he wasn’t receptive. Carl had exhausted the first-tier group of appliance makers. But he wasn’t giving up. He called Margaret and said he was flying to U.S. Range in Los Angeles. “I was determined I was not coming back until I get some encouraging news,” Carl said in “The Range Project.” Carl at last got a contract in 1984 with U.S. Range. But the company was beset with management problems and couldn’t do the job. However, a group from U.S. Range had left and started another company, Jade Range, which Carl hired for $10,500 to build the first prototype. Delays were numerous, and in the meantime, U.S. Range called Carl and asked him to come back. Carl didn’t want to do so until he got the prototype from Jade. Finally, Jade said it would be ready at

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VIKING: 25 YEARS 8 a.m. on a Friday in Los Angeles. Fred and Margaret Carl flew out — her mother bought her ticket because the couple always worked together but couldn’t afford two tickets — and they rented a Ryder truck to pick up the prototype. When they walked in, everyone was happy to see them, but Fred Carl said in “The Range Project” that he sensed something wasn’t right. When he got out to the shop, the prototype was only an empty double-oven cavity. Carl wasn’t happy and told the owner he had to get the range that day because a photo shoot was scheduled for the next day. The owner promised it would be ready. Jade employees worked all day to get it ready while the Carls waited. At about 6 p.m., the skeleton crew that remained finally assembled the prototype, and the Carls took off with it for U.S. Range in a Ryder truck. The meeting there was a success, and the Carls were excited. v v v Before the company had ever produced a range, a New York City woman, Pat King, wanted to be the first to own one after an architect showed her a Viking advertisement. The avid cook was seeking a restaurant-quality range in her home. “When you love to cook, you want the best tool,” she said in a 2005 interview. “It’s the same thing if you’re a carpenter. You want the best tools. I really like having a powerful range.” King mailed a $100 deposit dated March 15, 1986. The company framed the check, but when cash flow got tight at the startup, Carl told Thompson to “break the glass,” and they cashed it. Persons later persuaded King to send a copy of the check, which he presented to Carl at the com-

pany Christmas party in 1990; Carl sent King a free range to replace her original. The relationship came full circle in 2005 when King visited Viking in Greenwood v v v Things weren’t going as well as anticipated with U.S. Range by 1985, and the production of the first working prototype was pushed back nine months to September 1986. That date, too, was delayed, but behind the scenes, Viking was lining up a distributor network to sell its product. Finally, the first 20 pilot units of the Viking range rolled off a production line in California in December 1986. Full production began in January 1987, but the flow stopped in early February. Viking pressed for information into March before U.S. Range finally admitted it had a strike and the whole plant was shut down. Carl began looking for another manufacturer. He approached Brown Stove Works in Cleveland, Tenn., and it began making Viking ranges. The two companies had good chemistry, but Brown wasn’t interested when Carl began talking about developing more products, including a range top. Carl decided Viking would have to make its own products if it were to succeed. v v v All the manufacturing hiccups had proved to be valuable experience for Carl, and in late 1988 he was ready to establish manufacturing in Greenwood. Carl hired a local industry guru, Bob Harrell, and Viking’s only service employee, Ron Ussery, to form a threeman manufacturing team. To begin the enormous process of

From left, Fred Carl, then-Gov. Haley Barbour, first lady Marsha Barbour and state Sen. David Jordan wear sunglasses as Barbour signs a bill creating the Mississippi Blues Commission in Jackson in this April 26, 2004.

building from scratch, they took apart a range, piece by piece, to determine what they’d make and what they’d buy. They started manufacturing inside the former Delta Purchasing building on Commerce Street. By the last quarter of 1989, Viking was frantically getting ready to go into production, and it was in production on all its products by July 1990. It quickly began renting more and more space until moving to the current Cooking Products Plant in 1992 on what is now Viking Road. But Carl and his company didn’t stand still. v v v In 1992, Stephens Inc., a Little Rock, Ark., investment banking firm, had made a major investment in Viking, which provided funding for the company’s growth. When Viking introduced its 30-inch range in 1993, orders rolled in quickly, and the initial surge never died down. Viking couldn’t keep up with the demand, and a huge backlog ensued. But Viking’s distributors remained loyal, and the situation led Viking to implement the Toyota Production System, where products are built to order. As the company grew, Carl pushed to systematically expand the product line until an entire Viking kitchen was available. Persons said the Viking range made a massive statement, and the rest of the kitchen might look out of place without similar style. There’s also a basic business principle at work. Persons said it’s hard to maintain position in any sector as a small niche industry. “I don’t know if there’s an analogy in the clothing business, but if you just made long-sleeved dress shirts, you’re probably going to have a hard time surviving. You probably have to have a com-

plete clothing line,” he said. Viking’s line now includes everything from outdoor grills to cookware to trash compactors. Its refrigeration plant opened in 2000, followed by its distribution center on U.S. 82 a year later. The opening of Viking’s $10 million dishwasher plant in 2007 consolidated all of the company’s manufacturing in Greenwood and raised its total employment to 1,400. It has four plants in Leflore County: The Cooking Products Plant and Refrigeration Products Plant are both on Viking Road, and the Ventilation Products Plant and Dishwasher Plant are on U.S. 82. The national recession, which has been particularly rough on the homebuilding industry, has slowed Viking’s growth in recent years. The company laid off 365 employees, about 25 percent of its work force, between April 2008 and August 2010. Persons said Viking is finding better ways to do things as a result of the crunch and is focusing more on selling to people remodeling their homes since home construction is down so much. v v v The psychology of a Viking Range owner is a fascinating study, and the company’s understanding of such is an important part of its sales success. A memorable 2002 New Yorker profile termed Viking ranges as “trophy stoves.” “The salespeople who distribute and sell Viking ranges estimate that the vast majority of their customers are ‘look, don’t cook’ people, who prepare elaborate meals only on holidays or special occasions. Most Viking owners are happily anticipating a time when they can start cooking seriously — whether or not that time will ever come,” Molly O’Neill wrote. “Trophy stoves are the culinary equiva-

Mississippi electors Cindy Phillips and Fred Carl recite their oath of office at the state Capitol on Dec. 15, 2008, moments before casting all six of the state's votes for Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

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Page39 Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 23, 2012 PROFILE 2012 =================================================================================================================================================================================

VIKING: 25 YEARS

Fred Carl, right, hands the winner’s trophy to Chris Kirk after Kirk won the Viking Classic on July 17, 2011, in Madison. lent of a retirement plan; as some save for a world tour or Florida condo, others now invest in a showcase kitchen. The Viking range symbolizes its owner’s intention to have, one day, the family life that is supposed to go with it.” Marketing has been important for Viking, and Persons said Carl always had an instinct for it. Early on, Viking advertised in professional publications in which people may have been looking for professional ranges, which aren’t safe for home use. It also put Viking ranges in key influencers’ homes at a discount and later on Food Network cooking shows. The effect was magnified by Viking’s prominent logo, called a badge, which was unlike the typically understated badges on home appliances. “People would say, ‘Wow, look at that range. That thing’s phenomenal. What is that?’” Persons said. “That thing’s a Viking.” Persons said the name, born during a brainstorming session with Greenwood advertising agency Hammons and Associates, has been important, too. “The Viking name just has some kind of panache to it, a cachet to it, you know; it just sounds like something heavy-duty. That it’s been around forever. That it’s robust and powerful and strong,” he said. v v v Whatever the reasons why people choose to buy Viking ranges, the fact that they do has been very good for

“(Fred Carl is) probably five years out, and most people are, ‘What am I going to do tomorrow?’He’s out years ahead of everybody. He can see things that a lot of people can’t.” Tawana Thompson Greenwood and Mississippi: The company has used its success to support a wide span of causes that promote Carl’s hometown and home state. From 2007 to 2011, the company served as title sponsor for Mississippi’s sole PGA Tour golf tournament, the Viking Classic. Viking put its unique touch on the event — which faces the handicap of traditionally being played opposite a top-tier event that draws away the world’s best golfers — by offering culinary events, such as celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, that appealed to a non-golfing audience. Perhaps most significantly, the Viking Classic raised $3 million for charity during its five-year, four-tournament run (the 2009 classic was canceled because of heavy rain throughout the week). The biggest beneficiary was the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children in Jackson, but many other charities were helped,

too, including the United Way of Leflore County. The company’s latest sporting endeavor is a half-marathon — this first such event in the Delta — to be held March 31 in Greenwood. Carl endowed $2.5 million in 2003 to the Carl Small Town Center at Mississippi State University, which gives architectural assistance to small towns. Greenwood’s impoverished Baptist Town community is among those helped. The Viking CEO has played a big role personally in two large economic development projects for Mississippi — promoting blues tourism and rebuilding the Gulf Coast after the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In fact, the entrepreneur served as a go-to guy for former Gov. Haley Barbour. He appointed Carl to head the Mississippi Blues Convention in 2004 and then postKatrina housing on the Governor’s

Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal in 2006. In 2010, Viking helped recruit the Academy Award-nominated movie “The Help” to Greenwood, most notably through the dogged efforts of Viking executive Bill Crump. Viking has also won numerous awards for its historical renovations of downtown Greenwood buildings. It has transformed an area once dominated by cotton merchants into a place that attracts tourists to its boutique hotel and retail shops. v v v What will Viking be doing on its 50th anniversary? Persons predicts an expanded international presence. Even in the early days when the company couldn’t keep up with demand in the United States, it was planting seeds abroad, he said. “I think we will emerge as the premium manufacturer of ultra-high-end products, and it will not be just a predominantly U.S. company. I think it will be worldwide. It will be a global company because everybody knows the world is getting smaller.” One thing seems sure: Carl will be making Viking’s next step before the rest of us have even considered the idea. “He’s probably five years out, and most people are, ‘What am I going to do tomorrow?’” Thompson said. “He’s out years ahead of everybody. He can see these things. He can see things in his head that a lot of people can’t.” !

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VIKING: 25 YEARS

Extreme makeover Viking Range Corp.’s economic impact on Greenwood can be measured by the company’s various endeavors. Here, The Alluvian, a boutique hotel on Howard Street, serves as a focal point for downtown.

Viking has changed face of Greenwood V

iking Range Corp. has received a lot of the credit for Greenwood’s economic and architectural revitalization over the past couple of decades. “You look at where Viking is today, and you’d have to say that it has, in many ways, made Greenwood what people think of Greenwood as it is today,” said Allan Hammons, president and chief executive officer of Hammons & Associates. “I think Viking is so intertwined with the community. It’s hard to

disassociate them, at least in my mind.” Fred Carl Jr., the Greenwood native who founded Viking and continues to operate as its president and chief executive officer, is responsible for a lot of that interconnection, according to Hammons. “Fred, to his great credit, was so committed to the community. He had such a feel for it that they put resources into Greenwood that others probably might have had second thoughts about,” Hammons said. “Those resources, not

only did they change the community in the obvious way, but they created additional assets.” The transformation downtown started rather modestly with Viking’s renovation of what was once an opera house into its corporate headquarters on Front Street. That was followed by the expansion of its growing enterprise into former cotton offices and then its signature redevelopment — the complete renovation of the long-shuttered Hotel Irving. Hammons said his greatest fear

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN

before Viking took on the reclamation project was that the Hotel Irving, which did not even have working sprinklers, would catch fire one night and nothing would be left but a “smoldering mess of ruins.” In 2003, Viking transformed the dilapidated four-story building into The Alluvian, an upscale boutique hotel that would rival hotels in major cities in the United States or Europe. Other downtown restoration projects soon followed — a spa, cooking school, bookstore,

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VIKING: 25 YEARS “It’s a remarkable company. It’s a great American success story. It’s a great Greenwood story.” Allan Hammons

Viking Range Corp.’s corporate offices on Front Street are a modern-day recreation of Cotton Row. restaurants and buildings that house assorted retail shops. Many were initiated by Viking or Carl himself, some by others interested in capitalizing on the hotel’s draw. Viking, said Hammons, “gave the community a new sense of pride and worth. They started us on the path that we’re on today. ... It was the catalyst for a lot of other things.” He said Greenwood has fared better during tough economic times than many other Delta cities of comparable size. While many industries were shed-

ding factory jobs to Mexico and Asia, Viking was still producing its upscale kitchen appliances. “That made a huge impact on our community,” Hammons said. Even Viking has been hurt by the housing market collapse, but the company has used creativity to adapt, he said. “They continue to be great boosters of the economy in Greenwood,” Hammons said. Viking has also been a key player in attracting and recruiting new industry to the area. The company has a sense

of loyalty to Greenwood and its people, he said. “It’s a remarkable company. It’s a great American success story. It’s a great Greenwood story,” Hammons said. “In many ways, it’s put Greenwood on the map. I think Greenwood is viewed by people all over the country — and, for that matter, around the world — as a culinary center,” he said. v v v Paige Hunt, executive director of the

Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Greenwood has two distinct types of tourists — those visiting Viking Range and those interested in blues music. “More and more visitors are coming to experience that boutique hotel. People love experiencing downtown Greenwood,” she said. Hunt said Viking fans already have a name. “We affectionately call them ‘stove groupies,’” she said, adding, “All tourists have equally green and spendable money.”

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Ricky Belk

Peanut pioneer Could this be next big crop in Delta? G

lendora farmer Ricky Belk may not look like it, but he’s a pioneer. Belk plans to plant 300 to 500 acres of peanuts this year. “Alan Blaine, my soybean consultant, he’s checked a bunch of peanuts, and he’s been involved with them for a long time. He kept telling me I ought to look into it,” Belk said. Blaine, a partner with South Ag Consulting of Starkville and a former Mississippi State Extension Service crop specialist, said the Delta could be on the verge of a sea change regarding the peanut. “I think the Delta has the potential for bigger yields than in other parts of the state, considering the soil types,” he said. Concerns over urbanization and droughts have reduced yields in regions where peanuts historically have been grown. That has prompted peanut companies to view the Delta as a potential growing area, Blaine said. Today’s price of $750 per ton and the prospect of harvesting 1.8 tons per acre help keep farmer interest high. “The contract price is very attractive. It’s the highest it’s been in a while. That’s why the Mid-South is the new frontier,” Blaine said. Belk, 50, said farmers in Holmes County have been growing peanuts and had success with them. “I don’t know a whole lot about it other than what I’ve been told,” he said. “This time next year, I’m sure I’ll know a whole lot more than I do today.” Peanuts can be planted using conventional planters, but harvesting requires specialized equipment, including a peanut digger, which extracts the plants from the ground and flips them over on the ground, and a peanut combine, Belk said. Belk said the one downside of peanuts is once they have been pulled out of the ground it takes three days to a week for them to dry prior to harvesting. “If it rains, then they rot. You’ve got zero,” he said. Already, peanut companies are making significant investment in infrastructure in the Delta, Belk said. “One peanut company bought the Good Hope Gin down in Tchula. They’re going to put a buying point in there,” he said.

Glendora farmer Ricky Belk plans to plant between 300 and 500 acres of peanuts this year. Peanuts, while not completely new to the region, are likely to be the “New Frontier” of Delta crops as other regions of the country battle urbanization and drought.

A “buying point” is a processing center where peanuts are hauled to, weighed and purchased. He added that another buying point will be located somewhere between Clarksdale and Tunica. Belk adds that each buying point costs anywhere from $6 million to $8 million, indicating a significant investment in the Delta’s economy. “If they are going to invest that much money, they must think it isn’t a oneyear deal,” he said. Peanuts have been in the Delta region for a while. “They’ve got people growing in the Helena area. There have always been peanuts around Jonestown,” Belk said. Most crops grown in the state were of

the Spanish variety, but the new crops will be “Runner peanuts,” Blaine said. He described these as a “fuller season variety,” for the most part considered generically as “peanuts” by most Americans. Belk said he took a fact-finding trip to the peanut-growing region of Florida recently. While there, he picked up two used peanut combines. He said one of the advantages of peanuts is that they can be treated with the same weed control chemicals that Delta farmers already use. Another plus is that peanuts don’t require as much irrigation as other common crops. Planting of peanuts takes place in

STORY AND PHOTO BY BOB DARDEN

April, which works out well for Belk, since he’s planting mostly corn this year and will be through with that by the time the peanuts need to be planted. Peanut harvesting, like cotton harvesting, takes place in late September and early October. “The price is really good right now. If they don’t work now, they won’t ever work,” Belk said. Ideally, he said, 20 acres of peanuts can be harvested per day. “It’s real slow compared to what we’re used to.” Belk said he’ll just have to see how peanuts work out for him. As with most crops in the Delta, it’s a gamble. “If it don’t work out, we’ll say we tried,” he said. !

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Ricky Belk

Peanut pioneer Could this be next big crop in Delta? G

lendora farmer Ricky Belk may not look like it, but he’s a pioneer. Belk plans to plant 300 to 500 acres of peanuts this year. “Alan Blaine, my soybean consultant, he’s checked a bunch of peanuts, and he’s been involved with them for a long time. He kept telling me I ought to look into it,” Belk said. Blaine, a partner with South Ag Consulting of Starkville and a former Mississippi State Extension Service crop specialist, said the Delta could be on the verge of a sea change regarding the peanut. “I think the Delta has the potential for bigger yields than in other parts of the state, considering the soil types,” he said. Concerns over urbanization and droughts have reduced yields in regions where peanuts historically have been grown. That has prompted peanut companies to view the Delta as a potential growing area, Blaine said. Today’s price of $7.50 per ton and the prospect of harvesting 1.8 tons per acre help keep farmer interest high. “The contract price is very attractive. It’s the highest it’s been in a while. That’s why the Mid-South is the new frontier,” Blaine said. Belk, 50, said farmers in Holmes County have been growing peanuts and had success with them. “I don’t know a whole lot about it other than what I’ve been told,” he said. “This time next year, I’m sure I’ll know a whole lot more than I do today.” Peanuts can be planted using conventional planters, but harvesting requires specialized equipment, including a peanut digger, which extracts the plants from the ground and flips them over on the ground, and a peanut combine, Belk said. Belk said the one downside of peanuts is once they have been pulled out of the ground it takes three days to a week for them to dry prior to harvesting. “If it rains, then they rot. You’ve got zero,” he said. Already, peanut companies are making significant investment in infrastructure in the Delta, Belk said. “One peanut company bought the Good Hope Gin down in Tchula. They’re going to put a buying point in there,” he said.

STORY AND PHOTO BY BOB DARDEN

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Page49 Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 23, 2012 PROFILE 2012 =================================================================================================================================================================================

Mississippi Valley State University’s Fulbright Scholars Program

Current participants in the Institute for the Study of Language and Culture at MVSU are, from front to back, left row, Camron Daniels and KyRosalum Clark, both of Greenwood Middle School; Jeffery Johnson, Spanish teacher and MVSU English major of Greenwood; and Tatiana Osokina, Russian teacher and MVSU bioinformatics graduate student, of Blagoveschensk, Russia; center row, Jala Willis, East Elementary School; Keyshawn Burkhead, Greenwood Middle School; Madison Mai, Bankston

Leveling the global playing field

Elementary School; and Ethan Mai, visitor, Bankston Elementary School; right row, Christina Staten, East Elementary School; Nikita Harris, Leflore County High School; Erin Davis, Pillow Academy; June Huang, Chinese teacher and MVSU library clerk; far right, Xiaoshu Luo, visiting Fulbright Chinese teacher of Qingdao, China. Not pictured are Q'Mari Chapman, Leflore County Elementary School, and Amaya Gray, White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) Middle School.

Program offers local students opportunity to learn second language

athie Stromile Golden, Ph.D., grew up in a small town where resources and opportunities were few and hard to come by. But she has spent the rest of her life traveling the globe and educating herself and others. Always intensely curious about other people and places, she has visited nearly 60 countries and never tires of immersing herself in other cultures at all levels of society. She has had human rights activist Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as a guest in her home in Greenwood. “I’ve been with heads of state and with goats in tents,” Golden said. It didn’t take her long to reach a conclusion about the people of the world. “Iraq, Angola, Liberia, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “People everywhere are the same. They want the same two

things: They want their kids to have a better life than they had, and they want peace and security.” Offering children opportunities they can use to make a better life has become a focus of Dr. Golden in recent years. As director of International Programs at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Golden, a Fulbright Scholar herself, introduced the Fulbright Scholars’ Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program to MVSU six years ago. This particular Fulbright program places 300 to 400 foreign college students per year in college and university settings all over the United States. “It’s very competitive,” Golden said. One of the major attractions at MVSU is what has come to be known as the International House at MVSU. It’s a house Golden found and appropri-

STORY BY JO ALICE DARDEN n PHOTOS BY JO ALICE DARDEN AND KATHIE STROMILE GOLDEN

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“This is an exceptional program. It gives the children an opportunity not just to learn a second language but to enjoy the travel component, too.” Margaret Clark

Displaying a certificate sent from students at a school in Adam, Oman, are, from the left, Q’Mari Chapman, Leflore County Elementary School; Christina Staten and Jala Willis, East Elementary School; Erin Davis, Pillow Academy; KyRosalum Clark (in back), Greenwood Middle School; Nikita Harris, Leflore County High School; the essentials of communication so they’ll be able to get around without problems. Golden said she is planning for a group of 30 to 35 to go to Belize in July. All the travelers usually are able to stay on the same floor of the hotel they select as their headquarters. They have breakfast together, usually at the hotel, and take off, staying together all day. The students interact with the locals, order their own food in restaurants and deal with local currency as they visit historical sites, museums and sometimes even local residences to gain a deeper understanding of the culture. “The kids just love exchanging money,” Golden said. She also lets them go through Customs by themselves. After these middle-school-age children have been on a couple of trips, they’re teaching the MVSU students who accompany them how to travel, Golden said. She gets comments frequently from

and Madison Mai, Bankston Elementary School. The certificates were sent from friends at Adam School for Basic Education, where Salim Al Busuaidi, an MVSU FLTA in 2009-10, teaches. The culture-sharing activity involved working on environmental protection and safe-driving projects.

For more information Parents interested in learning more about the Institute for the Study of Language and Culture can contact Dr. Kathie S. Golden at MVSU by phone at (662) 254-3094, by fax at (662) 254-3130 or by mail at locals who notice how well-behaved the kids are. “They are wonderful PR for the university,” she said, laughing. Golden takes advantage of any opportunity she has to stop and make contacts with local university folks on her travels — again, good PR for MVSU. Money is always short, and entitlement program funding is being cut, Golden said. Parents and family members contribute whatever they can. Golden uses her own resources and asks constantly for contributions she can apply to the program — from

Mississippi Valley State University, MVSU P.O. Box 5209 or P.O. Box 5098, or 14000 U.S. 82 West, Itta Bena, MS 38941-1400.

friends and family members, other MVSU constituents and just about anyone else who shows an interest. Margaret Clark of Itta Bena has been a supporter of the program since she and her husband, Fred, enrolled their son, KyRosalum Clark, in it to study Russian when he was in the fifth or sixth grade. He is now in the eighth grade at Greenwood Middle School. “This is an exceptional program,” Mrs. Clark said. “It gives the children an opportunity not just to learn a second language but to enjoy the travel component, too.”

She agrees it takes a great deal of effort sometimes to maintain the schedule. “It’s our responsibility to get (the kids) to the classes,” she said. But she said she knows it’s worth the commitment for her son’s growth. “This is lifelong learning that will stick with him even if he does not choose to pursue a career that requires Russian,” she said. “People can always benefit from learning a second language.” Golden is passionate in her desire to offer these enrichment opportunities to students who might not otherwise have them. Coming from Plain Dealing, La., about 28 miles north of Shreveport — “It’s smaller than Itta Bena!” she said — she knows such opportunities are rare and hard to come by for smalltown kids. But they do exist, and Golden wants to be sure they’re offered to local children to equip them to compete with the “big-city kids” in their future. !

Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 23, 2012 Page53 PROFILE 2012 =================================================================================================================================================================================

Main Courses

Whole Turkeys baked or fried Whole Bone-In Ham baked or smoked Pepper-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Stuffed Chicken Breast Spinach & Provolone or Sausage & Mushrooms Shrimp & Grits Casserole

Soups Shrimp & Corn Chowder Chicken & Wild Rice Vegetable Broccoli & Cheese Cream of Spinach

Salads

Turkey & Ham Chefs Grilled Chicken Salad Homemade Chicken Salad Homemade Pimento Cheese Pecan Cayenne Pimento Cheese Jalapeno Pimento Cheese

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Dips & Spreads Tomato Bruschetta Hummus Spinach-Artichoke Warm Broccoli Crawfish-Sausage

Sandwiches

Many combinations, including PoBoy, Muffuleta, Reuben, Hero

PAntipasto latters

Meat & Cheese Fresh Fruit & Cheese Fresh Vegetable with Dip Marinated Vegetables PoBoys Club Sandwiches Sandwich Cold Cuts

Banquet rooms available fax: 455-3663

Homemade Sides Potato Salad Cole Slaw Pasta Salad Baked Beans Broccoli Salad

Cakes, Pies & Puddings Cakes: Strawberry, Caramel, Chocolate & Red Velvet Pies: Caramel, Pecan, Lemon & Chocolate. Puddings: Banana Pudding & Bread Pudding with chocolate, white chocolate or lemon sauce

We Deliver

Hot, homemade meals to your office. Minimum: 10

“This is an exceptional program. It gives the children an opportunity not just to learn a second language but to enjoy the travel component, too.” Margaret Clark

Displaying a certificate sent from students at a school in Adam, Oman, are, from the left, Q’Mari Chapman, Leflore County Elementary School; Christina Staten and Jala Willis, East Elementary School; Erin Davis, Pillow Academy; KyRosalum Clark (in back), Greenwood Middle School; and Madison Mai, Bankston Elementary the essentials of communication so they’ll be able to get around without problems. Golden said she is planning for a group of 30 to 35 to go to Belize in July. All the travelers usually are able to stay on the same floor of the hotel they select as their headquarters. They have breakfast together, usually at the hotel, and take off, staying together all day. The students interact with the locals, order their own food in restaurants and deal with local currency as they visit historical sites, museums and sometimes even local residences to gain a deeper understanding of the culture. “The kids just love exchanging money,” Golden said. She also lets them go through Customs by themselves. After these middle-school-age children have been on a couple of trips, they’re teaching the MVSU students who accompany them how to travel, Golden said. She gets comments frequently from locals who notice how well-behaved the

School. The certificates were sent from friends at Adam School for Basic Education, where Salim Al Busuaidi, an MVSU FLTA in 2009-10, teaches. The culture-sharing activity involved working on environmental protection and safe-driving projects.

For more information Parents interested in learning more about the Institute for the Study of Language and Culture can contact Dr. Kathie S. Golden at MVSU by phone at (662) 254-3094, by fax at (662) 254-3130 or by mail at kids are. “They are wonderful PR for the university,” she said, laughing. Golden takes advantage of any opportunity she has to stop and make contacts with local university folks on her travels — again, good PR for MVSU. Money is always short, and entitlement program funding is being cut, Golden said. Parents and family members contribute whatever they can. Golden uses her own resources and asks constantly for contributions she can apply to the program — from

Mississippi Valley State University, MVSU P.O. Box 5209 or P.O. Box 5098, or 14000 U.S. 82 West, Itta Bena, MS 38941-1400.

Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 23, 2012 Page55 PROFILE 2012 =================================================================================================================================================================================

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Entrepreneurs: Cindy Tyler STORIES AND PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN

Cindy Tyler, manager of Mississippi Gift Company, shows some new artwork just added to a display wall in the Howard Street store. Tyler, who co-owns the store with

her husband, Tim, who’s the e-marketing manager for Viking Range Corp. Cindy Tyler says about 35 percent of the company's business comes through the Internet.

‘I had no idea what we were doing’ J

ust one product started a business that has become a flagship business in Greenwood and is also known around the state and the country. Mississippi Gift Company, on the corner of Howard and Washington streets, started in the mind of Tim Tyler when he was working for the Boy Scouts of America and they sold popcorn as a fundraiser. “He said a company selling Mississippi products would be good,” said Tyler’s wife, Cindy. “We started in May making gift baskets. We were married Nov. 6, 1993, and opened the store Thanksgiving weekend. “I had just finished college at Mississippi State with a marketing degree. I had worked in clothing stores through high school and college,” she said. “I had no idea what we were doing or how to be a business owner. It’s a lot different than working for others. People

would question whether there would be enough business to support a store like ours.” But the naysayers shouldn’t have worried. The Tylers were sure they had a good idea, and the citizens of Greenwood responded well to the store. “We couldn’t be where we are without Greenwood,” Cindy said. They also got statewide recognition when their business was mentioned in the “Ask Jack Sunn” column of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “Walt Grayson of WLBT television came and did a story about us,” she said. Their first catalog came out in 1995, and the website was up and running in 1997. The store is still doing well, even through the recession. “The company increased its business every year until 2008,” Tyler said. “That was a hard year. So many corporate businesses put a halt to their ordering. Then in 2009, 2010 and

2011, we began to pick up again. You have to adjust. We made cuts to compensate.” Again, Greenwood continued to support the business. “Maybe it took the recession to let people really understand how important it is to buy from local businesses,” she said. The Tylers also support the community and try to give back. Tyler also credits their basic philosophy — quality products with excellent service to back them up — with their success. “Retail is so different now,” she said. “You have to have a niche and stick to that.” The use of social media is very important in a business such as Mississippi Gift, which touts everything made in Mississippi. Only a few items — collegiate ones — are not actually made in state. Internet sales account for around 35 percent of the business, Tyler said. “The Internet doesn’t take away from the business; it adds to it,” she said. “The

beauty of the Web is that you can shop in your PJs in the middle of the night. We also have a bridal registry online. Of course, we want them to come in.” Tyler said anyone starting out should understand the necessity of an Internet site. “You need both a store and a Web business. It would be hard to make it with just one.” There’s not a day Tyler doesn’t ship something out. They have shipped as far as China and to many places in between here and there, Tyler said. “People from Mississippi living elsewhere like to share our products with friends, so they order.” Tyler’s sister-in-law jokes with her, “You know you always wanted your own business.” Family members know that was not the case, but Tyler said she wouldn’t change a thing. “We find great new products. We love people, our customers, and we have great employees,” she said. “I am blessed.” !

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Entrepreneurs: Roy Brown Ashley's also carries and installs carpet and flooring, in addition to Oriental rugs. Owner Roy Brown stands by a carpet display in his main store on Howard Street. He has a second store, an outlet, on Washington Street.

‘I’ve always liked a challenge’ A

shley’s Rug World opened in Greenwood in May 1992, and owner Roy Brown continues to do whatever it takes to keep the business going, recession or not. Besides selling stacks of multi-colored Oriental rugs, carpet, tile and wood flooring, Brown has gone into cleaning those beautiful rugs. It’s become the mainstay of his business, he says. Brown who grew up on the Flautt Plantation in Glendora, the son of sharecroppers. He said that tough upbringing made him strong and gave him the incentive to want more from life. “I’ve always liked a challenge,” he

said. “I liked to satisfy people.” He opened a janitorial service, which was a success and led him into the next chapter of his life. “In every office and residential space we cleaned, it seemed everyone needed Oriental rugs, wood floors and carpet,” he said. “I thought it would be another avenue for me.” Ashley’s, named for his daughter, now 24, opened on Howard Street in Greenwood in May 1992. In 2003, Brown opened an outlet store on Washington Street. There he sells lessexpensive rugs and furniture. Brown says Greenwood has been a good place to own a business.

“Greenwood has been supportive of me,” he said “People here wanted to see me succeed. They have helped make that happen. I couldn’t have done it without the support of people here.” Ashley’s started in one building that Brown bought and then expanded into another, which he also bought. The business has continued to grow, and as word spread, Ashley’s got a great deal of out-of-town business, especially now with the rug cleaning, Brown said. “We go all over — Greenville, Cleveland, Arkansas. We pick up the rugs, clean them and deliver them back,” he said. Brown said he is glad he went into

business for himself and wouldn’t do a lot of things differently, except “making sure the front door coming in is bigger than the back. You have to trap the money somewhere in the middle.” For those who would like to start a business, Brown advises: “You’ll have to work hard at it. Just make sure you keep tight controls.” And most important — “always treat people right. Being friendly and treating people right is the key to business.” Brown’s wife, Judy, is the owner of another business — a day-care center, Judy’s Kids, where their daughter Ashley works. The Browns also have a 7-year-old daughter. !

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Entrepreneurs: Pete Floyd

Pete Floyd does an inspection of a vehicle at his business, Village Car Care, located on U.S. 82 near the Village Shopping Center in Greenwood. Floyd has opened a sec-

ond center for front-end alignments on very large vehicles on U.S. 82 East, in the old Jennings Electric building.

‘I never plan to retire’ P

ete Floyd knew he needed something new after working in respiratory therapy and also criminal justice for many years, but he wasn’t sure what that new thing would be. “One day I was driving by the Village Chevron station and saw a ‘For Sale’ sign,” he said. “I thought, ‘I could do that.’” And he did. He bought the business in 1999 and ran it as it was, a basic gas station, and at first it wasn’t as successful as he had hoped. But Floyd was not one to give up easily. “You have to have confidence in your ability. I never doubted me,” he said. So he got to work to do the things his customers needed. “We expanded our service area,” he said. “Cars had changed so much from

when I had worked in a service station as a teenager. I couldn’t even open the hood of some of them.” He did know how to hire people who knew all the things he didn’t know. And he knew the most important thing of all — how to get along with people. “If you enjoy people, that seems to work,” Floyd said. “Business is business. They all run the same. People are doing me a favor. It’s the old-fashioned way. You make them feel important.” He said he prides himself on personal service. After all, he said, “people don’t have to spend their money with you. They can go somewhere else.” Friend and mechanic Richard Corder agrees that Floyd definitely has people skills. “He has a way of making people laugh if they get mad at him.” As for the business side, Floyd says to

own your own place, “You have to love 12- to 14-hour days — waking up at 2 a.m. wondering if you tightened up those lug nuts.” Besides the long hours, passion for the work is another important trait of an entrepreneur, Floyd says: “If you have passion, then you’ll be dedicated to it.” And, of course, “there must be a need for your business,” he said. He found his niche doing the light repairs and service that car owners often need. He stopped selling gasoline. Five years ago he expanded again. “We needed more space and more service areas,” he said. “It has worked well. It is a successful business.” Floyd has also opened a second business for larger vehicles on U.S. 82 East, in what was the Jennings Electric building. This time he has a partner,

Johnny Nichols. Called Big Tire Alignment, the new business specializes in front-end alignment for 18-wheelers, motor homes, vans and big trucks and equipment. The recession has affected his business some, Floyd said, but it continues to be busy. Floyd is close to 66, but doesn’t see complete retirement in his future. “I never plan to retire,” he said. “I will cut back, but I’ll never quit.” Floyd, who has a degree from Delta State University in criminal justice and certification in respiratory therapy, definitely seems to have an entrepreneur’s mindset, and it has worked for him. The only thing he regrets is not doing it before he did. “I wish I’d done it 40 years sooner,” he said. !

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Angelic Hospice

‘We’re there to help’

The staff of Angelic Hospice includes, front row, from left, Mary Anthony, Kenya Young, LaTonya Bell, Regina Swims-King, Irene Fisher, Brenda Broadnax, Ruby McSwine, Tonia Sanders and the Rev. James McSwine; back row, from left, Veronica

Caradine, Kimberly Meeks, Allan Laurie, Sharon Golden, Shirley Howard, Tonette Holmes, Clara Grays, Goldie Jackson, Kalmus Brock, Yvonne Huey, Betty Shaw, Debbie Miller, Gloria St. Clair and Rochelle Love.

Hospice offers much more than medical care D

oing whatever it takes to meet terminally ill patients’ needs is the goal of Angelic Hospice of Greenwood. Registered nurse Regina Swims-King started Angelic Hospice in 2008, and the company now employs more than 150 people and serves 13 counties in the Delta and Hills area around Leflore County. The office is at 305 E. Washington St.,

formerly the home of the Girl Scouts. Kim Meeks, the marketing director, joined the company in 2011. She said the mission of the company is to provide quality and compassionate care to terminally ill patients without any regard to their economic status and to allow them to live in comfort and with dignity. “Ninety-nine percent of the patients are at home, rather than in hospitals,” Meeks

said. Patients are first seen by the director of nursing services, who assesses their needs and decides what Angelic Hospice can provide and how often services are needed. “We see patients anywhere from three days a week to seven days, depending on the need,” she said. The care team includes registered and practical nurses, certified nursing assis-

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTO BY JIM STALLINGS

tants, housekeepers, social workers and chaplains. Also, volunteers provide assistance to patients who may need help with errands or whatever hobby helps brighten the day of the patient, such as painting, reading or knitting. Patients are under the care of a primary physician, and the staff at Angelic Hospice works closely with the physician, Meeks said.

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“Nobody wants to talk about (death). We know it’s inevitable and encourage family members to talk about it. We try to allow the family to have as much control as possible over their lives.” Michael Stewart “We handle medical appointments, prescriptions and daily pain management,” she said. The goal of hospice care is to keep the patient comfortable, and that may include pain medications prescribed by the physician and monitored by the nursing staff. Administrator Patricia Hankins said she has many years of experience in hospice care, as does Swims-King. “I have known Regina for many years. We worked together for a few years,” Hankins said. “She goes above and beyond to take care of her patients. Some places I’ve been are all about the check. She cares if the patient doesn’t have food or heat when we send our nurses out.” Hankins said both she and SwimsKing believe in “old-school values” and

the idea that “if you do something good, good comes back to you.” With the help of various community agencies, the company tries to find access to whatever a patient needs. That is where social workers come in. Michael Stewart is the head of that department, with two other social workers working to meet patients’ social and physical needs. “One of the things we do is to provide multi-dimensional assessment that involves the spiritual, financial and coping skills of patients and families,” he said. “There may be family issues that need to be resolved, and I’m available to assist in those issues. “We can suggest things, but of course, families have to agree. It’s up to them what services they want to use,” he said. “When they get a diagnosis, they

need assistance working through issues. We’re there to help. We comb the area to find assistance.” Encouraging families to talk about death is a big part of the job, Stewart said. “Nobody wants to talk about it,” he said. “We know it’s inevitable and encourage family members to talk about it. We try to allow the family to have as much control as possible over their lives.” Often, families have not made funeral arrangements, and Angelic Hospice will assist in that process if the family desires, he said. “If you’ve never engaged in a conversation, knowing a family member is facing a life-threatening illness, we try to be facilitators and help them to face all of the issues involved,” he said.

If the patient is a member of a religious organization or wishes to speak to a chaplain, one is provided, he said. Besides helping patients and families to face death with dignity, Angelic Hospice continues to help families with bereavement services after a patient dies, Stewart said. “It is your journey, but we’re there,” he said. “You don’t have to face it alone. Hospice focuses on caring, not curing.” Swims-King has now started an additional service for non-terminal patients – Compassionate Hands Homemaker Services. People who need help with light housekeeping, meals, grocery shopping and other everyday needs can get assistance. The goal of Angelic Hospice is to be available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, Meeks said. !

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“It is always fun to see how ideas ‘grow’from a student saying, ‘Let's do a pasta salad,’and then another says, ‘What about using orzo?’and another says, ‘What about fresh vegetables?’ and the next thing you know, an awesome dish is formed.” David Crews

The community colleges were responsible not only for preparing the food for the legislative luncheon, but also for table settings and decoration. Corey Smith of MDCC's vegetables?’ and the next thing you know, an awesome dish is formed.” The three dishes designed, created and executed by the MDCC team were: ! Granny Smith apple and anjou pear sweet slaw with lime and pepper dressing ! Smoked fingerling and roasted red German potato salad ! Chilled orzo and fresh vegetable salad with tomato and roasted pepper oil The whole class participated in the preparation, from making the grocery list and ordering the food in sufficient quantities to serving at the event. Crews said the three dishes

his team prepared made about 65 pounds of food, or 1,100 portions. The students prepared all of the dishes at the MDCC Culinary Arts Center on West Park Avenue in Greenwood. They went as far with each dish as they could at the center and took the food to the church’s kitchen for the final preparation. “We did what is known as ‘mise en place,’ which means ‘to put everything into place,’ so all the components were separate and assembled the morning of the event,” Crews said. The event was a huge success, Crews said. !

Office of College Relations and Development, led the design and execution of this colorful tablescape.

Bacon mayonnaise The MDCC students dressed their potato salad with this homemade mayonnaise, which scored a big hit, Crews said. “This dish doesn’t claim to be low-fat,” he said, “but it sure does taste good, and if you are going to blow your diet, this is a great way. One of my guilty pleasures is to dip french fries into this mayo. WOW!” Quantities in recipe below have been reduced to family-size or small-party-size. To multiply the recipe, remember to maintain the ratio of one egg yolk to ½ cup bacon fat. 1 egg yolk Salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon vinegar

½ cup strained bacon fat (warm, but not hot) 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1. Begin by whipping the egg yolk until it becomes pale in color and starts to form bubbles on the edges. 2. Add salt and pepper to your taste, and then the vinegar. (This will start the process of cooking the egg yolk.) 3. Continue to whip the yolk mixture while slowly adding the warm bacon fat. (This process should take a few minutes, rather than a few seconds.) 4. Add the lemon juice and stir briefly. (This step will help make the white color we are used to in mayonnaise.)

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Mississippi Delta Community College Culinary Arts Program

Super sides

Students make tasty dishes for legislator luncheon C hef David Crews is always on the lookout for opportunities to give the students in his Mississippi Delta Community College Culinary Arts Program hands-on experience, and the more challenging, the better. The latest tall order came in the form of the annual Legislative Appreciation Luncheon held on Jan. 24 at Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson. For the past couple of years, according to Reed Abraham, associate vice president of college relations and development for MDCC, the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges has sponsored a luncheon for the Mississippi Legislature. “Legislators were invited to take a mid-day break for a friendly visit with community college folks,” Abraham said – “our presidents and trustees, student representatives, faculty and other staff.” This year, Abraham said, in honor of the new Governor Phil Bryant, the state’s community colleges decided to highlight their culinary arts programs in a luncheon buffet that showcased the students’ skills and creativity. Each school was assigned a course, Crews said. Hinds County Community College, for example, served catfish in different styles, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College prepared a variety of soups. MDCC was assigned side dishes. The students had to prepare enough of each dish to serve 350 to 400 hungry lawmakers and guests. “It was a humongous buffet,” Crews said. An event of this size is a great learning experience for all the students, he said, but especially the sophomore students, to whom he gave the most responsibility. “I use the sophomore students in the menu writing, brainstorming, planning and executing of the entire menu,” Crews said. “I also let them delegate responsibilities to the freshman class and to their fellow classmates. This helps them learn how to give and take orders.” The chef enjoyed watching how the process evolved from the initial assignment to the event. “It is always fun to see how ideas ‘grow’ from a student saying, ‘Let's do a pasta salad,’ and then another says, ‘What about using orzo?’ Chef David Crews, left, who heads the MDCC Culinary Arts and another says, ‘What about fresh Program centered in Greenwood, and Alex Evans, a culinary

arts student from Winona, survey the display of fresh vegetables at the Legislative Appreciation Luncheon.

STORY BY JO ALICE DARDEN ! PHOTOS BY COREY SMITH

Office of College Relations and Development, led the design and execution of this colorful tablescape.

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The Wilsons

Mission to Africa

Members of the Wilson family of Winona check out a hut during a six-month mission trip to Ghana. In front are Evan and Allie, and in back are Cindy, Natalie and Dr.

Keenan Wilson. Dr. Wilson worked at the Baptist Hospital in Nalerigu, and the rest of the family did various other mission work.

Family spends 6 months as missionaries in Ghana

round nut soup, rice balls and gravy and fried plantains couldn’t be further from the Southern dishes we all know, but they have become pretty tasty to the Dr. Keenan Wilson family of Winona. The Wilsons have recently returned from six months in the African country of Ghana, where Dr. Wilson worked in the Baptist Hospital at Nalerigu.

Wilson is an emergency room physician in Eupora. The six-month trip was the culmination of a desire by him and his family to do mission work. Wife Cindy said it was actually the children who pushed them to do more. Evan, 18, is a senior at Winona High School. Allie is 15, and Natalie is 12. They had done a number of short-term mission trips to the Ukraine, Eastern

Europe and Greece, and Cindy Wilson said she had felt that was the limit to what they could do at this time. “The kids said, ‘Why can’t we go to another country and stay for a while?’” she said. “I’m the one who was concerned about safety, but I learned that there is no safer place than in the will of God.” The trip to Ghana came about through a friendship with Dr. Earl Hewitt, who

attended First Baptist Church of Jackson with the Wilsons. Hewitt is a physician and Baptist missionary at the Baptist Hospital in Nalerigu, and from time to time he had suggested that the Wilsons go there to visit and help with the work. It seemed the timing was right the last time the Wilsons heard from Hewitt. “He was home on furlough and driving through the state when he called,” Cindy

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN AND COURTESY OF DR. KEENAN WILSON

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Evan Wilson, 18, and his mom, Cindy, pose together in their home in Winona, where Evan is a senior at Winona High School. Wilson said. “He asked when we were coming to Ghana. I said we might could come for six months. Keenan said he heard me say ‘six months.’ He knew it was a God thing. I had just told God two hours earlier: ‘Here we are, God. You called us to serve. We said we will go anywhere. You’ve got to show us.’ Within two hours, Hewitt called.” Wilson said both she and her husband had been moved by the book “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream” by David Platt. Reading the book helped convince them they should do something more in God’s service. “It shook us up,” she said. “He challenged us to do a radical experiment.” They did both of those things and listened to Platt’s sermons. Wilson said she learned much about herself in going to Ghana: “You learn what you can live without, and with.” Nalerigu is a city without conveniences, and many roads are not paved. “We could buy bread from a local person who made it, but we had to drive three hours to a market to get groceries,” Wilson said. “We took ice chests and strapped things to a car. We couldn’t get milk except for powdered milk.” Produce could be purchased locally, but all of it had to be soaked in bleach because of possible diseases. Water was available in filtered bags, Wilson said. Evan said the thing he got tired of most of all was feeling dirty and sweaty. Before going to Ghana, the family had to take shots for yellow fever, and while there and four weeks after their return, they took Doxycycline to prevent malaria. No one got seriously ill while they were in Africa, though the children got mildly upset stomachs, Cindy Wilson said. In Nalerigu, the Hewitts lived on a missionary compound with a Westernstyle house with furniture, showers and indoor plumbing.

“The hospital has been there for 50 years and is well respected,” Wilson said. “People are very nice and friendly.” While Dr. Wilson worked at the hospital, which is not as modern as hospitals in the United States, the rest of the family tried to do what they could in other areas. “The children would do their school work in the mornings. Then we would eat lunch and go out to serve somewhere in the afternoon,” Cindy Wilson said. They also went to a camp for women who had been thrown out of their villages after being called witches. “Eighty or 90 women live there,” Wilson said. “We met a Presbyterian worker there, and she asked me to give a devotional. I had not prepared anything but had my Bible. I simply read from Romans 3 through a translator. When I got finished, I told them if they wanted to know more about the peace Christ brings, I would talk with them. “Three women stood. I asked why they were standing, and the woman said, ‘They want to accept Christ.’ I realized how powerful the word of God is. It is alive and, when brought forth, can accomplish anything.” Evan often helped a young man from Ghana, Manassah, pick up eggs for an orphanage, where the family went to play with the children. The only time they were refused was at a boarding school run by a Muslim, which would not allow a Christian devotional. However, Wilson said, the man was nice about it and explained there were students there of many faiths — or no faith — and he could not show partiality. The schools are all boarding schools and very crowded, she said, with three students sleeping together in each part of bunk beds. Working out the details for the trip, especially the finances, was difficult,

Allie Wilson, 15, serves at a camp for outcast women in Ghana. The women were thrown out of their villages because they were accused of being witches. she said. “We had saved a good bit, and our church, North Winona Baptist, helped us. The biggest problem was providing for health insurance on COBRA while we were gone.” But it all worked out, and since they have returned, Keenan Wilson added up their expenses, compared that to the money they had and found they were very close to the same. All of the paperwork involved was also difficult — getting a medical license to practice in Ghana, and permission for the family to go. Samaritan’s Purse, a Franklin Graham organization that operates around the world, assisted with that. Evan said that despite missing part of his senior year of high school, the trip was worth any sacrifice. “It helped me to be more grounded as a Christian and as a person,” he said. “There were times I wished I could go away, call up friends, say, ‘Hey, you want to go eat?’ As a whole, I enjoyed it.” Evan, who plans to major in music at Mississippi College next year, said he also helped with the choir at the First Baptist Church in Nalerigu, which was in a small building. “They would crowd two or three hundred people in there,” Cindy Wilson

said. Poverty in Ghana is very evident, and often people would come to the compound begging for food, she said. “We would meet the needs we could. You couldn’t fix every single thing. We had to come to terms with the fact that it was OK to leave, that God would take care of everything.” Another difficulty was seeing people die of things vaccinations could have prevented. The government does have a vaccination program, but many difficulties prevent everyone from taking the vaccinations. On the positive side, they saw people who were very grounded in their faith. “God is provider. He’s everything to them,” Wilson said. “Here we have welfare, conveniences. It’s not an option there. To eat, they have to cut wood, start a fire, kill a chicken. It’s very hard. But they rarely complain. It’s all they know. They are the sweetest, most welcoming people.” The Wilsons say they would advise anyone who is interested in doing mission work to go ahead. “We encourage people to pursue it if God is calling them to serve, even a short period of time,” Cindy Wilson said. “If God is leading, he will provide. He is trustworthy in everything.” !

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Michael Bussey Jr.

Still enjoys challenge Always knew he wanted to be farmer

Michael Bussey Jr. has been in farming for a decade. While farming can be difficult and costly, Bussey, 34, said he always knew he wanted to become a farmer.

STORY AND PHOTO BY BOB DARDEN

ichael Bussey Jr. has been farming for more than 10 years, and now he’s on his

own. He and his wife, Kristi, have a partnership, K&M Farms. Two years ago, he took over his father’s farming operation — and now his father, Mike Bussey Sr., works for him. “We’re still going to have the same cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat mix,” he said. “My acres are down considerably. I lost a place over at the airport. My landlord went up on my rent so I couldn’t afford it anymore.” The loss reduced Bussey’s available farmland by 1,000 acres, meaning he won’t employ as many workers as he did previously. But he remains optimistic. “We’ve still got plenty of land. We’ll try to get more of it irrigated,” he said. Bussey’s main landowner in his 2,500-acre farming operation is his grandmother, Juanita Bussey. Asked if his grandmother went up on her rent, Bussey replied, “She did go up a little bit but not nearly like some of these landowners did. “I had some rents that doubled this year. It’s getting real bad.” Commodity prices are high, but input costs have also increased substantially, meaning farmers are pocketing less income, Bussey said. If he has a fear, it’s that commodity prices will fall and input costs will take a year to drop to manageable levels. Still, Bussey hopes prices will stay high. “If we have a good year, we have a chance of making some money.”

extremely well. Next year, it might not do near about what it did.” He said he’s seen more young people getting involved in farming recently, and the lure of working for the family farm is still attractive. When Bussey graduated from CrugerTchula Academy in 1995, he got involved in farming straight out of school. He worked for farmer George Saunders of Itta Bena from 1996 to 2001 before joining his father’s farming operation. Asked what’s it like to work for his son, Mike Bussey Sr. said, “I enjoy it. We get along good.” v v v

Bussey recalls his early days of farming, back when diesel cost less than 90 cents a gallon. Now, it’s well over $3. A year ago, during the height of irrigation season, diesel shot up to $4 a gallon. “That’s a huge factor,” Bussey said. “I used to buy a transport load of fuel, which is 7,000 gallons, for what I’m buying a ‘Bob Truck’ for right now,” he said. A “Bob Truck” holds 2,000 gallons of fuel. In addition, the cost of fertilizer, which is largely petroleum-based, has increased. “Inputs have basically doubled since I started,” Bussey said. Bussey said he hopes one day his children will get into farming, too. His v v v daughters — Kaitlyn, 15, and Mary Carter, 10 — are old enough to appreciBussey said he knew from day one that ate it, but his 2-year-old son, Michael III, he wanted to be a farmer. might not be able to grasp it just yet. “No two years are the same,” he said. Their father still likes what he does. “Something you do this year might work “I enjoy it. It’s a challenge,” he said. !

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W.M. Sanders

Lifelong dream

Chancery Judge W.M. Sanders sits at her desk in the Leflore County Courthouse. Sanders has used her initials since her name —Watosa Marshall — caused confusion

in her earliest days as an attorney. She serves a six-county area and says a lifetime of experience as an attorney and judge has prepared her for this job.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN

Sanders enjoys practicing family law as lawyer, judge

hancery Court Judge W.M. Sanders knew pretty early while growing up in Utica that she wanted to be a lawyer. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a high school principal. “My dad had wanted to be a lawyer. But in his time, it seemed impossible. Ole Miss was not integrated at that time,” she said. “He always stressed my going into law. I just kind of grew up knowing I would be a lawyer. There were students

of his who had gone on to become lawyers who inspired both him and me as well.” Just in case the law didn’t work out, she earned a degree in education, majoring in political science and accounting. “I was licensed to teach, but after doing my student teaching and being offered a job, I realized I wasn’t cut out for it at that level,” she said. “I wondered how my mother had done it for 30 years.” While getting her undergraduate degree at Alcorn State University,

Sanders was chosen Miss ASU. That gave her a number of opportunities to speak publicly — something she disliked that actually ended up helping her. “I got a chance to meet Coretta Scott King and Dr. Joseph Lowery,” she said. “It was a good thing.” After college, she went to the University of Mississippi Law School, expecting to become a corporate lawyer. “After I took classes in contracts, I realized I didn’t like that,” she said. “Ole Miss

doesn’t specialize, so that allows you to find your niche. I realized I enjoyed family law classes.” After graduating from law school, she took her first job at North Mississippi Rural Legal Services in Grenada. “We did mostly family and consumer law. I realized I was doing things where I made an impact on people’s lives. I did divorces, bankruptcies — trying to save someone’s car or home. “At first I thought a lot of people just

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file bankruptcy to get out of their debts,” she said. “But the first ones were just regular working-class people who had a daughter with mental health issues. The mother had had to quit her job to take care of her daughter. Insurance didn’t cover all her expenses, and they wound up owing $40,000 in medical bills. A collection agency was calling them every day.” The first time she went before a judge, she introduced herself as Watosa Marshall Sanders, to which the judge said, ‘What?’” She replied, “W.M. Sanders,” and from that time she was known as W.M., except to a few friends and family. As it turned out, law suited her personality and desire to help others. “You really have to like what you’re doing, or you get burned out,” she said. “Very seldom do you see anyone with good news. You’re a dumping ground day after day.” As an advocate for low-income people, she had many cases involving domestic violence, adoption and guardianship — issues she now deals with in her court. She worked for NMRLS as an attorney for three years and then was managing attorney in the Clarksdale office for 10 years before being appointed to fill in for Solomon Osborne as county and youth court judge in 2003. She had not thought she would want to become a judge, but she discovered she enjoyed the change. “I really liked the youth court part. I found I could make a difference in lives,” she said. “If you catch a child and turn him around, then you’ve done something. I loved it when I would see some of the young people and they would say, ‘Judge Sanders, I’m doing something. I’m working.’ “I used to tell the young men especially, ‘I don’t want you to grow up and be someone that when I see you I feel I have to hold on to my purse.’” After that period, she went into private practice in Greenwood. She said she enjoyed it, but the long hours made it difficult for her children. “I always wanted to hang my own shingle out. Nobody has to tell you to go to work. If you don’t have a work ethic, you’ll get one,” she said. She also served as Greenwood Municipal Court judge for about five years, and it was an eye-opener. “We had arraignments one Monday and trials the next Monday. We would have 200-plus in the courtroom. Trial days were about 12 hours long,” she said. “It was good training.” There’s a lot of training in just listening to people and sorting out facts, she said: “There’s side A, and side B, and somewhere in the middle is the truth. I got a lot of practice sorting out the truth.” In 2010 she decided to run for chancery judge and won. She has just completed her first year in office as one of three judges in a six-county area. “It’s been a great year,” she said. “The reason I enjoy the job so well is that it’s what I’ve always done — family law, adoptions, wills, land disputes, child custody, child support. Everything I’ve done prepared me for this.” Sanders said her goal is to listen to people and apply the law fairly. “That’s the most you can hope for in a judge,” she said. “Anybody who has been in my courtroom will tell you I listen. If there’s a question there, I’m going to ask it. I’m trying to put everything together in my head. As long as I can do that, I will enjoy the job and probably keep doing it. People won’t always be happy, but I hope they will feel I heard them.” !

“It’s been a great year. The reason I enjoy the job so well is that it’s what I’ve always done — family law, adoptions, wills, land disputes, child custody, child support. Everything I’ve done prepared me for this.” W.M. Sanders

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“You’re always looking for something a little bit new and different, because it can get kind of like washing dishes after a while if you don’t have some new things to do.” Wallace Mallette

John Morgan skillfully dips a sponge into paint and draws polka-dots on a clay cross. The money from the cross’ sale will benefit participants in the pottery program at Garden Park Adult Day Center. of it because he doesn’t want to be tied down to a production schedule. “I like to make it, present it and then if somebody wants it, that’s fine,” he said. Flautt has been involved with the pottery program at Garden Park Adult Day Center, which he said has made a big difference in the lives of patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. He also was part of the group that put together Arts for Success, which was created to teach young people artistic skills. It was modeled on a program in Pittsburgh led by Bill Strickland, who was brought to Greenwood by Celia Emmerich to help replicate it. The Greenwood version initially included a number of artistic media before evolving into a pottery co-op. Flautt said the goal of Arts for Success was ambitious — “a rebirth of Greenwood” — and he believes the group’s work sparked the improvements downtown later carried on by Viking Range Corp. and others. Wallace Mallette, who was on the Arts for Success board and also oversaw and taught classes there, said it’s been fun to watch it grow. “I’m just constantly amazed at what they do and the number of people that are involved in it,” he said. Pillow recalled seeing some students at Arts for Success working with the clay last summer and thinking they were similar to how he was when he started. “I sure didn’t know anything about clay, and they obviously didn’t, but they really had fun making stuff,” he said. And, Flautt said, maybe some of them found a skill they can enjoy for a

lifetime. v v v Potters don’t expect perfection, said Wallace Mallette, who has taught at Mississippi Delta Community College since 1994. In fact, he said, a common saying in the field is that “you do everything you can to ensure 100 percent success, and then you pray for 75 percent.” Mallette earned a master’s degree in sculpture in 1976 and became interested in pottery after being asked to teach a class in it. He teaches at MDCC Monday through Thursday and works with his business, Burning Willow Pottery, on Fridays and Saturdays. Most of the time, he’s creating pottery with a specific goal rather than experimenting, he said. But even though he often has to produce several identical items for Burning Willow, he still has opportunities to try new techniques or go in other directions. “You’re always looking for something a little bit new and different, because it can get kind of like washing dishes after a while if you don’t have some new things to do,” he said. Like a lot of artists, he doesn’t think of what he does as work, and he plans to continue as long as he can. “If you love to do it and you’re genuinely interested in it, you don’t see it as a job or as a vocation; it’s just who you are,” he said. v v v Flautt doesn’t create as much pottery as he once did, but he still makes a lot of crosses to mark others’ graduations,

Wallace Mallette teaches at Mississippi Delta Community College, and his work has been shown in more than 50 solo, group and juried exhibitions. weddings, births or deaths. Pillow makes crosses, too, and like Flautt, he has his own style. “I could see something in New York City; if he made it, I’d know it,” Pillow said. “And his wife, same way.” Pillow likes a challenge, and for a

while, he would often see something of tin or wood and try to reproduce it in clay. Now, like Flautt, he makes mostly items with everyday uses, such as lamps, platters, plates and vases. “Every now and then I’ll make an artsy piece just to let them know I can do

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Pottery

Henry Flautt, a longtime potter, has a studio where friends also visit to work on their own projects. From left are Mike Watkins, Flautt and Watson Pillow.

Community of clay

Greenwood has a growing group of potters W

hen Watson Pillow first got interested in making pottery more than 10 years ago, he was looking for something to do in winter when he wasn’t farming. “Somewhere in my little mind, I just thought I would like to make something out of clay,” he said. More than once, he asked friend Henry Flautt Sr., an experienced potter, to teach him the craft. Flautt thought he was joking at first, but once he realized the inquiry was serious, he said no.

Instead, Pillow recalls, “he gave me a lump of clay and a $2 book. That was my start.” And, he adds modestly, “I haven’t gotten much better since.” Flautt disagrees with that last part. Pillow is a regular in the studio at Flautt’s home, and he does good work, Flautt said. “He’ll come and spend two or three hours in the studio out here. We never know when he comes or goes; it really doesn’t make any difference,” Flautt

said. “But he’s turned out some wonderful things.” Flautt’s work has been in demand for years, too. He and Pillow are part of a growing community of potters in the Greenwood area, including some who sell their creations, some who give them away and others who make them just for fun. “It’s a very gratifying when somebody wants something you create and they say it’s beautiful and they like the way it looks,” Flautt said.

STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS BY DAVID MONROE AND BETH THOMAS

v v v Flautt said he first got interested in pottery 20 years ago when he and his wife, Gayle, took a class at Pensacola Junior College in Florida. They later spent 13 summers at Anderson Ranch, an arts and crafts school in Colorado. He said his first effort on a pottery wheel didn’t go well, but he’s had success with making hand-formed pieces, and his wife is an accomplished sculptor. He never made a commercial enterprise out

“You’re always looking for something new a little bit new and different, because it can get kind of like washing dishes after a while if you don’t have some new things to do.” Wallace Mallette

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it,” Pillow said. “His wife is the artist; we’re just playing.” Every now and then, someone will ask to buy a piece of Pillow’s work, and he usually says no. He did have one show in Jackson last year and enjoyed it, but he’d rather just give the pottery away. Mike Watkins, another friend of Flautt’s, said Flautt had urged him for years to try pottery but he didn’t take it up until a couple of years ago. “I decided I would make Christmas presents for all the ladies in our office, and that’s what got me started,” he said. He said he likes being able to bring something distinctive to a work. “To me that’s one of the great things about pottery — that you can get different shapes, different sizes, different colors and decorate with it, and it really brings out things in a room,” he said. Pillow said he now appreciates other forms of art more. Before he got into pottery, “you couldn’t have whipped me and made me go to some kind of art gallery or something like that,” he said. It’s an absorbing hobby, too, he said: “I can come here at 5:00; the next thing it’s 8:00, and I don’t even realize I’ve been here that long.” v v v Melody Tiemann, who teaches ceramics at Mississippi Valley State University, also knows about spending long hours in a studio. She creates her pieces at her home in Greenwood, fires them on campus and glazes them at home. “If things are going well in the studio, I’ve been known to not go to bed,” she said, adding that she’ll just have an extra cup of coffee in the morning if that happens. Tiemann, who grew up in Texas, said she learned knitting, crocheting and embroidery from her grandmother early in life but didn’t take art classes in high school. So why ceramics? “My mother would tell you I played in the dirt all the time as a child,” she said with a smile. Tiemann has exhibited her work in a variety of locations including Texas, Montana and Maryland as well as Valley. In the studio, she’s more likely to play it safe creatively if she has a show or sale coming up, but other times she likes just experimenting with the clay. Depending on how the day goes, she might keep only a small percentage of what she creates, keep some other items that might be modified later and throw away the rest. In those instances, she said, “the goal is not to make a piece; the goal is to find what works, what doesn’t work, what may lead you down a whole different path.” Inspiration might strike at any time. Sometimes, just walking outdoors, she will find a rock with a certain shape or color that she likes and keep it. She keeps a sketch pad by her bed in case she gets an idea at night. Tiemann said it’s also satisfying to see her students make things they can both use and show off. “I hear the parents were really thrilled with their Christmas presents,” she said. !

Melody Tiemann, who teaches ceramics and other art classes at Mississippi Valley State University, says she often finds inspiration for her work by walking outside and observing nature.

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Advanced Rehabilitation and Fitness

Filling needs Harris Powers gets help from physical therapist and center director Dale Morgan as he works on one of the exercise machines at Advanced Rehabilitation and Fitness Center in Greenwood.

Company’s goal to help people get well, get fit E

ight years ago, four Greenwood physical therapists decided the area needed another rehabilitation and wellness center and joined together to open Advanced Rehabilitation and Fitness. It has been a “wonderful venture,” said Dale Morgan, one of the original owners, who is an on-site therapist and director of the center. Morgan’s wife, Gwen, is office manager and human resources officer. The three other original owners — Bryant Lary, John Walker and Trey

Hodges — continue to have a significant role in managing the business. They and others also provide physical therapy for home health care. Other investors have joined the original four. Morgan says the center has been a great success and is very satisfying. “We saw a need in the community,” he said. He believes the center continues to meet needs, whether in assisting local athletic programs with physicals and rehabilitation for sports injuries, helping the elderly with exercise or addressing

other rehabilitative needs. In addition to Morgan, on site are therapists Chris Walker, Robin Smith, Sloane Fair, Amanda Harris and Trey O’Brien. Assisting them is physical therapy technician Shalonda Givens. “I feel in awe whenever we meet together and see the youth we have with their energy and drive, knowledge, skill and love for people,” Morgan said. Walker, 27, said he believes the diversity of the employees at the center contributes to its strength. “I just got out of

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN

school less than a year ago. I’ve seen a lot of different places, and this is the most diverse group – male, female, age, ethnicity,” he said. “All of that allows us to reach a large clientele.” Morgan agrees. “We feed off of everybody’s ideas. I feel we are blessed with the quality of Christian values and caring everybody here has for each other and our patients, along with the knowledge and expertise and creativity of our rehabilitative techniques.” Walker, who played football at Pillow

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Physical therapy technician Shalonda Givens works with Patricia Powers on one of the exercise machines. Givens has been with the center since it opened eight years ago. Academy and Mississippi Delta Community College, especially enjoys treating athletes, though he works with any type of patient. The center sends out a sports medicine team made up of Walker, Michael Nix, Trey Hodges and Chase McGarrh to provide sideline attention for injuries for Pillow Academy football. “With athletics being so important from school age to the weekend warrior who is often not properly conditioned to take on what they put themselves through, we see a lot of athletic injuries,” Walker said. In addition to rehabilitation, the center offers fitness programs with trainers to help set up an exercise regimen. “Patients can take advantage of the fitness center for 30 days for free after their rehabilitation is complete,” Morgan said. “We hope they will be encouraged to continue working out at the center.” Local businesses can purchase corporate memberships for their employees at a lower rate if there are at least six or eight people, he said. Givens, who has been with the center since its inception, runs an exercise program for people ages 50 and up. Currently, the oldest participant is 91. “We hold the class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30. We do a warm-up routine, stretches and an upper- and lower-body workout. What

they do in therapy continues,” Givens said. “We want to keep them in good health.” The program has shown results, she said. “I get excited when I hear them say they have less pain when they get out of bed in the morning, better movement and better ability to function at home.” She attributes a lot of the program’s success to its atmosphere as a support group. They celebrate birthdays with cake and encourage each other. Givens said the class has been very rewarding: “To see someone progress and to be able to help them is very satisfying.” It translates into a job she loves to go to each day. “We are family,” she said. “When you meet patients, you form personal relationships with them.” Morgan said Givens has done a great job with the class. “It’s neat to see people excited about a program,” he said. He also agrees that forming relationships is one of the satisfying aspects of his work. “People come by to holler at us. We see them out walking around and say, ‘You’re looking good!’” Morgan said helping to create the center and continuing to work in it brings him a lot of joy. “There’s not a day I get up that I don’t feel excited to get to come to work,” he said. !

Megan Eiland works out on an elliptical trainer in the fitness center.

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Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice

The staff of Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice of Belzoni has grown over the years and now includes dietitians and respiratory therapists as well as nurses and home

aides. The company, which has offices in Greenwood and Greenville, employs 650 people.

Delta success story

Belzoni company now serves patients in 32 counties

or almost 34 years, Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice has been a successful and growing business dedicated to serving the needs of patients throughout the Delta. “It started right here in Belzoni in March of 1978 with two full-time and three part-time employees,” said Clara Taylor Reed, Mid-Delta’s owner and chief executive officer. “I think we had proba-

bly about five counties when we began. Now we have 22 counties plus 10 hospice counties.” Today, Mid-Delta has 650 employees spread throughout the Delta, including Greenwood. Annually, it treats 3,500 patients. It also has home-care offices in Bastrop and Vidalia, La. “Initially, what we did was called

skilled nursing and personal care. The nurses even did the therapist part,” Reed said. “Now we have those disciplines. All the therapists — physical therapists, occupational therapists as well as respiratory therapists and speech therapists.” Today, the company conducts telemonitoring of patients and can even handle tracheotomy patients and those on ventilators.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN

“We do pretty much at home, what can be done at home safely, as can be done in a hospital,” Reed said. Anyone can make a patient referral to Mid-Delta, but the prospective patient must meet certain criteria and be under the care of a physician. Mid-Delta operates 10 branches including ones in Greenwood, Greenville, Batesville, Tunica, Clarksdale, Cleveland,

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David Floyd

Frequent flyer David Floyd has clocks inside his clubhouse at his property in McCarley telling the time at exotic locations around the world where he has flown as a pilot for FedEx or the Mississippi Air National Guard. Floyd and his wife, Janice, live in McCarley.

McCarley pilot travels the world through military, FedEx

he clocks on the clubhouse wall on David Floyd’s property in McCarley display the current time for Sao Paulo, Anchorage, Alaska, Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and Guangzhou, China — all places he has been and could see again before the year is out. As a pilot instructor for FedEx and a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, there are few places in

the world he hasn’t been. “I’ve seen the Northern Lights and the Southern Cross. I’ve pretty much been everywhere — all over the Far East, Moscow, Kazakhstan, Beijing, every continent except Antarctica,” he said. “The Air Force was going to send us to the South Pole, but some of the higher officers wouldn’t allow it since it wasn’t really critical. I came close in tsunami relief when

we went to Christchurch, New Zealand.” One place he hasn’t been that he would like to see is the Taj Mahal in India. “I’ve got to catch the right time,” he said. He has been passionate about flying ever since he was very young, but he also loves teaching. “Our pilots have huge amounts of experience before we hire them, but they have to be trained on our planes,” he said.

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN AND COURTESY OF DAVID FLOYD

“When you take a guy in the simulator with a plane he’s never seen, it is nice to see someone progress.” Floyd, 49, works with pilots on simulators in Memphis or Anchorage, Alaska, where FedEx has a large base. “Anchorage is a huge hub for everything in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said. “It is a refueling stop. For a lot of flights now, it’s shorter to go over the

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David Floyd

McCarley pilot travels the world through military, FedEx

when we went to Christchurch, New Zealand.” One place he hasn’t been that he would like to see is the Taj Mahal in India. “I’ve got to catch the right time,” he said. He has been passionate about flying ever since he was very young, but he also loves teaching. “Our pilots have huge amounts of experience before we hire them, but they have

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN AND COURTESY OF DAVID FLOYD

to be trained on our planes,” he said. “When you take a guy in the simulator with a plane he’s never seen, it is nice to see someone progress.” Floyd, 49, works with pilots on simulators in Memphis or Anchorage, Alaska, where FedEx has a large base. “Anchorage is a huge hub for everything in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said. “It is a refueling stop. For a lot of

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“I’ve seen the Northern Lights and the Southern Cross. I’ve pretty much been everywhere ... every continent except Antarctica.” David Floyd In his many trips around the world, FedEx pilot instructor David Floyd has visited many famous sights, such as the Great Wall of China.

North Pole.” Pilots must be checked on the simulator twice a year and in the air at least once a year, Floyd said. There also are a lot of random checks. “We have to have medical check-ups twice a year, and after the age of 40, one of those has to include an EKG,” he said. Floyd has been with FedEx for 22 years and is a captain on the MD-10/11. Before being hired there, he was in the Air National Guard, with Mississippi’s unit that is the go-to group to call when the nation needs goods or people transported. Floyd had had an interest in flying as long as he can remember, and he also was interested in the military. He joined Army ROTC and had come home to Greenwood, where he grew up, with papers to sign to go full-time into the Army, when he started to have second thoughts. One day something happened to change that direction. “I was with a Guard unit in Moorhead,” he recalled. “We had been at Camp Shelby knocking down pine trees in tanks. I had started taking flying les-

sons from Gary McCarty at Itta Bena when I was a junior at Delta State University. I always was interested in flying. I was returning to the Delta from Shelby and looked out my window and saw three large planes coming at me. I didn’t know there was an Air National Guard in the state.” He called retired Col. Jack Ditto of Greenwood and told him of his interest in going to flight school. “He asked, ‘fixed wings or helicopter?’ He called me 30 minutes later and said, ‘Can you be in Jackson tomorrow morning?’ I interviewed, and in two months did my first drill,” he said. “They had a pilot training slot in November.” After his training in Texas, Washington state and Oklahoma, he came back to Jackson and worked parttime for the Air National Guard. He also worked at the airport in Jackson and eventually worked for USF&G as an insurance adjuster in Greenwood. “My goal was to become full-time with the Guard in Jackson. In early ’89 they brought me on as full-time,” he said “I flew and became an instructor.” !

David Floyd sits in the cockpit of the MD-11, one of several planes he has trained in and flown during his 22 years as a pilot instructor with FedEx.

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Charles Chapin

Far East meets Deep South Chinese martial art t’ai chi can benefit young, old O

Charles Chapin leads Steele Robbins in a series of t’ai chi warmups. Steele is one of Chapin’s younger students. Since beginning t’ai chi four months ago, Steele has gained muscle weight

n Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can walk into Charles Chapin’s fitness studio at 106 Virginia St. and see a variety of people, young and old, practicing soft martial arts techniques to gentle Chinese music. Many small towns don’t have t’ai chi classes, but Chapin had a vision when he started teaching the ancient Chinese martial art form in Greenwood. In an environment where obesity rates and heart failure are high, he wanted to bring awareness and change — and he said his conscience led him to teaching t’ai chi ch’uan. “My mother suffered a stroke, and I regretted not being able to help her,” Chapin said. “So I resolved to try and help others by teaching them t’ai chi.” Literally translated “grand ultimate exercise,” t’ai chi ch’uan is the most practiced form of exercise in the world. The slow-motion, low-impact exercise is ideal for the elderly, even though it is practiced by all age groups. The slow movements have been known to help alleviate a variety of disorders, including heart trouble, high blood pressure, ulcers, arthritis and chronic headaches. If practiced regularly, the art is known to extend a person’s life by an average of 3½ years. Chapin currently teaches the art to more than 20 eager learners. He has taught children as young as 5 and adults over the age of 80. “T’ai chi is the most beneficial thing an older person can do,” Chapin said. “It helps their balance and improves their breathing. Older adults who practice t’ai chi fall less, and their falls are less serious because the exercise thickens their bones.” T’ai chi also helps them age less, he said: “They still get older, but their bodies don’t show it as quickly, especially the skin.” T’ai chi helps increase the local circulation of blood and energy in the extremities. This eases stress on the internal organs, and the local circulation is why the practitioner's skin is so healthy. Lenora Lott started taking t’ai chi three years ago after reading about its health benefits in a magazine. “I read about how it was particularly good for women in their 50s, and it helps to improve balance,” Lott said. Lott’s son also took t’ai chi from Chapin. “He wanted to take tae kwon do, but Charles suggested he try t’ai chi,” she and increased his strength level. Steele practices t’ai chi with said. “It helped him significantly with an his mother, Boyce Robbins, who also takes lessons from attention problem he was having.” Betty Van Meek is another one of Chapin. STORY AND PHOTOS BY BETH THOMAS

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Charles Chapin leads his Tuesday morning class in a series of t’ai chi motions. This particular motion is the wild horse parts the mane, which is part of the Yang style of t’ai chi. Students, from left, are Carolyn Floyd, Sherrill Smith and Pat Verhage.

“I think this is something great that he and I can do together. This is something that I want us to continue to do, even when I’m 80 and Steele is 50.” Boyce Robbins

Lenora Lott demonstrates a series of t’ai chi executions with a sword. Lott is one of Chapin’s advanced students. She has been studying with him for three years.

Chapin’s dedicated students. “T’ai chi is beautiful,” Meek said. “The poses make me think of Asian ballet, and I love practicing it.” Steele Robbins, who is 10, has been taking t’ai chi for the last four months. He said he became interested in it because he wanted to get stronger for soccer and learn a few cool fighting moves. “After soccer practice one day, me and my mom were talking about it, and she suggested I take t’ai chi,” Steele said. “It takes time to learn, but over time it has gotten easier.” Steele practices the art with his mom, Boyce Robbins, who began taking it herself once she saw how involved he was. “He and Charles are big buddies,” Robbins said, “and t’ai chi has helped Steele so much.” Since beginning t’ai chi, Steele has gained weight and has gotten much

stronger, in addition to learning a few moves. “I think this is something great that he and I can do together,” his mother said. “This is something that I want to us to continue to do, even when I’m 80 and Steele is 50.” Surprisingly, Chapin’s students all catch on to the motions quickly. “It’s not difficult to memorize if the student is willing to practice,” he said. “We start off slow and add on as they begin to catch on.” T’ai chi is all about balance. “People are usually dominant to one side, right or left, and the focus is to make you work both sides equally,” Chapin said. “This is how you achieve good balance.” Though his classes consist mainly of women, Chapin encourages men to practice the exercise, too. “Most men find t’ai chi too slow, but it’s just as beneficial to them as it is to

women,” he said. “The important thing is to start slow and work up to faster techniques.” Chapin’s Tuesday morning class consists of a group of older women, who he said have made a significant improvement since they started a couple of years ago. “Their breathing has really improved,” he said. “When they started, their typical breath lasted one second. Now they can take 10-second breaths.” The women have also improved their chances of longevity by being diligent. Just by practicing the exercises once a day for the last few years, they have practically added six to 10 years to their lives, Chapin said. “Teaching them has given me the satisfaction of knowing that if something were to happen to me, each of them will live longer, healthier lives,” he said. Chapin said one never stops learning t’ai chi, and though he began learning it more than 30 years ago while stationed in Hawaii with the Marine Corps, he’s still learning it. Eventually he would like to take a walking backpack trip to China and see all of the places where the t’ai chi ch’uan style originated. But he also has another ambition —– one that only his diligence in practicing the exercise regularly will allow him. “I’d like to one day read the obituary of all the people who didn’t like me,” he said with a laugh. !

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Dr. Douglas Bowden

Breaking new ground

The staff at Park Avenue MedSpa includes, from left, Peggy Jones, receptionist; Dr. Douglas Bowden; and Amber Truitt, registered nurse. STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID MONROE

New cosmetic surgery practice offers unique services

hen Dr. Douglas Bowden finished his medical residency in Tulsa, Okla., in 1992, he was looking for a job in a small town — with some qualifiers. He wanted to practice in a place with a fairly good-sized hospital where he wouldn’t be the only surgeon. He’d never been to Mississippi before, but after a recruiter called him about a job opening with Dr. John Lucas Jr. and Dr. John Lucas III, he visited Greenwood and liked it. “Everybody was very friendly and

treated us well, and I thought it’d be a good place to start out,” he said. “I just happened to like it, so we ended up staying.” Bowden still works with John Lucas III today at Lucas Surgical Group. He also has opened Park Avenue MedSpa, which offers cosmetic procedures and other services, including some not available elsewhere in this part of Mississippi. “I’m excited about it; the employees are excited about it,” Bowden said. v v v

Bowden, 51, grew up in Broken Arrow, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa. He knew at an early age that he wanted to go into medicine.When he was in fifth grade, a horse kicked him and broke a number of bones in his face, and he was fascinated by how doctors were able to fix him up. “I thought that was pretty neat,” he said. “That was my first exposure, I guess, to the hospital and doctors and that sort of thing.” His uncle was an obstetrician-gynecologist, and he also had a high school friend

whose father was a urologist. Sometime around ninth grade, he saw his friend’s father perform a kidney transplant, and he knew then that he wanted to be a surgeon. “That’s the first surgery I ever saw,” he said. “I decided I liked surgery, and that was something I wanted to pursue.” He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a medical degree from Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa.

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Dr. Douglas Bowden, right, has practiced in Greenwood for nearly 20 years. Other staff members at Lucas Surgical Group include, from left, Angie Kimble, who works in records; “When I moved here, I was one of the youngest doctors in Greenwood,” he said. As a general surgeon, he has performed a variety of procedures over the years. For about 13 years, he has done a lot of cosmetic surgery, and he has been very involved in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Park Avenue MedSpa is a “natural extension” of that work, he said. Park Avenue MedSpa offers cosmetic procedures generally not covered by insurance. Patients can receive Botox injections, dermal fillers and laser treatments, and there is an outpatient suite for surgeries such as breast enlargements and lifts, abdominoplasty (“tummy tucks”) and tumescent liposuction. The facility also provides skin care services such as chemical peels and microdermabrasions. Bowden said managing patients’ expectations is an important part of his work. “The procedures we do, there’s improvement, certainly, but you can’t make anybody look like somebody else,” he said. v v v

Kristi Miller, receptionist; Amber Moak, licensed practical nurse; Kaylynn Pollard, receptionist; Tammy Fulgham, medical assistant; and Merita Howell, office manager.

“Everybody was very friendly and treated us well, and I thought it’d be a good place to start out. I just happened to like it, so we ended up staying.” Dr. Douglas Bowden Since September, Lucas Surgical Group has been owned by Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Bowden’s contract with the hospital allows him to work in his side business. “I had been doing a lot of what I’m doing here now at our other practice when we were in private practice,” he said. “But once we sold to the hospital, it was going to be better for me to separate out the two.” Bowden now spends Tuesdays in the office at Lucas Surgical Group, performs surgery at the hospital Wednesdays and Thursdays and does procedures such as endoscopies on Friday mornings. He is at Park Avenue MedSpa on Monday after-

noons and on Fridays as time allows. He said the hospital has always supported him and “been good about making sure we have the latest equipment, whatever we needed.” He also stays up with new developments in his rapidly changing field. “Practicing medicine, you’re always learning,” he said. v v v Bowden and his wife, Kola, have three children: daughter Kayla Bosworth, who lives in Texas; son Dane, a sophomore at the University of Mississippi; and daughter Kara Mae, a senior at Pillow Academy who

will attend Ole Miss. When it comes to their career plans, he’s encouraging them to do what they want to do. “They don’t have to follow and do what I do, but some kind of service to others, you know?” he said. “I think that’s important.” In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, and he has traveled to to Alaska, Idaho, Colorado and even New Zealand to hunt. He also sings in the choir at North Greenwood Baptist Church. Bowden said small-town life has worked out well for him. He likes getting to know his patients and not having to work at three or four hospitals, and he doesn’t plan to move before retiring. He has given advice and written letters of recommendation for some people from this area who are now medical students or residents, and he hopes some of them will return to the area to practice. “Some people think you have to be a big-city doctor, but I enjoy it here, and that’s why I’m trying to encourage them,” he said. !

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A.W. Tree Service

Successful start Austin Wilkey (left), owner of A.W. Tree Service, and Bubba Ruscoe cut a huge tree trunk into pieces so it can be hauled away. Wilkey, who started his business two years ago, has been pleasantly surprised at how much work he has had.

Wilkey ‘blessed’ with lots of work in first year W

hen Austin Wilkey decided to start his own business two years ago, he always believed he had a good plan. But not even Wilkey could imagine how successful A.W. Tree Service turned out to be. “I was really blessed in my first year with all the work we could could stand,” said Wilkey, 34, who started his business

in January 2010. “I take pride in my work, and we work hard. The bulk of my business has come from word of mouth. When you do good work, people will refer you to others and so on down the line.” A.W. Tree Service has three full-time employees year-round and will use as many as five full-timers in the summer. Wilkey and his crew will tackle any job,

big or small, when it comes to tree removal, tree pruning, stump grinding or lot clearing. Wilkey uses two bucket trucks — one with 85-foot reach and another with 60foot reach — as well as two dump trucks, a skid-steer loader, a stump grinder, a heavy-duty log splitter and 10 chain saws to run his business. Wilkey said A.W. Tree Service wouldn’t

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BILL BURRUS

be nearly as successful without the good help of Bubba Ruscoe and Nelson Whitehead. “It makes my life a lot easier when I have such good help. I have guys who I can trust to get things done if I have to run check on another job or something like that,” Wilkey said. A.W., which offers free quotes on all jobs, also sells firewood in the winter to

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Austin Wilkey, owner of A.W. Tree Service, grinds a stump after cutting down a 90-foot pine tree.

“I am involved from start to finish. ... That’s the way it has to be when my name is on everything.” Austin Wilkey

Bubba Ruscoe, a worker for A.W. Tree Service, operates a skid steer as he moves a section of a tree that was cut down.

make up for lost time working when conditions are wet. Wilkey said he sold about 100 cords of wood from November through February. His first year in business, Wilkey said, was a big success and a “definite learning experience.” “I learned a lot about dealing with the public, how to treat customers and about how much money it takes to run even a small business like this,” he said. “We do all kinds of residential work, big and small. We’ve tackled jobs so big and tricky we’ve had to rent cranes to get trees down safely. “We’ve also been lucky enough to get some big commercial jobs because I have all the proper liability insurance. I try to

run this business as professional as possible, and it seems to be paying off.” Wilkey worked for farmer Ricky Belk for about four years before starting his business. Wilkey had previous experience doing tree work with his father-in-law, the late Bob Henderson, and believed he could make his tree service work. It also has given him a little more time to spend with his wife, Heather, and 3year-old daughter, Mere Austin. Wilkey believes his hands-on approach has been a key to his first year of success. “I am involved from start to finish. I am up there in the bucket,” he said. “That’s the way it has to be when my name is on everything.” !

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Home schooling

Learning at home Julie Day Warren, daughter of Jeff and Brady Warren, builds a pyramid with sugar cubes as part of her study of Egyptian civilization in her first-grade homeschool class. Her mom says history is one of her favorite subjects.

Parents choose home schooling for many reasons “It enables me to stay home with my children. T It has positives and negatives, but right now

he mere mention of home schooling among some audiences evokes all kinds of responses — some extremely positive, some very negative, and sometimes just a polite smile and nod. But to those families who are managing the home-school experience, there is a lot to be excited about. Brady Warren Reasons for home schooling vary, but the most common one seems to be to pro- sons given often include wanting the chil- families are home schooling. Some are dren to spend more time as a family. quick to say their reasons are not an vide an educational experience tailorIn the Greenwood area, quite a few indictment of any area educational instimade for the individual child. Other rea-

the positives outweigh the negatives.”

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN

tution, and some plan to send their children to area schools eventually. However, others plan to continue the experience throughout their child’s primary and secondary education. Jeff and Brady Warren said they entered the home-schooling process “timidly.” But Brady says she loves it. “It enables me to stay home with my children. It has positives and negatives, but right now the positives outweigh the negatives,” she said. The Warrens have two daughters —

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Julie Day, now in first grade, and Catherine, who attends First Presbyterian Church’s preschool program, which Julie Day attended as well. Julie Day is now studying at home. “What I really like isn’t just about book education, but about living life – learning to establish good habits and live in a world that’s changing,” Brady said. “Julie Day recently memorized a long poem that talks about working hard.” Brady chose a classical curriculum from Memoria Press. “We have to tweak it. I take what I can and leave the rest. I want Julie Day to love reading, and I think good literature is important. We do copy work – Bible verses. The act of writing has helped her learn to read.” Jeff gets involved sometimes, although mom carries out most of the schooling. “He likes to take them on small field trips. Julie Day is interested in Indians, so he took them to see an Indian mound and museum. She loves history, so we’re reading through the Story of the World, started at the beginning of civilization and written for young children,” Brady said. At one time, she would have laughed if someone had suggested she would home-school, but over a period of several years, she and Jeff decided it might be an option. “I read a book that talked of instilling a love of learning in your children,” she said. “It was based on the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason in the early 1900s.” The book and others’ experiences convinced her to try home schooling. “It’s been the hardest thing I have ever done. We’re not intellectuals, but we do want our children to love learning,” Brady said. “I have learned more about myself and my child. God has taught me so much. I believe he wants us to be lifelong learners. “Things don’t always go as anticipated. I’ve learned Julie Day’s strengths and weaknesses. Maybe later I will work outside of the home, but I will always treasure these times.” Steven and Heidi Makamson began home-schooling their oldest two children — Owen, 6, and Jensen, 5 — this year. “I love it — a lot more than I thought,” Heidi said. “There wasn’t a half-day kindergarten program in Greenwood, and we wanted Owen to have more time not to be confined to a classroom. I love the individualized

Jensen Makamson, left, and Owen Makamson learn about the bones with their mother, Heidi, who is homeschooling them this year for 4K and 5K.

learning — fast or slow as needed. It’s another year to be a child, to have the freedom to go outside and play.” For curriculum, Heidi chose Singapore for math, along with her cousin-in-law Robin Smith, also a home-schooling mom, for its hands-on learning and the way it helps with critical thinking. For reading and science she uses the Sonlight curriculum, and for social studies and handwriting she uses A Beka. Heidi readily admits home schooling gets hectic, with little brother Jake, 22 months, often in the middle of school activities. But she feels the effort is worth it. “We learn Bible verses every week, and we read good Bible stories. That’s important to me.” Owen also gets to spend a good bit of time with his dad, who likes the flexibility of home schooling. “If we want to take a trip, we can do it. We have a lot of time together. They have the rest of their lives to be in school,” Steven said. Recently the Makamsons were in St. Louis, where the children were able to go to the children’s science museum and do other educational and entertaining

Catherine Warren, left, and Julie Day Warren learn about American Indian culture during a field trip with their dad, Jeff Warren, who enjoys helping out with home-school field trips from time to time.

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“Sometimes we wish we were in regular classes when you’re ready to see people.” Katie Gwen Osborn Katie Gwen Osborn, left, and her sister Alexa perform Christmas carols on their violins as they practice at home. The girls have home-schooled for most of their educational experience, and each week take violin lessons in Cleveland, Miss.

activities on what would have been the first day of a new school semester. As for concerns about socialization, the two young families say the children get plenty of that in church and sporting activities as well as dance, art, and gymnastics lessons. For two teenagers who have grown up home-schooled, they also say meeting people and forming relationships is not difficult. Besides a few early years in a private Christian school, Alexa and Katie Gwen Osborn have been in home school for most of their school years. “We go to Pillow football and basketball games and participate in our

church’s youth group. We have also branched out by meeting friends of friends,” Katie Gwen said. Alexa, 15, takes a fairly usual curriculum this year and said she likes moving at her own pace. “If I feel like doing Bible, then math, and history later, I can,” she said. “Sometimes the curriculum we use is well explained, and I can do it myself. When I need help, Mom walks me through it.” This year she is taking English composition over the Internet, in which she writes essays based on reading. “There are 16 students in the class,

and we have class discussions,” she said. “The teacher is from a classical school. Everyone gets on the Internet and chats at once.” She also takes Algebra I, biology, Spanish and logic. Katie Gwen, 17, studies physics — one of her favorite subjects, she said — as well as pre-calculus, trigonometry, Spanish and English composition based on readings. Both girls take weekly violin lessons in Cleveland, Miss. The Osborns also have two other children who home school — son Jeb, 8, and daughter Greta, 12. The girls say they enjoy time with

their dad at lunch most days and like going at their own pace. On the other hand, Katie Gwen said, “sometimes we wish we were in regular classes when you’re ready to see people.” They laugh about stereotypes people have of home schoolers. “People say, ‘You don’t wear long dresses. What do you do for fun?’” Alexa said. These three home-schooling families agree that while there are many good options for education in the area, they have chosen “the less-traveled road,” and it is making a great impact on their families. !

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Shane Sanders Tree Service began as a sideline. After nine years, owner Shane Sanders and his staff stay busy doing jobs within a 100-mile radius of Greenwood.

Staying busy

Sanders and crew hard at work all over Delta “We get along with everybody we work for W and try to satisfy everybody we work for.”

orking the land is no easy feat, but the employees of Shane Sanders Tree Service have been busy pruning and trimming trees and removing and grinding stumps across the Delta for the last nine years. “We get along with everybody we work for and try to satisfy everybody we work for,” said owner Shane Sanders. Sanders says he’s pleased with the response the company has received from customers. What started in Minter City as a side venture has grown into a business that serves a 100-mile radius, stretching from

Monday through Friday, but the employees say they are willing to work Saturdays if there is a lot of work to do. They tend to work more Saturdays during the summer. The winter months bring about a slowShane Sanders er pace, but they stay ready for any ice storm or other form of inclement weather. They are available 24 hours a day if Greenwood to Oxford and all the areas in some commercial ones. between. At 33, Sanders oversees the tree service there’s bad weather. Sanders said they have a good crew “We got so busy doing it, we just got himself. that has stuck with them for a while, and into it full time,” Sanders said. “Usually it’s about five of us who run he doesn’t expect to add anyone else soon. Shane Sanders Tree Service now has everything,” Sanders said. “I know they’re there every morning sites in Minter City and Greenwood and The group has plenty to do year-round. and always on time,” he said. ! does many residential jobs as well as The normal schedule is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. STORY BY BETH THOMAS ! PHOTO BY JIM STALLINGS

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John and Cheryl Weiss

Aneed to sing MVSU choir director, wife have wealth of experience

ohn Weiss has taught music all over the country, but he sees something special in the Mississippi Valley State University Choir. Before moving to the Delta, he knew a little about the region’s association with blues and gospel music and knew the state had produced talents such as opera star Leontyne Price. But he didn’t know just how important music was to the region’s residents. Weiss said people, especially students, sing for different reasons — because it’s fun, because it looks good on a resumé, because their parents tell them to or maybe because a boyfriend or girlfriend is in the group. But music seems more essential to people here, he said. “I think people sing for the same reasons that I sing,” he said. “They need to sing. Somehow they feel less human when they don’t sing.” He also says the choir is as talented a group as he’s ever seen — and he’s pushing its singers to be even better. “There were several weeks when I kept on telling the students in choir, ‘You don’t know how talented you are,’ in terms of the voices that they’re born with — and the heart with which they sing and perform,” he said. v v v Weiss learned about the MVSU job while serving as choir director at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, N.D. He had taught music in locations including Washington state, Arizona, Vermont and Massachusetts, but he had never been a director at a four-year school. He interviewed for the job Sept. 2. After he accepted it, he and his wife, Cheryl, made a three-day trek from North Dakota that ended Sept. 13, and he started work two days later. He said they quickly found that the Delta is like no other place. They’ve had to get used to the slower pace of a small town, but it’s grown on them — and they like the friendliness and smiles. “Certainly in the Northeast — certainly, I think, in most other parts of the country — students would not out of habit address me as ‘Sir’ or address her as ‘Ma’am,’” he said. The weather requires an adjustment, too; in Mississippi, people talk about temperatures going down into the 20s, STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS BY DAVID MONROE AND COURTESY OF JOHN AND CHERYL WEISS

John Weiss, the new director of the Mississippi Valley State University Choir, and his wife, Cheryl, moved to Greenwood from North Dakota in September. Both have extensive experience in performing, including theater and opera. They say they like the friendliness of the Delta and have been impressed by the talent of the choir members.

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“(The MVSU singers) are growing by leaps and bounds. And every day they teach me what they need, and I’m learning what the best way is to work with them, and I really do believe good things are happening.” John Weiss get to the topmost levels, your answer had better be your career,” John said. “And if you want a significant other, your partner or your wife or whoever needs to understand that.” It’s a competitive field, and it can mean working with some less-than-encouraging people. Cheryl once heard a famous director describe directors’ view of singers this way: “We look at you like rolls of toilet paper. We take you, we use you up and there are 10 more rolls in the closet waiting.’” But they’ve enjoyed it, and they’ve even performed together on occasion. Recalling one scene in “Fiddler on the Roof,” John reminded his wife, “One time you got to whack me with your cane.” “Oh, yeah, during the wedding,” she replied with a smile. “That was great.”

but in North Dakota the 20s will feel warm after weeks of subzero cold. “Now, summer? I don’t know,” John said with a smile. “We’ll see what happens.” v v v The Weisses, both 60, met as freshmen at Boston University. He sings bass; she is a mezzo soprano. “She knew the answers in the music theory class, and I didn’t,” John recalled. “ She looked pretty; I said, ‘I’ll ask her.’ That’s a bit simplified, but there’s a lot of truth in it, too.” They are renting a place in Greenwood now, but they expect to move into a more permanent residence in town within a year or so. They have a daughter, Amy, who lives near Pittsburgh, and two grandchildren: Samantha, who is 11, and Anthony, who is 2. They bring a wealth of experience in teaching and performing. His list of musical theater performances features plays such as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “My Fair Lady”; her resumé includes prominent roles in “The Music Man,” “The Sound of Music,” “Show Boat” and “Anything Goes.” Both also have performed in operas including “The Magic Flute,” “The Marriage of Figaro” and “The Barber of Seville.” That kind of versatility is necessary, Cheryl said: “For singers, it’s really important to be able to have the flexibility to go back and forth if you want to be hired.” She grew up in Rhode Island, began singing at the age of 8 and started piano at 9. She was coached by her mother, who had sung and danced in supper clubs in the 1940s and 1950s. Cheryl ended up supplementing the family’s income significantly through concerts and nightclub performances — and after winning a national vocal competition as a high school senior, she went on a European tour and had her pick of college scholarship offers. “It was always something that I knew that I loved, and when I stopped doing it, it’s like with these students singing here — it’s like that need that comes through. And that need would always kick in,” she said. “And that’s what finally told me that ultimately I was doing it because I loved it.” After earning a master’s degree in vocal performance, she added master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology, with an emphasis on sport and performance. She has extensively studied “self-talk” — a strategy that has helped performers, athletes, doctors and military people per-

v v v

John and Cheryl Weiss have performed in a variety of theater and opera productions. Shown above are John Weiss in a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” and Cheryl Weiss in “The Merry Widow.” form under pressure. Having taught voice privately for 25 years — and worked with some students who have gone on to great things — she is looking for studio space to do that here. She also has talked to people at Valley and Mississippi Delta Community College about teaching psychology classes. Her husband, a native of Ohio, grew up mainly in Massachusetts and was exposed to a variety of music at home, including blues, jazz and Broadway. After playing trumpet and baritone horn in high school, he joined the chorus and found he enjoyed it. He went on to earn

master’s and doctoral degrees in choral conducting, each with a minor in vocal performance. Since they married, the Weisses have moved 20 times to 13 places for teaching or performing jobs or education. “We’ve done things and seen things that a lot of people don’t get to do and see,” Cheryl said. They also know how challenging the life of a performer is — especially for those wanting to rise to the top of the profession. “It’s like, ‘Well, what’s more important in my life — my career or my family, or my significant other?’ Well, if you want to

The Valley choir has about 55 members this year. John Weiss also leads The Valley Singers, a more select group of about 20 students. He said he first met the choir members when he interviewed for the job and was impressed. He also stressed to them what his goals were. “I was very clear with them that even though I like to use a lot of humor in my rehearsal and not be too strict all the time, my goal is to teach them how to rehearse,” he said. “That’s not something that’s learned quickly.” They’re already motivated to sing, but becoming what he calls “really, really good” takes great focus and discipline, he said. He added that they certainly don’t lack confidence. “I had to encourage my choir at Bismarck, at times, to sing louder, because they were so timid,” he said. “Here, it’s 180 degrees opposite.” If financial arrangements can be made, he would like to be able to take the choir to some festivals around the country so they can experience other places and learn about various musical forms. “They are growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “And every day they teach me what they need, and I’m learning what the best way is to work with them, and I really do believe good things are happening.” His wife agreed, saying she sees an unlimited supply of talent there. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen anywhere, as far as the latent, nascent talent that exists, just naturally. ... You barely have to flick a wrist, and bang — they are amazing,” she said. !

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Mobile Auto Glass

Family tradition STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN Employees Colby Newman, left, a glazer, and Tim Williams, an auto technician, install a new windshield. Sixty percent of Mobile Auto Glass Inc.’s business is now commercial and residential “flat glass,” such as storefronts and shower enclosures.

‘I feel like we can do more,’ Freeland says M

att Freeland, president of Mobile Glass Inc., a thirdgeneration glass man, is taking his company in new, challenging directions. “My father passed away when I was 12. I was in the seventh grade,” said Freeland, who is now 31. “As I was getting ready to graduate high school, I talked to several of my dad’s old friends and business associates — people that I’d met through the years, trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go. “I kind of thought in my head I’d like to do the glass business, to do our family

business, but I was only 12. I didn’t know anything about it. You can’t remember a whole lot when you’re 12.” Still, Freeland, at that young age, had an inkling about going into the family business. Freeland’s grandfather, Norman Leroy Freeland, started Southern Glass in 1947. Located on Main Street in Greenwood, the business flourished. By the late 1970s, Freeland’s father, Norman Leroy Freeland Jr., took over. He changed the company’s name to Auto Glass Mississippi and soon had four locations: Greenwood, Grenada,

Greenville and Oxford. Freeland said the change in the company name was largely an “ego thing.” “You had clientele already, but you needed to get more clientele,” he said. “You needed to establish yourself individually.” The Freeland family’s “ego thing” continued when Freeland opened Mobile Auto Glass Inc. in 2001. While still a student at Cruger-Tchula Academy, Freeland consulted family friends, including Greenwood attorneys Lee Abraham and Don Brock Jr. The attorneys and others gave Freeland some

sound advice. “They said any amount of college is not going to teach you how to sell yourself or your product. All it’s going to do is teach you how to run your business and keep up your finances. You can hire an accountant to do all those things,” Freeland said. Abraham said he had confidence in Freeland. “I told him, if he worked hard and did serious business, it would pay off, and it has,” Abraham said. “He’s a bright young man. ... Hard work pays.” However, going into business straight

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Kenneth Thompson Builder, the contractor on J.T. Hall, was honored for the $1.5 million project in November at the Mississippi Associated Builders & Contractors Merit Award Banquet in Biloxi. “We’re listed as a subcontractor on the job, but it is the project as a whole that won,” Freeland said. The associations that have been created in the commercial field have led to working with several contractors. Still, “you’ve got to be able to sell yourself,” Freeland said. “I’ve worked with Dale Riser and John Beard on several of their projects. I’ve helped them with some of their projects that they are quoting out of state that I wouldn’t have done,” he said. “I feel like we can do more,” Freeland said.

out of high school wasn’t easy, and success didn’t take place overnight. Freeland compares himself to his friends who went to college. “I struggled for four or five years with the business. But, in four or five years, I had established myself and everything while they were just getting out of school,” he said. Although he encourages young people to consider college, Freeland reasons that if he had gone himself, he’d be “four years behind” where he is today. v v v The opening of Mobile Auto Glass Inc. on Park Avenue in 2001 wasn’t exactly promising. The location, a former animal hospital, had only 3,000 square feet of floor space. Still, Freeland had help from his brother, Jimbo Newman, who had experience with the glass business. “In 2001 and 2002, we were doing two or three windshields a day. Now, we’re averaging about seven or eight a day plus all the other stuff we’re doing,” Freeland said. In 2006, when the business moved to its present location, 1811 U.S. 82 West, floor space was increased to 8,000 square feet. That year also was significant for another reason. “In 2006, a friend and business associate, who was in the office actually getting a windshield done, asked me if we did commercial work, like storefronts on big buildings,” Freeland said. Freeland did small residential glass jobs, such as window pane replacement, but hadn’t thought about commercial work. He said that when he was asked if he could find sources for such work, he replied, “I really don’t know how to do it, but I’ll try.” Before long, he was in the commercial glass business in a big way. “I found a vendor to buy aluminum storefront from and got set up. Our first job that we did was the Recreational Outreach Center at North Greenwood Baptist Church,” Freeland said. And the business grew. “Since then, we’ve moved to another location because I started quoting jobs and I needed more room to store materials and have more to offer,” he said.

v v v

Matt Freeland, president of Mobile Auto Glass Inc., says the company, which has six employees, has grown from an automotive glass replacement company to a commercial and residential “flat glass” supplier responsible for 75 percent of glass work in Greenwood’s downtown commercial area. Now the company offers truck accessories, bedliners and residential shower design and construction. Commercial and residential “flat glass” has become the biggest component of the business, accounting for 60 percent of sales. “Since 2006, we’ve been a part of remodeling 75 percent of downtown Greenwood,” Freeland said, rattling off projects such as Fincher’s and the remodeling of First Baptist Church, the Church of Christ, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, North Greenwood Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church.

The lobby entranceway of the J.T. Hall Coliseum at Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead was done by Mobile Auto Glass Inc.

Outside of Greenwood, Mobile Auto Glass has been involved in the Pass Christian City Hall complex, the Vallena C. Jones Boys & Girls Club in Bay St. Louis and Delta State University’s Nursing Center in Cleveland. In 2010, the company was a major subcontractor on the J.T. Hall Coliseum renovation at Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead. The company built the gym’s trophy cases, supplied a new glass entranceway, complete with etched lettering, built partitions for the coaches’ interior offices and constructed an all-glass handrail around the basketball court, Freeland said.

Mobile Auto Glass has seven employees, three of whom are family members, Freeland said. Greenwood has been a good place to have a business, he said. “We have loyal customers. I have no complaints about Greenwood. I’ll be here to the day I die, and hopefully, my children and grandchildren will still have the business to take over,” Freeland said. Freeland and his wife, Carly Moss Freeland, have a daughter, Ann Gray Freeland. The family lives in Coila. Many people still think they have to go to Jackson or some far off place to find someone to do their glass shower enclosure or storefront, when all they have to do is come with a sketch in hand,” he said. He added that they “work with customers to realize their dreams.” Freeland is, in a word, driven. “I want to provide Greenwood and the surrounding area with a complete full service for everything they need — residential, auto and commercial — and do everything I can to earn their business,” he said. The economy isn’t going to slow Freeland down, either. “You’ve got to beat the bushes. There’s work if you want it,” he said. “That’s in any industry that there is. There’s work if you want it.” !

Mobile Auto Glass Inc. has branched out into “straight glass,” such as storefronts. One of the first customers in Greenwood was Beard + Riser Architects located at 201 Main St.

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Garden Park Adult Day Center

Therapy blooms ‘Gardening brings back fond memories’ I

t is said that gardening will improve your satisfaction with life, and at Garden Park Adult Day Center, that just might be true. People with disabilities such as dementia often can’t do activities they once enjoyed, but Garden Park participants can plant and tend to a garden just as they used to, thanks to the center’s pottery fund and donations from local garden clubs. “The feel of the moist soil is therapeutic, and it revives their sense of touch,” said Shirley Garrett, activities director at Garden Park. “Gardening brings back fond memories of the past, and they start remembering the good old days.” Raised beds enable participants to plant both flowers and vegetables without having to bend down. “The beds are near our walking track, which enables the participants to watch the plants grow,” Garrett said. Last year, the participants raised cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes, all of which they enjoyed eating in salads. They recently planted pansies donated by the Greenwood Garden Club, and chrysanthemums, which they are anxiously waiting to bloom. The garden also boasts a row of knockout red roses planted along the ramp that leads to the back patio. Year-round, participants can be found enjoying the garden. Whether they’re planting seeds in the spring, sipping lemonade in the garden’s terrace on warm sunny days or watching the leaves turn in the fall, the participants are always stepping out for fresh air and fellowship. “The garden atmosphere is where they do most of their socializing, and that’s how they really get to know each other,” Garrett said. Garrett said the participants enjoy being in charge of watering the plants and and pruning the roses. “They don’t get to do things like this at home anymore, so we like to let them do it here. They get so excited when the flowers seem to pop up right when they least expect it,” she said. “Last year we had a participant to tend to vines that came up voluntarily. Not knowing what they were, he was delighted when they were watermelon and pumpkin vines, and everyone enjoyed watching their progress,” Garrett said. Many birds and butterflies make their rounds around the garden, and the par-

Kim Pillow of the Greenwood Garden Club assists garden therapy participants Cassie Jones and Lori Marter in the garden. They are planting pansies donated by the garden club in raised flower beds at Garden Park Adult Day Center.

ticipants are always offering advice on how to attract them better and make them stay around. “We made winter bird feeders with sunflower seeds and spread peanut butter and bird seed over pine cones,” Garrett said. The participants also enjoy making live plant arrangements to adorn the center’s tables for special events. “We grow our own Easter grass in tin planters and dye eggs to go in them,” Garrett said. The participants also grow and arrange hanging baskets around their outdoor patio. As a result of the therapy, a few participants have even started patio gardens at home. “They give us many useful tips on gardening, showing us what was necessary for them back when they would grow their own food for survival,” Garrett said. Garrett said the participants will tell stories about what it was like working in the fields and tilling the land many years ago. This gives the employees a window to look through and see history come alive. “They tell stories just as they used to

live them. We employees learn so much from helping them with the garden,” said Cyndi Bassie, Garden Park director. “They teach us the same lessons our grandparents would teach us, and we love them just like we would our own grandparents.” The participants will discuss how to save food, how to ration it so it will last longer and what it was like growing up in times such as the Great Depression and World War II. “It’s a wonderful experience for us as well as for them,” Bassie said. “I think it’s a good learning experience, especially for our younger employees.” The participants go on outings to pick out seeds to plant. “It’s interesting that the first thing they notice when picking out seeds is the price,” Bassie said. “Whenever we go to the farmer’s market, they have to discuss the prices amongst themselves.” The participants enjoy discussing their old home places, and this piqued the employees’ interest enough to consider some fun field trips. “We like to visit farms near where they

STORY BY BETH THOMAS ! PHOTO BY SHIRLEY GARRETT

lived and have a little picnic lunch,” Garrett said. The participants also enjoyed a fall trip to the corn field, where they yielded enough corn to shuck and prepare right at the center, and a trip to the pumpkin patch, where they picked their own pumpkins to decorate the center. A Christmastime outing to the pecan orchard yielded enough pecans to prepare a multitude of fresh pecan pies. “Making our participants feel useful is our goal, and the garden therapy is one way in which we succeed,” Bassie said. “We’ve been lucky this winter because the weather has been so beautiful. They’ve been able to come out here everyday and enjoy the results of their hard work.” In the summertime, participants look forward to cookouts, ice cream socials and barbecues in the garden. “The garden is special to them,” Bassie said. “We had one participant’s caretaker to tell us that her grandmother made her stop on the side of the road once to pick some flowers to bring up here. To them, this garden is a big deal, and it makes them feel useful again.” !

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Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center

$1 million improvements Clarksdale hospital adds state-of-art equipment “I’m really proud of the progress N we’re making here.”

orthwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center has made a lot of changes in the past year, and CEO Joan Strayham said she believes the Clarksdale hospital is heading in the right direction. “I’m really proud of the progress we’re making here,” she said. The hospital is owned by Coahoma County and is managed by Health Management Associates. It’s licensed for 195 beds and has an average census of 90 to 100, Strayham said. Strayham said when she began a year and a half ago, she was surprised that the hospital didn’t have hyperbaric chambers considering the amount of hypertension and diabetes cases in the Delta. Those conditions mean wounds

Joan Strayham

often don’t heal quickly, and the hyperbaric chambers can help. The hospital now has two hyperbaric chambers, and they’ve been able to prevent several amputations, Strayham said. “It seems to be doing well,” she said. Northwest is also the only hospital in the Delta with da Vinci robotic surgery

devices, according to Strayham. She said they’re used by obstetrician-gynecologists to do hysterectomies. The physician sits at a console and performs the minimally invasive surgery. “They could — not that anyone would ever do it — be in another state doing surgery,” she said.

About 90 percent of the hysterectomies performed at the hospital are done using the robot, and patients are happy about being able to return to normal activity much more quickly, Strayham said. Dr. Kushna Damallie at the Women’s Clinic in Clarksdale does surgeries using the device. The hospital made an investment of more than $1 million in the equipment, and it is training a urologist and a general surgeon to use the da Vinci device for other surgeries, she said. Strayham has been at Northwest since June 2010 but has worked for the company for 28 or 29 years. She began as a volunteer and moved up the chain of command to nursing assistant, regis-

STORY BY CHARLIE SMITH ! PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

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Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center is owned by Coahoma County and managed by Health Management Associates.

tered nurse, nurse manager, chief nursing officer, assistant administrator, chief operating officer and now CEO. “I’ve worked in just about every department,” she said. Strayham said the goal at Northwest is to have every specialty except neurosurgery and heart surgery. She said most of those doctors are in place; the hospital recruited six in the past year. And more are coming. An ear, nose and throat doctor is scheduled to start in March. The practice will focus on pediatrics, Strayham said. The hospital has been without an ENT for a couple of years, she said. The hospital brought on Dr. Thomas Weldon, a urologist who previously practiced in Greenwood, and Strayham said he’s doing a great job. In June, a sports medicine specialist will be coming aboard to work with the hospital’s orthopedic surgeon. A nephrologist will also begin work around that time, as will a second infectious disease specialist to help Dr. Alexander Griffin, Strayham said. She said Northwest was behind the times in many ways when she started but is making good progress. Among those improvements are information technology and data system upgrades, she said. !

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Economic development

Growth strategy

Greenwood’s Russell Building, right, is the focal point of a major revitalization effort. The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation has been involved with securing funding for the building’s renovation. Above: This an artist’s rendering of what the Russell Building could look like if restored. The building could house several businesses as well as serve as a tourist center.

Foundation focuses on creating more jobs T

County.” he Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll To make the foundaEconomic Development tion useful to a broader Foundation has embarked on a cross-section of the comfar-reaching and ambitious program munity, it has begun a intended to grow businesses regardless number of programs of their size. ranging from the revital“We are looking at economic developization of Baptist Town ment in a totally different light,” said to developing a new Bill Crump, the foundation’s chairman. multi-organizational “Every town is not going to get a 400job factory. We are interested in jobs — website to implementing an adult literacy program. Here is a look at six of the jobs in any form or fashion that create foundation’s latest efforts. an impact in Greenwood and Leflore

Baptist Town The foundation contributed $15,000 for a feasibility study for the Baptist Town project, said Angela Curry, the foundation’s executive director. This is a partnership with the city of

Greenwood, which has secured 26 “Katrina cottages” — small structures built to serve as homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina — from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to replace dilapidated housing

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More projects The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation is involved in several projects beyond the six examined. Here are three others: Entergy site qualification The foundation is collaborating with Entergy Mississippi to create a 40-acre, shovel-ready site in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park. Greenwood-Leflore Airport development The foundation was instrumental in acquiring funds for a new airport flight control tower as well as in securing grant funds from in the city’s oldest communities, she said. “At this time, it looks as if the city is working with some of the property owners in acquiring property. The Greenwood Housing Authority is another partner in this project,” Curry said. She said this is a “non-traditional” sort of economic development. “You won’t necessarily see any jobs created with this project, but one of the ‘quality of life’ factors that fits into economic development is being able to offer a Curry safe, friendly, livable community to its residents and newcomers,” she said. Reflecting the foundation’s new approach, Curry said, it is really quite simple: “It’s impossible to move a community forward while leaving some neighborhoods behind.” Crump said the Baptist Town project was largely a spinoff of the filming of the movie “The Help” in 2010. Those involved included the city, the county and the Foundation for the Mid South. Crump added that the JohnsonMcAdams Firm is working on mapping the community. He said the effort has lots of potential. “You never know when you plant a seed what it is going to turn into,” he said. Leflore County marketing plan Developing a multi-organizational website is something that hasn’t been attempted before in Leflore County. The planned site could be operational as early as this summer, said Curry, the project’s manager. It’s a large project that involves almost every aspect of the community. “Not only are we getting a new, comprehensive community website, we’re getting an actual marketing plan and strategy — a plan that will create a new branding theme and tagline,” Curry said.

Delta Electric Power Association to aid the airport’s General Electric’s Capital Aviation Services complex. Community Resources Fair The foundation collaborated with Mississippi Delta Community College in hosting a Community Resources Fair in June. It also has worked with the Governor’s Job Fair Network, the Mississippi Employment Security Commission, the GreenwoodLeflore County Chamber of Commerce to organize the Greenwood Area Job Fair in October. Another job fair is scheduled for Aug. 30 at the Leflore County Civic Center. Crump takes the credit for getting the ball rolling on the marketing plan. “That was an idea I had when I was president of the chamber. That is going to be a huge asset,” he said. The goal of the website will be selling the community. It will replace several smaller websites, such as those operated by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau, Main Street Greenwood Inc. and the city. “We’ll have one website for visitors, for tourists, for site selectors, prospective businesses and residents,” Curry said. Curry said some of the features of the website will be job listings, newsletters, a community calendar and a listing of available commercial buildings and business incentives. The website will also include a “Notify Me” feature through which people can receive “blast e-mails” on upcoming calendar events, Curry said. Users of the site also will be able to purchase building permits from the city online. For some residents and visitors, Curry said, the website will really be helpful. The county doesn’t have a website, and the new site will include links for utilities and other services. “I don’t think anyone in the Delta has done it to this magnitude,” Curry said. The Foundation for the Mid South started the process with a $145,000 grant, but that’s only a small part of the overall effort in terms of time and talent, Curry said. Tim Tyler, e-marketing manager at Viking Range Corp. and the current chamber president, spent a lot of time helping with this, she said. Crump, director of governmental affairs and executive assistant to the president at Viking, said Tyler’s work is “another case of cooperative efforts to make it happen.” He said others, such as Main Street, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the chamber and the foundation, have all contributed to the project. Curry said the first draft of the mar-

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The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation is actively working on placing 26 “Katrina cottages” owned by the city of Greenwood in the Baptist Town keting plan is nearly complete. Russell Building The foundation has been hard at work regarding the Russell Building, a former warehouse on Fulton Street. “The Russell Building has been deemed an economic development project, and it has been give to us to take on. It will be a huge undertaking,” Curry said. Already the foundation has held some meetings with the architectural firm of Beard + Riser and the city on how best to approach the project. In addition, Allan Hammons, who was instrumental in the planning of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, has been asked to lend his expertise, Curry said. Because the building has a damaged roof and other problems, getting it back in shape will take plenty of money. “We are researching both private and public funds,” Crump said. “We’re also exploring other avenues, such as funding through the Mississippi Arts Commission,” Curry said, adding that those efforts are in the early stages. With the city planning to develop a linear park nearby, “it is imperative that we get that Russell Building project up and going and finished,” Curry said.

Adult literacy program A community’s education level is important in recruiting business and industry, Curry said. “When we talk about adult literacy, some people may ask, ‘What in the world does that have to do with economic development?’” she said. “You know what? It has everything to do with economic development.” Crump said, “Having a healthy, educated work force is paramount to attracting any business. You’ve got to have an educated work force.” The foundation is partnering with Delta Council, which has been operating an adult literacy program for several years. “It’s been done in a couple of communities,” Curry said. “It’s proven itself.” Also working on the program is Christie Sledge, a coordinator with Delta Area Workforce Training Pilot Project. There’s an urgent need for an adult literacy program in Greenwood, Curry said. “We have some current employees who would like to increase their reading grade level,” she said. “This is an intensive program that can actually raise an individual’s reading level two to four grades over a 10-week period.” The program, developed by Connie Schimmel, a professor at Millsaps

community. The effort is an attempt to improve the quality of life in the impoverished community. College, is evidence of a changing of thought regarding economic development, Curry said. “We will have to be creative to stimulate the local economy,” she said. “We’re going to have to do things that we ordinarily have not done. Basic community needs that need to be addressed will set the stage for new businesses coming into the area.” Project JumpStart Assisting start-up businesses is a new initiative of the foundation. “There is a need to address small business development,” Curry said. “We have people in this community who want to be entrepreneurs; we have people in the community who are talented and have good ideas and who need help.” Important topics for those people include drafting a business plan and managing finances, Curry said. “We’re hoping this will be a threecounty effort — Leflore, Carroll and Montgomery. We’re looking at collaborating,” she said. Project JumpStart is an intensive workshop held over a six-week period. Anybody interested may register and attend. John Brandon, associate manager senior, of the Mississippi Development Authority, also is helping with this,

Curry said. “We’re interested in jobs, not just 300 or 400 at a time,” Crump said. Helping small businesses will continue to be a focus, he said. “We have to stay busy and create the fertile climate for companies that look at us,” he said. “You have to have your best foot forward at all times.” Priority One For the past three years, the foundation has been active with the Priority One program, which was developed by the Mississippi Development Authority. The effort has been aided by Frank Short, manager of the Northwest Regional Office of the Mississippi Development Authority, and Sledge. The annual review program seeks to help existing employers with problems such as workforce turnover, Curry said. “It’s about preventing layoffs and closures,” she said. Crump said Priority One is an effort to stay attuned to the needs of existing employers. “In the past year, we’ve helped one industry expand with grants and lowinterest loans,” he said. The effort is an extremely important mission of the foundation, Crump said. “You’ve got to take care of the home fires. You’ve got to find out what their needs are,” he said. !

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Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 23, 2012

Index of advertisers

Accountants Directory 126 Ainsworth Signs & Graphics 104 Alfa Insurance 20 American Legion Post #29 82 Anel Corporation 14 Angelic Hospice Palliative Care Services, Inc. 64, 65 Annette & Shelia’s 72 Attorneys Directory 63 A.W. Tree Service 34, 94 Ayers-Delta Implement Inc. 98 Backyard Burger 120 Bank of Commerce 10 Barrett Law, PLLC 60 Beard & Riser 102 Beattie Massage Therapy 53 Bond’s Towing Service 72 Bowlin Air Conditioning & Heating 86 C & C Auto Services 72 Capital City Beverages 120 Cargill 53 Carroll Academy 68 Charles Spain, LLC 3 Carrollton Family Clinic 42 Chassaniol & Co. Cotton 26 Chawla Lodging 36 China Blossom Restaurant 56 Clark Insurance 30 Coca Cola Bottling Services 72 Conerly’s Shoes 42 Country Meadow Personal Care Home 22 Crystal Grill, The 28 Crystal Health & Rehab of Greenwood 75 Custom Glass Services 108 Daughters Of The American Revolution 82 Delta Bistro 24 Delta Defense Training, LLC 79 Delta Distributing Company 80 Delta Farm & Auto Supply Inc. 110 Delta Feed Company 102 Delta Irrigation & Supply Inc. 116 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority 82 Dent Turner A/C Sales & Service 98 Dixie Electric Supply, LLC 18 Dixie Roofing Incorporated 96 Downtown Drugs 12 Dubard Realty 12 E&H Realty 18 Edward Jones, Robert Spiller 44 EMI Staffing Services, Inc. 114 Entergy 118 Expressions Dance Studio 36 Family Dental Associates 30 Fast Cash Unlimited, Inc. 116 First Presbyterian Church 18 First South Farm Credit 112 First United Methodist Church 40 Flatland Grill 10 Flowers Equipment, Inc. 72 Four-Way Electric 120

Fred T. Neely & Company 96 Fresh Laundry 24 Franklin Coffey Estates 86 Friends Of The Museum 82 Garden Park Adult Day Center 88 Ginkgo Tree, The 36 Goldberg’s 44 Golden Age Nursing Home 10 Greater Harvest Church 68 Greenwood Animal Hospital 68 Greenwood Commonwealth 22, 128 Greenwood Leflore Hospital 50, 51 Greenwood Market Place 46 Greenwood Oral Surgery 16 Greenwood, City of 1 Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce 28 Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation 40 Greenwood Sheet Metal & Roofing 72 Greenwood Utilities 88 Grenada Lake Nursery 56 Harold Floyd Heating & Air 30 Hoffman’s Bonded Locksmith, Inc. 100 Homefront Home Improvement Center 79 I.B.P.O. Elks Of The World 82 Immaculate Heart of Mary 75 J.D. Lanham Supply Company 16 Jack’s Package Store, Inc. 116 Jacobs, Dr. Erin 58 Jim’s Home Furnishings 71 Johnson, McAdams Firm, B.A. 72 Jones Sign Co. 108 Junior Auxiliary of Greenwood 82 Kirk Brothers GMC 72 Kiwanis Club 82 Kornfeld’s 98 Kosciusko Medical Clinic 86 KK’s Delicatessen 53 Lamb’s Photography 16 Lap Pet Cemetery 108 Lawrence Printing Company 46 Leflore Ace Hardware 46 Leflore County Board of Supervisors 20 Leflore County Chancery Clerk 48 Legends Salon & Day Spa 75 Life Help Mental Health Center 3 Little Caesars 100 Lusco’s 44 Lynbar Jewelers 58 Magnolia Manor Apartments 1 & 2 118 Mai Little China 3 Makamson Antiques 12 Mallette Furniture 12 Malouf Construction, LLC 72 Malouf Furniture 14 Martha Geeslin School of Dancing 48 Master Scales 79 Mid-Delta Auction Company 72 Mid Delta Home Health & Hospice 90, 91

Mid South Copier Systems, Inc. 38, 116 Mike Rozier Construction, Co. Inc. 72 Mississippi Delta Community College Inside Front Cover Mississippi Gift Company, The 14 Mobile Glass Inc. 84 New Haven Chiropractic Clinic 48 Norris Bookbinding Company 72 North Greenwood Baptist Church 22 North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center 8 North New Summit School 28 North Sunflower Medical Center 58 Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Inside Back Cover Old Time Farmers Market 104 Parker Wrecker & Salvage 120 Patmar Computers 84 Pernell, Dr. Dottie 58 Physicians & Dentist Directory 55, 56 Pillow Academy 8 Pioneer Credit Company 98 Prime Time Plumbing 110 Puddleducks 96 Rexel Electrical & Datacom Supplies 110 Riverview Nursing & Rehabillitation Center 104 Roy Worley Septic Tank Cleaning Service 60 Scott Petroleum Corporation 106 Shane Sanders Back Cover Shell Rapid Lube 86 Sims Realty Development, L.L.C. 84 Southern Duplicating 16 Southern Tire Mart 100 St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church 75 Sta-home Health & Hospice 64, 65 St. John’s United Methodist Church 38 Staplcotn 20 Sunflower Home Health 96 Tallahatchie General Hospital 88 Terminator Pest Control 118 Terrace View Apartments 38 Top Dog Powersports 30, 44, 84, 102 Triple M Irrigation 122 Turnrow Book Company 42 United Way 82 University of Mississippi 125 Upchurch Plumbing, Inc 114 Upchurch Rental 60 Upshaw Law Office 114 Viking Hospitality Group 32 Viking Range Corp. 24 Village Car Care 88 Westerfield Plumbing & Heating 40 Westminster Presbyterian Church 26 What's Cooking? 26 Whittington, Brock & Swayze 53 Williams & Lord Funeral Home 72 Wilson & Knight Funeral Home 61

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