Profile Edition 2020

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Contents

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6 Column: Tim Kalich, 4 Greenwood residents can be proud of many things about the city

Annette Mize, 6 2020 Community Service Award Winner

Lisa Smith, 10 Pharmacist is this year’s Chamber of Commerce president

Mary Brown, 42 School superintendent says experiences and God have prepared her for job Dynamite Kirk, 46 Car salesman has been in the business more than 50 years, isn’t done yet

Brandice Brown, 49 Threadgill Primary teacher of fine arts does a little bit of everything

49

10

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Tourism, 13 Greenwood area has attractions for visitors with a variety of interests

Grand Boulevard, 17 Street has a storied history, is popular site for community events

Restaurants, 21 Greenwood has eating places to suit all kinds of tastes

Agriculture, 25 Farming is key to region’s identity as well as its economy

Emmett Till Interpretive Center, 53 Facility aims to help people learn from injustices of the past Nicknames, 57 Names get attached to people for all kinds of reasons

Buildings, 29 Structures lend character to downtown

Churches, 33 Places of worship provide kinship, guidance for people’s lives Special events, 37 Greenwood is becoming known as place for big gatherings

Brian Waldrop, 61 Former Viking executive is involved in several business endeavors

North Sunflower Medical Center, 66 Cardiac rehabilitation is among services that get patients back up to speed

661 Blondean Minyard, 69 Retiree, now 92, uses craft skills to brighten others’ lives

Nichole Henry, 73 Greenwood Little Theatre performer loves life on stage

Greenwood Leflore Hospital, 77 New machines have been acquired to help improve patient care

Midsouth Copier, 80 Husband and wife Jerry and Cindy Ferguson work together well Economic development, 82 Better-trained workforce helps in recruiting businesses

MVSU band, 85 New director and associate director bring their own style to group

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Publisher’s note

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W

hen my wife, Betty Gail, and I go for a walk, our normal, and favorite, route is to walk the half-mile from our home to the north end of Grand Boulevard, walk the mile to the south end of the street, then retrace our steps.

It’s also the favorite of our dog, Max, who will pull us in that direction if we start on a less exciting path, such as walking several times around the circle where we live.

Not sure about why it matters to Max. Maybe for the same reason it matters to us.

Walking along Grand Boulevard just lifts our spirits about the town that has been our home for our entire married life.

The beautiful and well-kept homes, the oak-tree shaded sidewalk, the grassy median and stylish lighting that bisects the four-lane thoroughfare, the friendly motorists who wave as they pass. I can’t walk that street — even in the sweltering heat of August — without coming away feeling that Greenwood is a really nice place.

That’s the reaction we hope to stimulate as well in you with this year’s Profile edition.

For 34 years now, we have produced this publication to shine a big spotlight on the people, places and things that make Greenwood and the surrounding area so special.

It’s our antidote to what often grabs the news headlines: conflict, crime and problems. It accents what works well in this community, and the people who, rather than giving in to pessimism about its challenges, are striving to overcome them. There are plenty of successes about which to write, and a lot of which to be proud.

This year’s cover focus elaborates on some of those areas for which Greenwood has good reason to brag.

Such as its wonderful mix of restaurants, which locals relish and visitors are drawn to. “Nobody leaves

Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich Managing Editor Ruthie Robison City Editor David Monroe Sports Editor Bill Burrus

Staff Writers Gerard Edic Kerrigan Herret

Contributors Johnny Jennings Susan Montgomery Airrin Metz

Staff

Advertising Director Larry Alderman Advertising Sales Linda Bassie Kyle Thornhill

Graphic Designers John McCall Anne Miles

Production Manager Ben Gilton

Circulation Manager Shirley Cooper Business Manager Nina Biles

Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050 329 U.S. 82 West Greenwood, MS 38935-8050 (662) 453-5312

Greenwood hungry” only works as a catchy marketing slogan because it’s so true.

Or the agricultural tradition, with families now into the fourth generation or more of growing the food and fiber on which America and many other parts of the world depend.

Or the special events — from the state’s largest bike

On the cover

ride to a steadily growing barbecue contest — with which this community is becoming identified around the region and beyond.

Or how our churches are such an integral part of who we are, providing spiritual and social nourishment while steering us toward helping the less fortunate.

Or the historic buildings downtown, which give the heart of this city its character and charm, and the historic street — Grand Boulevard — that leads right into it.

We appreciate those advertisers who support the Profile edition — many of them year after year. We start planning this publication in late October and devote more staff time and resources to it than any other single thing we do. We couldn’t make that investment without the backing of the businesses and institutions that advertise in it.

We also appreciate all of those people who shared their thoughts and stories with us so we could share them with you.

Such as Brian Waldrop, about whom I write. Brian moved to Greenwood to work for Viking Range in the early 1990s. I’ve known him and his family for most of that time. I’ve admired Brian as he has developed into one of the leading entrepreneurs and visionaries in this community.

Brian calls Greenwood “one of the best-kept secrets in Mississippi.” Ask him its attributes, and he’ll tick off a long list. His response is a microcosm of what these 88 pages of the Profile strive to illustrate.

Greenwood has a lot going for it. Those of us who love this community know that, although sometimes it helps to be reminded of it. The Profile edition strives to serve that purpose, while also hoping to get the secret out. Ô qáã=h~äáÅÜ

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God-given energy

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2020 Community Service Award Winner: Annette Mize

Realtor, volunteer is driven to help others

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The longtime Realtor and retired educator has found many ways to help people through her church, her work and volunteer organizations. She can be seen preparing meals or collecting items for the needy, driving student groups and others around town on a bus, teaching Sunday school and leading other church activities.

“In a meeting the other day, they were

looking for volunteers for something, and they said, ‘Miss Annette, you cannot volunteer. You volunteer too much,’” she said with a laugh. “So I can say they know I’ll take care of it. I mean, they can count on that. If I say I’m going to do it, I’m going to.”

Magdalene Abraham, who estimated she has known Mize about 40 years, wrote in a letter that Mize is a “servant leader” who has a deep respect for others.

“Her tireless effort to help others is phenomenal, and it stems from her steadfast

faith and the time she spends with the Lord Jesus Christ,” Abraham said.

Mize gives credit to God, too.

“God gave me a lot of energy — not just for that type of work,” she said. “My mama’s always, ‘Don’t you take a nap?’

No, never. If I do, it will be an all-day nap.”

For her many years of giving, Mize has been chosen for the Commonwealth’s 2020 Community Service Award, presented annually in conjunction with the Profile edition.

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Mize, 66, was born and raised in Minter City, the daughter of Hal and Belva Pleasants. Most of her life in the small, close-knit community revolved around her family and Minter City Methodist Church.

She took part in activities including 4H, where she specialized in cooking.

Once, “my brother had his appendix removed the night before a livestock show, and I had to show his steer,” she said.

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Participants in a “Mums for Missions” fundraiser include, from left, Annette Mize, Sharon Boler, Dorothy Duncan Walcott, Dexter Walcott, Linley Milner, Jack Prayer, a Natchez Trace Greenhouse delivery driver, Watson Pillow, Allen Mize and Robert Bowers.

But that was not my specialty. It was more cooking the cornbread, things like that.”

She said both of her parents set good examples. Belva Pleasants, who won the Commonwealth’s Community Service Award in 2011, was very active in the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, the Boys Club, Greenwood Little Theatre and many other organizations; Hal Pleasants led Boy Scouts, coached sports and helped with maintenance and other tasks in their church.

“He was always involved in whatever she did,” Mize said. “She would probably initiate the program and go from there.

But yes, they were both great role models.”

Mize attended Sunnyside Elementary, Greenwood Junior High and Greenwood High schools before transferring to Pillow Academy, where she spent a year and a half before graduating in 1971.

She became interested in working in special education early but started college at the University of Mississippi as a premed student, hoping to work as an anesthesiologist. She later changed her major to education and completed a general education degree in 1975. In 1976, she added a master’s degree in special education from Delta State University.

The reason for the switch was simple, she said: “I’ve always loved children. I’ve always enjoyed helping people.”

After doing her practice teaching at Como Junior High, she taught at Little Red Schoolhouse in Greenwood and worked in the preschool at St. John’s United Methodist Church before joining the Greenwood school district, where she

worked mostly at Greenwood High.

In all, she taught for 38 years, spending the majority of that time in special education. She worked in every area of that field, ranging from students with learning disabilities to those who couldn’t perform daily tasks at all. The work was challenging at times, but she found she was up to it.

“When I taught at Little Red, I was probably one of those (to whom) they kept saying, ‘You’re the only one that’ll do this program,’” she said. “I was pretty much thrown into it, I guess.”

So what does it take to do that job well?

“I think it’s really your heart,” she said.

“Can you handle that? Do you have the patience for that?”

She said she takes great pride in a program she started in which she took high school seniors out for hands-on job training.

“At first I would have to contact all these businesses, and we would rotate every nine weeks,” she said. “The students would train at Big Star downtown, nursery workers, everything.”

She said she had a number of success stories, including former students from the program who still work at the same places. “I was proud of that program, getting them training, so they could have something to do when they graduated,” she said. “They wouldn’t just go home and sit.”

She earned a license to drive students to the work sites by bus, and she continues to use that skill today. She takes students and other groups to destinations around the area and picks up and transports visitors for Viking Range.

Annette Mize and her mother, Belva Pleasants, help with preparations for Bikes, Blues & Bayous. Pleasants was well known for many years for preparing pimento cheese sandwiches at the Minter City rest stop, and now Mize has that honor.

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Mize has also been active in many capacities in her decades at St. John’s United Methodist.

She serves on a number of committees, including the finance and staff parish committees. She has worked as a mentor for young people and gone on mission trips with them. She goes to the church at 5 a.m. on Wednesdays to help cook breakfast for senior adults. She even runs the camera for the livestreaming of the Sunday services, and she once served as interim director of the preschool while the church was trying to fill that vacancy.

For many years, she has been the chairperson of missions at St. John’s, allowing her and others to minister to the community in many ways. These have included putting roofs on houses, adopting “angels” for the Altrusa Club and The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree, and collecting coats and preparing meals for the needy, among other things.

Each Christmas season, they find names of people who might be alone or need a meal on the holiday, and they take them food.

“We cook that meal, and we deliver it to them,” she said. “And we did 389 lunches on Christmas Day this year.”

Then there is the You Matter ministry, which is designed to build relationships with the homeless and others in need.

The church partners with the Greenwood Community Center and gives out about 100 hot dog lunches each Wednesday. The idea, she said, is to reach out to people and “let them know that they matter to God.” That program is limited to St. John’s now, but Mize said they want to expand it to the entire community. “We’re just building that relationship and hoping, when we do get the homeless shelter going, that we do have a relationship with those people,” she said.

The Rev. Scott Wright, the pastor at St. John’s, said in a letter that Mize sets a good example for others. “With a kind heart, she helps no matter if it’s a church member or someone she has seen on the street that needed assistance,” he said.

Mize said she has always been a takecharge person, which has served her well as a leader, but she knows when to spread the duties around, too: “You can’t do it all on your own, so you have to delegate, and you have to use other people’s gifts.”

Another St. John’s activity that’s close to her heart is teaching Sunday school to the Rainbow Class, which is made up of adults from Beacon Harbor, a Life Help program for the disabled. She served on Beacon Harbor’s board for years and now serves on related boards for 5 Talents Apartments, Easthaven Apartments and Quality Mental Health Inc. Walker Sturdivant, who has worked with her in church and Beacon Harbor activities, said in a letter that she “exemplifies the highest attributes of the Christian ethic” and earns respect through her warmth, intellect and communication skills.

“Annette has volunteered to lead many of our church committees, particularly our Missions Committee, where she spends countless hours helping those in need, and has been an active Beacon Harbor Board member and active participant in the lives of the Beacon Harbor residents,” he wrote in a letter. “I have often

believed that Annette does not sleep since I constantly see her spending countless hours serving others.” v v v

Mize also has been very successful in real estate since earning her license in 1986. She joined her mother at Short Street Realty and worked with her for many years before Pleasants stepped aside for health reasons.

Given Mize’s community work, her reason for choosing the field is not surprising: “I love people. I love homes. I like decorating. I like meeting new people.”

The business is now owned by John Stewart, who has worked there for five years. Stewart said in an email that Mize is “a seasoned Realtor whose reputation is beyond reproach” and “has always been very helpful by providing guidance and insight.”

“Annette always puts the needs of others ahead of her own,” he added.

“Whether it’s taking care of a terminally

Above: Taking part in “Christmas in July” are, from left, Chiqueta Daniels, Annette Mize and Ijeoma Ahanonu.

Left: Mize and William Tucker work on a roofing project in Baptist Town.

ill friend, transporting people of all ages to events, dinners or lessons, or just helping out in the community, Annette is someone you can always count on.” v v v

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Mize is accustomed to caring for others.

She took care of her best friend, Mary Gee, and Gee’s husband, Orman, after they were diagnosed with cancer. When her father became ill, she took care of him until his death last June.

Now she cares for her mother, who is 90 — and that and church are Mize’s top priorities.

She said her husband, Allen, provides invaluable help with her mother, including giving her medicine and performing other tasks. As with Mize’s community work, she is willing to do a lot, but she stressed that she doesn’t do it alone.

“The people I’ve taken care of, like my friends, I could not have taken care of them if it weren’t for their sitters,” she said. “I could not take care of my mother if it wasn’t for my husband. And I could not do the things we do at St. John’s without the other people there.”

Mize and her husband have been married since 1973.

One of their daughters, Marilyn Little, was taken in by the family when she was a 4-year-old foster child and adopted at 16. She is now 47. They have three other children: daughter Molly, who is 41 and lives in Itta Bena; son Hobbs, 39, of Biloxi; and son Bill, 38, of Brandon. They also have nine grandchildren, and Mize takes part in their lives as often as she can.

“I might drive to the Gulf Coast for Grandparents’ Day and come back that same day,” she said. v v v

Mize said she always expected to stay in this area for the long term.

She and her husband moved to Minter City after she graduated from Ole Miss and lived in her great-uncle’s house. They later built a house between Itta Bena and Schlater and spent 33 years there. They moved to Greenwood to be with Allen Mize’s father when he developed Alzheimer’s disease, and they ended up staying in town.

Mize said she plans to continue working in real estate, although she has scaled back that work for a while to care for her mother.

She said her health is good — “knock on wood” — and attributes that to having good genes. So she plans to continue the community activity that has brought her and others so much happiness.

“I’m satisfied,” she said. “Could always do more — and hopefully I will do more.

Lots more.” n

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Beth Stevens John Pittman Richard Beattie Aubrey Whittington The Rev. Milton Glass Barbara Biggers Bill Crump Dr. John Fair Lucas III Belva Pleasants Dale Persons Alix H. Sanders Dr. V.K. Chawla Dr. Alfio Rausa William Ware Hank Hodges Allan Hammons

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Mary Ann Shaw The Rev. Calvin Collins Joe Seawright Fred Carl Jr. Donnie Brock Pann Powers Janice Moor William Sutton Charles Deaton Alex Malouf Irvin Whittaker Harold Smith Charles Bowman Howard Evans Aven Whittington

Business savvy

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Lisa Smith

Greenwood suits chamber president well

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It turns out pharmacy school at the University of Mississippi would eventually be her calling — but only after a journey she never really saw coming. She spent two years as a case worker for Region 8 Mental Health in Jackson and found an unlikely path to pharmacy school from there.

It was her work as a first-time pharma-

cist that landed her in Greenwood — where she is now the 2020 president of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce — for what she hoped would only be a short time in this new place where some outsiders have a hard time at fitting in at first.

After some rough patches, things began to change for her once Smith got involved in her church, St. John’s United Methodist, and in the community and later served as president of Greenwood’s Junior Auxiliary.

“The more people we met, the more things changed,” she said. “Now, we can’t imagine living anywhere else. God certainly had a plan for this family.”

Her experience as a social worker was quite an eye-opening experience — one that changed her path in life in several ways.

The Bogalusa, Louisiana, native majored in psychology at Millsaps College and was accepted to medical school in 2002, but it just didn’t seem like the right fit at the time.

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So, against her parents’ advice, she withdrew her name from med school and stayed on at Region 8.

“I went into a lot of houses and saw a lot of pain and suffering, seeing what substance abuse can do to those with mental illness,” Smith said. “I had lived a pretty sheltered life before that.”

And it was while she was still working in Jackson that she first thought about pharmacy school. That came about by her getting to know the pharmacist where she worked.

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others to another level since getting involved in the Chamber of Commerce.

She is in the infancy stages of her oneyear term as president of the networking business organization.

Williams said the chamber and the entire community are in good hands under Smith’s watch: “The Chamber of Commerce is vital to the economic success of our community, and I can’t think of a better person to lead those efforts than my friend Lisa Smith. Lisa’s energetic style, community involvement and passion for Greenwood make her the perfect choice.”

One goal moving forward for Smith as far the chamber is concerned is to boost participation in the organization by seeing more people close to her age get involved in promoting this area to make it a better place for the next generation.

Since she had always loved everything about school, Smith applied to pharmacy school and was accepted. She started in the spring of 2004 and graduated in 2008.

The move changed her life completely.

It’s really where the picture for her future started coming together. She meet her future husband, Hunter Smith, while in pharmacy school, and things took off from there. Hunter, now a certified public accountant, recalls his future wife sitting next to him in class.

“We sat on the same row during class.

When the teachers would hand out the test scores, they would write the highest score on the board before passing out the exams. One day as I happened to be sitting next to Lisa, I glanced at her score and she had made the highest grade.

Pretty much from that day forward, I sat next to her,” he said. “She literally made the highest grade in the class on every test.

“It was mind-blowing that you are in a room of 100 really smart people, and Lisa would make the highest grade in the class every single time regardless of the subject.

I am not just saying this because she is my wife, but she is without a doubt the smartest person that I have ever met.”

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“Brilliant.”

That’s how he describes the 40-year-old mother of his two children (daughter Emma, 7, and son Hayes, 5), but he is quick to joke about what he calls “a lack of some common sense at times.”

Her response: “He is somewhat right. I think I have common sense when it comes to decision making, but like I still get confused on where Itta Bena is.”

It’s quite clear she has what it takes to succeed in business as well as life. Smith is owner/pharmacist at three stores in and around Greenwood. She and her friend Courtney Walker are co-owners of Greenwood Drugs, which opened on Oct. 6, 2014.

The two conjured up the idea while figuring out they were working too many hours to make family life work, so the idea of working for themselves became quite appealing.

Two and a half years later, they gave up the security of a guaranteed paycheck and benefits and took what Smith calls a “huge leap of faith” because they believed Greenwood would support them.

Indeed, it has. Greenwood Drugs has experienced steady growth, and Smith is excited about the future.

Since that leap of faith, Smith has taken over a drug store in North Carrollton, Anderson's Pharmacy, and has recently opened a third in Winona, called Winona Drugs.

Smith’s friend and partner in the Greenwood store is quite impressed with how she manages such a full load: three businesses, a husband and two kids, and church and community involvement.

“Between being a mom, having a full time job and being involved in the community, I don’t know how she does it all.

Not only is she active in her community, but she has always been active in her church as well. I have so much respect for all that she does and how she manages her time,” Walker said. v v v

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Hunter and Lisa got married in 2008 and moved to Greenwood that same year.

Hunter was a pharmaceutical rep with Pfizer at the time, and Lisa was interning with Walgreens. He remembers the move to Greenwood well.

Walgreens had just built new stores in Cleveland and Greenwood, and Hunter’s boss told him that he had to move to the Mississippi Delta, so they began looking at the two towns. He said he was immediately was drawn to Greenwood because of the people, making immediate connections with Dr. Michael Boler, Dr. Henry Flautt and Dr. Charles Nause.

“They were so genuine. That ultimately led to our decision to move to Greenwood.

But we had absolutely no plans of staying here forever,” Hunter said. “Lisa literally cried several days per week for the first year asking me what we were doing here.”

That, Hunter says, seems like a lifetime ago.

Well, 12 years exactly. But time passes by quickly when one is at peace in their life. And that’s where both seem to be at this point.

“It is hard to believe that we have been here for 12 years. I am so happy how things have turned out,” he said.

“Greenwood has been such a huge blessing to our family. It is the perfect place to raise your children, and there are so many opportunities to grow professionally and spiritually.”

Beth Williams, who served as chamber president last year, is for sure happy the Smiths and Greenwood finally clicked.

Williams now sees Lisa as the poster child

for what’s good about this small town.

“Lisa is an incredibly smart and savvy businesswoman. She owns and operates three pharmacies and truly cares about all of her patients and employees,” Williams said. “She is a devoted community leader, dedicated mom, and a thoughtful and genuine friend. She’s the kind of person who intuitively knows how to help people, both as a pharmacist and friend.”

Lisa has taken that passion for helping

When not working or keeping her family in line, Smith is known for her passion for books.

“When we first got married, she kept buying books, and our finances were too tight to be spending all of this money on books, so I made Lisa go get a library card.

Lisa has insomnia, and she will start reading a book at 7 p.m. and stay up until she finishes it,” Hunter said. “She will literally read a book a day.”

Outside of family, church, school and reading, Hunter says his wife’s other passion is community service, with her biggest influence in that department being Lisa’s late grandfather, Robert Earl Vince, a retired history teacher and girls basketball coach in Pine, Louisiana.

After retiring from coaching and teaching, he served 28 years in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

“Mr. Vince was like a father to Lisa. She would go with him everywhere. They would go door to door politicking together, community events and things like that.”

Hunter said it was obvious how close the two were while she was in school at Millsaps in Jackson. She visited her grandfather regularly while he was serving at the Capitol.

“Lisa,” her husband said, “definitely gets her community service from her grandfather.” n

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History and hospitality Greenwood Proud: Tourism

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Visitors have fun while learning about area

The Ramblin’ Readers, a book club from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, enjoys meeting Greenwood author Tracy Hunter at Turnrow Book Co. From the left are Gypsye Bryan, Sondra Pilgreen, Sherry L. Hill, Hunter, Annette Mire, Becky Patterson, Linda Green and Danielle Morgan, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau. The group was pleased that Hunter brought the painting she used to illustrate her fictionalized memoir, “Clear Skies in the Delta.” Mire said the love of community shown by people they met helped make the club’s visit to Greenwood “a good experience.”

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s there such a thing as purposeful rambling? Yes, say members of the Ramblin’ Readers, a book club from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that made its way to Greenwood because of the books of all types that people from Greenwood write — and, of course, have published.

“We value the concept of a field trip,” explained Annette Mire, a Ramblin’ Reader who organized the Greenwood trip. The club’s members are former educators who twice yearly go someplace fun — and before they do it, they read a bunch of books with that “sense of place” that Southerners, among others, think is essential to a good story.

“Y’all were our 25th destination,” Mire said. The 26th will be in the spring to Austin, Texas. Members will have begun reading six or seven Austin-related books in January so they’ll be ready to visit the city. This is more or less how they prepared for the other destinations, which have ranged from Savannah to Santa Fe,

with places such as New York City, Natchez and New Orleans included.

“We have done New Orleans three times,” Mire said a touch of amusement.

This is because the city offers numerous sites included in books of all types for them to visit. “We pretty much covered the waterfront,” she said.

Members of the club sought to explore New Orleans differently from when they had been there in the past. “We try to go to places we don’t know much about,” Mire explained.

The Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau’s executive director, Danielle Morgan, assisted with eating and shopping tips and took them on a driving tour that included Robert Johnson’s gravesite at Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Money Road. The latter is also known for its Tallahatchie Bridge in Bobbie Gentry’s song “Ode to Billie Joe” and the nowderelict Money store that is a site in many

books about Chicago youth Emmett Till’s murder in 1955.

It’s also a location in the fictionalized memoir “Clear Skies over the Delta,” which Tracy Hunter, a Greenwood High School English teacher, wrote and illustrated.

The club met with her at Turnrow Book Co. “We like to go to local book stores,” Mire said. At Turnrow, they found not only an eye-pleasing location with shelves of books but a staff they found “a delight to work with.”

They had read Hunter’s novel along with Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help” — from which a movie shot partly in Greenwood was made — as well as Richard Grant’s “Dispatches from Pluto,” Richard Rubin’s “Confederacy of Silence” and Eudora Welty’s “Delta Wedding.”

Because “Delta Wedding” begins with the arrival of a central character by train, the club came and went by Amtrak.

Mires called the meeting with Hunter

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“a great opportunity to have an interview with the author” and said the club wanted to know from Hunter, as it does from other authors, “how location impacted their writing.”

Where things happen in “Clear Skies” matters hugely to Hunter. Her novel is a sequel to another written by her daughter, Erica Sandifer, “Sunshine in the Delta,” which Hunter illustrated.

In Sandifer’s novel, which also is a fictionalized memoir, she writes about bluesman Robert Johnson’s gravesite at Little Zion. A pair of sisters are “buried out there right next to Robert Johnson, over there at Li’l Zion Church, where at a certain time of the day the light glistens an intense yellow thorough barren and majestic trees, bringing in the sunshine of the Delta. All the folks know that’s where Robert Johnson is really buried, but some doubt that, too.”

Sandifer’s prose comes from many stories set in locations, memories that were

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handed down to her from earlier generations.

Hunter’s sequel takes the reader to her girlhood home on McLaurin Street, which she described as a hospitable community.

She writes in “Clear Skies” about a house on McLaurin as being “a screened-in box tightly fitted between neighborhood shotguns, and its encasing mirrored the souls of its very inhabitants.”

Hunter said she loved “the fact that the literary club came to our town and they actually went to Robert Johnson’s grave.”

Mire said, “We were so delighted to talk with her because she not only is a writer but an illustrator. ... It’s obvious she loves the place.”

The locations along Money Road draw the attention of tourists who are interested in musical and cultural history — or really just history. One of the places for some of them is Tallahatchie Flats, the circle of former tenant houses along with a tavern, that sits on Money Road near Little Zion and the Johnson gravesite.

Morgan said one might want to divide visitors as falling into two types. There are those who prefer The Alluvian and the Viking Cooking School — which the members of the book club loved — and those who are attracted to the Flats.

Hunter described the Flats as authentic representations of the types of houses her family occupied in the countryside.

“When you are at the Tallahatchie Flats, you are looking at the house we lived in,” she said.

“I love the Flats,” she said.

A couple of years ago, she and a group of Greenwood High School students helped host about 20 high school students from Aspen, Colorado, in Greenwood.

Mary Hoover of Greenwood catered a soul-food meal. “We had a great time,” she said. Some of the visitors from Aspen were unfamiliar with cornbread, so this “was a special treat.”

Morgan said she and others recognize that the sites along Money Road elicit pain and sorrow, but they show something else, perhaps a tribute to the enduring beauty of culture, that people — tourists and their Delta hosts — find gratifying.

“Not all of our history is pretty, but I think it is important to tell all of our stories,” she said. “I think you know that truth-telling is healing.”

She talked about the Till murder and the store at Money, where the teenager was accused of whistling at the wife of the proprietor. The teenager’s subsequent murder and the trial of his killers became a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Morgan said she hopes the store, which is privately owned, can be saved. “That is complicated because of the state of it. It is a very significant site, but it also is being lost. Every day we are losing it. I really wish something could be done. Personally, I believe it is past the point of restoration, but I believe it could be stabilized in some way.”

The site is among those that “tell the true story of our diversity,” she said.

“There is so much diversity in our history here.” She regularly advises tourists to start visits at the Museum of the Mississippi Delta, where the history presented through displays and artwork progresses from prehistory to the Civil War to the changing agricultural landscape — and more.

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People very often visit Greenwood specifically to stay at The Alluvian and take classes at the Viking Cooking School.

Many also are delighted by the city’s restaurants and dining opportunities.

The book club enjoyed the hotel, attending a cooking class and shopping along Howard Street, Mire said. They were pleased with souvenirs and gifts they purchased and the friendliness of the people they met.

Morgan said Greenwood’s shops “are a big draw as well. ... I go to a lot of other towns in my work and always think how fortunate we are to have such quality

merchants.” They are among the people visitors such as Mire are likely to meet — as are folks sliding into a parking place, walking down the sidewalk or working behind a hotel counter.

“You have a vibrancy there,” Mire said.

“You can tell that people love the place.”

Richard Beattie of Greenwood, whose big projects are the summer’s Bikes, Blues and Bayous and the spring’s Greenwood Gravel Grind, said he’s “terribly proud” of Greenwoodians because their friendliness and helpfulness impart important and authentic hospitality. He hears the compliments every year from

bike riders who come back because they had so much fun the year before. People treat them “like friends and family coming to visit you at home,” he said.

“When it comes to Greenwood, our hospitality is our best asset,” he said. “They can’t get any hospitality better than they can get here.”

Lindsey Uithoven, former sales and events manager for The Alluvian, was the chairman of the Greenwood Tourism Commission until late last year. She said, “I think that visitors honestly are surprised once they get here in Greenwood.”

They see “how nice the town is, how clean it is, how hospitable. ... People love the small-town feel.”

She grew up in the Memphis area and wasn’t sure about moving to Greenwood when she and her husband, Luke, arrived. “Now that I have lived in Greenwood for about six years, we won’t leave,” she said. “The small-town feel has really grown on me. I am proud to live here, and I do enjoy it.”

Mire said The Alluvian’s shuttle driver dropped them at the train station when they left. One of the members of their group had a left a cellphone charger at the hotel but didn’t know it. They were surprised and pleased when the driver unexpectedly returned to the train station with the charger. “That kind of service was just exceptional,” she said.

“We try to go to places we don’t know much about. We know more about Greenwood than we did six months ago,” Mire said. “I could tell everybody loved Greenwood.

“Greenwood was special to everyone whom we met. The deep roots were there, the love of the community. It was a good experience.” n

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A touch of the city Greenwood Proud: Grand Boulevard

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Busy street is appealing place to live, gather

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ome of John Smith’s fondest memories have taken place along Grand Boulevard.

His grandparents, Sid and Armstrong Hart Gillespie, built a house along Grand Boulevard in 1948.

Smith, now 66, lived a few blocks away from his grandparents when he was a boy, and he would often come to visit.

He remembers hiding behind the window drapes while listening to the grownups speak. He also recalls his grandpa buying a color TV and later, when bound to a wheelchair, sitting out-

side on the front porch watching traffic go by.

“Being that close to your grandparents, and they’re welcoming grandparents that love you, is such a blessing,” Smith said.

He was 19 when he moved into the same Grand Boulevard house after his mother, Minnie Hart Gillespie Smith, bought her parents’ home in 1974. In 1984, Smith and his wife, Georgeanne, bought the house, and they haven’t moved since.

“I have stayed here because I do love it here,” Smith said. “I love the beauty of the

trees. Even though it took me a while to get used to the traffic noise, that is kind of comforting to me.”

Like his grandfather, Smith enjoys watching people and traffic pass by the house. Sometimes Smith will sit along the driveway, and within 10 minutes he will encounter someone and they will end up chatting.

“That, to me, is a good thing,” he said.

“I like being here, where people are around me,” Smith said. “I always feel like I’m in touch with the city whenever I’m in this house. That’s what I like about

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being here.”

Smith isn’t alone. A lot of people love Grand Boulevard, a place that serves as a point of pride for Greenwood residents and a place to show — and boast about — to out-of-towners. More than just a street, Grand Boulevard has served as the gathering place where the community gets together to either participate in or watch events such as the 300 Oaks Road Race, the Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and Christmas Parade, and Bikes, Blues & Bayous.

Just as history has been maintained

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downtown through the preservation of buildings, Grand Boulevard’s history has been maintained through the preservation of the street’s historic homes.

Greenwood would not be Greenwood without Grand Boulevard, yet there was a time when one of the city’s most cherished streets was nonexistent — when that area of land north of the Yazoo River was nothing but farmland owned by U.S. Sen. J.Z. George of Carrollton.

In 1910, Capt. Samuel L. Gwin purchased a plot of land north of the Yazoo River with the intention of selling off pieces of the land as estate lots, which would face a road that would cut through the land, connecting the Yazoo and Tallahatchie rivers.

Gwin was assisted in the development of North Greenwood from William T. Loggins, E.R. McShan and Sally Humphreys Gwin, his wife. In fact it was Mrs. Gwin who came up with the idea of building not just a central street in North Greenwood but a true boulevard, according to Mary Carol Miller, a Greenwood historian and physician.

Mrs. Gwin “was a force of nature,” Miller said. “She was quite a go-getter.”

Mrs. Gwin would ride on horseback, scanning the banks of the Tallahatchie River for oak saplings to transport back to Grand Boulevard. Horace Greeley Austin, the foreman, would dig up the saplings and plant them along the boulevard at night, Miller said.

Several homes were built on the boulevard in the 1910s, including the Gwin house, which was constructed on the highest ground along the street and is now the home of Lee Abraham.

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Over the years, storms have damaged a number of the oak trees originally planted.

“The 100-year-old trees, there may be eight or 10 of them left,” Miller said. “Sally Gwin always said that these pin oaks would grow for 50 years, then they would live for 50 years, then they would die for 50 years.”

“There’s not another town in Mississippi that has anything close to Grand Boulevard, and it’s because of Sally Gwin,” Miller said.

Susan and Robert Spiller have lived in their Grand Boulevard home, located at the corner of Grand and Park Avenue, for two years. The house, built in 1920, was known as the Vardaman house, in reference to the first owner, W.S. Vardaman, a former mayor of Greenwood.

The house is adorned with more than 50 windows. Given this, as well as the

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house’s location along a busy residential street, Grand Boulevard, as well as a busy commercial street, Park Avenue, Spiller has seen many things, and she has loved watching the community’s annual

Christmas parade from her house.

“I like it here because the (Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and Christmas) parade ends right here, and I get to see the parade from the second floor,” she

said. “And I get to see the trick-or-treaters at Lee Abraham’s house,” which is located across the street.

“It’s like living in the city,” Spiller said.

She said that when she’s inside washing the dishes or outside gardening, she’s always greeted by passersby.

“People honk and they wave. They holler out, ‘It’s looking good out there!’”

Spiller said. “It’s nice to see all the people walking or running.”

“I love this street,” she said. “I just love this street. It’s so pretty.” n

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‘Culinary mecca’

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Greenwood Proud: Restaurants

Greenwood offers a variety of food options

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j~ííÜÉï=j~á=Åççâë=~í=j~á=iáííäÉ=`Üáå~=çå=m~êâ=^îÉåìÉK hen it comes to dining, Greenwood has no shortage of good choices for a town of

its size.

TripAdvisor, the travel website that provides customer reviews of restaurants the world over, counts 34 rated eateries in Greenwood. Of the nine restaurants receiving 10 reviews or more, all averaged at least four stars out of five.

“Greenwood is fortunate to have so many wonderful dining options, many longstanding, that have been feeding locals and visitors for generations,” said

Danielle Morgan, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“In addition to those flagship eateries, there is also a new generation of wonderful restaurateurs that indicate the future of Greenwood’s dining scene is very bright. ... I think Greenwood is a culinary mecca for our region. As we say in some of our marketing, nobody leaves Greenwood hungry.”

The restaurants also have drawn attention elsewhere. The national media, such as The New York Times, have occasional-

ly shined a spotlight on them.

In fact, some Greenwood residents may find it hard to decide where to eat on a given day.

Where does one begin? There is, of course, classic American food, including barbecue and other traditional American dishes.

If you’re feeling like barbecue, Bo’s BarB-Q on Carrollton Avenue, Steven’s BarB-Q on Fulton Street and Drake’s BBQ on Leflore Avenue — each with their own take on how to serve a chunk of slowly cooked meat with baked beans or potato

salad — are among the choices.

Aside from barbecue, Lusco’s and The Crystal Grill are as traditional as it gets when it comes to American food.

Anthony Bourdain, the late celebrity chef and TV host, dined at Lusco’s in 2014.

At the Carrollton Avenue fine dining restaurant, which specializes in steaks and seafood and places its customers in Prohibition era-styled partitioned booths, Bourdain sampled a salad, steak, shrimp, onion rings and pompano.

The Crystal Grill, also on Carrollton

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Avenue, is known for the variety of its menu. As one of the few restaurants in town open on Sundays, it’s more than willing to accommodate the church crowd.

Last year, The Crystal Grill received another accolade when People magazine named the restaurant’s lemon icebox pie the best pie in Mississippi.

The recipe for the pie, which owner Johnny Ballas has said is great to enjoy either in the summer or winter, has been passed down from generation to generation. So have recipes for the chocolate and coconut meringue pies, each topped so high they defy the ability of most forks to get both filling and meringue in the same bite.

Of course, there’s more than just the pie that people come to experience at “The Crystal,” as the 87-year-old dining landmark is commonly called.

“What we bring is home cooking (and) that you can come casually dressed and feel comfortable,” said Ballas, adding that the restaurant’s “huge variety of food, anything that you can think of,” is also inviting.

Most everything on the menu — from the steaks to the pastas — is “done to order,” Ballas said, since “fresh is always better than something straight out of the freezer.”

If you’re wanting to branch out of American food, Greenwood’s dining scene also features culinary flavors rooted in different countries. Mexican and Chinese are both popular jumping-off points.

San Miguel Arcangel, a Hispanic grocery store and restaurant on West Park Avenue, caters not only to Greenwood’s Hispanic community but also to those who want a taste of real Mexican cuisine, according to Serafin Simon, who owns the shop and also works as a Greenwood police officer.

“We try to bring the real, authentic Mexican taste,” he said.

What makes the restaurant authentically Mexican? The family touch, according to Simon. His mother, Maria, prepares the dishes, which come from family recipes.

The restaurant’s top dish is the chicken quesadilla, followed by the tacos, which people have compared to those sold out of food trucks in California or Mexico, Simon said.

“Here, a lot of people like that we focus on the food” rather than focusing on supplemental items, such as margaritas and other alcoholic drinks, Simon said. “We like to focus on the food. You’re coming back for the food, not the drinks.”

Following their meal, Simon said, customers can shop for ingredients at the grocery store to replicate at home what they just ate.

Meals don’t necessarily have to adhere to one ethnic cuisine, though. Mai Little China, another family-run restaurant on West Park Avenue, infuses both Chinese and American flavors to create unique offerings.

“We offer a very diverse menu,” said Cathy Mai, who owns the restaurant with husband and head chef Michael. “At lunchtime, we have a buffet. We try to cater to the working class so they can get in and out fairly quickly and get a hot meal. In the evenings, it’s a different atmosphere with white table cloth, candlelight. You can order steak, seafood.

There are some Italian dishes, some

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“Local businesses give back to the local community tenfold what a national chain does. ’’ Caleb Cox

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French dishes.”

The Catfish Mai, for example, combines different ethnic cuisines for a new taste.

Farm-raised catfish from the Delta is prepared through a French cooking technique and then served with Asian snow peas and prosciutto, an Italian dry-cured ham.

“We started out with what we thought would be a good variety but tweaked the menu over the years based on what the customers want,” Cathy Mai said.

Greenwood’s extensive restaurant scene allows ample opportunity for those who prefer to skip a sack lunch.

What’s Cooking? on West Park Avenue features sandwiches and wraps and weekly dish specials, such as hamburger steak or fried pork chops.

By the Bridge Bistro on West Claiborne Avenue, operated by brothers Caleb and Ben Cox, also specializes in lunch.

The original goal of the restaurant when it opened in 2016 was to “bring a different menu that was not fried,” Caleb said.

“A fresh and light menu,” Ben added, elaborating that sandwiches, salads and wraps are the main items.

Caleb said locally run restaurants also invest back in the community.

“We’re the ones that pay for your son’s soccer team to play. ... Local businesses give back to the local community tenfold what a national chain does,” he said. n

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Proud tradition

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Greenwood Proud: Agriculture

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Farmers know their work is important

f any one thing defines the Delta, it is the flat, rich land, and that in itself is a source of pride for those who each day work with it, its produce, or both.

Many in the community feel a personal connection, even if they are storekeepers or factory workers. The land, after all, is always close by, in view.

“I don’t go to church, the grocery store or anywhere without people asking me, ‘How’s the crop coming along?’ or ‘How’s the crop turned out?’” said Richard Brown, who farms with his father, uncle and cousin in Schlater.

He joined the family operation as an adult after graduating from the University of Mississippi in 2004, but he worked on the farm well before that.

There was a possibility he might have chosen another occupation, Brown said.

“I had worked here all through high school, going back to even before high school. I did a little bit of everything back when I was a teenager,” the fourth-generation farmer explained.

“When I was in college, I started to miss it and decided that farming is what I wanted to do. ... It is a special thing to come back and work the same ground that has been in the same family for decades.”

Last year, the Browns raised corn, soybeans and, for the first time in seven or eight years, cotton. “It was expensive to have it, but we were pleased with the yields.”

He wasn’t sure whether their operation would have a 2020 cotton crop. When talking about all crops, he said, “Prices are going to be one of the biggest factors in what you do and why you do it.”

He continued, “I have always handled the planting of the soybeans, the harvest of all of the grains and running the grain bins.” This is sold to poultry producers.

Brown said the men in his family taught him by example.

“They were great role models for me, seeing how hard they worked and seeing what they did to pass the land down to us — to preserve it, to make it better,” he said.

“It is important for us to use new practices ... just to preserve the land and resources — so we can pass it down to the next generation after us.”

Wade Litton is the president of Wade Inc., which sells John Deere farm equipment. Like Brown, he represents a fourth generation in a business where he works with his family.

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“I am proud to get to work with my family on a daily basis,” he said, including farmers — or “growers” — as part of it.

“They are like family, and I get to work with them every day.”

He said he is proud to be able to work with farmers, describing them as “admired by growers all over the country.”

“They are progressive,” Litton said.

“They are on the cutting edge. They are always looking for ways to make their business better.”

It makes him proud when he hears from folks associated with John Deere that Delta growers have a better-thanordinary reputation. “They recognize growers in the Mississippi Delta as being some of the most progressive growers on Earth,” Litton said. “That tells you something.”

They are interested, he said, “in sustainable growth, putting more back into the land and managing (crops) on a plantby-plant basis. With technology, you have the ability to grow a crop plant by plant.”

He continued, “While some growers are really embracing tech faster than others, I think all growers will agree that technology will take us into the future by allowing us to put the optimal amount of input needed to be able to harvest a crop for the maximum amount of yield.”

Hank Reichle, president and CEO of the cotton marketing cooperative Staplcotn, has similar thoughts and feelings about the farmers he represents.

“They work very, very hard, and they are good at what they do,” he said.

Substantiality as a partner to productivity is important to them, he said, and these things make him so proud and

motivate him. “We represent farmers who are the best of the best,” he said. “For these people, I am going to do my very best.”

John Coleman, president of Express Grain, said it’s good to think about the results of the company’s success.

“We are proud of what we have done and what we can do for our community,” he said.

Much of this feeling comes from knowing that his business has been creating jobs. The company, which owns an oil mill in Greenwood and a grain terminal near Sidon, has added 100 jobs at the oil mill in recent years. “When we took over the oil mill, we were at about 25. (Now) we are at about 125.”

The former cottonseed oil mill now presses soybean oil. In late 2019, the crew at Express Grain was planning to open Greenwood’s first biodiesel plant there early this year.

Coleman said biodiesel “creates a domestic market where Mississippi soybeans can be totally consumed here in Mississippi — 100%.”

“I am proud these soybeans are going to be able to be used here locally instead of being exported. ... It’s just going to create more jobs and more opportunities for people here,” he said.

He mentioned that Express Grain now has a laboratory with a chemist on staff.

“He’s not from Greenwood. He is teaching people in Greenwood how an industrial chemistry lab works,” Coleman said.

“We are looking for opportunities, and they are out there. You have to look up and see them and take advantage of them.”

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Gary Dyksterhouse didn’t plan to become a farmer, but he certainly is glad he’s had the chance. He and his wife, the former Kathryn Sturdivant of Greenwood, met in college, married, had children and were living in Atlanta, where he was coaching basketball for Kennesaw State University when they decided to move to her hometown. They arrived in 2007, and he began working for the Sturdivant family at their Tallahatchie County homeplace, Due West Plantation in Glendora.

For Dyksterhouse, it was a big change.

They wanted to move to a smaller, more congenial place. Greenwood appealed to them. He has discovered that he loves and likes both farming and living in Greenwood.

“The satisfying thing is what you do matters on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

“You can live in a big town for years without doing anything meaningful.”

He commented that people who live in urban areas often have no experience of agriculture, such as that in the Delta, and its complexities. When he explained before the move that “‘I am going to stop coaching basketball, and I am going to farm,’ they didn’t understand what that meant.

“We have people come through our

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“Farming is important. You want what you do to matter. I get to work in an industry where it matters and get to be involved in a community where you get to see the results and where important things get done. ’’ Gary Dyksterhouse JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

farm all the time from around the country.

They want to see an agricultural operation — a gin or a grain operation. Almost without fail, they say, ‘I had no idea what farming looks like.’ “...The people who know it are the people from the area. People who grow up in the Delta see what it requires.”

Dyksterhouse said, “Farming is important. You want what you do to matter. I get to work in an industry where it matters and get to be involved in a community where you get to see the results and where important things get done.” n

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Sense of place Greenwood Proud: Buildings

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Structures embody city’s past, present

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açïåíçïå=dêÉÉåïççÇ=áåÅäìÇÉë=~=åìãÄÉê=çÑ=ÄìáäÇáåÖë=åçíÉÇ=Ñçê=íÜÉáê=~êÅÜáíÉÅíìê~ä=ÑÉ~íìêÉë=çê=ÜáëíçêáÅ~ä=ëáÖåáÑáÅ~åÅÉK istoric downtown is in many ways the heart and soul of Greenwood.

It’s where both the city and county governments are based and convene for board meetings. It’s a commercial hub, considering the number of shops and restaurants customers can patronize.

And it’s a place of social gathering during the numerous events held downtown.

All of downtown’s character is defined by the historic buildings that have been standing in place for decades — some even more than a century.

“Would you come downtown if it was all new buildings?” asked Brantley Snipes, executive director of Main Street Greenwood, a nonprofit that advocates for and promotes downtown. “That’s the thing: Our character and our history tells the history of Greenwood, and Greenwood wouldn’t be Greenwood with-

out its historic structures. Your sense of place, your sense of community, your sense of environment is founded within these structures.”

Mayor Carolyn McAdams shared a similar sentiment.

“The significance of downtown is simply we are a historic downtown,” she said.

Most of the buildings downtown are within a historic district of the National Register of Historic Places, meaning the buildings are 50 years or older and have significance pertaining to an event, a person, architecture or archaeology.

To this day, business owners operating out of historic downtown buildings have continued to respect the structures’ historic character and have worked to keep it intact.

One of those buildings housed The Winery at Williams Landing, located at 500 Howard St.

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Brantley Snipes, executive director of Main Street Greenwood, says that “Greenwood wouldn’t be Greenwood without its historic structures.”

Husband and wife Lonnie and Debbie Bailey opened their winery in the autumn of 2013 following a series of renovations.

They operated the winery until late 2019 and now have placed their thoroughly renovated building on the market.

Built in 1907, the Howard Street building originally served as Greenwood’s first fire station. It later served as the hub for Greenwood’s Red Cross for several decades but then sat dormant for 14 years until the Baileys bought it.

While unoccupied, the building had been falling apart. Though the structure had “good bones,” Lonnie Bailey said, inside “all of the plaster had chipped off the walls and the paint had peeled off the ceilings.”

State and federal income tax credits were an incentive to restore the historic structure, Bailey said. Renovations to keep true to the building’s 1907 character included retaining the interior rounded corners and only painting the exterior front white, as that’s the way the building was when it was constructed.

The Baileys aren’t the only business owners to make use of Greenwood’s historic downtown structures.

Amy Makowsky, a coffee enthusiast, opened her coffee shop, Mississippi Mo Joe Coffee Co., at 215 Howard St. in June 2019.

Built in 1895, the building has housed a variety of businesses. It was once a bank, a Sears department store, a children’s book store and a travel agency, Makowsky said.

“And now it’s a coffee shop. Talk about reinventing,” she said.

Operating her business out of a historic building works well, she said.

The building that houses Mississippi Mo Joe Coffee Co. has been home to a variety of businesses in the past.

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Customers who walk in can tell that lots of good things have happened there due to its history, Makowsky added.

The renovations she and her husband, Marty, had done were mostly in the back of the building, where a kitchen for the coffee shop’s operations was constructed.

Other than that, the majority of the front of the building’s interior remained the same. Prior to the renovations, Makowsky recalled people stopping by the building to tell her to keep the original tile and wood flooring, which is still there.

“We tried to keep as much as the original building feeling as we could,” Makowsky said.

“It’s really important that we preserve our historical architecture. That’s so worth putting time and money in preserving these buildings. It’s what makes us special and unique,” she said.

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Other “It’s really important new businesses that have that we preserve opened in our historical downtown historic architecture. That’s structures in the past so worth putting year include the time and money in restaurant Tasty Sipz, preserving these 325 Main St., buildings. It’s what A m e land ia G r a c e makes us special Bridal, 116 W. Market and unique. ’’ St. Both sites have Amy Makowsky a l s o JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ housed a variety of businesses throughout history, Snipes said.

For example, the building that now houses Tasty Sipz started as a gas station and then housed the Greyhound bus station. It was also the former headquarters for Main Street Greenwood.

Historic buildings in Greenwood would not be present to this day if it weren’t for some safeguards. Two organizations leading the historic revitalization effort are Main Street Greenwood and the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

Main Street Greenwood offers incentives to owners of historic downtown buildings to have them maintain and rehabilitate their structures.

For example, Main Street Greenwood’s $1,000 matching facade grant allows local business owners to receive financial assistance for their buildings’ exterior storefronts.

“That’s a very common tool because so much of preservation is getting people to take note of a front of a building. ... If you have a pretty face, you’ll get more attention paid to you,” Snipes said.

Main Street Greenwood also works with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and downtown

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property owners to help owners receive federal and state tax credits upon the completion of a rehabilitation of a historic structure.

The Historic Preservation Commission, composed of nine members, including Bailey and John Beard, an architect with Beard + Riser Architects, works to ensure that owners of downtown historic structures don’t tarnish their building’s historic character when they decide to renovate it.

As Bailey puts it, the commission’s task

is to “advise and consent.”

Another benefit of historic renovations is that it’s more economically and environmentally friendly to reuse rather than erect a new building, Beard said.

“You’re using so much of what you already have,” he said.

Citing Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, as examples, Beard said, “Why do we all like to visit Savannah and Charleston? Because of the character.”

In fact, Greenwood’s “historic fabric” proved to be useful for the filming of the 2011 movie “The Help,” as it created the backdrop for 1960s Jackson.

Both Main Street Greenwood and the Historic Preservation Commission are continuing their efforts to preserve all of downtown.

“Just about everything’s in good shape on Howard Street,” Bailey said. “The rest of downtown, we’ve got some buildings that need some tender, loving care.” n

Sources of inspiration Greenwood Proud: Churches

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Places of worship bring people together

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of New Zion and to live in a community community ministry. hurch is a bright spot in our one of those being music.

The president of New Zion’s Celestial where faith is a central part to everyday “Even when it’s not the organizer, it’s a community, says the Rev. Dr. major supporter,” he added. “So if you’re Calvin Collins, pastor of New Choir, Jerry Carter, has been involved in life. the church’s music ministry for 20 years.

“I think that’s what is so great about looking to do work for the betterment of Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

“Churches are inspiration,” said this community,” he said. “You can never the community as a nonprofit, the first “In my opinion, the brightest spot in the community,” he continued, “simply Carter, who is also a soloist and a mem- hardly get through a whole conversation place you need to go to build support is to because it has the opportunity to practice ber of the sanctuary choir and the Men of in Greenwood without God being men- local congregations. You can see that both Zion gospel performing group. “Our local tioned, and I think a lot of that is just the in the ways in which churches are fertile what it believes.”

For many in the Greenwood area, churches are inspiration to those who way we were raised. We were raised here ground for recruiting volunteers, but they in a small town, and God is always No. 1 are also places to find funding for comchurch is not only a place of worship or attend.”

As a member of the choir, Carter said, in our lives, and we hold true to our faith munity ministries.” religious education but also a place An annual youth-led effort to restock where people can come together with oth- “That is our goal — to inspire and to min- on that.”

One reason church is vital in the com- the Community Food Pantry brings ers in their faith communities for a com- ister to others in song. ... Sometimes it’s not just the message; sometimes salva- munity is that many churches are the together youth members from about 10 mon purpose.

“Church is a place where we lift up and tion can come through the music, and main contributors to area nonprofits and area churches. The Youth Can Make a social assistance organizations.

Difference: Community Canned Food magnify His name, where the communi- that’s why I take pride in what I do.”

During a recent Sunday service, a girl “Anything you name in Greenwood Drive is hosted by Immaculate Heart of ty also comes together. We can touch peothat’s helping the needy, the poor, the Mary Catholic Church. ple’s lives — not simply in the church but about 5 or 6 years attended New Zion.

“She loves to hear me sing ‘God’s churches are involved with it,” said “For almost 30 years, this event has outside of the church,” said Collins. “We formed unification within our communican affect the lives of other people; we can Grace,’” said Carter, who performed the Collins.

Serving others is a focus in all faith ty for a cause other than ourselves,” said draw people closer to themselves, to their song at the girl’s request.

As he was singing, he said it was a very communities in Greenwood.

Stella Britt, an Immaculate Heart of families, to their community, to their city.

“For most people, I think it’s our Mary parishioner who helps organize the It’s a place where families can get togeth- spiritual moment.

“Music is universal in how it touches human nature to want to help other peo- event. “Each person participating sets er.” ple,” said Collins. “I think people are glad, aside all differences to serve others in The church is not only an important the soul,” he said.

The girl also got the opportunity to sing excited, moved and motivated when they need. Different denominations, ethnic part of life for many in Greenwood, but it find that their church is engaged and groups and backgrounds coming together has also been “instrumental in the life of with the choir.

“It just goes to show you the effect of involved in the things that help other for the greater good is always a special America as we know it,” said Collins. thing.”

“When the original founding fathers of God’s message through song — how it people.”

The Rev. Peter Gray, rector of the The event is all about “humbling ourour country got here, they built churches not only touches the hearts of the old but also the hearts of the young,” Carter said. Episcopal Church of the Nativity, said selves to do the Lord's work of serving before they built homes,” he said.

Carter said he is proud to be a member that the church is a major organizer of others,” Britt said.

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Members of North Greenwood Baptist Church’s women’s group Hearts In Service, or H.I.S. — from left, Claire Bush, Joyce Shook and Ellen Mitchell —prepare plates to be served at one of the group’s meetings. The members of H.I.S. gather for lunch and fellowship on the third Sunday of each month after the morning worship service.

“I know that each church participating has pride in the work they are doing, and that work is shown through the eagerness of their youth,” she said.

Many churches focus on nurturing the spiritual growth of their youth members.

One of those is New Green Grove Church of Faith.

“We have a youth department and youth leaders, youth teachers and trainers,” said Bishop Milton Glass, pastor of New Green Grove. “We have a Boys to Men ministry and a Think Like a Girl ministry; both of those are geared toward young-to-teenage girls and boys.”

The New Green Grove youth groups meet on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

“We put a special focus on them, because you have to instill in them early, especially in this day and time,” said Glass. “They are faced with so much more than I was faced with growing up, and it was hard for me, but it is even harder for them.”

The emphasis on the youth at New Green Grove is important to Glass.

“I feel that getting our children involved and instilling morals and standards in them that we were brought up in helps them in the future,” he said. “The Bible says to ‘train up a child while they are young, and when they grow old, they won't depart from it.’ ... Those morals are instilled in their hearts, and as they grow older they understand what was being taught to them.”

Focusing on the youth also helps the

The members of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity enjoy worshiping in a “beautiful” sanctuary and giving visitors a tour of the church.

members of the younger generation prepare for the day they will become leaders in the church.

“Somebody has got to take the torch and carry it on, so you have to prepare these young people,” said Glass.

At the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, the children’s ministry is important to the members.

“I think at Nativity people are quite

proud of the ministry at the Nativity Day School,” said Gray. “That’s a recent ministry; it’s been open for just under 10 years.”

The Nativity Day School serves children ages 10 weeks through 3K. Its mission is “to promote each child’s intellectual, physical, emotional, social and spiritual growth in a nurturing, safe environment, seeking in all aspects of the min-

istry to embody the love of God in Jesus Christ.”

One way many serve in their churches is by tending to the upkeep of their worship facilities.

“We just had a general cleaning, where the members came in and made sure that the church was spick-and-span,” said Glass. “They take great pride in their church, simply because the love of God. We know that’s where we get our spiritual food from.”

At Nativity, Gray said that the members enjoy and take pride in the church’s sanctuary, where they come to worship each week.

“It is a beautiful space situated where we are right in downtown Greenwood,” he said. “We get visitors coming through, and the members love to show folks around.”

The Rev. Dr. Jim Phillips, pastor of North Greenwood Baptist Church, said Greenwood is a place where spiritual life is taken seriously.

“I think our size town sort of lends itself to having the church as a very important part of the community,” he said.

With one of the largest memberships in area, the ministries at North Greenwood Baptist continue to grow each year. The church recently launched a new Hispanic ministry, which includes a Sunday Spanish worship.

“That’s going to be a new, refreshing thing for us to experience,” said Phillips.

In a small community, attending church is not only a spiritual experience but an important social event, too.

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^=ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ=fãã~Åìä~íÉ=eÉ~êí=çÑ=j~êó=`~íÜçäáÅ=`ÜìêÅÜÛë=óçìíÜI=_ÉååÉíí=_~êåÉë äç~Çë=ìé=~=Äçñ=ÇìêáåÖ=íÜÉ=~ååì~ä=vçìíÜ=`~å=j~âÉ=^=aáÑÑÉêÉåÅÉW=`~ååÉÇ=cççÇ=aêáîÉK qÜÉ=áíÉãë=ÅçääÉÅíÉÇ=~êÉ=Ççå~íÉÇ=íç=íÜÉ=`çããìåáíó=cççÇ=m~åíêóK “A lot of times, the events that we have for senior adults, which goes far beyond just on Sunday, mean a lot to the senior adult community because of the social aspect of just getting together,” said Phillips.

North Greenwood has several opportunities for its senior adults to get together.

“A couple of Mondays a month, they have a fellowship for the senior adults called Game Day, and it’s mostly women,” said Phillips. “They will have 20-plus ladies who will gather for half of the day together.”

The church’s senior adults group, LLL, also meets once a month for a luncheon.

“It is largely attended by not just senior adults at our church but senior adults from other churches who have come to be a part of that as well,” said Phillips.

During the church’s Wednesday night fellowship, which includes prayer meetings, choir rehearsals, missions and Bible study, two kitchens are operating for the adults and children attending to enjoy a family night supper.

“We feed close to 300 people,” said Phillips.

The members coming together for fellowship is “very important to our church,” said Phillips.

Another ministry within the church is the women’s group Hearts In Service, or H.I.S. “Our primary goal is to love and support the ladies of our church,” said Gwen Morgan, one of the group’s leaders. “We gather for lunch and fellowship the third Sunday of each month right after the morning worship service.”

The group prepares meals for new moms and the sick and sends cards and

makes visits to those in need. The members also hold fundraisers to provide scholarships each year to several young women about to enter college.

“We are committed to building stronger relationships among our ladies and ultimately glorify God by being His hands and feet,” said Morgan.

The main ways members show pride in their churches is by showing up, by giving and by participating in various ministry efforts, said Collins.

“Everything else is a result of those three,” he said. “The Bible said we are supposed to be salt and we are supposed to be light, and I think church is a place and a space that infuses us, that gives us the underlying reason for why we try to do what we do — because God has shed his grace and his light on us, and it just makes sense to share that with others. If somebody is good to you, it just makes sense to be good to somebody else.”

Glass said he enjoys seeing other area pastors making an impact not only in their churches but also in the community.

“We have some great churches in Greenwood and some great leaders,” he said. “Jesus said to ‘let your light shine before man that they may see your good works,’ so our job is not just inside the church, but it’s outside the church.”

While the various faith communities may gather separately each week for fellowship, prayer and worship, it’s the work outside of the church that, as a whole, has made — and continues to make — a lasting impact in the Greenwood area.

“God has called us to be the light in the dark world, so I feel like the churches here in Greenwood are really the light of Greenwood,” said Glass. n g~âçÄá g~Åâëçå=éê~ÅJ íáÅÉë=éä~óáåÖ íÜÉ=Çêìãë=~í kÉï=dêÉÉå dêçîÉ=`ÜìêÅÜ çÑ=c~áíÜK=^ ÑÉï=óÉ~êë çäÇÉê=åçïI g~âçÄá êÉã~áåë=~å ~ÅíáîÉ=óçìíÜ ãÉãÄÉê=çÑ kÉï=dêÉÉå dêçîÉK

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Drawing crowds Greenwood Proud: Special Events

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Greenwood knows how to host big gatherings

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kóâáó~Ü=_çóÇI=^ãáó~Ü=mÉÉéäÉë=~åÇ=`çêÇÉäáç=pÅçíí=Éåàçó=ÖççÇ=ÑççÇ=ÇìêáåÖ=íÜÉ=OMNV=nìÉ=çå=íÜÉ=v~òççK hether it’s getting outdoors for a bike ride, enjoying ample public hunting and fishing spots or taking in a museum or a blues tour, Greenwood has a little something for everyone.

All of these, and more, are some of the driving factors behind a rejuvenation in tourism for Greenwood and Leflore County.

For example, one of the biggest events annually is the Que on the Yazoo barbecue contest, which drew an estimated 1,500-2,000 folks last year.

Que on the Yazoo, sanctioned through the Memphis Barbecue Network and

held on the edge of downtown with the scenic Yazoo River as the backdrop, has shown great growth through the years.

Such events are an economic driver within the Greenwood community.

According to organizers, the total added value to the Greenwood community was $441,275 in 2018 — with visitor spending throughout the weekend totaling $257,763.

Que on the Yazoo is also an economic driver within the Greenwood community, according to Brantley Snipes, executive director of Main Street Greenwood, the major driving force behind the barbecue, music and craft festival. In 2018, she said,

the total added value to the Greenwood community was $441,275 — with visitor spending throughout the weekend totaling $257,763.

This event and many others bring tourism money to town. Danielle Morgan, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau, said her organization supports all these events.

“Having quality events is so important to our community and to Greenwood’s tourism product. It is a great way to draw in visitors who may otherwise not know about what Greenwood has to offer,” Morgan said.

“We think it is so important that we

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offer our Advertising Assistance Grant Program annually to nonprofit events that generate overnight visitation. It is a way for us to help events, particularly new events, advertise their event to markets 50 miles or more outside of Greenwood. The idea is that our investment will help events that may not have a lot of funds for advertising reach their target audiences to help the event grow, thus driving more overnight visitation.”

Stevens said these kinds of events are critical to the community because they help improve unity, strengthen the economy and give people things to do with their friends and families.

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kÉ~êäó=NMM=êáÇÉêë=íççâ=é~êí=áå=íÜÉ=áå~ìÖìê~ä=dêÉÉåïççÇ=dê~îÉä=dêáåÇ=ä~ëí=^éêáäK “Events can raise the profile of a community in a significant way,” she explained.

“We see many return visitors to Greenwood outside of our normal event weekends. And, when we put on events, we are also partnering with local businesses to provide food/drink/hotel stays and other services to those who are participating. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Here’s a look at some of the other major events that are big draws for Greenwood and the surrounding area: n qÜÉ= dêÉÉåïççÇ= dê~îÉä= dêáåÇW This is Greenwood’s newest event, and it drew nearly 100 riders in 2019, its first year. Organizers expect that number to at least double in 2020 since gravel and offroad cycling is the fastest and hottest trend in cycling right now, for a number of reasons, including safety as well as the adventure and experience of riding the back roads.

“We fully expect this event to at least reach — or maybe even exceed — Bikes, Blues & Bayous in a few years,” Stevens said. “It also brings a younger demographic into the mix. Our average age range for G3 is 50-60, and gravel riding brings that age number down slightly.

But we still have many in their 50s and above who also do the off-road cycling.” n _áâÉëI=_äìÉë=~åÇ=_~óçìëW=Now the state’s largest cycling event, it continues to see steady numbers.

“We feel the pressure every year to maintain that status. We are always looking for new things to add to make the event even more special,” Stevens said.

_áâÉëI=_äìÉë=C=_~óçìë=Ü~ë=Öêçïå=áåíç=íÜÉ=ä~êÖÉëí=ÅóÅäáåÖ=ÉîÉåí=áå=jáëëáëëáééáK

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qÜÉ=~ååì~ä=PMM=l~âë=oç~Ç=o~ÅÉ=ÄêáåÖë=êìååÉêë=Ñêçã=åÉ~ê=~åÇ=Ñ~ê=íç=dêÉÉåïççÇK “What we do best is hospitality, and our riders know that. The bike ride is just ancillary to that.

“Being able to add to the hospitality of the ride is one way we are finding to enhance the rider experience. That, and the 100-mile century ride we are planning to add this year. That will bring a whole new level of cyclists into the mix.”

She said the chamber set the bar high on purpose. In 2019, the Bike Expo was added.

“We’re not stopping with just these two bike rides,” she said. “We are constantly looking at how to enhance and build on the bicycle tourism aspect all year long — not only here in Greenwood, but in the Delta as a whole. We’ve got some ideas, and we hope we can bring them to fruition over time. We have a perfect setup for regional bicycle tourism, and we are excited about the possibilities.

“The economic impact of one event can be powerful. For example, Bikes, Blues & Bayous alone has a $1.3 million impact on our local economy. That’s just one weekend.” n PMM=l~âë=oç~Ç=o~ÅÉW=This is one of the oldest events in Greenwood, as it celebrates its 40th birthday on Sept. 21, including 10K and 5K runs, a 5K walk and a 1-Mile Fun Run that include stretches down the city’s beautiful Grand Boulevard, once named by the National Garden Clubs of America as one of the country’s 10 most beautiful streets.

“This event has experienced both growth and decline over the years, main-

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ly due to the increased popularity in running events across the state. We are still one of Mississippi’s three oldest and largest road races,” Stevens said.

The race first became popular due to its

fast, flat course. There is also a post-race party on the Yazoo River that features live entertainment, free food and drinks. n sáâáåÖ= e~äÑ= j~ê~íÜçå= ~åÇ= RhW This event, which started eight years ago,

continues to grow.

According to the chamber, the Viking Half Marathon and 5K promise Southern charm, fast times and an unbelievable race experience.

“A lot of people come just to enjoy Greenwood — the race is kind of secondary to them — and that speaks quite well for what we having going here,” Stevens said. “Local culture, an array of fabulous food and warm Southern hospitality are just some of the things people seem to focus on while here.”

The races begin and end in the historic Cotton Row district of Greenwood. The course also passes by many of the locations used in the filming of the blockbuster movie “The Help,” much of which was filmed in Greenwood in 2010.

“We were the first half marathon in the Delta, and the race experience we provide keeps people coming back,” Stevens said.

While the Chamber puts on many of these events, this is only a small part of what this community has to offer, Stevens said. There are so many other organizations out there, such as the Museum of the Mississippi Delta and ArtPlace Mississippi, that are also offering quality programming and events that are fun and educational.

“Much of our event longevity is due to a constant evolution of providing a quality experience to people. That’s what people want now — the ‘experience,’ and we are always looking for a way to provide one that’s unique to our town,” said the head of the chamber. n

Taking on challenges

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Dr. Mary Brown

Family, faith important to superintendent

E

aêK=j~êó=_êçïå=áë=ëÜçïå=áå=ÜÉê=çÑÑáÅÉ=~í=íÜÉ=dêÉÉåïççÇJiÉÑäçêÉ=`çåëçäáÇ~íÉÇ=pÅÜççä=aáëíêáÅí=ÄìáäÇáåÖK ducator. Mother. Caretaker.

Superintendent. Poet.

These are all words that describe Dr. Mary Brown.

Most people in town know her as superintendent of the Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District, but she is so much more than that.

Hailing from Itta Bena, Brown graduated from Leflore County High School and went on to earn several degrees.

She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Mississippi Valley State University in elementary education, a master’s in education and leadership from

Delta State University and a doctorate in education and leadership from the University of Mississippi.

“After becoming an educator, I can’t say that there was ever a time that I didn’t want to continue in this field,” Brown said.

She has been married to her husband, Richard, for 11 years, and she has two sons: Regis, 21, and Lem, 17. The family lives in Grenada.

Those in the close-knit family have nothing but love for their matriarch.

“Each time I look at my wife, I see an intelligent and beautiful person, inside and out. I'm really proud of her,” Richard

said.

“I hope to become just as successful as my mom so that I can take care of her because she has done so much to make sure my brother and I had everything we needed,” said Regis.

“My mom inspires me because she believes in me,” said Lem. “She's the best mom in the world. I'm also inspired by way she continues to push through the hard times and how she remains devoted to God.” Faith has always been a driving force in Brown’s life.

“I grew up knowing that four things were non-negotiables: attending church

every Sunday, family prayer every night, attending school every day (and) respecting my elders,” Brown said.

She said the two greatest influences in her life have been God and her father.

“He was my first love,” she said. “My best friend.”

Her father passed away in 2002, just after her college graduation. He had lung cancer.

“I can honestly say I did not grieve the way other people grieved during that time. I think I held onto the closeness of our relationship and the things he had taught me,” she said. “It motivated me to go higher and do things.”

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Even over a decade later, it was still difficult to talk about his passing. Despite the hardships, Brown finds many things to be thankful for and proud of.

“I’m most proud of God equipping me with the ability to provide both of my sons with a loving and supportive upbringing,” she said.

“I’m proud of being able to send my son Regis to a university of his choosing and watch him grow into a positive and successful young man. I’m proud to be able to see my son Lem display a love for God and education,” she added.

Regis is finishing his bachelor’s degree in construction management at Louisiana State University, and Lem is a senior at Grenada High School.

The relationships in her life are part of the foundation, and she said that if she could go back and do it all over, she would work harder at creating a better balance between her personal and professional lives.

“I have always strived to give much effort to my career, and I believe I have truly paid some dues. However, the sacrifices I have made have come with a price, and that’s spending less time with the people who love me unconditionally,” she said.

Being a mother hasn’t changed her career path, but it’s made it more personal, she said.

“I will say that as a mother, it’s easy for me to relate to and understand the desires that parents have regarding the success of their children,” she said. “So naturally, as an educator, I want all children to succeed.”

She has worn many hats throughout her career in schools.

She has been a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at W.C. Williams Elementary School, as well as the principal. She has also served as the assistant principal at East Middle School and now as the superintendent of the consolidated district.

“Of all the positions I’ve held, my favorite was serving as a classroom teacher because I was able to directly interact with my students on a daily basis,” she said. “I was able to freely exercise my creativity through the lessons I planned for my students, as well as share life lessons with them.”

She uses her experience in education to shape her approach to being superintendent.

“I’m thankful for having had the opportunity to climb the ladder and serve in key positions, which were needed in order for me to serve in this capacity,” she said. “All of these positions, along with the help of God, have better equipped me to serve as superintendent.”

God also helps her craft her creativity through poetry and writing.

She has published a book of poetry, “Worth of My Words,” which showcases her artistic side.

“I’ve always believed that if you want people to read your works, you must write something worth reading,” she said.

She has two books in the works. One is the first part of her memoir, which will be split into two halves. The other is an extended version of her dissertation on “the experiences of black women in leadership roles, (like) microaggressions, discrimination, (and) other challenges.”

Brown has a firm vision for what she would like to see in education locally and

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“I’m thankful for having had the opportunity to climb the ladder and serve in key positions, which were needed in order for me to serve in this capacity. All of these positions, along with the help of God, have better equipped me to serve as superintendent. ’’ Dr. Mary Brown

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statewide.

She hopes for better teacher pay, better and more collaborative relationships between schools and community stakeholders, and an increase in funding for public education in order to raise academic achievement levels.

“My vision for the future of education in Mississippi begins in every household,” she said.

“I would like to see all parents and communities stressing the importance of education to their children, holding themselves and their children accountable for their efforts in school, supporting and encouraging students and educators, (and) being more involved in the positive things occurring in schools.”

Perhaps one of her most admirable qualities is her determination and refusal to back down.

“My life’s journey was never promised to be easy, so I have learned to accept the bitter with the sweet,” she said.

“Everyone will have challenges. If we quit every time we are faced with difficulty, we will all be standing still. Therefore, I choose to move forward in everything I set out to do in my life.” n Above: Dr. Mary Brown takes part in a “Spiritual Makeover” event at Greater Pine Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Below: Brown is shown with her sons Lem, left, and Regis.

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Seller and giver

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Dynamite Kirk

Longtime car dealer known for generosity

A

aóå~ãáíÉ=háêâ=ëí~åÇë=åÉñí=íç=Üáë=NVST=êÉÇ=jìëí~åÖ=ÅçåîÉêíáÄäÉ=~í=íÜÉ=háêâ=_êçíÜÉêë=cçêÇ=ÇÉ~äÉêëÜáéK t 83 years old, Julian Scott Kirk has built a name for himself within Greenwood. However, you might know him better as Dynamite, the mastermind behind Kirk Auto Group.

Originally from Duck Hill, Kirk was given the nickname “Dynamite” as a child. He went to work in construction for J.J. Ferguson for his first job.

During this time, he met Ann, his wife

of nearly 53 years. After getting married, he decided that construction work wasn’t for him anymore, and he began selling cars at the Chevrolet dealership in Grenada.

He has worked in the car business now for over half a century, and he doesn’t plan to quit anytime soon. He said that he’s going to “go as long as I’m physically able to go.”

“I don’t have a schedule,” Kirk said. “I pretty much (work) every day out there. ...

“I take a lot of days off; that’s better than being retired.”

On his days off, Kirk spends time golfing, quail hunting and playing bridge with his wife.

In 2012, Kirk signed over the business to two of his three sons, Cannon and Scott. His other son, Kris, has his own

business in Texas.

Kirk Brothers operates in various locations, including Greenwood, Grenada, Cleveland, Batesville and Vicksburg.

He bought the Buick-GMC dealership in Greenwood in 1997, the Chevrolet Supercenter in Grenada in 2001 and the Ford-Lincoln dealership in Greenwood in 2010.

Kirk is known not only for his automo-

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cêçã=äÉÑíI=g~Åâ=háêâI=pÅçíí=háêâI=aóå~ãáíÉ=háêâI=`~ååçå=háêâI=qóäÉê=háêâ=~åÇ=jçêÖ~å=háêâ=~ää=ëí~åÇ=íçÖÉíÜÉê=~í=~=háêâ=_êçíÜÉêë=ÇÉ~äÉêëÜáéK bile salesmanship but also for his generosity.

In 2015, he gave nearly 800 high school seniors between Leflore, Carroll, Montgomery and Grenada counties $100 each.

“I just thought about so many kids that wouldn’t get anything and just decided to do it and told them all to start a savings account with it,” he said.

“Generosity, hard-working, self-made, integrity. ... I mean, that’s what you think about when you think about Dynamite,” said Kevin Evans, general manager of the Kirk Brothers Ford-Lincoln dealership.

He’s been working there for a decade with Kirk.

Kirk also just donated $25,000 to the Delta Cross group in Greenwood, which is raising money to put up a 120-foot steel cross west of Greenwood, and $25,000 to the Central Cross group in Grenada, which is working on a similar project.

Kirk said he focuses more on the private schools to award scholarships, rather than the public schools, because private schools don’t receive taxpayer funding. He awards three scholarships to Pillow Academy per year.

Kirk said that his children have always been involved in the business and have been working there ever since they were in school, even during their college years.

Afterward, they began to get ready to take over their father’s legacy.

“The car business is so unpredictable;

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we don’t know what it’s going to be 10 years from now,” Kirk said.

“It’s kind of scary, really. I don’t know if we’ll even be in the car business. Amazon might start selling cars. They probably already are,” he said with a laugh.

Kirk hopes that things will continue to move positively after his sons are without

his help. It hasn’t been easy, but he continues to work hard every day.

“It’s a constant change, and it’s so hard to keep employees trained properly, because it changes so much. You really need a college education to work on (a dealership) now,” he said. “It’s getting harder and harder to get people who are

trainable and who can learn it.”

“He remembers what it was like to have nothing,” Evans said of Kirk. “And I think that’s why he continues to work so hard and help people.”

Despite building a car empire, Kirk doesn’t technically own any cars that he drives daily. He drives a company-owned Ford pickup truck, and his wife drives a company-owned Lincoln.

He has a red 1967 Mustang convertible on the showroom floor at the Ford-Lincoln dealership in Greenwood as well as a 1976 Lincoln Mark V and a 1969 Plymouth, both of which are in storage.

When he’s not helping kids get through college or selling people their dream car, he likes to travel with his wife.

They own a condominium in Orange Beach, Alabama, that they visit regularly.

“She shops, and I play golf,” he said with a smile.

He doesn’t remember exactly where they met, but he does recall seeing her and knowing he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

“We dated for about three months, and that was it,” he said.

He’s a man of intense faith and always gives his success back to God. He said he is proud of his sons and grandchildren and will support them unconditionally.

“I’m just proud to be here. I’ve enjoyed the car business, enjoy meeting a lot of people. It’s been good to me,” he said. n

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Creative energy

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Brandice Brown

Threadgill teacher brings enthusiasm for arts

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Brandice Brown, right, dances at a “For the Culture” open mic night at Turnrow Book Co. in December. “For the Culture” is held monthly to allow local artists to showcase their work. To the left is Alkijerrick “Al” Turner. randice Brown was back in her hometown of Greenwood during her week of spring break in 2018 when she got into a car accident.

The accident, while minor, ended up changing the direction of Brown’s life.

Beforehand, the 2016 graduate of Spelman College, an all-women’s historically black school in Atlanta, had spent the past two years living in the city while working as a pre-kindergarten teaching assistant. Outside of her job, she appeared in several local theater productions. Her goals at the time “were defi-

nitely to be on Broadway by now, to be acting on a big stage,” she recalled.

With her car inoperable, at least for the time being, and with some encouragement from her parents, Troy Brown Sr. and Dr. Curressia Brown, Brandice decided to stay home.

“I just realized that this was a place where my gifts and talents would be more appreciated and I would be able to do more,” she said. “I knew a lot of people and grew up with a lot of people. And there was also room for my talent here.”

Her parents agreed. Although they sup-

ported the gains their daughter had been making in the acting field, they also worried about how the sometimes cutthroat and competitive nature of the industry could swallow their daughter. Like Brandice, they thought her acting talents, as well as her singing and dancing, could be put to better use back home.

“I really think Atlanta was too small for her,” Troy Brown said. “She’s the most creative child I have out of the four I have. To me as a father, because the industry a lot of time preys on your vulnerabilities, it was a constant worry for me.”

“We wanted to encourage her as a talented artist that there are other avenues she could use,” Curressia Brown said.

Now 25, Brandice puts her artistic talents, as well as her vibrant energy, to use through her job as a performing arts teacher at Threadgill Primary.

She also applies them to two side projects — “For the Culture,” a monthly open mic night held the first Saturday of each month Turnrow Book Co., and her Black History Month parade.

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v v v

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_ê~åÇáÅÉ=_êçïå=íÉ~ÅÜÉë=RJíçJTJóÉ~êJçäÇ=ëíìÇÉåíë=~í=qÜêÉ~ÇÖáää=éêáã~êó=ëÅÜççä=Üçï=íç=~ÅíI=ëáåÖI=Ç~åÅÉ=~åÇ=ÜçåÉ=çíÜÉê=ëâáääë=áå=íÜÉ=~êíëK Curressia Brown said the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” informed her daughter’s values. Brandice said her parents and the church she and her family attend, Providence Missionary Baptist Church, played a pivotal role in her life while growing up.

Through their involvement with the community, both Troy and Curressia Brown have instilled within their children the significance of giving back.

“It was always known in the Brown household that you had an obligation to make the community a better place,” Troy Brown said.

Curressia Brown said she and her husband celebrate their children’s talents and encourage them to “use them not just for their own benefit but to help others.”

At church, Brandice sang and got involved with the dance ministry. She attended both public and private schools within Greenwood and Leflore County.

She attended elementary school in the former Leflore County School District and also briefly attended Pillow Academy and New Delta Preparatory School, which is now closed.

She became known for her oratorical skills, placing first in local, state, regional and national competitions.

During her junior and senior year at the Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven, she cut her teeth as a performing artist. She fell in love with

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“I just think she’s awesome.

She brings a creative energy that’s not only good for the students but the staff as well.

And when I say she brings the energy, she brings it every day. ’’ Dawn Stamps-West JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

singing, dancing and acting since she and her classmates studied those subjects around the clock, and she learned how much hard work they required.

“You just get to learn new things. You get to execute your craft,” she said.

She continued her study of the performing arts at Spelman, where she studied theater.

“It’s just the mecca of black girl magic,” Brandice said of her time at Spelman.

“The sisterhood is literally like no other.

The connections you make with people who are in your field and the opportunities are endless, endless.” v v v

A personal connection opened the door for Brandice to teach in Greenwood.

For a short time, she worked part-time at Giardina’s restaurant. One night, prior to the start of the 2018-2019 school year, Brown ran into Likisha Coleman, then the principal of Davis Elementary.

Coleman, who said she’s seen Brandice grow over the years, is also a member of Providence Missionary Baptist Church as well as member of the American Legion’s Post 200, which held oratorical competitions that Brown participated in.

“Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to see her lead,” Coleman said. “I found that people followed her very easily.”

Upon seeing Brandice at Giardina’s in the spring of 2018, Coleman asked her, “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

Coleman recalled.

“Nothing, I’m working,” Brown remembered saying.

“Oh no, you need to be in the school system. You need to be working with kids,” Brown recalled Coleman saying.

Coleman invited Brandice to apply to teach performing arts at Davis Elementary, which she agreed to do. The deal fell through, however, when Coleman became principal of Greenwood Middle School for the 2018-2019 school year. Coleman is now an assistant superintendent for the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District.

Just as an opportunity closed at Davis, another opened up for Brandice at Threadgill Primary, where she was later hired to teach performing arts, a first for both the school as well as the former Greenwood School District.

“She does a little bit of everything,” Principal Dawn Stamps-West said.

Brandice teaches students ages 5 to 7 how to act, sing and dance as well as technical topics such as how to read a script.

The students put their lessons to use in two school productions — one during the Christmas season and one for Black History Month.

Brandice said her students are at the point in their life where they can portray characters truthfully without fear.

“My joy will come from them being able to immerse themselves in the arts from what they learned when they were younger. That would make me very happy,” she said.

“When you think of your average firstgrader in the Mississippi Delta, she’s exposing them to a lot more on a daily basis,” Stamps-West said. For example, Brandice has introduced her students to different types of dances and genres of music.

Brandice also assists with literacy instruction and is on the school’s positive behavior interventions and supports team, where she helps to create activities that promote positive behavior.

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“I just think she’s awesome. She brings a creative energy that’s not only good for the students but the staff as well,” Stamps-West said. “And when I say she brings the energy, she brings it every day.”

“She’s very enthusiastic; she has a great smile,” Coleman said. “She has the ability to bring out the best in children.”

Brandice’s teaching duties now extend beyond Threadgill Primary. At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, the first for the consolidated school district, Brandice became director for the district’s elementary show choir. v v v

Brandice organized the monthly “For the Culture” open mic events with friend Kyla Cole, a graduate of Amanda Elzy High and currently a student at Millsaps College. The gatherings are intended to celebrate and showcase black artists in the area.

“It’s always been my thing to have this huge jam session with artists here in Greenwood. We didn’t have a platform for that, a consistent platform,” Brandice said.

She said she attended open mic nights regularly in Atlanta. “One of the things I miss about Atlanta is the art culture. It’s art everywhere; there’s murals everywhere.

You go on any corner, someone’s playing music.”

“For the Culture” creates that kind of atmosphere, too.

“This is a place for artists to come and express themselves and get feedback on their work and to connect and network with other artists,” Brandice said.

Along with those who recite poems or sing original songs or others’ songs, Brandice also participates through singing, dancing and introducing each artist.

There’s always a good turnout, and attendees can enjoy appetizers and wine while listening to artists perform late into the night.

Brandice has also sought another way to pay homage to African Americans within the community through her Black History Month Parade.

“I feel like without African American people in this

Brandice Brown, right, reads off a script during a rehearsal for Greenwood Little Theatre’s 2019 summer production of “Ragtime: The Musical.” Brown was cast as Sarah.

community, there would be no Greenwood,” Brandice said, elaborating that celebrating the legacy they’ve left behind has long been “overdue.”

She said her goal now is to watch the seeds of the things she’s planted — “For the Culture,” the Black

History Month Parade, and teaching performing arts to young students — grow.

She said she doesn’t plan to live in Greenwood forever, but for the time being she expects she’ll be here “for a minute.” n

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Officers: President - Loretta Assini Past President - Barbara Girnys Vice President - Robyn Thornhill Treasurer - Pat Gulledge Recording Secretary - Sharon Wyatt Corresponding Secretary - Vicki Lubiani Board Directors - Karla Bowen & Alison Pittman Meeting Date & Time: 2nd and 4th Thursdays at noon at The Crystal Grill Contact: 662-299-5770 P.O. Box 222, Greenwood, MS 38935

Officers: President - Cheryl Thornhill President-Elect - Charlie Swayze III Secretary/Treasurer - Linda Toy Sergeant-At-Arms - Deborah Harris Past President - Larry Griggs

Meeting Date & Time: Tuesdays at Noon - Greenwood Country Club Contact: 662-392-2623 P.O. Box 1825, Greenwood, MS 38930

Officers: President - Kyle Thornhill Secretary - Jerry Ables Treasurer - Jerry Ables

Meeting Date & Time:

Every Thursday, Greenwood Country Club, 12 Noon

662-299-9009 P.O. Box 10135 Greenwood, MS 38930

Officers: President - Barbara Biggers Secretary - Linda Rose Treasurer - Frank Warren Gary McDonald, Newsletter Editor

Meeting Date & Time: 2nd Thursday of the month at the Museum of the MS. Delta, 10:00 a.m.

Contact: 662-453-0925 1608 Hwy 82 West, Greenwood, MS 38930

Breaking silence

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Emmett Till Interpretive Center

Facility tells difficult story to help move forward S

UMNER — Though some are wary about revisiting the story of Emmett Till, arguing it continues to paint Mississippi in a negative and outdated light, others have embraced telling it in order to advance racial reconciliation.

Perhaps no group has pursued this task more than the Emmett Till Memorial Commission in Sumner, the small Tallahatchie County town where Till’s killers were tried and acquitted nearly 65 years ago.

For decades, many in Sumner, especially its white residents, preferred to act as if Till’s death and trial never happened, despite the events’ historical significance as a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

That began to change in 2006 with the formation of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, a multiracial group organized by a then Tallahatchie County supervisor, Jerome Little. The commission wanted to honor Till, a black Chicago youth who, while visiting relatives in Money in 1955, was kidnapped and killed for whistling at a white female shopkeeper.

The commission’s members, however, soon realized such a tribute “was going to be very difficult because they had allowed for 50 years of silence and that they needed to figure out an authentic way to break that silence,” said Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, which the commission would eventually develop. “So, they decided to stop thinking about honoring and decided to move to offering an apology to the Till family.”

In 2007, Till’s family in Chicago was invited to Sumner for a ceremony held in front of the courthouse. The ceremony included a public apology from the commission as well as the unveiling of a historical marker that memorialized the murder trial.

The Till family, according to Weems, had said that they’d been holding their breath for 50 years. At long last, they could exhale, he said.

The commission then set upon the task of raising several million dollars to renovate the courtroom where the trial occurred to the way it looked in 1955 and to develop a museum across the street to tell Till’s story and become a repository for archival information about the case and its aftermath.

Both of the projects were completed in 2015.

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Benjamin Saulsberry, a volunteer at the center, said one of its main purposes is to “try to create spaces that give way to healthy, objective dialogue” about race.

The point of these conversations is to not just reflect on the past traumas of racism but to also find ways to grow, Saulsberry said.

“We don’t want to be an organization that just points where we came from,” he said. “If we’re not deliberate about culture change, then we’re just exploiting the story.”

In 2017, the 10th anniversary of the commission’s apology to the Till family, the interpretive center hosted a one-week documentary workshop for area teens.

The youth were tasked with creating films that explored how to bridge the racial divide within the community. The documentaries later premiered at the courthouse.

One film, titled “Standing Up,” by Jessica Love Herron and Larriona Jones, featured Carolyn Webb, a white member of the commission.

In the film, Webb describes the social difficulties she’s encountered with friends and others as a result of her involvement with the racial reconciliation effort. She recounts being confronted, on the day before the unveiling of the historical marker at the courthouse, by a man screaming nearby that he was going to “kill some n*****s.” Asked by the Sheriff’s Department to approach the man, Webb

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said she asked him how old his son was.

When he replied 14, Webb informed him that was the same age as Till at the time he was murdered. Later that day, Webb said, she was visited at her home by the

man, now contrite, who was looking for a piece of suitable fabric to place over the marker to help with the unveiling.

The center has also worked to create art pertaining to Till that extends out of the

Delta. One such project, by New Yorkbased artist Rico Gatson, resulted in an 11-minute video of sites pertaining to Till in the Delta. It opened up last September at the Mississippi Museum of Art.

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The film isn’t a documentary but more of a dreamy, immersive experience that’s aided by the mirroring effect used throughout as well as background music by jazz musician Alice Coltrane. The video opens up with a still of Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market in Money, where Till whistled at Carolyn Bryant. It then roams to other locations connected to Till: the barn where he was tortured; the Tallahatchie River, where his body was dumped; and the Sumner courthouse, where his killers — Bryant’s husband, Roy, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam — were acquitted by a jury composed entirely of white men.

Gatson recalled feeling both awe at the beauty of the sites while still remembering the tragedy that underlined them.

There have been, of course, more traditional ways of remembering Till, such as the historical markers and highway signs dotted across the Delta, many of which have been regularly vandalized.

The first Till signs were put up in the mid-2000s along a section of U.S. 49.

Someone soon spray-painted “KKK” on the one near Greenwood. Other signs have been stolen or shot. Last year, a photo was circulated on social media of three white University of Mississippi students holding long guns in front of the already bulled-riddled marker noting where Till’s body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River.

The commission replaced that marker with a $10,000 bulletproof one and surrounded it by security cameras.

“Each time they deface or steal one of our markers, we’ve just become more creative,” Weems said.

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“We’re just trying to honor the memory of a 14-year-old child. We think that’s a universal truth: that all life is sacred. ’’ Patrick Weems

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Of those who continue to vandalize the signs and markers, Weems said, “Our goal is not to wag our finger at anybody or to say that we’re better than anybody.

We’re just trying to honor the memory of a 14-year-old child. We think that’s a universal truth: that all life is sacred.”

On a weekday in January, Patrick Robinson, a retired member of the U.S. Navy from Memphis, stopped in for his second visit at the interpretive center. The previous time was in 2015.

Growing up in Louisiana, he remembered being schooled about Till’s death and hearing relatives talk about the racism they experienced. Robinson has also visited other significant civil rights sites, including the National Civil Rights

Museum in Memphis, which is housed in the former hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968; and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where civil rights marchers were brutally attacked three years earlier by law enforcement officers.

“For me, especially being African American, you want to know where you came from to know where you’re going,” Robinson said. “Some of the things that have happened to African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, aren’t in history books.”

Yet the Till story is widely and prominently known, and because of that, it’s harder to hide it.

“The truth is that every community in

the United States had an Emmett Till story where a black person was treated unfairly because of the color of their skin,” Weems said.

“You have all these stories, and the difference is that the Till story was so international that there was no way for us to forget it, so we were forced to deal with it.

What we hope for communities outside of Mississippi is that when they visit us, they see what change has happened.

They come to Mississippi thinking they’re going to see the most awful thing, the most racist, backward community. And then they come and they’re like, ‘Holy crap! This community is really dealing with their stuff.’”

Changing visitors’ perceptions of Mississippi, though, is not the only reaction the Emmett Till Memorial Commission is hoping to see from them.

More importantly, said Weems, he hopes they ask themselves “what stories in their communities have they hidden that they need to deal with themselves.” n

You can call me...

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Nicknames

Monikers’ origins can be funny or serious

R

etired Greenwood antiques dealer Pie Fincher’s given name is Frances, after her mother, but no one calls her “Frances.”

She’s one of untold numbers around the community who are known by nicknames. Many were bestowed when they were children, as was Fincher’s. She says her family didn’t like fumbling with references to “Little Frances” and “Big Frances.” Also, she had a devoted aunt who was “really sweet to me. She called me ‘Sweetie Pie.’” The nickname turned out to be an asset when she and her husband were in the antiques business and traveling frequently to various shows. Her name was unusual and short, so people remembered it and their business.

She mused, “We have so many people with nicknames in the South.”

A nickname, according to the MerriamWebster dictionary, is used in addition to a given name, so “Jimmy” as a substitute for “James” is not a nickname. In fact the word “nickname” comes from the Middle English “eke,” which means “also” or “in addition.” This was joined with “name” to form “ekename,” or “also name.”

Many of these are sweet — think of the blues musician Honeyboy Edwards or Carroll County’s recently retired chancery clerk, Sugar Mullins. Luevenia “Honey” Calhoun, 30, of Sidon, a clerk at the Shell station on West Claiborne Avenue, said people started calling her “Honey” when she was very young because as a 3- or 4year-old she would sing and dance on the front porch of her residence in Sidon.

Neighbors would come over to listen, and sometimes people would pay her to sing “Momma’s Apple Pie,” a blues song.

Everyone thought she was a honey, including a grandmother who gave her the nickname.

Patricia “Cookie” Dale Dunlap’s father, M.L. Dale Jr., started to call his daughter “Cookie” after she got into a sack of vanilla wafers as a 10month-old. Someone had placed the sack on the floor. She crawled over and dug in. She had crumbs not only in her mouth but in her nose Dunlap and eyes. Her daddy looked at her and laughed, saying, “Cookie got the cookies.”

Dunlap, now 55, a parent liaison at Amanda Elzy High School, has used the name ever since, often with her maiden

Oneida “Ms. Millie” Martin of Greenwood stands with her grandson, Mississippi State University offensive lineman Kwatrivous “Dolla Bill” Johnson, at one of his team’s games.

Luevenia “Honey” Calhoun sang so sweetly as a little girl that her grandmother started calling her “Honey.”

name attached. She also went to school at Elzy, where if someone needed her in the office, an announcement would be made over the intercom, “Cookie Dale, come to the office please.”

She said, “If you know me, you are going to call me by nickname.”

Julian “JuJu” Toney, the 61-year-old editor and publisher of the Belzoni Banner, has a similar story. One day

when he and his sister were little, he wasn’t careful while eating. His little sister looked at his plate and said, “JuJu made a mess.” The name stuck.

George Allen “Snooky” Lee, 70, of Carrollton, a retired banker, might have been known as “George,” which is what his father preferred, or “Allen,” which was his mother’s choice. He said, “They asked my 2½-year-old sister, and she said,

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‘Snooky.’”

He said he was happy with the name, but his seventh-grade math teacher, Joy Bryan, objected to it. “It didn’t matter to me, but she always called me ‘George.’”

Willie Quarles, 76, a Lee part-time truck driver from Greenwood, said he does not know why people in his family refer to him as “June.”

“Most of them called me ‘June.’ Some of them call me ‘June’ now,” he said.

It’s not a derivation of “Junior.” Maybe it has something to do with the month of June. And, he acknowledges that “June” is usually a girl’s name. “I guess I am kind of like Johnny Cash. He wrote a song talking about a boy named Sue.”

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The name’s not a problem, he said: “I just decided to go along with life as it is.

Have to take the bitter with the sweet.”

Some nicknames are handed down over generations.

Greenwoodian Katharine “Kackie” Kornfeld’s mother and grandmother both were nicknamed “Kackie.” Kyle Thornhill, who works with Kornfeld at the Commonwealth, said his friends gave him a nickname when he was a youth in Hattiesburg.

“I was always tagging along with older guys, and they called me ‘Caboose,’” he said.

Derrick “Chitchy” Chambers talked about his nickname when he was running for a seat on the Leflore County Board of Supervisors last year.

He played tuba in the band while he was a stuChambers dent at Greenwood High School.

Afterward, he joined the band at Jackson State University. One day, the band had gathered around a microphone, goofing off.

He stepped up to the mic. “It just happened. I was joking around with the microphone.” He started saying he was “Chitchy Chan” because it sounded like Jackie Chan. He announced, “I am Chitchy Chan on the microphone; a place called Greenwood is my home.”

Some of the livelier, more colorful nicknames are found among blues artists.

B.B. King’s real name was Riley, but early in his career, people in Memphis referred to him as “Beale Street Blues Boy,” and later this was shortened to “Blues Boy.” Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield, grew up near Clarksdale.

King His grandmother called him “Muddy” because he was always playing in the creek. “Waters” was added later. Bukka White’s given name was Booker T. Washington White, and Bukka sounds like Booker.

Memphis bluesman Walter “Furry” Lewis lived on Lamar Street in Greenwood as a boy. He was called “Furry” by his childhood friends.

That’s a good bit nicer than the nicknames given to the French statesman and general, Charles de Gaulle. Evidently he was sometimes called “Cyrano” because he had a big nose and “The Great Asparagus” because he was very tall.

Sports also generates nicknames, such as “Broadway Joe” Namath and “Shoeless Joe” Jackson. Then there’s Mississippi State’s offensive lineman Kwatrivous Johnson of Greenwood, who goes by “Dolla Bill.” One of his grandmothers started calling him “Dolla Bill” when he was a boy. She had seen the movie “The Players Club,” which had a character named Dollar Bill. She gave the name to her grandson because it was so much easier to pronounce, said his other grandmother, Oneida Martin.

“He doesn’t like anybody to be calling him his real name,” Martin said. That’s not a problem. She said, “People in Chicago know Dolla Bill over at Mississippi State.”

Martin also has a nickname, “Ms. Millie.” She said no one could pronounce

B.B. King was born Riley B. King in the Berclair community near Itta Bena. “B.B.” stands for “Blues Boy,” a nickname earned in Memphis early in his career. A Mississippi Blues Trail marker at Berclair tells about King’s life and career.

Memphis bluesman Walter “Furry” Lewis lived on Lamar Street in Greenwood as a boy.

“Oneida,” so they started calling her “Ms. Millie” after her father’s sister.

LaVerne Whitehead of Morgan City, who is a clerk at the Shell station, said her nickname, “Vonne,” suits her personality better than her given name, which her mother took from the TV comedy, “Laverne and Shirley.”

“I was such a tomboy,” Whitehead said.

She played football with her brothers and then basketball at school, where she also ran track. “They say it is more like a guy name.”

She paused and said her mother also provided the nickname. “That’s from my mom, so it must be something special.” n

Willie “June” Quarles of Greenwood says he’s not certain why family members began calling him “June.”

He’s OK with it, though: “I just decided to go along with life as it is.

Have to take the bitter with the sweet.”

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Focused on culture

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Brian Waldrop

Former Viking exec active in multiple businesses

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_êá~å=t~äÇêçéI=ÅÉåíÉêI=áë=Ñä~åâÉÇ=Äó=tÉë=pãáíÜI=äÉÑíI=~åÇ=t~óåÉ=pÉäÑ=ÇìêáåÖ=íÜÉ=ÖêçìåÇJÄêÉ~âáåÖ=ÅÉêÉãçåó=áå=kçîÉãÄÉê=Ñçê=_äìÉ=oáÇÖÉ=cççÇëK=pãáíÜ=ïáää=ëÉêîÉ=~ë=íÜÉ=éä~åíÛë ã~å~ÖÉêI=~åÇ=pÉäÑ=áë=íÜÉ=ÑçêãÉê=éêÉëáÇÉåí=çÑ=íÜÉ=iÉÑäçêÉ=`çìåíó=_ç~êÇ=çÑ=pìéÉêîáëçêëK ulture is king for Brian Waldrop. It’s the guiding principle he learned from Fred Carl Jr. during the two decades they worked together at Viking Range. It’s the principle that Waldrop follows at the half-dozen or so businesses, most of them based in Greenwood, that he co-owns, some of them with Carl.

“The greatest thing that Fred taught me was that culture trumps strategy evey time,” Waldrop said of the Viking founder. “If you can’t get your culture right, it doesn’t matter how good your product is, and it doesn’t matter how efficient you think you can be, because your culture will eat everything up.”

For Waldrop, the right culture has been to bring passion to his work, to be eternally optimistic, to be willing to try new things, and to enjoy doing it.

“I see myself as someone having fun,” said the 59-yearold entrepreneur. “I’m going to work as long as I have fun.”

Waldrop’s portfolio of business ventures, some of which started while he was the chief financial officer at Viking, defy easy categorization. They include: n HomeFront Home Improvement Center, a building materials company, in which he is partners with Carl, Richie Fulgham and another former Viking executive, Ron Ussery. n Fresh Laundry, a dry cleaners, where his partners are Carl, brothers Matt and Adam Gnemi, and another Viking alum, Dale Persons. n Outlaw Sporting Goods, a hunting and fishing supply store, in which his partners are Ussery, Fulgham,

Keith Holmes, Brent Noah and Kirk Kimes. n C3 Design, a partnership with Carl and Ussery, which manufactures modular and mobile homes at a plant in Russellville, Alabama. n Blue Ridge Foods, a South Carolina-based meat company Waldrop co-owns with his two brothers. The company is in the process of developing a 31,000-squarefoot processing and distribution facility in Greenwood.

And until recently, Waldrop dabbled at being a restaurateur before deciding that overseeing the former Station 222 had become too time-consuming for him and his wife, Tonya.

Waldrop’s friends get dizzy thinking about everything in which he has his hands.

“If you compare him to a juggler, he’s got quite a few

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_êá~å=t~äÇêçé=ï~ë=çåÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=ÑçìåÇÉêë=áå=OMMU=çÑ=_áâÉëI=_äìÉë=C=_~óçìëI=ïÜáÅÜ=Ü~ë=Öêçïå=íç=ÄÉ=íÜÉ=ä~êÖÉëí=ÅóÅäáåÖ=ÉîÉåí=áå=jáëëáëëáééáK=få=íÜáë=ÑáäÉ=éÜçíç=çÑ=ëçãÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ áå~ìÖìê~ä=óÉ~êÛë=éä~ååáåÖ=ÅçããáííÉÉ=~êÉI=Ñêçã=äÉÑíI=oáÅÜ~êÇ=_É~ííáÉI=t~äÇêçéI=a~îç=máííã~åI=w~åÉ=eçÇÖÉ=~åÇ=_êÉí=cêÉÉã~åK balls in the air at the same time,” said Dr. Todd Hall, a Greenwood optometrist who moved to Greenwood in 1990, one year before Waldrop’s arrival. v v v

Born three days before the start of 1961, Waldrop was raised in a hard-working middle-class family in Greenville, South Carolina.

His father’s main job was as a fireman, but he worked as many as four other jobs on his days off from the firehouse. His mother stayed at home to raise Waldrop and his two younger brothers, one of whom was born legally blind, through their early school years. When Waldrop was in the ninth grade, his mother went to work as an accounts payable clerk for tire manufacturer Michelin.

Waldrop said his parents passed on to him the importance of family and church as well as a strong work ethic. Waldrop’s father would bring him along to help with one of the firefighter’s side gigs, delivering home heating oil in the winter.

“He worked extremely hard,” Waldrop said of his father.

Waldrop attended Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, where he majored in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. It was also where he met his wife.

His first job out of college was as a merchandise manager trainee at J.C. Penney before he began working in accounting for a series of companies.

He was the cost accounting supervisor for appliance maker Frigidaire at its plant in Athens, Tennessee, when he was lured to Greenwood by Carl.

Waldrop was the 60th employee at Viking, a little-known company at the time that was embarked on creating a new concept in kitchen appliances — commercial-performing ranges for home use that retailed for about five times the cost of Frigidaire’s top-of-the-line range.

When Waldrop told his boss at Frigidaire he was leaving, the boss was puzzled as he listened to Waldrop describe the fledgling company and the dimensions of its ranges — 27 inches deep, and

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Greenwood Office 1705 Highway 82 West Greenwood, MS 38930 Phone: 662-453-6432 Fax: 662-455-1841

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36 or 48 inches wide.

“You do realize,” Waldrop recalls the boss saying, “that 95% of all ranges made in America are 24 inches deep and 30 inches wide?”

“Yes, sir,” Waldrop replied.

“Well how much do these sell for?” the boss asked.

“About $6,000,” Waldrop answered.

“Really? Where’s this place located?”

“The Mississippi Delta.”

The boss roared in laughter. “You know what? Maybe you’re not as smart as we thought you were.”

The two still laugh about that conversation, Waldrop said.

At the time he came on board, Viking was just starting to bring its manufacturing in-house. Carl, who also served as the company’s CEO, was looking for a cost accountant, whose job it would be to determine the actual costs associated with manufacturing the company’s ranges.

“I interviewed several, and Brian stood out because of his intelligence, enthusiasm, experience and solid knowledge of cost accounting, which can get a little complicated to some people,” Carl said. “A lot of accountants, maybe most, don’t like cost accounting, so when I saw how excited Brian was about the cost accounting position, I knew he was the guy for the job.”

Waldrop was on the ground floor during Viking’s meteoric rise. The company expanded its signature stainless steel product line to include refrigeration, ventilation, dishwashers, outdoor grills, even cookware and cutlery — the entire “Viking kitchen.”

Sales ballooned from $12 million annually when Waldrop arrived to $420 million at the company’s height during the mid-2000s. Employment grew to about 1,500, and Waldrop advanced within the company to become the chief financial officer and a minority shareholder.

He became known, said Carl, as “someone who understood the big picture and was able to apply the financial side of things to practical decision-making.”

“It was a great time,” said Waldrop. “I’ll put it this way.

I enjoyed going to work every day.” v v v

Then came the Great Recession of 2008. Although Viking had been able to weather the previous recessions without much of a hiccup, this one was different.

It hit especially hard at the housing market. New construction had slowed to a crawl, and homeowners put off remodeling their existing kitchens. Appliance sales were negatively impacted, and Viking eventually had to institute a series of layoffs. The downsizing accelerated when the privately owned company was sold for $380 million at the end of 2012 to publicly traded Middleby Corp.

Prior to the purchase, the Elgin, Illinois-based company had concentrated almost exclusively on manufacturing cooking equipment for the food-service industry.

The clash between the previous Viking culture and the new Middleby-imposed one was almost immediate. Carl left the company soon after the sale. Waldrop held on for a little while, but then he resigned as well before the end of the first year of Middleby’s ownership.

“It was a difficult time. ... They were a public company, and they had somewhat of a different philosophy than Fred had,” Waldrop said.

“I felt it was time for me to go, because I always wanted to try my own thing.”

Todd Hall, the Greenwood optometrist, said he remembers that time as one in which Waldrop paused to take stock of what he wanted to do next.

“At the time, they had the lumber yard, they had the cleaners, and they had the sporting goods store. They had things going, but he looked at some options, and then it was like he went from being busy to busier.”

In 2014, Waldrop joined with his brothers, Gary and Steven, to purchase Blue Ridge Foods, a South Carolina meat company started by the father of one of their uncles through marriage.

It is spending $2 million to retrofit an existing building in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park to handle both processing and distribution as the company expands. It is expected to start off with 20 employees, bringing to roughly 300 the number of people who work for compa-

tçêâáåÖ=~í=sáâáåÖ=o~åÖÉ=ï~ë=äáâÉ=ïçêâáåÖ=ïáíÜ=Ñ~ãáäóI=ë~óë=_êá~å=t~äÇêçé=~Äçìí=íÜÉ=OO=óÉ~êë=ÜÉ=ëéÉåí=ïáíÜ=íÜÉ dêÉÉåïççÇ=ã~åìÑ~ÅíìêÉê=çÑ=éêÉãáìã=âáíÅÜÉå=~ééäá~åÅÉëK=få=íÜáë=OMNO=ÑáäÉ=éÜçíç=Ñêçã=áåëáÇÉ=çåÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=Åçãé~J åóÛë=Ñ~ÅáäáíáÉëI=t~äÇêçé=áë=ÑçìêíÜ=Ñêçã=íÜÉ=äÉÑíK

nies in which Waldrop is involved.

All the different ventures — some more profitable than others — appeal to his entrepreneurial spirit and gregarious nature, Waldrop said.

“I enjoy owning a business. I enjoy interacting with people. I enjoy setting strategy and then having folks execute the strategy, trying to impart the things that Fred taught me: that culture is important and having people all pulling on the same way.” v v v

One of the most distinctive attributes about Waldrop is his upbeat nature.

“He’s real positive about everything,” Hall said.

That optimism extends to the businessman’s evaluation of his adopted home.

“I think Greenwood is one of the best-kept secrets in Mississippi, to tell you the truth,” said Waldrop, who operates out of a tidy third-floor office at 222 Howard St. Besides his business connections to the community, Waldrop has been heavily involved in volunteer roles. He is a former president of the Greenwood Lions Club and was one of the founders of Bikes, Blues & Bayous, which has become the largest cycling event in Mississippi. He has also served on the boards of two of the community’s most important public institutions — Greenwood Leflore Hospital and the former Greenwood School District.

He cites accomplishments that both institutions saw during his tenure. The hospital, for example, went from being nearly broke to accumulating a $38 million

reserve, and the school district built a new middle school.

There were also disappointments. Waldrop was unable in 2018 to convince a majority of the hospital board to approve an affiliation with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. And the new middle school was actually the fallback after voters in 1998 rejected a bond issue to pay for a more ambitious plan to build a new Greenwood High School and a new Bankston Elementary School.

“I think Greenwood would be a much different place today if that bond issue would have passed,” said Waldrop, whose two sons, both manufacturing engineers, are products of Bankston and Pillow Academy.

Waldrop said he is convinced that the decline in the public schools has fueled the area’s population decline, causing middle-class families that can’t afford private schools to locate elsewhere.

“I don’t want this to come across as a knock on Pillow, because it’s not,” he said. “I sent my kids to Pillow. I had the resources to do that. Not everybody does.”

Even while he is willing to honestly discuss the community’s shortcomings, he’s quicker to list its attributes: good facilities and organizations for youth sports; effective chamber of commerce, industrial board and downtown development groups; a high-quality country club; local governments that work more together than at odds; a pro-business environment; an exceptional group of physicians; welcoming and supportive people.

“We have a lot of things going for us,” he said. “If we ever decide that we want to win, we can do some exceptional things.” n

Feeling better

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North Sunflower Medical Center

Rehab services get patients going again

N

_êÉåí=i~åÖëíçå=ëíêÉíÅÜÉë=ïáíÜ=~=é~íáÉåí=ÑçääçïáåÖ=Å~êÇá~Å=êÉÜ~Ä=~í=kçêíÜ=pìåÑäçïÉê=jÉÇáÅ~ä=`ÉåíÉê=áå=oìäÉîáääÉK orth Sunflower Medical Center in Ruleville is setting a new standard in caretaking in the

Delta.

Brother-and-sister power duo Brad Cooper and Carmen Oguz built the Swingbed Program at North Sunflower from the ground up.

Oguz, 48, was hired in September 2004 to be the director of rehabilitation. She is in charge of the physical, occupational and speech therapy departments.

“Since 2004, it’s evolved into a position

of vice president of service line development, because it became very clear that I, like most people in a critical access hospital, began to wear a lot of hats,” Oguz said.

“The hats extended beyond rehabilitation: wound management, orthopedic services, infuOguz sion services,” Oguz said.

“They have absolutely nothing to do with

rehabilitation but everything to do with providing a comprehensive set of services to prevent illness, but also to address illnesses and issues if they’ve already occurred.”

The hospital’s Swingbed Program drew attention from all over the area and brought even more opportunities to the facility.

“As the program grew and the reputation of the hospital improved and we were having patients coming from everywhere, we began to hire more clinical staff so we

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could focus more on administrative duties and growth,” Oguz said.

In addition to running the Swingbed Program and also Wound Care Services, she is on the board of directors for the American Physical Therapy Association, as well as a member of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ national advisory panel for outpatient payment and reimbursement. She is the first national board member from Mississippi.

“My days are spent no longer in the clinical capacity, but in this administrative

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capacity both locally and nationally,” she said.

Oguz and Cooper’s parents worked within the hospital, so they spent most of their childhood immersed in the health care industry.

When it was time for Oguz and Cooper to make a career choice, coming back home was the best option.

“Being a hometown girl, I knew that nobody would care about the hospital more than me,” Oguz said.

Oguz received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Delta State University and went on to study physical therapy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. There, she received bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in physical therapy.

Cooper is the director of the Beacon Wellness Center and Cardiac Rehab and is an occupational and physical therapist.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry at Delta State University and a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Texas Women’s University.

Cooper’s two right-hand men are Assistant Director Brent Langston and exercise physiologist Seth Callow.

Callow and Langston both interned for North Sunflower during their academic

careers at Delta State. Callow received a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, and Langston received a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, as well as a master’s degree in sports and human performance.

Callow started with an official position in 2016, and Langston started in 2014.

Both men are in charge of the cardiac rehab classes North Sunflower offers. The cardiac rehab program aims to help those with heart issues recover from cardiovascular trauma.

If a patient comes in with an acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass, stable angina, heart valve repair placement, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, heart or lung transplant, stable chronic heart failure with an ejection fraction of 35% or less, a New York Heart Association class two through four classification, or just shortness of breath, he or she will qualify for cardiac rehab. Each patient will receive a referral from an insurance agency, and a doctor will ensure that the patient is healthy enough for cardiac rehab. From there, patients are sent to Callow and Langston for their sessions.

“Medicare generally allows 36 weeks (of cardiac rehab). If you aren’t able to meet the goals within the first 36 weeks, we can ask the insurances and Medicare for

another 36 treatments for a total of 72 weeks,” Cooper said.

Medicare will allow another 36 weeks of treatment upon request, but Cooper said that he cannot claim the same for other insurance agencies.

The goal of cardiac rehab is not only to strengthen patients’ hearts but to build a relationship with them.

“It’s a lot of talking to try to see what they’ve been up to, see what they have planned, and try to build a small little quick friendship,” Langston said.

“We try to get them talking — not really get them focused on that they’re there for cardiac rehab, but get them focused on that they’re coming here to work and make it as enjoyable and the best that we can,” Langston said.

Patients are monitored from numerous angles to ensure they can be helped if an emergency arises.

“We start them out slow, check on them, any kind of chest pain that pops up, any shortness of breath, and we make sure to stay with that patient and make sure they’re good,” Callow said.

Prior to beginning cardiac rehab, patients are hooked up to a monitoring device that shows Langston, Callow and doctors how their heart is performing, as well as their glucose levels if they are dia-

betic. Next, in a room full of exercise equipment, patients are instructed to perform a certain measure of physical exertion, depending on their condition.

Callow said that, ideally, they like to get patients on the SciFit and NuStep machines. Afterward, they set up two cones 60 feet apart from each other, and patients take as many laps as they’re comfortable with. If they do 10 laps, they are moved to the treadmill to finish out their workout.

Langston and Callow both ensure that each patient stretches, they check their vitals, and then they’re free to go.

In addition to this, there is a room filled with various equipment, dumbbells, exercise balls, and hula hoops to give patients a variety of options to get their hearts back on track. They also have a projector in the room to do workout videos and presentations.

There are several options for classes that will fit into any patient’s schedule.

“I’m proud of these guys and what all they do, their knowledge of exercise and cardiology,” Cooper said of Callow and Langston. “They have an excellent rapport with patients and they get good, positive results. We have some patients with some great outcomes with their cardiac rehab.” n

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Giving comfort

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Blondean Minyard

At 92, she serves others by sewing, knitting B

londean Minyard has a heart for serving others. At 92 years young, she uses her many talents — painting, writing, knitting and sewing — to “bless” those around her, from members of her family to people in her community.

After retiring from the Leflore County Health Department with 20 years of service, Minyard decided to use her new-found free time to take up new hobbies and learn skills, such as baking and painting.

“I always have some kind of project going,” she said. “I can’t just sit around and hold my hands.”

The projects included some work knitting and sewing.

“I was excited to do the things I wanted to do, because I had worked all of my life and never really had time,” she said.

Minyard — the mother of three daughters, Anna Henderson and Rita Horne of Greenwood and Myra Crenshaw of Jackson, Tennessee — began knitting and sewing blankets for her five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her blankets quickly became popular when others in the community saw her handmade creations.

When Nicole Lindsey saw one of the blankets Minyard had made for her great-granddaughter, Madie Gnemi, Lindsey commented on how perfect a blanket like that would be for her daughter, Iva Beth, who was fighting Stage 4 germ cell cancer at the time.

“I was at her granddaughter’s house and saw a blanket she had made for Madie and mentioned that I needed one that size for Iva,” Lindsey said. “It was silk on one side and fit on the other.”

When Minyard found out that Lindsey wanted one of her blankets for Iva Beth, she immediately began sewing.

Above: Blondean Minyard sits beside a stack of her “Ninee pillows” that are ready for delivery to local nursing homes. Minyard sews the pillows to donate to nursing home residents. Left: Blondean Minyard’s great-granddaughter, Madie Gnemi, is snuggled up with one of Minyard’s handmade blankets. pqlov==_v=^foofk=jbqw=

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“It wasn’t long before we had a bag full of blankets that size and pillows to match,” Lindsey said.

Minyard’s “blessings,” however, were not a one-time event for the Lindsey family.

“Throughout Iva being sick, Ms. Blondean kept sending blankets,” Lindsey said. “We still have several of them, and they are Iva Beth’s favorite.”

Referring to the blankets she made for her family members and children in the community, Minyard said, “I don’t know how many of those I made. Some of them were for warmth, some for comfort and some for security reasons.”

After visiting local nursing homes, Minyard noticed the need for head support for the residents as they sat in their chairs. She decided to make neck pillows to distribute to the nursing homes and hospitals.

“I thought a pillow would be good to put at the back of their neck for support.

That’s why I started doing it,” she said.

Mildred Barry, a late family friend whom Minyard considered as her “fourth daughter,” dubbed the pillows “Ninee pillows” because of Minyard’s nickname.

“All of the children call me Ninee, and even most of the adults do, too,” Minyard said.

Barry had several “Ninee pillows” of various sizes to meet her needs as she fought a losing battle with pancreatic cancer.

Minyard’s pillows not only have made their way into nursing homes in Greenwood but also have been taken to hospitals in Jackson, Mississippi, and Jackson, Tennessee.

On top of making her popular pillows, Minyard has also made shoulder wraps for nursing home residents.

“Old folks get cold just sitting around.

Trust me, I know,” she said.

Upon seeing the need for blankets for the residents, Minyard stepped up to help. In one year alone, she made 25 shoulder wraps for various nursing home residents in the community.

Minyard remembers a special encounter with someone whose mother was the recipient of a shoulder wrap.

“I was out one day, and this nice lady came up to me and said, ‘I have one of your shoulder wraps. My mother was in the nursing home, and she got one of them. She’s deceased now, but I take her

Blondean Minyard is surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who call her “Ninee,” during Christmas 2019.

Front row, from left are Carter Gammill, Minyard, Madie Gnemi, Julie Crenshaw and Brady Crenshaw; middle row, Bobby Henderson, Laiken McQuary, Kelly McQuary, Randi-Rae Gnemi, Evan Crenshaw, Jennifer Davis and Cory Davis; back row, Chris McQuary and Jason Crenshaw.

wrap with me to church every Sunday and use it,’” Minyard recalled. “What a blessing for me to know she still uses her mother’s wrap at church every Sunday.”

What started out as a way to fill free time during her retirement turned into Minyard’s own personal ministry of providing handmade neck pillows, shoulder wraps and blankets to children, patients in hospitals and residents in nursing homes.

Minyard has blessed many people with her giving heart. She said, however, she is the one who truly has been blessed by giving.

“Those pillows have really been a blessing to me,” she said. “When I see it really helps people, it just blesses me. It warms my heart.” n

Above: When Blondean Minyard isn't making pillows, she also enjoys painting at home. Left: Minyard’s pillows are various sizes and help with neck and back support.

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Born for the stage

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Nichole Henry

Actress says GLT fed her love of performing

N

káÅÜçäÉ=eÉåêó=áë=çåÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=óçìåÖÉëí=éêÉëáÇÉåíë=çÑ=íÜÉ=dêÉÉåïççÇ=iáííäÉ=qÜÉ~íêÉ=_ç~êÇ=çÑ=aáêÉÅíçêëK=cêçã=äÉÑíI=eÉåêó=~åÇ=ÜÉê=Ñá~åŨI=q~óäçê=_ìÅÜ~å~åI=~åÇ=sáÅÉ=mêÉëáÇÉåí táää=mÉêâáåë=Éåàçó=íÜÉ=ÑÉëíáîáíáÉë=~í=~=dêÉÉåïççÇ=iáííäÉ=qÜÉ~íêÉ=é~íêçåë=é~êíóK ichole Henry has a love for the performing arts.

“I’ve been doing theater for a very long time,” she said. “I used to memorize movies and act them out as they played in my room.”

Henry, 30, went from acting out movies

in her bedroom as a child to becoming one of the youngest presidents of the Greenwood Little Theatre’s Board of Directors.

Henry began performing in plays when she was in elementary school.

“But it was in seventh or eighth grade that I really dove into performing,” she

said.

Henry gives credit to Greenwood Little Theatre — the second longest-running community theater in the state, now in its 64th season — for nurturing her love of performing while growing up.

When the 2008 Pillow Academy graduate found her passion for theater, she

became a member of Pillow’s Thespian Society while in junior high.

She also served as both secretary and vice president of the Thespian Society during her time at Pillow.

Upon graduation, Henry attended Mississippi Delta Community College, where she continued performing as an

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In a scene from Greenwood Little Theatre’s production of “Wait Until Dark” are, from left, Tom Weldon, Jason Tate, Stephen McIntyre and Nichole Henry. The show was performed in January 2017. ambassador in the show choir for the school.

Henry then decided to step out of her comfort zone and make the move to Little Rock, Arkansas. There, she performed numerous shows with several theater groups, including The Weekend Theater, The Studio Theatre, PUBLIC Theatre and the Community Theatre of Little Rock.

“It was fun performing with different groups and seeing how other places did things,” she said.

After living and performing in Little Rock for nearly five years, Henry decided to move back home to Greenwood, where she quickly reunited with her first love — Greenwood Little Theatre.

“I moved back home and had really missed GLT,” she said. “I dove right into performing with them when I got back.”

After being back in her hometown and performing with Greenwood Little Theatre for nearly two years, Henry was approached with what she saw as the opportunity of a lifetime when she was nominated to become vice president and later president of the board of the theater.

“At first, I was so nervous,” she said. “It was scary, because it’s this place that I love so much. I am in charge of it now; how weird is that?”

Henry served as vice president during the 2018-2019 season, and she became president of the board soon after turning 30 in the summer of 2019.

“When I was younger, I thought it would be neat to be president of the board

Nichole Henry rehearses a scene from Greenwood Little Theatre’s production of “Ragtime: The Musical” in May 2019.

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one day, but I did not ever think it would happen so soon,” she said.

As president of the board, Henry handles the day-to-day duties of the theater, such as delegating jobs to various committees, speaking with directors and cast members to make sure tasks are running smoothly, and leading board meetings.

“It has been different being on the other side of things, but I have learned a lot,” she said.

Henry gives credit to past presidents of the board for encouraging her to step into the role.

“Growing up in the theater and seeing the past presidents, you see that you have great people to look up to,” she said.

Henry is proud of the theater’s growth in memberships this season.

“We really hit the ground running this year on memberships,” she said. “We had a very large increase this season.”

Greenwood Little Theatre members can choose between different membership tiers to meet their needs. Each tier provides membership holders with a certain amount of tickets to every show of the theater’s season. Henry said memberships are the theater’s No. 1 source of income, excluding donations.

The increase in memberships has allowed Henry and the GLT board to allo-

cate funds to various needs of the theater, such as fixing roof damage.

“One of the storms that came through this past year hit and hurt our roof,” Henry said. “We got that taken care of, and it is fine, but there are older parts that need work. It’s an old building, and it constantly needs upkeep.”

On top of the increase in memberships for the 2019-2020 season, Henry said she is thankful for the donations the theater has received this season as well.

“We have people and businesses that will give a donation on top of their membership fee, and we are very grateful for that,” she said.

Henry’s term as president will end in June, but she will remain on the board as a past president to offer assistance to the upcoming president if needed.

Aside from her duties as board president of Greenwood Little Theatre, Henry is the digital marketing director at The Greenwood Commonwealth.

She enjoys spending time with her fiancé, Taylor Buchanan; their two dogs, Caldonia and Winchester; and participating in trivia nights with friends.

To learn more information about Greenwood Little Theatre or to make a donation, visit its website, ÖêÉÉåïççÇäáíJ íäÉíÜÉ~íêÉKÅçã, or its Facebook page.n

Above: Nichole Henry, left, performs in a scene from “M*A*S*H” with Will Perkins. Also pictured in the background is Peter Gray. Henry directed the Greenwood Little Theatre production with her father, Robin Henry, in October 2019.

Left: Nichole Henry stands in the lobby of the Greenwood Little Theatre’s W.M. Whittington Jr. Playhouse. Henry said she is proud of the growth in memberships during GLT’s 2019-2020 season.

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Hometown care Greenwood Leflore Hospital

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New devices improve service to patients

H

aêK=háãÄÉêäó=p~åÑçêÇI=~å=çÄëíÉíêáÅá~åJÖóåÉÅçäçÖáëí=~í=dêÉÉåïççÇ=iÉÑäçêÉ=eçëéáí~äI=ëí~åÇë=åÉñí=íç=íÜÉ=Ç~=sáåÅá=u=ëóëíÉãK= ow do we move the hospital forward?”

This question has been asked by various doctors, staff and board members at Greenwood Leflore Hospital for years.

While some residents of Leflore County and surrounding areas may travel to Jackson or Memphis for advanced services, many are choosing to remain at home to experience the growing resources available at Greenwood Leflore Hospital.

“It is so important for people in a population of 15,000 to recognize that the

amount of services Greenwood Leflore Hospital offers is unheard of,” said Dr. Kimberly Sanford, an obstetrician-gynecologist and vice chief of the hospital’s medical staff. “What usually exists in a town like this is a Band-Aid station. You go to the hospital, get a Band-Aid, get a chest X-ray, and then you have to drive two hours to get to any kind of surgical services. That is not the case in Greenwood.”

Sanford is excited about the steps the hospital board has taken to continue to have the best equipment for its patients.

“To have a place like this at your back door is amazing,” she said.

For gynecologists, Sanford explained, robotics surgery is mostly used for hysterectomies.

The hospital’s recently purchased da Vinci X System, manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, is the newest of its kind. Not only will the da Vinci X be beneficial for patients in gynecology, but the machine will also greatly help patients in neurology and general surgery as well.

Less invasive techniques provided by the da Vinci X allow for earlier discharge and

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faster healing times for patients.

Another advantage of the machine is that it will help attract new, young surgeons. “This area is difficult to attract talent to because it is very isolated,” said Sanford. “One way to attract young surgeons is to keep up with technology. The da Vinci, along with other new equipment the hospital has invested in, will play a huge role in getting them here.”

Another piece of machinery the hospital has invested in is the Genius 3D Mammography exam, available on a Selenia Dimensions system from Hologic.

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Compared to the previous 2D machine, the new 3D mammography machine allows for a more detailed picture, which is crucial in early detection of breast cancer.

“The advantage of a 3D mammogram over the 2D conventional we had in the past is that we are getting a much more detailed image of the breast,” said Alma Jones, the hospital’s mammography supervisor. “It’s not a single image of the breast like in the past; it’s tiny images all the way through the breast tissue, which allows us to catch things a lot earlier. The 3D is helping us to make a diagnosis at an earlier stage.”

Jones explained how the hospital began losing patients who were seeking the 3D test over the 2D. “People were calling and asking if we provided the 3D mammogram,” she said. “We knew it was time to invest in this machine for the good of our community.”

Jones is a breast cancer survivor herself and explained the importance of getting a routine mammogram.

“Make sure you get your mammogram every year.

Early detection caught my breast cancer. Early detection can be the difference between chemo and radiation or not,” she said.

Jones takes pride in the investment the hospital has in the 3D mamJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ made mography machine and hopes members of the “People were calling public will put the machine to use for their and asking if we own sake.

“Don’t be too busy to provided the 3D get your mammogram,” she said. “Early detecmammogram. We tion is the best detecFrom a patient knew it was time to tion. viewpoint, GLH has made it so easy to take invest in this care of ourselves in a machine for the good way like never before.”

One piece of machinery that has patients of our community. ’’ driving from various towns to Greenwood for Alma Jones its use is the Canon JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ Titan 1.5 Tesla. The new MRI machine, installed in December 2018, has the radiology staff at Greenwood Leflore Hospital seeing patients from all over the Delta and surrounding cities.

“We have had people travel here from all over for our scanner,” said Claire Smith, MRI safety officer. “Some even come from towns that have MRI machines, but they prefer ours because of its larger bore.”

The bore of the new machine, which is the tube-like central opening, is 71 centimeters in diameter. This is a significant increase from the previous machine’s diameter of 60 centimeters.

“Our MRI machine has the largest bore in the industry. The bigger bore really benefits our claustrophobic patients,” said Smith.

Another benefit of the machine having a larger diameter is the option to send more patients feet-first for their scans, which is less frightening for patients and beneficial for broad-shouldered athletes.

“We do a lot of athletes with broad shoulders, and we don’t have an issue getting them in the scanner anymore,” Smith said. “Our patients are also a lot calmer, which allows us to get a more accurate image.”

The machine also allows for scans to be taken without contrast, which means fewer injections for patients, said Smith.

“Which is better,” she continued. “We don’t have to inject all of our patients like we did with our older one. It has newer technology where we can do some vascular imaging without contrast and get the same detail we would with contrast.”

Smith said the No. 1 benefit of the new MRI machine is its ability to keep patients local.

“It helps to see a familiar face, and you don’t always get a familiar face in Memphis or Jackson or somewhere else,” she said. “We’re here to help and keep our people local. We like to take care of our home.”

Another machine that is attracting patients from various cities and helping to keep local patients in

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Greenwood is the Infinity linear accelerator from Elekta.

The Infinity linear accelerator, installed January 2019, is the newest machine of its kind within the state to be installed, according to Dr. Roderick Givens, a radiation oncologist at The Cancer Center at Greenwood Leflore Hospital.

The Infinity linear accelerator is a “brand-new, stateof-the-art treatment machine that delivers radiation,” he said.

It has the ability to treat tumors of various levels and locations.

“The Infinity linear accelerator takes care of a variety of tumors anywhere from breast cancer to lung cancer to brain tumors, you name it,” said Givens. “This machine is beneficial to any patient who needs radiation. It has the capability to treat superficially, on the skin’s surface,

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and it also has a setting for deep tumors, such as lung cancer, colon cancer or prostate cancer that requires radiation deep inside the body cavity.”

What makes the Infinity linear accelerator special is its imaging capabilities, said Givens.

“We use what is called intensity modulated radiation therapy as well as image guided radiation therapy,” he said. “What this means is that in addition to being able to treat, we are also able to see images of the patient’s body, images of the tumor, and during the time of treatment, actually see images of what is being treated.”

Givens said that the machine allows for the “the most accurate way to deliver the dose to the tumor” while also “minimizing or even eliminating the dose to normal tissue,” which increases patient safety.

The Infinity linear accelerator is another example of a service not typically offered in a town the size of Greenwood.

“The perception is that big cities have the better equipment and services. In this case, that is not true,” said Givens. “The reality is that this small town has the best.

We exceed the capabilities of Jackson, and we rival Memphis and Atlanta with what we are able to offer.

GLH exceeds the capabilities of anybody in the area.”

Smith agreed that just because a city is larger does not always mean its hospital is better. She said many services Greenwood Leflore Hospital offers are not yet available at hospitals in larger cities, such as the Canon Titan 1.5 Tesla MRI machine.

“You don’t always get the best when you go out of town,” she said. “We have a lot of things to offer right here at home that a lot of hospitals out of town do not have.”

Givens and Sanford both said that the steps taken by the hospital administration to invest in state-of-the-art equipment are what will keep the hospital running in the future.

“The hospital administration board has clearly demonstrated a willingness to buy the best top-of-the-line equipment to service this area,” Givens said.

Sanford added, “We need to ensure GLH has a future.

The hospital is the No. 1 employer of the town. This is what keeps our city alive, and that’s exactly what I feel like we are doing.

“It’s not just with da Vinci; it’s with 3D mammography and all of the other tech we are gaining,” she continued.

“I am truly encouraged. The administration is taking some really bold, but I think necessary, steps.” n

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A great team

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Midsouth Copier

F

Couple puts mix of skills into business

rom young love to selling copiers, Cindy and Jerry Ferguson built their success from the ground up.

The couple owns a Greenwood business, Midsouth Copier Systems, selling copiers, printers and typewriters.

“I was riding bikes one night, and he just happened to ride by. I spotted him, he took a double-take at me, I took a double-take at him, and he ended up following me down to where I lived,” Cindy said. “We ended up talking till about 12 at night.”

Their love blossomed after that first meeting, and they were married in 1980.

Cindy is from Greenville, and Jerry is from Philipp, but the duo came together to start their professional lives in Greenwood.

The Fergusons embarked on this venture when Cindy allowed Jerry to set up shop in the back of her craft store, Delta Oak, which sold solid oak furniture. After Jerry’s boom in sales, Cindy decided to abandon the furniture and immerse herself in the copier business with her husband.

Jerry said that he started his own copier business so he could be his own boss and do things how he wanted. He had been working with copiers under other management for seven years before that.

Midsouth Copier took shape in November of 1987.

After a couple of venue changes, it now resides at 709 U.S. 82 West.

The store specializes in Canon and Konica products.

Jerry is in charge of sales, and Cindy handles taxes, billing machines, collections and “whatever else needs to be done.”

“Cindy has her things that she does, and she’s good at them, and I have my things,” Jerry said. “I couldn’t make it without her doing all her stuff because I know absolutely nothing about it.”

Jerry said that he enjoys working with the customers and other copy professionals.

“What drove me to get in this (business) was a desire to do better and to do it my way and not have to put up with all the junk that went on with somebody else,” Jerry said.

Things didn’t immediately take off for the couple’s blossoming business, and Cindy said it took five or six years for sales to start picking up.

“There wasn’t even a bank that would give us a loan,” Cindy said. “I don’t think we ever thought we’d be where we are now 30 years later.”

“It takes a while to build it,” Jerry agreed.

As far as plans for Midsouth Copier’s future, Jerry joked that he wanted to “sell it and go home.”

“At some point, reality is gonna kick in, and I’ll realize I can’t do this any more,” Jerry said. “Someone will have to take over. You can’t work till you’re 100 and be very good at it.”

The couple is family-oriented but enjoys living the “country life.”

They have two children, David and Destini, who have two boys and a girl each.

Their grandchildren are Jacob, Josh, Abigail, Jack, Noah and Lily.

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Above: Cindy and Jerry Ferguson have been married since 1980 and run Midsouth Copier. Jerry handles sales, and Cindy is in charge of taxes, bililng machines, collections and “whatever else needs to be done. Left: Jerry Ferguson reads a bedtime story to grandson Noah.

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Cindy said that the grandkids love to come to their house, just outside of Greenwood, and ride go-karts.

Cindy and Jerry also spend a lot of their free time playing tennis. Cindy joked that even though her husband’s level is technically better, she’s the superior player.

Cindy also likes to create art, including pottery.

Jerry’s hobbies include collecting antique cars and riding motorcycles.

Cindy said that they both have their separate interests, but will always find a way to come back to each other at the end of the night.

“We always eat lunch together,” Cindy said. “And we always come home at night to eat dinner together.”

When asked what Jerry thought when he looks at Cindy, she jumped in and answered, “Perfection,” which earned laughs from both of them.

Both said that disagreements are sometimes inevitable when working with your spouse every day, but they couldn’t do it without each other and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Basically everything we do, we do it as a team,” Jerry said. “We just put it together and make it work.” n

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SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY

Training for the future

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Economic Development

Higher-quality workforce helps recruiting

D

eveloping a community’s workforce is the key to economic success, says Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-LefloreCarroll Economic Development Foundation.

“I’ve always said that education and economic development go hand in hand,” said Curry. “The sooner we can reach students and prepare them for the workforce, the better. We can’t do too much of that — workforce development and training.”

Working closely with the city of Greenwood, Leflore County and other agencies, the Economic Development Foundation’s major focuses over the past few years have been workforce development and recruitment of new industries to the area.

“We can’t be successful if we’re not always focusing on those two things,” said Curry.

“There’s no recruitment without workforce development. When you are asking companies to consider this community as a possible location, they want to know if you have a trained workforce that’s Curry available.”

Curry said workforce development and training is a challenge across the United States.

With the ACT Work Ready program, Curry said, “I think we’ve made some really great strides. ... That program has really helped us tremendously.”

Leflore County became a certified ACT Work Ready Community in December 2017, and Carroll County joined in February 2019. Both counties are considered to be actively engaged in maintaining their status.

Through the program, potential employees take assessments, and the results allow employers to know if a worker has the right skills for a particular job.

The program offers a variety of assessments and certifications that measure an individual’s foundational workplace skills, such as math, reading and locating.

The assessments are given to the emerging workforce, high school and college students; current workforce, people who are already in the workforce and may want to be considered for a promotion; and transitioning workforce, people who are looking to transition to a new job that requires a new skill level.

“It’s about getting as many people as we can to be assessed and take the Career

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Readiness exam,” said Curry. “We work very closely with our high schools to get students tested. If we see weaknesses in areas, that gives us a chance to remediate students in the weak areas.”

Curry said local students and adults tend to score well.

“The average is considered a bronze level, and most of our students and individuals in this county have scored at a silver level, which is above average, which is really good,” she said.

Curry said some in the area have even scored at the gold level and platinum level — the highest.

The score “lets us know that you have a higher skill level or where you are in regards to your skill level,” she said.

For instance, scoring gold means a worker is skilled enough to do about 90% of the jobs available, whereas bronze means a worker can do about 75% of jobs.

In Leflore County, 52 employers recognize or recommend the ACT Workkeys National Career Readiness Certificate,

and six employers in Carroll County.

Over the past year, the Economic Development Foundation has had success in bringing new industries committed to creating jobs to the area.

One of those is Lynx Grills, owned by The Middleby Corp., the parent of Viking Range.

With a $9 million investment in the community, Lynx relocated its headquarters from California to Leflore County and is expected to create 200 jobs over the next several years at a 90,000-square-foot plant along U.S. 82.

Another is Blue Ridge Foods, a South Carolina-based meat production company, which is renovating a 31,000-squarefoot building on Baldwin Road.

“We’ve been very fortunate, too, that we’ve managed to create some jobs with totally new locations,” said Curry.

The Economic Development Foundation focuses on recruiting midsized companies that create about 50 to 100 jobs. Since the Delta’s population is

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sparse and spread out, a mid-sized company is more likely to locate to the area rather than a bigger company with 2,000 to 3,000 jobs, because those tend to locate in places with dense populations.

“That’s what we focus on with the Delta Strong program,” said Curry.

Delta Strong is a regional marketing and recruiting program that’s led by Delta Council. “Leflore County and other Delta communities participate in that regional group, because we’re stronger as a region,” said Curry.

Through the regional effort, Greenwood-area residents can benefit from industries locating in surrounding counties, while those throughout the Delta can benefit from companies locating in Leflore County.

Curry said more than 4,000 people commute to Leflore County to work, which is the second-highest amount in the Delta.

“There are a lot of people who come here to this county to work every day,” Curry said.

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eÉ~êíä~åÇ=`~íÑáëÜ=áë=äççâáåÖ=íç=~ÇÇ=QM=çê=ãçêÉ=àçÄë=áå=äáÖÜí=çÑ=~å=Éñé~åëáçåK The Economic Development Foundation not only focuses on recruiting, but also nurturing the companies already established in the Greenwood area.

“We’re very fortunate to have a really good manufacturing base to begin with, and we find that most of our jobs are created through existing industry,” said Curry. “We focus on helping our existing companies grow.”

A recent expansion at Milwaukee Tool created 300 new jobs.

“That’s just like a whole other industry,” said Curry.

Milwaukee Tool was recruited in 2001, creating 180 jobs. Currently, there are more than 800 employees, and it is projected to employ 1,000 by 2021.

Milwaukee Tool has three operations in Greenwood with 500,000 square feet in manufacturing space and has invested $18 million over the last several years.

“They’ve been continuously growing over the years, and we’re fortunate to have them,” said Curry.

Another company that has recently made an expansion is Heartland Catfish, which has invested $7 million in the community. Heartland employs more than 400 people and is looking to add about 40 to 50-plus jobs.

“That’s what you like to see,” said Curry.

“You like to nurture your existing companies and help them to grow as much as they can in the community.”

Another interesting fact that keeps the area’s economy flourishing is that Leflore

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County is home to seven corporate headquarters — Viking Range, America’s Catch, Heartland Catfish, John-Richard, Lynx Grills, Staplcotn and Wade Inc. “You look at a county or community of our size, and to have seven corporate headquarters, that says a lot for a small Delta community,” said Curry.

For 2020, the Economic Development Foundation is continuing its mission of

job creation and retention, an increased tax base and improved quality of life for the residents of Leflore and Carroll counties.

Among some of its more specific focuses for the year, the foundation will continue to promote the Delta Strong marketing strategy, maintain the ACT Work Ready certification for Leflore and Carroll counties and update its economic strategy and

goals and revamp its existing industry program.

“It’s probably been about five years since we’ve actually looked at our strategy and our goals for economic development,” said Curry. “We need to set some new goals and develop some new strategies and focus on new areas.”

One area the foundation will put a greater focus on is Greenwood-Leflore Airport.

“The airport is certainly an asset for us,” said Curry.

The foundation plans to “focus on improving infrastructure out there, recruiting — making a really aggressive effort to attract new companies out there — and help those companies that are there already to grow.”

The foundation is also working on a couple of projects in 2020 that could potentially create more jobs in the area.

“I think it’s important to note that the economic development process is a slow process,” said Curry. “When we’re recruiting, we may work with a company for sometimes 18 to 24 months before everything is signed and sealed. You have some projects that may move faster than others. But for the most part, we’ll usually have several visits.”

Curry said the economic outlook for the Greenwood area in 2020 “is looking pretty good for us.”

“Companies are starting to grow, and we’ve seen activity pick up and increase over a couple of years,” she said. n

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Sound and passion

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The Mean Green Marching Machine

Directors excited for MVSU band’s future

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jáëëáëëáééá=s~ääÉó=pí~íÉ=råáîÉêëáíóÛë=jÉ~å=dêÉÉå=j~êÅÜáåÖ=j~ÅÜáåÉ=Ü~ë=~=éêçìÇ=íê~Çáíáçå=~åÇ=ïáää=ÄÉ=éÉêÑçêãáåÖ=ãçêÉ=ÑêÉèìÉåíäóI=ë~óë=aêK=hÉêêó=^ååÉ=páãçåI=íÜÉ=åÉï=ÇáêÉÅJ íçê=çÑ=Ä~åÇëK r. Kerry Anne Simon remembers advice she received in high school that helped set her career path.

She had always loved music and had played in school bands since seventh grade, including playing clarinet and saxophone in high school.

One day, she recalled, “someone came to our band hall in high school trying to recruit the seniors, and they told us, ‘If you ever really want to be happy doing

whatever you’re doing for work, pick something that you would do for free.’”

She had no idea at that time that she could get paid to work in music. But she decided that she wanted to be a band director.

Years later, while she was working at a high school in Memphis, her students included Devanon Fitzgerald, a percussionist. When he was in ninth or 10th grade, she gave him and his fellow students the same advice.

“I said I could do band for the rest of my life, so that’s what I do,” said Fitzgerald, who joined Valley in July as associate band director. Simon was named director last July — the first woman in the Southwestern Athletic Conference to hold that job — after the retirement of Kenneth Milton.

Simon and Fitzgerald both are committed to making the Valley musicians the best they can be.

“We set a standard in that band room

— a standard of pride,” Simon said. “And, ‘Be excellent in everything you do.’” v v v

Simon and Fitzgerald are well aware of the history of the Valley band, known as “The Mean Green Marching Machine.”

The program took off under Russell Boone, who became director in 1961 and incorporated the Drum Corps style. The band’s halftime shows included pop and

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show tunes and classical excerpts as well as marches.

Another notable leader was Leonard “Chief” Tramiel, who was MVSU’s director of university bands from 1973 until his retirement in 2013. Tramiel died last April at the age of 75.

Over the years, the band has performed in major events including the Rose Bowl Parade, the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade, presidential inaugural parades and Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans.

Simon, 47, played in Valley’s band under Tramiel before graduating in 1995.

She went on to earn a master’s degree in education at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee; a master’s in music education at Tennessee State University; and a doctorate in music education from Florida State University. She was assistant director of bands at Coahoma Community College from 2014 to 2017 before joining the staff of her alma mater.

As director of bands, she oversees the marching band and its dance squad and flag squad; the symphonic and concert band; the pep band; and other ensembles.

Fitzgerald, 34, was in seventh grade in Memphis when Simon recruited him for the school band during the spring semester. After deciding to pursue a musical career, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University and master’s and educational specialist degrees from Walden University in Minneapolis. He is working on a master’s degree in music education at the University of Florida.

He serves as the percussion instructor, oversees the percussion studio, helps with the marching style and sound of the band and directs the concert band.

Leonard “Chief” Tramiel conducts the Mississippi Valley State University band during a football game. v v v

The two of them know each other’s strengths well. Simon taught Fitzgerald the fundamentals of musical arranging when he was a student in Memphis, and she said he took the information and ran with it.

“He’s a better arranger than I am,” she said. “He’s really done well with that.”

Simon, who was chosen to be director at Valley after a nationwide search, said it’s a big leap from associate director. But she already had ideas about what she wanted to do.

Devanon Fitzgerald, left, is the new associate director of bands at Mississippi Valley State University, and Dr. Kerry Anne Simon, right, is the director.

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“I’m trying to slowly incorporate some of the things that we did when I was in band back into the program,” she said. “Before, our program really had no identity. We had no certain look; we had no certain sound. I’m trying to bring all those things back. So I changed our marching style; I changed our sound; I changed the way music is written.”

She said it helps that Fitzgerald, who taught band in the Shelby County, Tennessee, schools for 10 years before joining Valley, knows what she likes in music. Before, the band got its arrangements from a variety of sources; now Fitzgerald does it all. She said he was willing to adjust his style to fit the band, and the results have been good.

“People are like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you guys sound so different. You guys sound so good,’” she said. “And that’s the Valley sound that I was looking for.”

There’s more pressure to perform well these days because bands can be seen on YouTube and other websites. “The band world is brutal,” Simon said. “Just like the sports world. You do something wrong, you know right there. Especially with social media, you know right then and there you messed up.”

She said the band members are showing more pride in the group, too. That includes wearing their gear around campus more — and not at her direction. In fact, she’s asked them to wear the clothes less often so they don’t fade.

“I was like, ‘This is not your daily wear. Please don’t wear this, like, every day,’” she said, laughing. “But we can’t keep them out of it.” v v v

The band had about 120 students in the fall and has about 95 this spring. It’s the smallest band in the SWAC, and it’s a far cry from Simon’s days there, when there were about 250 members.

“I remember us being in that band room and not being able to breathe,” she said.

But she faces a number of challenges. For example, students often come in not knowing how to read music.

But the group she has now is teachable and is learning the fundamentals, and that can serve as a foundation for next year and beyond, she said.

“I’m very impressed with how far we’ve come in such a short time,” she said. “And it makes me so excited for what’s coming up.”

She wants to schedule more performances so the band can be more visible.

She said the band has been invited to play Carnegie Hall, but she’s waiting before doing that. “I want to make sure it’s not just us being able to say, ‘Oh, we played at Carnegie Hall,’” she said. “I want us to be worthy of playing at Carnegie Hall. I don’t want to just get up there and play some nice little junior-high piece just to say we played at Carnegie Hall. I want us to be really ready for that.” v v v

Dr. Kerry Anne Simon says her personal mantra is “I just want to be great,” and she wants the Mississippi Valley State band students to aim for greatness, too.

Simon said that because of the emphasis on standardized tests, students often are pulled out of class for tutoring and can’t practice their music as much as they should. “If someone had told me I would be teaching on the college level and I would have students that didn’t know how to read music, I would tell them they were crazy,” she said.

The work is time-consuming for Simon and Fitzgerald, both of whom teach full class loads in addition to their band duties.

Simon said her son, Malik, a senior who plays tuba, has noticed the effects of the job on her.

“Yesterday I had my hair pulled back, and my son looked at me, and he said, ‘Mom, you have gray hair,’” she said. “I’m 47 years old, and I didn’t have gray hair until I took this job.”

She said she and Tramiel did not get along when he was her director at Valley, but he had a positive effect on her.

“We are the same person,” she said. “I’m a disciplinarian by nature, and I got that from him. And I did not realize that until last year — the end of last year.”

Fitzgerald said Simon has changed her style since she taught him in Memphis — “Can I say ‘nicer’?” — but she continues to instill discipline, just in a different way.

It’s all about getting better, she said.

“That’s my own personal mantra in life: I just want to be great,” she said. “I can’t be great without you; you can’t be great without me; let’s be great together.”n

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105 West Market Street Greenwood, MS 38930 (662) 453-6227

`^oilp=aK=m^ijbo Palmer Law Services 115 Fulton Street Greenwood, MS 38930 (662) 459-9111

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DORSEY & GATES, PLLC 305 E. Washington Street Greenwood, MS 38930 (662) 455-2032

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200 East Washington St, Room 145, Federal Building Greenwood, MS 38930 (662) 455-7766

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