Woman Of The Year

Woman Of The Year ELLEN RUSSELL

She hopes her enthusiasm for Pontotoc is catching

BY | REGINA BUTLER

Spend a few minutes with Pontotoc’s newest Woman of the Year (chosen by Progress readers) Ellen Russell and you will find her heritage has deep roots in Pontotoc.

It is because of this that she will spit out bits of history that has long been forgotten by others unless they look it up.

She has always called Pontotoc home even though she could have lived anywhere she wanted. She is known as Pontotoc’s greatest cheerleader. She loves her town and has spent many hours laughing, crying, sweating and praying over its success.

She has planned parades, festivals, fun days, solemn days and worked hard to see that every person was in place to start and end the parade as well as be there at the right time to entertain and set the fireworks off. And even with all this hard work, tears came into her eyes when she was told of her honor of being Woman of the Year. “I did not expect this,” she said emotionally.

“There were men who shaped my thinking that made me realize this was a place you wanted to live,” Ellen said. “Cy Sneed [Pontotoc Electric Power Association director] was one of them. They established the ground work at Pontotoc Electric by making sure we put up the best light poles available. They were willing to invest in the future of our community by giving us

Ellen and her dog Rosie enjoy time riding in the golf cart.

quality so that electricity, which was and still is the lifeblood of a community, could flow to every household. They gave us the vision and passed it on to us,” she said.

The daughter of Victor and Estelle Henry her own family tree is a who’s who of Pontotoc. She grinned broadly. “We are the fifth generation here. My great-granddad Newt Griffin saw Main Street paved in 1924. He also helped build the West Heights Baptist Church. My granddad, M.K. Griffin started the Oil Company on Reynolds Street. They established down there because that was near the railroad.”

Proud of her deep roots, Ellen said her dad was from Buckhorn and her mother and her sisters [the Griffin girls] rode the Rebel to Blue Mountain College. “We have so many connections. One day at the Chamber the kids were on a scavenger hunt and they called wondering where Standard Oil was and I told them.”

Taking every opportunity she can to promote Pontotoc, Ellen always manned a table during Customer Appreciation on Main Street in March.

Ellen and Don were selected as the first King and Queen Mardi Gras for the first annual parade that was held this past February.

Ellen believes these connections are important, “We learn from history and knowing where you come from helps you know where you are going to.”

It was her parents who instilled in her the need to give your time and effort to the community in which you live. “Mama got me involved in Girl Scouts and they encouraged me to give back and the desire has stuck with me all these years.”

And stuck it has for she spent more than 16 years as the director of the Pontotoc County Chamber of Commerce donating as much time to the organization as she was was paid to be there; before that she was a teacher.

“It has been an adventure and it has given me the opportunity to open up and share with others,” Ellen said and smiled pleasantly. “But then you have to realize there comes a time when you have to step aside and let others take over and move the town forward.”

She is married to her high school sweetheart, Don Russell, who as you will find out is the Man of the Year. She laughed. “We took a a picture of us and the kids in the parking lot before the Mardi Gras parade and said ‘this is the Royal Family.’”

Although they only have three children of their own, Carrie Stringer, Valerie Caden and Ben Russell along with three grandchildren, Sam, Reeves and Bella; there are a thousand kids that consider them mama and papa. She laughed: “It takes a community to raise a family and we are still being raised. This is a good place for people to live.”

And speaking of that good place, one of the highlights of our community for more than 60 years has been the Pontotoc Christmas Parade. This year she will get to be the Grand Marshall of the parade along with her husband, Don.

Now that she is retired, um … well officially anyway, she spends time riding up and down the Tanglefoot Trail®. It is one of the places she promoted a lot when she was at the chamber and she is enjoying getting to spend time on her golf cart riding it with her husband and their dog, Rosie.

She carried this reporter on the adventure with her that warm afternoon. As we traveled the well paved ‘highway’ she looked at the flowers and trees that were along the way. “My favorite place is the bridge over the trail as it runs north,” she said.

Now she has a little more time to reflect over the years and look at what is ahead. “It is our responsibility to teach the kids that they need to give to the community. I want to leave that enthusiasm for those behind me to pick up and carry on.”

Even though she is retired Ellen continues to volunteer to help with events in town. She and Beth Grisham prepare the cake for an outdoor event.

Perhaps her most endearing job is that of being Mother Goose at the Easter egg hunt at Howard Stafford park each spring.