Best of the Best in Union County 2022

Best of the Best: Services

Man of the Year – Dr. Brad Scott

Woman of the Year – Billye Jean Stroud

Best New Business – Butler’s Fish & Steak

Best Accountant – Angelia Gitchell

Best Assisted Living – Magnolia Place

Best Attorney – Joe Davis

Best Auto Body Shop – Richey’s Garage

Best Bank – BNA

Best Barber – Christopher Mormon

Best Beautician – Emily Ellis

Best Electrician – Jordan Plumbing & Electrical

Best Electrician – Roberts Electrical & Plumbing

Best Florist – Bankhead Flower Shop

Best Funeral Home – United Funeral Home

Best Hair Salon – Mellow Maxey

Best Hardware Store – Lowe’s

Best Heating & Air Company – Advanced Heating & Air

Best Hotel – Hampton

Best Insurance Agency – Farm Bureau

Best Law Firm – Rutledge & Davis

Best Lawn Service – US Lawns

Best Mortgage – BNA

Best Nail Technician – Lavish Nails

Best Nursing Home – Union County Health & Rehab

Best Plumber – Jordan Plumbing & Electric

Best Principal – Jamey Wright

Best Professional – Billye Jean Stroud

Best Real Estate Agent – Frankie McMillin

Best Real Estate Company – Rachel Ray Real Estate

Best Tanning Salon – Endless Summer

Best Teacher – Mallory Horn

Best Teller – Renee McCay

Best Tree Service – Zinzer Tree Service

Best Volunteer – Lyndie Scott

Best Car Cleaning – Rico’s

Best Home Cleaning – Kristen Eaves

Best Delivery Service – NA Food Dash

Best Entertainment Business – Movie Reel

Best Event Rental – Magnolia Civic Center

Best Gymnastics & Tumbling – Tallahatchie Tumbling

Best Home Construction – Brian Manning Construction

Best Landscaping Service – US Lawns

Best Martial Arts Studio – Mid-South Fung Fu

Best Photographer – Peyton Neal Bryant

Best Roofer – Tim Gafford

Best Signage Company – New Albany Sign Company

Best Swimming Pool Service – Sunset Pool & Patio

Best Windshield Repair – Windshield Doctor

Best Window & Glass Repair – Wright Glass

Best Window & Glass Repair – Windshield Doctor

Best Dry Cleaning Service – Lapels Dry Cleaning

Best Massage – Malanda Sharp (Exhale Day Spa)

Best Dog Grooming Service – Bubbles & Barks

Best Local Band – Justin Kirk & Company

Best Childcare Facility – Kounty Kids

Best of the Best: Health

Best Chiropractor – Dr. Adam Martin

Best Dentist – Dr. Jessica Perkins

Best Eye Care Specialist – Dr. Julie Brock

Best Fitness Facility – Anytime Fitness

Best Medical Doctor – Dr. Brad Scott

Best Medical Clinic – Creekmore Clinic

Best Nurse – Paige Gailor

Best Nurse Practitioner – Erin Grady (RedMed)

Best Obstetrician – Dr. Leo Bautista

Best Pediatrician – Dr. Brad Scott

Best Pharmacist – Martin Crotts

Best Pharmacy – Magnolia Drugs

Best Physical Therapist – Sam Jackson Dunnam

Best Physical Therapy Facility – Crossroads Rehab

Best Hearing Specialist – Richard Hardy

Best Long Term Care Facility – Union County Health & Rehab

Best Medical Supply – SPC Home Medical

Best Nutrition – Tallahatchie Nutrition

Best Urgent Care – RedMed

Best Veterinarian – Dr. Boyd Hardy

Best Pet Care & Boarding Facility – Bubbles & Barks

Best of the Best: Shopping

Best Antiques – Southern Junkers

Best Beauty Supply Store – Sally’s

Best Carpet Store – Stout’s Carpet

Best Cellphone Store – AT&T

Best Consignment Shop – Southern Junkers

Best Convivence Store – Tony’s

Best Copy Shop – Copyplus

Best Department Store – Sappington’s

Best Finance Company – BNA

Best Furniture Store – Hall’s Furniture Warehouse

Best Gift Shop – Southern Junkers

Best Grocery Store – Reed’s Market

Best Home Accessories Store – Southern Junkers

Best Home Improvement Store – Lowe’s

Best Jewelry Store – Southern Traditions

Best Men’s Clothing Store – Sappington’s

Best New Car Dealership – Barnes Crossing

Best Nursery & Garden Store – Glenfield Market

Best Outdoor Equipment Store – McKenzie Outdoors

Best Overall Retail Store – Southern Traditions

Best Pawn Shop – Sully’s Pawn Shop

Best Pre-Owned Auto Dealer – Maxey Motors

Best Shoe Store – Southern Blue

Best Specialty Shop – Southern Traditions

Best of the Best: Shopping (Continued)

Best Tire Shop – DC Tire Town

Best Wine & Spirits Store – NA Wine & Spirits

Best Women’s Clothing Store – Jumpin Jax

Best Bakery – Westside BBQ & Cakes

Best Boutique – Jumpin Jax

Best Children’s Clothing Store – Bead Shack

Best Gun & Ammo Store – 2A Armaments

Best Pageant Shop – Hollywood Formal & Bridal

Best of the Best: Eating

Best Asian Restaurant – Tokyo

Best Barbecue – Westside BBQ & Cakes

Best Breakfast – Circle K

Best Caterer – Nichol’s Deli

Best Chicken – George’s

Best Coffee – Crave

Best Desserts – Westside BBQ & Cakes

Best Dinner – Tallahatchie Gourmet

Best Fast Food – George’s

Best Fish – Coffey’s

Best French Fries – Game Tyme

Best Hamburger – George’s

Best Hushpuppies – Coffey’s

Best Lunch – Tallahatchie Gourmet

Best Mexican Restaurant – El Agave

Best Pizza – Pizza hut

Best Restaurant – The Warehouse

Best Salad – The Warehouse

Best Sandwich – Vintage Market

Best Seafood – Butler’s Fish & Steak

Best Steak – The Warehouse

Best Taco – El Agave

Best Bar & Grill – Rafters

Best Tea – McAlister’s Deli

Best Dining Atmosphere – Rafters

Best Donuts – Scarlet’s Donuts

Best Food Truck – Mr. Taco

Best Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt – Brain Freeze

Best Cakes – Westside BBQ & Cakes

Best Pasta – Ciao Chow

Best Wings – Game Tyme

Dr. Brad Scott

Voted Man of the Year in Union County

Dr. Brad Scott has been voted Union County’s Man of the Year for 2022-23 in The New Albany Ga zette’s Best of the Best reader poll.

A familiar physician associated with Creekmore Clinic, Scott is a na tive of the West Union community and son of Ronald and Gloria Scott.

After graduating from West Union Attendance Center in 1990, he obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi in 1994 and completed medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine in 2000. He completed his family medicine residency at the University of Tennessee in Jackson, Tenn. In 2003 and was able to join Creekmore Clinic that same year.

He said he was blessed in that regard. “When I was an undergradu ate, I signed an agreement with Bap tist to come back to New Albany,” he said. “I was given the opportunity to work with Dr. Thompson and Dr. Creekmore.”

He jumped at the opportunity and said he found himself with a full patient load his first day at work.

Being a physician does not allow a lot of time for other activities, but Scott said if he has a hobby, “It’s Ole Miss Sports. Anything and every thing Ole Miss.” He also clarified

that spending as much time with his kids as he can is a priority as well.

“I like being able to help patients and see the results,” he said. “We really care for the whole family, all ages. I started out with sports medicine but that grew. What I like most is the patient-physician bond in issues where they trust you.”

“I try to hold myself up to their

(his fellow doctors) standards,” he said. “I could not have asked for better role models.”

Scott tries to pass on what he has been given. “I try to offer oppor tunities for medical students to do residency here or to shadow me,” he said. “I want to give back and hope a lot of them will want to come back here.”

In addition to his state and na tional certifications and affiliations, Scott is medical director for Home Care Hospice and served as Chief of Staff for BHM-Union County this past year. He has also opened a clinic in his home community at En terprise. “I was excited to be able to offer back there since that is where I grew up,” he said.

He and his wife, Lyndie, have daughters Milly and Maggie who attend the University of Mississippi, daughter Julianna who attends New Albany High School along with son Harrison.

“I was really honored to have this,” he said of being chosen Man of the Year. “I feel like I had great mentors who were not only successful at their profession but successful in life as well. I hope to make our county and town better for everyone.”

Billye Jean Stroud

Voted Union County Woman of the Year

Billye Jean Stroud has been voted Union County’s Woman of the Year for 2022-23 in The New Albany Ga zette’s Best of the Best reader poll.

Stroud grew up in Fulton, one of eight children of Dr. Billy Collum and his wife, Barbara, who served as his nurse and office manager.

After graduation from Itawamba Agricultural High School in 1978, she attended Ole Miss, obtain-ing a business degree four years later. Be ing at Ole Miss led to a whirlwind life after meeting her future husband, Union County native John Stroud.

“John and I were set up on a blind date for the wedding of LeighAnne and Sean Tuohy (later made famous in the book and movie “The Blind Side),” she said. “I was a senior at Ole Miss; John had just been re leased by the Houston Rockets and he was back at Ole Miss doing his practice teaching to get his educa tion degree.”

“I sang in the wedding and John was a groomsman,” she said. ‘That was June 1982 and we mar-ried August 1982. We got engaged the last weekend in July and married the next weekend Aug. 7 and on Aug. 14 we flew to Malaga, Spain for a year where he played in the European Basketball League.”

John’s basketball career took him back to Ole Miss, coaching at the University of Alabama, New Alba ny High School where they won back-to-back state boys titles, East Mississippi Community College and Millsaps.

Billye Jean worked in both places as the Director of Student Financial Aid at EMCC and at Missis-sippi College School of Law. “

“After the children were born we decided to move back to North Mis

sissippi so they would have memo ries of grandparents,” she said.

Since then, she has worked in finance and insurance, but her big gest impact has come from serving a New Albany Main Street Association Manager in 2017 and then taking on the newly-created role of Communi ty Development Director four years ago.

The list of projects and benefits to the city and community that have come from her efforts over those past five years is, quite literally, too long to list here.

A few of them include having New Albany named Best Southern Small Town by USA Today and several other “Bests,” completing a Nation al Park Service master plan for the development of the Tallahatchie River, getting B. F. Ford School listed on the Federal National Register of Historic Places, obtaining new play

ground equipment at the Alabama Street Park, opening and staffing the trail visitor center next to the library, having Main Street complete its first fundraiser to fund beauti-fication projects downtown, seeing retail and office space on Bankhead and Main at near full occu-pancy in the Historic District and having New Al bany named one of 14 premier com munities des-ignated a retirement community through the Mississippi Development Authority.

Her list of her professional asso ciations and community service ac tivities include, in part, Missis-sippi Heritage Trust, Mississippi National Heritage Hills , Mississippi Associ ation of Student Fi-nancial Aid Ad ministrators, Jury member to select the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mis-sissippi for 2021, New Albany Rotarían, New Albany Kiwa nian, Baptist Hospital Union County Community Advisory Board, Unite Board of Union County, New Albany Garden Club, North Mississippi and New Albany Boy and Girls Clubs.

The Strouds just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They have two daughters, Caroline who is 30 and lives in Memphis and works for Delta Foremost Chemical Company and Anna Frances, 25, who lives in New Albany and has an art studio, Red Dun Studio. She also boards horses and works with Camp Creek Native Plants.

“I should be in retirement but have had a second breath with life by working with this community,” she said. “My goal is to get people to love New Albany and Union County as much as I do and to see the un tapped potential that has yet to be uncovered. This place is really like no other.”

Voted Best Overall Business Tallahatchie Nutrition

Tallahatchie Nutrition has been voted Best Overall Business in the New Albany Gazette Best of the Best reader’s poll.

Tallahatchie Nutrition is the city’s first nutrition club, opening May 3, 2019.

The business, at 111-A West Main St., specializes in meal replacement shakes and loaded teas, iced coffees and provid ing pre- and post-workout drinks.

The owners are Drew and Mallory Horn and Ashley and Robin Perkins.

They focus on health benefits and fore go the use of any sugar in their drinks.

“I think we’re lucky to be in the perfect location,” Drew Horn said, noting they are in easy walking distance of just about any part of town. They usually see an influx of customers early and then when school dismisses. “It’s insane after school,” he said.

Horn also pointed out that they do deliveries, especially to teachers at the schools and to the hospital during the day.

Tallahatchie Nutrition offers too many drink combinations to list easily.

For instance, they have more than 200 flavors of teas, requiring them to be listed on a spreadsheet to facilitate making them.

The loaded teas have 24 calories, no sugar and about as much caffeine as two cups of coffee. Some of the local custom blends include Rebel Yell and Bulldog Blast. There are also teas named after schools in the county, such as Fighting Falcon and Mighty Myrtle.

The loaded teas have B6 and B12 vita mins, and they come with black, green and oolong tea. The teas come with an effervescent called Liftoff that provides an extra boost.

Meal replacement shakes have any where from 24 to 28 grams of protein, 200-250 calories, 10-14 grams of carbohy drates and no added sugar. Some of the shakes include fruit, such as strawberries, peaches, bananas and blueberries.

The menu also includes an iced protein coffee. It has about as much caffeine as a regular cup of coffee plus you get 20 grams of protein with it. It’s blended and poured over ice and can be served with sugar-free whip cream, chocolate or

caramel syrup.

There is also a doughnut hole shot at Tallahatchie Nutrition, and it includes a product called Prolessa along with a sugar-free chocolate chip cookie dough syrup. It can be added to a shake as well, and it tastes like a powdered doughnut.

“That’s going to help control your hun ger and burn belly fat,” Horn said.

Meal replacement shakes at Talla hatchie Nutrition come in about 75 different flavors, such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Butterfinger and Fruity Pebbles.

The meal replacement shakes come with a protein powder and a flavored meal replacement. They can serve as someone’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The specialty and beauty lines of teas are popular, and they have added colla gen, protein and biotin for hair, skin and nails.

“The beauty line teas have been very popular,” Horn said. “That can be added to any tea.”

The products are also very Keto diet friendly.

There is also a doughnut hole shot at Tallahatchie Nutrition, and it includes a product called Prolessa along with a sugar-free chocolate chip cookie dough syrup. It can be added to a shake as well, and it tastes like a powdered doughnut.

“That’s going to help control your hun ger and burn belly fat,” Horn said.

Meal replacement shakes at Talla hatchie Nutrition come in about 75 different flavors.

Horn loves doing this type of work, especially interacting with the people and building relationships with the people in New Albany and Union County. The business has a lot of repeat customers.

Tallahatchie Nutrition is located at 111 A. W. Main St. and can be reached at 662598-2017.

Customer service is the most import ant thing for Tallahatchie Nutrition, Horn said, adding, “Just come give us a try, and I promise one sip and you’ll be hooked.”

It is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and most Sundays from 1-4 p.m.

Butler's Fish and Steak

Voted Best New Business

Butler’s Fish and Steak was voted Best New Business in the New Alba ny Gazette Best of the Best reader’s poll.

The restaurant opened in August this past year, carrying on a long tradition of providing Southern cooking in that location.

Originally Taylor’s Place, James and Pansy Taylor operated the restaurant for about 16 years.

Janet, William, and Justin Reed took over the business as Taylor’s Fish and Steak House in 2010 when the Taylors decided to retire. They operated it until several years ago when they closed due to health reasons.

The restaurant has always been popular for its buffet and seafood offerings.

Brother and sister Jason Butler and Mary Margarett King purchased the restaurant after it had been

closed for several months, reno vating the interior and updating equipment.

Although King is an honored English teacher at New Albany High School, she has dealt with food service through coordinating the community holiday meal usually held at the middle school shortly be fore Christmas. The free event began as a way to provide food and cheer for the needy but grew to be open to everyone. Volunteers prepare and serve more than 1,500 meals that day.

Jason has more hands-on experi ence in that he had cooked at Tay lor’s Place and Two Sisters Diner, as well as cooking for the public. He and his two sons primarily run the restaurant although King works there as well.

The siblings opened the restaurant using the front and middle rooms

with plans to renovate the back, which has been used for club meet ings and special events.

The restaurant offers an all-youcan-eat buffet lunch Thursday and Friday and again on Sunday. Thurs day night is geared toward Southern cooking and senior citizens while Friday and Saturday feature an ex tensive seafood buffet.

They also do catering on or off site.

Butler’s Fish and Steak at is 538 North Glenfield Road at Pumpkin Center.

Serving hours are 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch Thursday and Friday, 4:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Call 662-539-7383 or see ButlerFis handSteak on Facebook.

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