A PRODUCT OF THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT
We’re Really Rollin’ On The River Now!
The statewide buzz is we have really picked up the beat in Natchez. Thanks to a lot of hard work and a city-wide, can-do attitude, now our city on the highest bluff of the Mighty Mississippi River is poised to go to greater heights. Yes, “The Little Easy’s” creative energy, historic charm, and stunning sunsets create an alluring backdrop. But it is our renewed spirit of unity and grass roots teamwork that will keep our city topping the charts in the years to come. Natchez belongs to us all. We are so proud to call it our home and all of you our neighbors. Together, we are Natchez Strong!
Dan M.Gibson Mayor of Natchez
Contents
PLAYERS IN TUNE
Player pianos provide lessons and more
6 16 10 22 12 26 14 32
TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS
Bringing millions of dollars to the community
TRANSFORMING THE PAST
Cemetery Association works to maintain history, plan for future
'THIS SCHOOL RAISED ME'
NASD longtime employee reflects on years of service
ONE DAY AT A TIME
How one woman helps teach generations of students
HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL
As this business grows, it doubles down on Natchez
WHY VIDALIA?
How a global manufacturer put cutting-edge production in the Miss-Lou
EDUCATION AND DEDICATION
What one man has learned through his law enforcement career
PARTNERS IN CARE
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APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF PLAYER PIANOS STILL LEFT IN NATCHEZ
“Before radio, this was the preeminent way of entertaining. If you could not play the piano yourself, you got a player piano. Somebody would be designated as the pumper, and the rest of the people would either sing along or dance.”
— BURNLEY COOK
PLAYERS IN TUNE
Cook, protégé tackle restoration of player piano
If Willy Wonka had a music shop, it might have looked a little like Burnley Cook’s garage on Winchester Road in Natchez.
The small building hasn’t seen an automobile in years thanks to all the musical marvels of yesteryear that sit inside.
Many locals already know about Cook’s passion for music and his fascination for instruments that would be lost to history without his attention and care.
On Christmas and other special occasions, Cook plays his calliope
STORY AND PHOTOS BY BEN HILLYER
from the bed of a pickup truck touring downtown city streets. When his garage door is open and Cook feels like playing, neighbors might be treated to an impromptu concert from the old Baker Grand Theater organ Cook refurbished a few years ago.
And if they are lucky, passersby might catch a few notes from one of the shop’s latest musical wonders — a 110-year-old player piano that Cook and his assistant Joseph Simmons recently tore down and rebuilt piece-by-piece.
A Natchez High School senior,
Simmons met Cook in 2019 at the Natchez Little Theater when Simmons was starring in the community theater’s summer youth workshop.
“I think it was during Willy Wonka Jr., and he was looking for someone to do a part in The Mississippi Medicine Show,” the son of Gregg and Jennifer Simmons said.
The two discovered a mutual interest in music and instruments.
“And it took off from there,” Cook said.
Since then, Cook has been teaching and mentoring Simmons on
numerous projects, including organ restorations in Port Gibson and Frogmore.
Simmons scrambles inside tight organ chambers and does much of the heavy lifting that Cook says he can no longer do.
“He is my right hand, literally,” Cook said. “He can do anything with his hands. His aptitude for mechanics is strong.”
Since they have been working together, Simmons has learned various skills.
“Mr. Cook has been a great teacher and helped me a lot,” Simmons said.
“I’ve introduced him to several things, including pipe organ work, oil painting, woodworking, lathe turning, and now this,” Cook said, referring to the newly refurbished player piano.
Several years ago, Simmons and Cook came upon a similar piano in Jackson, and Cook said he noticed that Simmons was fascinated by the instrument.
“I told him, ‘You know, I used to do that kind of work. Would you like me to find one, and we restore it?’” Cook said. “And he jumped at the chance.”
Before organ work, Cook said he did regular restoration work on player pianos.
Even today, there are more player pianos than people realize that still exist, Cook said.
“Most of the time, they’ve been relegated to a back room or something,” Cook said. “There are probably at least a good 30 player pianos still around (in
Natchez).”
Not long after Simmons expressed an interest, Cook was asked to look at a player piano that wouldn’t work. He told the owner it needed a complete overhaul.
“Then several months later, she called and said, ‘I’m sending it over to you.’” Cook said. “And then it showed up.”
That is how the upright Lagonda player piano manufactured by Jesse French and Sons Piano Co. between 1914 and 1915 ended up in Cook’s shop. Operated by the constant motion of foot pedals, the piano uses a paper roll with punched holes and a series of valves and bellows to make music.
“Before radio, this was the preeminent way of entertaining,” Cook said. “If you could not play the piano yourself, you got a player piano. Somebody would be designated as the pumper, and the rest of the people would either sing along or
dance.”
Off and on, between other projects, Simmons and Cook worked to rebuild the piano.
“We restrung it about a year and a half to two years ago,” Cook said. “And then it stopped.”
Work on the project then picked up in October 2023 and continued until the piano looked good and was in working condition.
“We tore it down, literally replaced everything,” Cook said. “It was a big job. There’s a lot more to a player piano than people think.”
Cook explained some of the tedious work involved.
“Inside are all sorts of little leather pouches, little leather circles, that inflate to activate valves,” Cook said. “And these valves are these metal stems with leather-faced fiber washers on it.”
“That’s 88 times you have to do everything,” Cook said, referring to the number of keys on the piano.
Cook said Simmons did almost half of the work to rebuild the instrument on afternoons after school and work.
“There’s not a part of it that he didn’t have his hands in,” Cook said. “Indeed, he really helped with removing the plate, fixing the soundboard and restringing with new strings.”
Now that the work on the piano is nearly complete, Cook said he plans to keep it in his shop for enjoyment.
“I guess when I die, Joseph will get it,” Cook said.
Cook said restoring a player piano is fun and sometimes frustrating but is an overall rewarding experience.
“To bring something that is over a hundred years old back to a state where it can be enjoyed is cool,” Cook said.
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$97.6 MILLION
”“I thought we needed to spend more than New Orleans. I saw data though that showed me that the average visitor from Baton Rouge is spending 21 hours in Natchez. They are spending the night. That changed my whole decision making. We are going to continue to invest in Baton Rouge. They are not predominately being day-trippers. They are overnight stays. We will be investing more than ever in traveler intelligence.”
— DEVIN HEATH
‘MARKETING NATCHEZ TO THE ENTIRE GLOBE’
Tourism industry reaches wide, provides deep local impact
Travel and tourism bring in roughly $100 million in revenues to Natchez area businesses — the exact number was $97,675,640 in 2021, according to Visit Natchez numbers — making it solidly the city’s largest industry.
Further, about 1,400 jobs here, or 13.2 percent of the area’s total employment, are produced by travel and tourism. About $10,080,694 in state and local taxes are attributed to tourism in Natchez and Adams County, according to the Mississippi Tourism Economic Contribution Report.
Bolstering and growing that tourism revenue is behind the mission of Visit Natchez, an arm of the Natchez Convention and Promotion Commission.
Lynsey Smith, interim executive director for Visit Natchez and its director of sales, said Visit Natchez staff is busy now focusing on Spring Pilgrimage, one of the area’s biggest draws, which opens in March.
“Our main goal in general is marketing Natchez to the entire globe,” Gilbert said. While getting the Natchez story out worldwide may be a goal, studies have shown the best way to market Natchez primarily is within a 300-mile radius.
“Within a 300-mile radius, people can drive to Natchez within a day,” Gilbert said. “That’s where the bulk of Visit Natchez marketing dollars are spent.”
Visit Natchez Executive Director Devin Heath left for a job in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Nov. 9, 2023, after about two years in Natchez. Gilbert has been at the helm since that time.
At a recent tourism summit, Heath talked about how decisions are made on where to market Natchez.
“While we love our day trippers, and they are very, very important to us, we want to focus
STORY BY JAN GRIFFEY | FILE PHOTOS
on our overnight visitors,” Heath said.
Data shows those who spend the night in Natchez spend almost four times as much in the market as does the leisure day tripper.
“Our challenge is, how do we turn our day trippers into overnight visitors. We really want to focus on growing those overnight visitors,” he said.
Hotel occupancy here has returned after its COVID pause and the average rate charged for hotel rooms here has grown a bit, partly due to inflation and partly due to demand.
“Revenge” travel is still going strong, he said.
“After COVID, after everyone was so pent up and couldn’t go anywhere and couldn’t do what they wanted to do, they are coming back with revenge. We have a new term now — GOAT trips, meaning the greatest of all trips. People are planning their greatest travel ever.”
Travel data provided from devices like smart phones play a very critical role now in decisions on how to spend marketing dollars.
“I can see the average time that is spent in Natchez by people from specific markets."
When Heath arrived, tourism marketing was focused on a 100-mile radius to get people who would spend the night.
“I thought we needed to spend more than New Orleans. I saw data though that showed me that the average visitor from Baton Rouge is spending 21 hours in Natchez. They are spending the night. That changed my whole decision making. We are going to continue to invest in Baton Rouge. They are not predominately being day-trippers. They are overnight stays,” Heath said. “We will be investing more than ever in traveler intelligence.”
Gilbert said the Natchez Convention and Promotion Commission, led by Helen Moss Smith, are in the process of conducting Zoom interviews, reviewing resumes and checking references of those who applied for the exec-
utive director position before its Jan. 31 deadline.
“I would love to have this job one day, but I have a 1-year-old and it’s just not the right time for me,” she said. “Now if you ask me that question in 10 years, the answer may be different.”
Other members of the commission include Robbie Cade Furdge, Barbara Bruce and Lance Harris. The city has yet to replace commission members Katie McCabe and Dana Wilson. Both resigned in late 2023.
Visit Natchez gets its funding from three different taxes, including a 1.5 percent tax on sales at local restaurants and bars that earn more than $100,000 in sales per year; a 3 percent tax on lodging and an additional $2 fee called heads on beds, which means $2 for each occupied room at hotels, short term rentals and bed and breakfast.
In addition, Visit Natchez is using ARPA funds received from the Mississippi Tourist Commission to market the city beyond that 300-mile radius, a total of about $800,000 in the last two years. That marketing consists of print and digital advertising and social media pushes.
In recent years, particularly as the desires of tourists have changed, Visit Natchez at the urging of many residents here has worked to include its entire historic story, not just a whitewashed, fantasy version of the Old South.
Roscoe Barnes III is Visit Natchez’s cultural heritage tourism manager. He has been instrumental in working with the Natchez Association for the Preservation of African American Culture and others to promote the importance of the African American community in Natchez and what that community has contributed to Natchez history.
“There is a sense that the stories of many African Americans of this area have been ignored or downplayed,” Barnes said.
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF GRAVES IN NATCHEZ CITY CEMETERY
70,000+
‘TRANSFORMATION’
Cemetery Association works to preserve history, plan for future
Nestled along the bluff high above the Mississippi River — providing breathtaking views of the river — the Natchez City Cemetery is a beautiful, peaceful, park-like place where the city’s rich history remains for safekeeping by today’s generation and generations to come.
To have family buried in the cemetery is a particular point of pride for many Natchezians, sharing the space with those who helped to forge the community we love today.
HISTORY
The city’s first official cemetery was located in Memorial Park behind St. Mary Basilica in downtown Natchez. However, in 1822, 10 acres of land was purchased by the City of Natchez to establish the city’s cemetery. Since that time, through purchases and donations, the city cemetery has grown to 103 acres in total.
Because some of those buried in the cemetery behind St. Mary were moved to the new cemetery along the bluff, grave markers date back to the 1700s.
While the cemetery is owned by the City of Natchez, the Natchez City Cemetery Association governs it. Today, the city cemetery association is a group of 24 women who are stewards of the cemetery and make plans for its future.
Mimi Miller of the Historic Natchez Foundation wrote a story for the February/ March edition of Natchez the Magazine on the cemetery’s history as it celebrated its 200th anniversary.
Miller said the Natchez City Cemetery Association was created in late 1907 by a group of Natchez women as a response to the deplorable condition of the cemetery.
“The association was initially named the Natchez City Cemetery Preservation and Improvement Association, and The Natchez Democrat announced on Jan. 5, 1908, that the association had received its state charter. For some time, the newspaper had been raising community awareness about the condition of the cemetery by calling attention to it editorially and in sentence-long statements inserted randomly in the paper. One such insert, published on Oct. 9, 1906, read simply, ‘The City Cemetery is in a very bad condition.’ The newspaper also supported the new association with publicity about its meetings and goals,” Miller wrote.
On Feb. 20, 1908, the city’s mayor and board of aldermen turned over fees and management and complete care of the cemetery to the association, Miller wrote.
“They also sweetened the pot with $90 a month in financial support,” she wrote.
The Natchez Democrat continued to support and publicize the work of the association throughout 1908, Miller wrote.
“Before the end of the year, the paper noted that the ladies ‘have transformed the City Cemetery from an overgrown field to a place of beauty.’ The article also referenced the skepticism of the public, some of whom described the association’s efforts as ‘one of those fads which could last for a few months.’ The Democrat, however, was more optimistic and predicted that ‘in a short while the ‘City of the Dead’ may be transformed into one of the most beautiful spots … a monument of pride, not only to Natchez, but the rest of the state as well. Simply give the ladies the support which they are entitled to and they may be relied upon to do the rest,’ ” Miller wrote in her story.
“The Democrat was right. It has been 114 years since the Natchez Cemetery Association, which shortened its name in 1925, assumed operation of the cemetery. They have not only created a ‘monument of pride,’ they have also saved the city’s taxpayers thousands of dollars annually, transformed the cemetery into a beautiful public park and tourist destination, and created a three-night event in the cemetery with live performances interpreting the lives of the dead. November’s Angels on the Bluff is not only a major fundraiser for the cemetery but also an economic generator for the community as it attracts hundreds of people who overnight in hotels and bed-andbreakfasts, dine in local restaurants, shop in local stores, and tour other attractions,” Miller wrote in 2022.
TODAY’S PROJECTS
Those 24 women are hard at work today planning for the future of the city cemetery.
Terry Stutzman, outgoing cemetery association president, detailed two major projects ongoing at the cemetery.
“We are hoping the new maintenance facility will be finished in late spring or early summer. We are working on having an open house when it is complete,” Stutzman said.
The new maintenance facility was made possible by the gracious donation of the late Grace Manning, who died on Aug. 12, 2020, at her home in Dallas. She was born in Natchez in 1927. She left $400,000 to the cemetery association, specifying that the money be used to construct a new barn, which indeed is a great need at the cemetery. The cemetery’s current barn is more than 100 years old, and is the only space to shelter cemetery workers.
“It is coming along real well. It is exciting to see it come along as well as it has. We
are pretty much on schedule. We have been waiting for stuff to come in from time to time. We are hoping we will be able to have an open house in April or May,” Stutzman said.
Johnny Waycaster of Waycaster Dungan, formerly Waycaster and Associates Architects, designed the new building and R.L. Blanton Construction is the general contractor on the project.
She said the cost of the project came in roughly the amount Manning donated for it.
The cemetery association is also in the midst of construction of its first columbarium, which is a place for the interment of cremated remains.
“They were talking about it when I came on board eight or nine years ago,” Stutzman said. “It has become more of a common thing for cemeteries to have since so many people are choosing to be cremated now.”
About a third of the burials today in the Natchez City Cemetery are cremations.
“Of course, a lot of people have ashes buried in plots,” Stutzman said.
When the columbarium is complete, families will be able to choose whether to buy a plot for burial, or if they plan to be cremated, can also purchase space in the columbarium.
“The columbarium for cremated remains will give us additional space for burials as our land becomes less and less. It will give us the opportunity to expand without having to acquire more land,” she said.
The columbarium will have space for 370 niches, but each niche can hold two urns.
The Sunset Memorial and Stone, a Canadian company, is constructing the structure, which will be installed in the bluff portion of the cemetery, also known as the new portion of the cemetery. It is referred to as the bluff portion because dirt from the excavation and stabilization project on the bluff was used to fill in that portion of the cemetery.
“It is being custom designed so it will fit in with the historical nature of our cemetery. We hope in the next four or five months, the construction of the columbarium itself will be complete. Once ready, it will be installed in segments and we will have the groundwork and concrete and base for it ready,” Stutzman said. “We hope in four to six months we will see some activity.
We are working with a landscape architect from the Hattiesburg area who has a lot of experience with cemeteries and planning this type of thing. We came to know him through Al Walker,” Stutzman said.
In December 2022, Walker donated land
““It
is being custom designed so it will fit in with the historical nature of our cemetery. We hope in the next four or five months, the construction of the columbarium itself will be complete. Once ready, it will be installed in segments and we will have the groundwork and concrete and base for it ready,. We hope in four to six months we will see some activity."
across Cemetery Road from the main entrance to the cemetery to the city cemetery in memory of his late partner, Keith Hall Karlson. Walker and Karlson moved to Natchez in 2006 from Bay St. Louis after Katrina. Karlson, who was 67 at the time, died from injuries suffered in a tragic fall in 2016.
A graduate of Tulane University School of Law, and Tulane School of Social Work, Karlson worked as a clinical social worker for Southwest Mississippi Mental Health Complex in Natchez.
The donated lot includes an 1,800-pound granite statue of an angel, sculpted by Obadiah Bourne Buell of Sullivan, Maine, which sits on the property which Walker calls Keith Karlson Overlook.
Walker originally suggested that the donated property might be a good place for the columbarium. However, after consulting with experts, because of concerns about possible erosion, it was decided the bluff portion of the cemetery was better suited. She said the land donated by Walker is “such a beautiful site,” and will be used perhaps as a memory garden, “after we get these two projects completed.”
STORY BY JAN GRIFFEY | FILE PHOTOS
— TERRY STUTZMAN
IKE HARGRAVE
‘THIS SCHOOL RAISED ME’
Hargrave spends life working for school district
“Apick, a shovel and a wheelbarrow” were the tools Ike Hargrave used during his first job with Natchez Adams School District, his first job ever.
He was 14 years old.
In the early morning or late evening, when the phones stop ringing and most lights are off, if there’s at least one man at Natchez Adams School District’s central office it’s Ike Hargrave.
Now 62, Natchez-Adams School District’s longest-serving, hardest-working employee has dedicated 46 years of his life to the district.
“I’m going to do at least two more years,” he said. “I don't know what the future holds. I didn't tell that lie. I just thank God for everything I get. This school just raised me, so I stayed here. I stayed right here and I've been here ever since.”
Hargrave’s official title now is custodian, but he has “done it all” —cutting grass, plumbing, changing lights, moving boxes, taking out the trash and helping out wherever he is needed.
In the past he has also worked in the cafeteria and for 10 or 15 years he drove a school bus.
“He is our handyman. Whenever we need something, we say, ‘Hey Mr. Ike,’” said Kristin Hogans, district communications specialist.
“I've known Mr. Ike my entire life because my mom works up here. I met him when I was about 9 years old. I would
STORY AND PHOTO BY SABRINA ROBERTSON
come up here with my mom. Even if no one else was here, you knew Mr. Ike was here. Mr. Ike and the ghost of Braden.”
Hogans said she and other central office workers talk about the ghost of Braden.
The building, old as it is, sometimes makes noises when almost everyone is gone or a door would shut on its own.
But Hargrave, who stays in the building the longest, said he hasn’t seen the ghost.
“The ghost must know me ‘cause I don't bother him and he don't bother me,” he said.
For many, Hargrave’s is the first face they see at work. He starts his day around 5 a.m. and unlocks the building for everyone else. Then he comes back in the evenings after working his second job — a truck driver for Kaiser Petroleum — cleans and locks up.
Sometimes he is still at work at 11 or 12 at night if others are working late or there is a long board meeting, he said.
“I’m here every day unless I’m sick.”
Hogans said Hargrave has a kind spirit and gets the job done, whatever is asked of him.
“He will help you out with everything you need and if he can’t find the answer, he’ll find it for you,” she said.
The district gave Hargrave his first job while he was student at South Natchez High School when he became involved in a summer work program.
“Mr. Luther hired me to work with him,” Hargrave said, only remembering
the last name. “He gave me a pick, a shovel and a wheelbarrow and with that we busted up the concrete in the cafeteria parking lot. That was the first job I got.”
From there, Hargrave said he went to the Richard Fallin vocational technical school. He continued working at NASD after he graduated.
Hargrave has worked with at least six different district superintendents and has been around longer than any administrator.
He has watched school children grow up in the district, too.
“All the children know me good,” he said, adding sometimes he would be the one making sure that children behave themselves if the teacher or principal isn’t looking.
In all his years at NASD he has found lifelong friends and mentors, some of whom are now deceased.
“The old men and the ladies here who showed me the ropes, well, they’re dead and gone,” he said. “They told me what to do and all that so that when I come here, I know what to do and they were proud of me. They said I was the best worker they ever had. They helped me out.”
He has been around at other schools in the district, but lately Hargrave spends most his working days in the central office building at the former Braden school, which he once attended as a student. It has been decades since the Braden building has been used as a school and not an administration
“
“I’m
going to do at least two more years. I don't know what the future holds. I didn't tell that lie. I just thank God for everything I get. This school just raised me, so I stayed here. I stayed right here and I've been here ever since.”
— IKE HARGRAVE
building, but he walks the same halls remembering what it used to be almost 50 years ago. He knows each room like the back of his hand, he said.
“I went to school over here in the sixth grade,” he said while holding the keys to the building. “This is my first home. This school raised me.”
Outside the job, Hargrave is a spiritual man who praises God every day. He attends the Grove African Methodist Episcopal church in Natchez, where he is a church deacon.
As to why he has spent all his working years at NASD, Hargrave said, “I just enjoy my job and I enjoy the people I work with.”
NUMBER OF YEARS FRANCIS LEE HAS WORKED FOR
”“Kindergarten was my niche. They came in like sponges and were ready to do what you said. They already have their personalities but they didn’t have as much exposure back then to social media and television. They just had their own imagination.”
— FRANCIS LEE
FRANCIS LEE
‘ONE DAY AT A TIME’
From the classroom to curriculum, Lee educates generations in parish
Half a century is a long time to be in any profession. Francis Lee has been an educator for longer than that — 56 years and counting.
She was an elementary teacher for 30 of those years beginning in 1968. After 30 years she was recruited to do a central office job as the curriculum specialist, but her dayto-day work still involves teaching students and advising teachers.
During testing times, she is in the classroom moderating state tests.
Lee knew from a young age that she was destined to teach, she said. She was born and raised in Clayton, Louisiana, at a time when professional opportunities for Black people were slim.
“(Teaching) was probably the only job really that Blacks in this area thought about doing as far as a professional job,” she said. “Those were the people we saw who were dressed nice and came to work looking and acting nice all the time — different from my parents. The kind of work they did was not the kind of work that you could dress nicely and do. It was kind of an inspiration that you don't have to go out in the rain. You don't have to be in the mud, to be in the bushes, all that kind of stuff.”
When Lee was a student and until she first started teaching, Black and white students were still segregated. The school she attended in Clayton was an all-Black elementary school. In her eighth-grade year, she moved to Sevier High School.
She graduated from there in 1963 and went on to study at Grambling College, which is Grambling State University today.
She earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education and later earned her master’s degree in early childhood development from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
She started teaching as a substitute at the same school she went to in Clayton.
“That was prior to integration. Schools were still segregated when I started working,” Lee said. “They started the integration the next year.”
Lee came to Ferriday Lower Elementary when it was an all-girls school.
“They separated all the girls from the boys ... but the courts did not accept that arrangement and told them they had to have another plan. Then this school was first through third grade. They still didn’t have kindergarten at that time.”
In the beginning, Lee taught mostly firstand second-grade students and taught seventh grade for a time.
When a kindergarten class was finally
added, Lee felt at home, she said.
“Kindergarten was my niche,” Lee said. “They came in like sponges and were ready to do what you said. They already have their personalities but they didn’t have as much exposure back then to social media and television. They just had their own imagination.”
Lee went to LSU to obtain her master’s degree to become certified to teach kindergarten. At first, she was the only teacher certified to teach the kindergarten class.
“Most years I had 30 or more children in a class. I already had my room set up to teach first or second grade and that year the principal came in and said I would have to teach kindergarten because I was the only one certified,” she said.
Children are much harder to please now, Lee said. She used to ask what they did when they came back to school from summer vacation or Christmas break.
“They used to answer with things like, ‘I stayed at grandma’s house,’ but now some of them say they went to Disney World and other big stuff. They have these fabulous commercial birthday parties with themes and their parents pull out all of the stops. We didn’t know about that stuff. We had some cake and Kool Aid and that was our party.”
Her transition to curriculum specialist started when an opportunity arose in a program with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. At the time, there was an effort to revitalize students’ interest in science across America to remain competitive with other countries, she said.
“The program they had was called ‘Movers and Shakers,’” she said. “They had a video that showed the children the lesson on whatever the topic was on and children (in the video) would perform those tasks. They had a part that they listened to and took notes on and after that LPB sent kits of things and each child actually got to do a project hands-on. Whatever it was, the children loved doing it.”
The teachers who participated in the program got a computer and each school had a fax machine and that was considered “hightech,” Lee said.
“The children would produce a writing and fax their work to LPB,” she said. “Seeing their name in print or in pictures, they just loved it. That was a time when technology really started to take off.”
She traveled from Ferriday to Jonesville and Harrisonburg teaching first and second grade during the first year of the program. It was only available to some students and not all.
Through her years of teaching it, they
added kindergarten through sixth grade to the program.
“When the sixth grade did it, those students would outperform the other students on their state test. That was the class that had the inclusion children in it and normally their scores were lower,” she said.
The LPB grant ended after six years. After that, Lee kept doing similar work but had to help teachers find the materials they needed. She models lessons for teachers, so she still teaches in a way. But she doesn’t see the direct impact of her work, she said.
“It was hard for me to change. I still prefer the classroom because you get more satisfaction because you can see the result of your work, whereas now going here and there, you really don't know what kind of impact you're having ... you don't know if the other person is doing what you want them to do. I like being (at the schools) because I can go into the classroom and I can see when a child is struggling and I can go to them and help.”
As schools around the country are extending the school year by having longer breaks or transitioning to four-day weeks, she remembers why schools used to have June, July and August off.
Post-integration, some students were not in the classrooms the entire school year, Lee said.
She had migrant students who would travel with their parents to work farming jobs and return to school behind the other students academically. Summers were their time to get caught up.
“We would have extra work for them to do,” she said. “We didn't start school on the first of August. That was before schools had air conditioning and stuff.”
She has had to adapt to many other changes through the years.
“I look at what my superior wants and that's who I satisfy. I do what I'm supposed to do for them and just enter into whatever it is with an open mind,” she said. “I always say there are two things I don't worry about: something I can do something about and something I can't do anything about. Because if I can do something about it, I do it. If I can't do anything about it, I just leave it alone because I can't do anything about it.”
Lee’s deep passion for education extends to one of her own children.
She is a proud mother of three sons and a daughter. She also has eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, the youngest of which was born right after Christmas 2023.
Lee’s daughter is a middle-school math teacher in Virginia.
“My daughter is the only one that went
into teaching. She told me she's retiring this year. I said, ‘Wait a minute. You can’t retire before I do,’” she said with a laugh.
Her youngest son Robert James Lee is running for mayor of Clayton and her son Chris Lee manages LaSalle Community Action Agency.
Her oldest son died at age 23. He was shot in his apartment while attending college in Texas.
“He was studying for his final test and his papers were all over him,” she said. “After he finished high school, he decided he was going to go to the Art Institute of Houston. He was brilliant, could do anything and did almost everything. ... It was really hard letting him go, but God gives you strength to do whatever you need to do. I've made peace with it.”
Lee explained why her passion for education continues even on the hardest days.
“The children need it,” she said. “They need somebody who is going to pay attention to them, see what they are doing and try to steer them in the right direction. Whey they act out, what they’re really doing is asking for help.”
She has taught through the COVID-19 pandemic and 13 different superintendents, including two who came back and served second terms. A lot of her former students are still around and she taught their children too, she said. One of her kindergarten students is now State Rep. C. Travis Johnson III, a Ferriday native.
“I see some of them and they recognize me, but I don't recognize them,” she said. “I taught them in elementary and so as adults I don’t recognize them. They look older than what I think I look like sometimes.”
Outside of school work, Lee is a member of St. Mark Baptist Church in Clayton, where she has many roles including deaconess, Sunday school teacher, children’s Bible study leader, youth director and church corresponding secretary.
As a member of the Grambling State University alumni association, she is part of a group which does activities with area children such as basketball and cookouts.
She is also a member of the local, state and national Association of Education; Phi Delta Kappa; the Concordia Chamber of Commerce and the Louisiana Association of Executives.
Does she plan to retire? If she does, Lee says she would like to do more gardening, reading for leisure, cooking and sewing. She keeps a busy schedule that doesn’t leave a lot of time for other hobbies.
“I'm taking one day at a time,” she said.
STORY AND PHOTO BY SABRINA ROBERTSON
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NUMBER OF
”“Jordan Carriers is proud to be a Natchez-based, family owned and operated business. We take pride in supporting local businesses, organizations, charities, sports teams and educational endeavors. We look forward to being a part of the Miss-Lou’s continued growth.”
— CHARLES JORDAN
TRUCKS IN THE JORDAN CARRIERS FLEET
JORDAN CARRIERS
HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL
As Jordan Carriers grows, company reinvests in Natchez economy
Jordan Carriers has grown from one truck and a small family hauling operation to now having just over 800 trucks in the fleet and being the Miss-Lou’s top employer 32 years later.
From the beginning, the company has shown its commitment to Adams County.
At the time of this writing, Jordan Carriers is preparing to cut the ribbon on a brand-new $11 million headquarters building in Natchez with more than 27,000 square feet of office space, state-of-the-art conference rooms, a
courtyard and a dining area.
The facility was built out of necessity to accommodate the staff of the steadily growing company.
“We've been sitting in our offices down there, just crammed in. We got to the point where we couldn't even hire anybody else because there was nowhere to put them. Plus, we had mobile offices just stacked around our building. We just needed more room,” said Doug Jordan, vice president of the company.
“Everywhere from how we spend our money, what we buy here to sup-
port our operation, to building and decorating this building – every single thing big or small I think makes a huge impact on this economy. And then to be able to go through COVID stronger than most companies were able to, we did not cease operations. We didn't even slow down. We’ve had to pivot our operation some and do some things in new ways, but we were able to keep 100 percent employment through it all.”
Communications Director Shannon Jex said the new space brings everyone together under one roof.
“I think we all felt that during COVID, it's really hard to collaborate when you're all spread out,” she said.
“I think we just wanted everybody together under one roof, the load planners, the fleet managers and most of the leadership. And we still will have a couple of teams in our existing building.”
Kenneth Jordan and his son Charles started the company in 1992 when the pair purchased a single truck to move flatbed materials for Johns Manville, their first client.
Kenneth Jordan died 10 years ago
STORY AND PHOTOS BY SABRINA ROBERTSON
JORDAN CARRIERS
in April, and Charles and his brother Doug have run the business ever since. Much of the growth at Jordan Carriers today happened in the last 10 years, said Doug Jordan.
“Charles and I have been with the company since day one. Dad had us prepared when he passed away. We just continued to take advantage of the upswings in our economy and being able to add capacity to our customers’ needs. We continued to develop our customer base throughout the country to be able to add additional equipment, which creates additional support for all the drivers out there. I think we've gone from, what, 350 to 803 trucks and that is in the past 10 years.”
The fleet hauls materials on flatbed trailers for hundreds of clients as far West as San Antonio, as far North as Minnesota and everything east of that, Doug Jordan said.
“And we have a wind division that ventures out even further than that, basically in the central part of the country from North Dakota to Texas,” he said.
Jordan Carriers’ wind division based in Pineville, Louisiana, carries the manufacturing components of windmills — everything but the tower they’re built on.
The blades are so large that it takes a fleet of drivers as well as a team doing detailed planning, road mapping, permitting, construction and escorts to get the oversized load safely to its destination.
“If you put the front bumper on the goal line, the tail of the blade would be on like the other 10 to 15-yard line,” Doug Jordan said. “Nearly the full length of a football field.”
Jex added, “There's a team that drives the routes ahead of the truck to move street signs to and perfect gravel. They have local law enforcement in every city that they pass through making sure roads are blocked off. It's a whole process.”
At full capacity, Jordan Carriers employs 960 people, including 800 drivers and 160 support staff.
“Just short of 1,000 people,” he said. “And it will be in excess of 1,000 next year. We have about 140 on-site here and that’s all our non-driving employees who are living here.”
In addition to the 140-plus people employed locally, Jordan Carriers has staff in Flor-
ida, Georgia, Washington, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Indiana.
Besides providing local jobs and salaries flowing into the economy, each month 80 or more drivers come to Natchez for orientation training and are accommodated with local hotels and rental cars, are fed at local restaurants and undergo physicals at local medical offices.
Sitting inside the lobby of the new headquarters facility, Jex looked out the glass doors across U.S. 61 South at the Bellemont Shake Shop, where employees often grab a quick lunch or shake on an everyday basis.
“If you think about it, that’s 200-plus people eating at a local restaurant every day,” she said.
The new headquarters is equipped with a second-floor training classroom for on-site training of all staff members and for continuing education.
Local architects of Waycaster Dungan, formerly Waycaster and Associates, were used for the design of the building and the work of local artists will soon be displayed throughout.
The 24-acre property includes a maintenance facility next door to the main headquarters where all truck inspections are done at check-in.
Driver amenities on-site include showers, a laundromat and even rooms to sleep in if needed. Office spaces feature a contemporary design with efficiency and comfort in mind, with adjustable desks for standing or sitting.
“Jordan Carriers is proud to be a Natchez-based, family owned and operated business,” CEO Charles Jordan shared in a statement. “We take pride in supporting local businesses, organizations, charities, sports teams and educational endeavors. We look forward to being a part of the Miss-Lou’s continued growth.”
What's in the future of Jordan carriers?
“We will steadily be expanding,” Doug Jordan said. “We service a lot of Fortune 500 companies and all the biggest manufacturers of general building products. As the economy grows or even the world market grows and the demand for their product increases, somebody has got to be there to move it. And so just as everything continues to expand, we'll be expanding with it.”
NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS OF BATTERY GRADE ACTIVE ANODE MATERIAL IN THE U.S.
SYRAH
‘WHY NOT VIDALIA?’
Syrah Tech’s plant supplies entire nation with AAM
Only one supplier of battery-grade active anode material (AAM) derived from natural graphite exists in the United States to support growing demand for electric vehicles.
That supplier, Syrah Technologies, is located in rural Vidalia, Louisiana.
AAM is one of the main components of lithium-ion batteries and provides the negative electrode. It is produced from refined natural graphite, which Syrah mines from its Balama graphite operation in the East African country of Mozambique.
China has previously cornered the market for AAM.
In early February, Syrah announced the beginning of AAM production in Vidalia, detailing the steps it took to get to this point.
“Commencing production at Vidalia is a huge step forward in Syrah’s evolution, with the downstream integration being the culmination of almost seven years of technology development, feasibility, procurement, engineering, construction and commissioning work undertaken by the Syrah team and its service providers,” Syrah CEO Shaun Verner said when announcing the beginning of production at the facility.
Because no AAM production existed outside of China, there was not a lot of experience in the industry outside of China.
This marks an incredible achievement of the Vidalia production team that started this operation “from scratch,” Verner said.
STARTING UP
Syrah’s establishing itself as the first U.S. AAM supplier happened almost by accident, Verner said during a Vidalia meet and
greet in 2022.
Syrah began with a mining exploration project in 2011.
In late 2013, they were looking for uranium in Mozambique but instead stumbled upon the world’s largest natural graphite deposit.
Verner said this extremely big and high-quality deposit led to a huge mining operation that employs approximately 1,100 people in Mozambique. The graphite is shipped from the mine to the Vidalia plant, where it goes through a process to produce AAM. “Nobody else in the U.S. is producing this material and no one else behind us has the size of the mine that we have in Mozambique to supply the facility that we’re putting in place here,” Verner said.
The life of the mine in Mozambique is an estimated 50 years, sustaining the industries planned production of the AAM supply chain in the U.S.
The industry first began pilot testing the milling and purification process in China in 2016 and later that year announced a strategy to establish a commercial scale facility in Louisiana.
In 2018, Syrah purchased 38-acres once home to Louisiana Elastomer rubber plant.
According to the industry website, capital costs at Vidalia total $209 million and production cost is at $3,640 per ton of AAM.
The Vidalia site is capable of producing more than 11,000 metric tons of AAM per year. Nearly two years before producing the first AAM material in early February, Verner said, “We’re already working through the possibility of expanding the plant to 45,000 tons in the coming years.”
“
“Commencing production at Vidalia is a huge step forward in Syrah’s evolution, with the downstream integration being the culmination of almost seven years of technology development, feasibility, procurement, engineering, construction and commissioning work undertaken by the Syrah team and its service providers."
The Vidalia operations team is fully staffed with 101 employees engaged in the commissioning process and ramping up operations and production.
In December 2021, they reached an offtake agreement with Tesla Motors, the world’s top supplier of electric vehicles.
“The team that did that here did it from
STORY BY SABRINA ROBERTSON PHOTOS SUBMITTED
— SYRAH CEO SHAUN VERNER
SYRAH
scratch,” Verner said after announcing the agreement. “Because so much of this material is produced in China, there is not a lot of experience in the industry outside of China. … It was an incredible achievement for a very small team.”
The agreement is conditioned upon Syrah meeting certain production goals.
A full qualification process for active materials in batteries takes as long as two years from the start of engagement to a binding offtake arrangement. Syrah's multi-year commercial sales agreements with tier 1 customers are a first in the battery anode industry.
With the start of AAM production achieved, Syrah’s focus at Vidalia shifts to increasing throughput while increasing process consistency, ensuring product quality and maintaining safety.
They will also continue producing and dispatching product samples to Tesla Inc. and other customers for physical and electrochemical performance testing programs to complete qualification; completing full commissioning of all processing capacity and ancillary infrastructure to support ramp-up; and ramping up production rates to the 11.25 thousand tons per year AAM design capacity. Their target goal is to reach 80 percent of this capacity within the first six months and full capacity within 18 months from commencement.
“I congratulate Anne Duncan, our Vice President of U.S. Processing Operations, and the Syrah team on the progress to achieve this important milestone,” Verner said. “With a strong focus on safety, capital cost controls and schedule, Vidalia becomes the first integrated AAM facility of its scale built outside China. Syrah expresses its gratitude to the City of Vidalia, the State of Louisiana, the US Department of Energy and the local, state and federal authorities which have supported Syrah in its development of Vidalia.”
Each step in the production process
took months of preparation before the first AAM supply.
In October 2023, Syrah began producing unpurified spherical graphite from the front-end milling area to build an inventory of precursor value-added material before commissioning the purification and furnace areas in January 2024.
The heating cycle for the first furnace line began in early January.
Syrah’s onsite laboratory is responsible for the initial analysis of product quality and confirms the initial specifications of AAM, including particle size distribution, purity, surface area and physical density, prior to dispatch.
Large product samples dispatched to customers for qualification through March 2024 will be used to confirm customer acceptance. Syrah will build inventory for future sales through the operational ramp-up period.
“Syrah looks forward to positively contributing to the communities around Vidalia and the Company’s stakeholders in the U.S. for many years to come,” Verner said. “Our 11.25ktpa AAM Vidalia operation is strategic for both Syrah and the North American battery supply chain and is the foundation of our downstream growth strategy. This strategy is supported by strong (electric vehicle) demand globally, recognition of the importance of independent natural graphite AAM critical mineral supply, and differentiation in terms of emissions intensity of production and provenance of supply. The importance of Vidalia is reinforced by China’s recent introduction of export controls on natural and synthetic graphite and its products, and US guidance on the definition of foreign entity of concern governing qualification for the Section 30D tax credit for new electric vehicles.”
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
“Why Vidalia?” is the one question most frequently asked by locals, to which Syrah
officials respond with the question, “Why not Vidalia?”
The rural community population of under 4,000 people has all the room Syrah needed when starting up and the room for future expansion. The location on the Mississippi River allows Syrah to utilize the nearby port facility in Natchez to transport the graphite to the Vidalia plant.
Combine that with the availability of power and utilities as well as a supportive government and community, Vidalia checked all the right boxes.
Verner said a large part of Syrah’s success comes from the support the project received from the federal, state, “and especially the local level.”
Syrah has further shown support of the local community through outreach and local contributions. Syrah employees raised funds for the 'Shop with a Cop' program in which underprivileged local children had an opportunity to go shopping for Christmas presents with members of the Vidalia and Ferriday Police Departments.
Company representatives have also been seen drenched in sweat during cleanup efforts at Monterey High School, in Halloween costumes at local “Trunk or Treat” events, and in clean uniforms at local career fairs and Concordia Parish School Board meetings. In July 2023, the industry gifted the local school board $150,000 to rehabilitate vocational technical programs at each high school in the parish.
“It’s not just a donation but an investment,” Emma Hamilton, Syrah’s Environmental and Community Specialist said at the time. “We’re a growing company and we’re here to stay.”
Syrah Technologies’ investment is being used to update high school buildings with Accredited Training and Education Facility (ATEF) standards and teach National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) core curriculum, company officials said.
These initiatives will contribute to the creation of successful vo-tech opportunities for students and allow them to develop practical skills in high demand industries.
The vocational programs will be added as a graduation pathway and provide students with specialized skills training in technical fields found in the local job market, including at Syrah.
“We have been very focused right from the start of the project to hire locally as much as we can and to contract locally as much as we can,” Verner said.
IMPACT
Syrah officials boast having a low carbon impact but a profound economic impact on the community that goes beyond payroll.
Syrah officials say with their technology, they can produce the same material as China with less than half the carbon dioxide emissions. With this technology, they can produce enough AAM to take over 300,000 internal combustion engines off of the road, equivalent to a quarter of Louisiana's registered vehicles.
Syrah's graphite purification process, which uses acid leaching, is done safely and is used in the industry on a routine basis with safeguards in place.
While in the process of developing the land and investing over $200 million capital for the plant, Syrah hired contractors to build additions to new facility and, while doing so, sleep in local hotels, shop at local grocery stores or eat at local restaurants.
On top of that, Syrah employees make more than double the average income in Concordia Parish with salaries over $86,000 on average. This could lead to a ripple effect in the economy that could induce more job creation in other areas such as restaurant and service industries as these wages are spent in Concordia Parish.
‘I
ALWAYS DREAMED OF BECOMING A COP’
Ford shares wisdom gained from more than two decades in law enforcement
Ask Jerry Ford what he does for fun. You will learn what’s at the man’s core.
“Well, fun for me is pretty much what I do in my daily routine. I have an 87-year-old father who I love to death and every day, typically at about 5:30 or 6, I go out and visit with him in the evening and watch a couple of episodes of Gunsmoke and then I generally go home,” Ford said. “That’s fun to me.”
At home is his wife, Shuwanda, with whom he has raised five now-grown children, ranging in age from 39 to 27. All but two — his oldest daughter and a son — live in the Natchez area. And from those five children have come nine grandchildren, “who I definitely enjoy.”
If he’s not at work, or home, or at his father’s, you most likely can find Ford at Smithland Baptist Church, where he is a deacon and has been a lifelong member.
Ford also has had a 26-year career at the Natchez Police Department.
He began as a patrol officer and today is commander in charge of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Along the way, he found time to earn his bachelor’s and two master’s degrees; all aimed at making him as productive a citizen of this community as possible, one who can help others do the same.
LEARNING THE HARD WAY
The Rev. Ernest Ford Sr. and his wife, Mary, who passed away in July 2020, had 11 children — eight girls and three boys.
Jerry Ford was number eight. He graduated from South Natchez-Adams High School in 1984, where he was a member of the school’s last undefeated football team under the guidance of one of Natchez’s local football coaching legends, the late Ed Reed.
“I always had the dream of becoming a cop or a carpenter,” Ford said.
However, Ford was ready to make some money. Young and free and full of dreams, after graduation, he and a classmate headed to Texas.
After four years in Texas, Ford missed home and his parents. He took a job at McDonald’s and worked at his father’s mechanic shop until it closed.
Next was New Orleans, where he worked as a shipbuilder. Then he returned to Natchez and worked several jobs until he got laid off.
That was enough.
“I wanted to get into something a little bit more stable, something I could count on to provide for my family,” he said. That was how he worked for the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
And after three years there, he decided to become a policeman.
Ford applied with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office during the time Tommy Ferrell was sheriff, but no positions were open. “One of the clerks at the sheriff’s office told me to try the police station, that they might have an opening.”
That they did.
“Willie Huff was chief at the time. I loved him. I ended up getting hired in
1997 and went to the academy in January 1998.”
Ford “worked the streets” for about six months before his patrol commander, Charlie Sims, approached him about joining the department’s housing division.
For a number of years, the federal government paid the salaries of two Natchez Police Department officers who were assigned to keep the peace at Maryland Heights, Williams Apartments and Cambridge Heights, which were federally subsidized housing projects.
“I remember telling Charlie I didn’t know if I was ready for that and Charlie told me, ‘I have all the confidence in the world that you can do the job. You are the man for it.’ I went on and took that task and ended up staying in housing for three years.”
Today, Ford recalls that time as being a tremendous learning experience and some of his best work.
“I remember back then we had a big drug problem going on in the housing unit. I was working nights sometimes, sometimes days. We formulated a plan that came together and got with Metro Narcotics to administer a drug bust and set up surveillance,” he said. “At that particular time, we were able to clean up those units and get a lot of people who were causing problems evicted and also arrest all of the perpetrators who were selling and dealing out of those apartments.”
““When I graduated from South Natchez, I didn’t see a need to go back to school at that point. I wanted to get out in the world and start working and earning money. After going through broken jobs and dealing with low pay and no benefits, I saw a need once I started at the police station to make an improvement with my level of education.”
— JERRY FORD
In 2003, Mike Mullins became chief of police and offered Ford the chance to join the department’s detective division.
“I started my work under Jody Waldrop. He was the Criminal Investigations Division commander at the time. There were a lot of seasoned investigators here that pretty much took me up
JERRY FORD
STORY AND PHOTO BY JAN GRIFFEY
JERRY FORD
under their wings and showed me a lot. Tonya Butler, who is still with us. We had Gary Nations, Tom Grennell, and Otis Mazique and Roosevelt Owens. Those were some seasoned investigators that pretty much were showing me all the different ropes."
After 15 years as a detective, Ford returned to the streets as a patrol sergeant. When Joseph Daughtry became police chief, Ford returned to investigations. When Commander Scott Frye retired, Ford was tapped to oversee the investigations division.
TECHNOLOGY CHANGES EVERYTHING
Like many industries, technology in policing has changed many aspects of the job.
“When I first began this career, we relied on eye witnesses and tangible evidence we could trace back to the suspect. Now, you don’t have the eye witnesses to come forward because of the retaliation they would face if they do. We rely a lot on cameras, video surveillance and things like that to identify our suspect.
“We also rely on social media as well. When I was young, we didn’t have social media. Today, these kids are so computer savvy and they feel like social media is they way they have of expressing themselves. We rely heavily on going back and
retrieving that type of information so we can associate suspects to events and crimes,” Ford said.
Another startling change he has seen since becoming an officer is how cold-blooded criminals have become.
“Most of our murders when I first started involved people who actually knew the person they had killed. It was a crime of passion or something was going on between the suspect and the victim. But now, we are seeing more hardened criminals who are more trigger-happy. These people are more gang affiliated and have no remorse.”
Ford blames that on the disintegration of the family and on a lack of discipline and respect in the school system.
“We used to have a school system that pretty much disciplined you in school and held you accountable and you had parents who supported that discipline and helped correct you when you made a mistake,” he said. “Today, a lot of these parents are single parents who are raising these young kids. Some of these parents are young kids themselves. We see single parents who don’t have the structural support to help them discipline their kids. As a result, that’s become a major factor in the breakdown of society today. It’s really making it tough for us as law enforcement to kind of get a grip on things. Our young people today just don’t feel like there is a
need to follow rules or order.”
Is all hope lost?
“There are some kids who are really looking for love and attention …We have a great need for a support system to provide some guidance for kids, someone to pick them up and show them the right way they need to go. They face all kinds of bullying and mental health issues are showing … I think if the community could just gather around and get these kids some therapy, some type of counseling where they could open up about their situations, and someone who can actually show them what life is about and how to go about being a productive citizen in society, it would definitely help,” Ford said.
EDUCATION IS CRITICAL
“When I graduated from South Natchez, I didn’t see a need to go back to school at that point. I wanted to get out in the world and start working and earning money. After going through broken jobs and dealing with low pay and no benefits, I saw a need once I started at the police station to make an improvement with my level of education.”
Ford enrolled in Alcorn State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a focus on the criminal justice system.
“I decided I wanted to get a master’s and went straight into it and earned
my master’s in guidance education and counseling,” he said. That’s when he began working with Helping Hands Counseling Service.
“I got to see students on a different level than I had seen them as a police officer … It really touched me. Once I retire from policing, I will probably teach or get into the counseling field of education.”
Ford also earned a second master’s degree in workforce development in order to help with that desire to one day teach and guide young students.
“That knowledge of the different stages of counseling kind of guides me when I am doing an investigation. I know what to look for in a suspect, how to be sympathetic, when people need someone to listen to them. It helps me focus on the things I need to pick up on.”
However, Ford said he has no retirement date in sight. He enjoys what he does and working with Chief Cal Green. And, he wants to make sure to help educate the officers who will fill his shoes.
“We have a very young department here at the police department. There is a lot that needs to be taught and learned by these particular officers. The few veteran leaders we have here in this department are doing an excellent job preparing people to be ready to take that torch. I feel like if we can stay on for a little while, it would definitely benefit the city.”
Compassion to give back to the communities we serve ows through the heart and soul of Atmos Energy’s employees. We are committed to helping students have a bright and healthy future by ghting childhood hunger and focusing on reading on level by 3rd grade, showing appreciation to our hometown heroes and providing assistance to our neighbors in need. We are proud to play a vital role in the communities we serve with our time, talent and resources.
BUSINESS CARD DIRECTORY
The Natchez headquarters employs approximately 150 residents of the Miss-Lou area We also have staff in Florida, Georgia, Washington, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Indiana
Every month we bring in 80 drivers to our Natchez campus for Driver Orientation Training. They are housed in local hotels, rented vehicles locally, fed by local restaurants, and undergo physicals by local medical offices
Our Jordan Carriers Wind Division, located in Pineville, LA, is dedicated to ensuring the components of windmills are transported to wind farms all over the country. Construction is nearing completion of a specialized training yard for heavy haul driver training of oversized loads.
A newly constructed company headquarters was recently completed on Highway 61 South in Natchez
Jordan Carriers is proud to be a Natchez-based, family owned and operated business. We take pride in supporting local businesses, organizations, charities, sports teams, and educational endeavors We look forward to being a part of the Miss-Lou’s continued growth
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