profile 2013

PROFILE 2013=================================================================================================================================================================================Page1Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 28, 2013

Column: Tim Kalich, 4 Greenwood like

no other place on earth

Bill Crump, 52013 Community Service

Award winner

North SunflowerMedical Center, 9

Wayne Walters makes hospitalmodel of success

Dr. Brantley Nichols, 11Pillow grad has found

right work in right place

Tallahatchie GeneralHospital, 15

Charleston hospitalstresses customer service

Ashley Robinson, 17Former MVSU staris living his dream

Upchurch Plumbing, 21Family company

keeps evolving

Turnrow Book Co., 25Independent bookseller

succeeds with personal service

Mid-Delta Home Healthand Hospice, 29

Clara Reed has been caringfor sick, elderly since 1978

Drake Waterfowl Systems, 33Childhood friends�company

caters to duck hunters

Baptist Town, 37Redevelopment of historic

community on fast track

Cover Story:Greenwood-Leflore County

Branding Campaign, 41Website part of push

to present unified image

Leflore County Schools, 47District�s new programsoffer new opportunities

Agriculture, 53What is Leflore County�s

top crop?

Shane Sanders Tree Service, 57Owner didn�t intend

to start tree-cutting business

Mission Hope, 60Ministry�s goal to provide

help of all kinds

Charles Edward Wright, 66Pioneering businessman

had string of firsts

Night Life, 69Quest for food and fun

begins after dark

Greenwood Public Schools, 73High-tech devices

transforming classrooms

Greenwood CobrasMotorcycle Club, 77

Members do much morethan just ride bikes

Robert Collins, 81He�s come a long way

since Tallahatchie County

Mack Allen Smith, 85Musician chronicles his career

Reno�s Cafe, 89Restaurant serves

customers what they like

Northwest MississippiRegional Medical Center, 93Clarksdale hospital assembles

talented medical staff

John Paul Walker, 97MSU grad stays involved

as alumni leader

4-Way Electric, 99Recession hasn�t hurt

electrical equipment company

Viking EmployeeHealth and Wellness Center, 105

Convenient care helpsemployees stay on the job

Riley Poe, 109He was drawn to farming

at an early age

Dr. Christopher Capel, 113Surgeon feelsat home here

Coretta Green, 117J.Z. George Middle School principal

aims to be approachable

John Stewart, 122Local entrepreneur quietlygoes about his businesses

Bettie Ray, 124Tries to be the best representative

of her community

Economic Development, 126Focus on creating jobs,

improving quality of life

Index of advertisers, 127

PROFILE 2013=================================================================================================================================================================================Page2 Greenwood Commonwealth/Thursday, February 28, 2013

Contents


Publisher�s note

On the cover

Ayear ago, the cover story of theProfile edition was about the 25thanniversary of home-grown success

story Viking Range Corp. A lot has changed in the past 12 months.Viking has been sold to a publicly traded

company based in Chicago, which soonafter the acquisition downsized the compa-ny. Its founder, Fred Carl Jr., has retired.Some of its other corporate executives havemoved on.

It�s been a difficult adjustment, but hope-fully Viking will come back stronger, feelthe turnaround in the U.S. housing marketand get back to where it was before theGreat Recession hit.

Viking is a big part of Greenwood�s identi-ty. That�s a given. Its remarkable growthhelped transform this community and give ita downtown that other Delta communitiesenvy. The faster Viking rebounds, the betterit will be, not only for the company and itsemployees, but for all of us who have enjoyedthe ripple effects of having a globally recog-nized brand headquartered here.

But Greenwood has its own brand, too,that�s going to persevere no matter the for-tunes of any one company or enterprise.

That brand now has a slogan � �That�sso Delta� � thanks to the joint marketing

efforts of a handful of bedrock communityorganizations and local governments. Theslogan is not just catchy. It captures a feel-ing that�s sometimes hard to put intowords, but certainly identifiable.

Greenwood is a place of contrasts �wealth and poverty, black and white, farm-ing and manufacturing. It�s a place with afascinating culture, a love for good food andgood music, a tradition for hospitality andgenerosity. It�s a place where people aresincere when they ask about your family,invite you to their church or offer their helpwhen you�re in a bind.

It�s not too much of a stretch to sayGreenwood is like no other place on earth,and in lots of good ways.

That positive uniqueness is what we tryto capture each year with the Profile edi-tion.

The 128 pages in Profile 2013 shine a bigspotlight on the people and institutionsthat make this community special. It�s fullof articles, photos and ads that reflect howvibrant and interesting Greenwood and thesurrounding area are.

Our cover story is about the new brand-ing campaign, but the whole edition reallyencapsulates that slogan. We hope you�llenjoy taking it all in. � Tim Kalich

StaffEditor and Publisher

Tim Kalich

Managing EditorCharles Corder

City EditorDavid Monroe

Sports EditorBill Burrus

Lifestyles EditorRuthie Robison

Staff WritersBob DardenJeanie Riess

Contributing Writersand Photographers

Johnny JenningsRuth Jensen

Andy Lo

Advertising DirectorLarry Alderman

Advertising SalesLinda Bassie

Susan Montgomery Jim StallingsKim Turner

Graphic DesignersJoseph CottonAnne Miles

Production ManagerBen Gilton

Circulation ManagerShirley Cooper

Business ManagerEddie Ray

Editorial and business offices: P.O. Box 8050

329 U.S. 82 WestGreenwood, MS 38935-8050

(662) 453-5312

These are scenes thatepitomize Greenwood�suniquely Delta identity.That�s the focus of thenew branding campaign forthe city, Leflore Countyand several community-based institutions.

Photos byJohnny Jenningsand Andy Lo

Cover design byJoseph Cotton


A true leader2013 Community Service Award winner: Bill Crump

STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS BY ANDY LO AND COURTESY OF BILL CRUMP

Even in his youth, growing up inSchlater, Bill Crump had aninterest in making his communi-

ty better.He and his family lived on McNutt

Lake, which was very polluted becauseall of the town�s raw sewage went into it.He played with friends there, but hismother made it clear that if they fell intothe lake, they would have to get shots ��and, of course, we fell in the lake a lot,�he said.

�I always said that when I got bigger, Iwas going to do something about that �that I wanted my children to be able toenjoy that lake,� he recalled, �not everknowing that I would still be living thereor anything else.�

That idea was still in his head whenhe was elected to the town�s Board of

Has soughtto helpothers fromearly age

Previous winners2011 Belva Pleasants2010 Dale Persons2009 Alix H. Sanders2008 Dr. V.K. Chawla2007 Dr. Alfio Rausa2006 William Ware2005 Hank Hodges2004 Allan Hammons2003 Mary Ann Shaw2002 Rev. Calvin Collins2001 Joe Seawright2000 Fred Carl Jr.1999 Donnie Brock1998 Pann Powers1997 Janice Moor1996 William Sutton1995 Charles Deaton1994 Alex Malouf1993 Irvin Whittaker1992 Harold Smith1991 Charles Bowman1990 Howard Evans1989 Aven WhittingtonBill Crump lives with his wife, Jane, in the house where he grew up in Schlater. They have two sons: Will, 29, and Josh, 26. In front

are Will�s wife, Katy, and Jane Crump; in back row are Will Crump, Bill Crump and Josh Crump.


Aldermen at the age of 19. After doingsome research, he and a friend whoworked for an engineering firm puttogether a package requesting a grantfrom the Environmental ProtectionAgency for a sewer system, and theytraveled to Atlanta to make their case.

They landed a $1 million grant.�We talked them into it,� he said. �I

don�t know how.�The addition of that system was a

major development for the town, butCrump said its true impact hit him yearslater, after he and his family had movedto Washington, D.C. One night, he wastalking on the phone with his son, whowas about 3 and was visiting his grand-parents on the lake.

His son told him he had caught threefish from the lake � and his grandmoth-er was cooking them.

�It�s still a very emotional time when Ithink about it,� Crump said, �because Iknew right then that if my mother wascooking a fish for her first grandchild outof that lake, then I had accomplishedwhat I had set out to do.�

After 10 years in Washington, hemoved back to that home, where he stilllives. He said seeing the lake remindshim what people can do if they put theirminds to it.

�In the morning I wake up, I get up,get my coffee, and I open the blinds inmy bedroom, and I�m looking right downthat lake, and there�s not a day that goesby that I don�t remember that,� he said.�So that was really a defining moment, Ithink, in my life. ... If I had to be remem-bered for one thing, that�s what I wouldwant to be remembered for.�

Now 59, the Viking Range Corp. exec-utive has accomplished many otherthings since then and still stays busytoday. He is active in his church, theGreenwood-Leflore County Chamber ofCommerce, the Greenwood-LefloreIndustrial Board and many other organi-zations. He also has received a great dealof credit for the selection of Greenwoodas the primary filming location for theblockbuster �The Help.�

For these contributions and others, heis the winner of the Commonwealth�s2013 Community Service Award.

He responds to this distinction withmodesty, noting the people who havewon the honor before.

�To be included with the MountRushmore group of Greenwood-LefloreCounty is quite an honor,� he said.

v v v

Crump said being raised in aChristian home in a town of 400 peoplewas a great experience.

�Schlater was like Mayberry backthen,� he said. �There were so manyinteresting people, characters; it was justa great community to grow up in. It was

a thriving little country town. ... I hadsome dear, dear friends growing up thatare still my best friends to this day.�

His parents, the late W.B. Crump Jr.and Joyeanne Crump, also were commu-nity-minded. His father ran a cotton gin,and his mother was a teacher for 36years.

�I didn�t grow up with a silver spoon inmy mouth at all,� he said. �But I hadeverything I needed. And I think Ilearned from them that there�s nothingnobler than serving other people in someway and helping other people.�

He also developed an interest in poli-tics, and while attending Delta StateUniversity, he ran for alderman, hopingto shake things up in his hometown.When he won, he was the youngestelected official in the nation.

After the mayor resigned, Crump wasappointed acting mayor; then he waselected mayor in October 1975 and con-tinued in that job until 1982, when hemoved to Washington. After returninghome 10 years later, he was electedmayor again and served two more termsbefore retiring in 2002.

v v v

Crump says some apparent setbacksin his life have turned out to be greatopportunities.

In 1979, he ran for circuit clerk � anexperience he enjoyed that helped himmeet a lot of people. But after putting agreat deal of work into it, he lost the raceto Mabel White, who had worked in thecourthouse for many years.

�I was crushed � just absolutelycrushed,� he said, �because we hadworked so hard, and I just didn�t under-stand.�

But a year later, Webb Franklin askedCrump to run his congressional cam-paign � and after Franklin won, heasked Crump to go to Washington andrun his office. Crump said he was soexcited that he ran into White�s office,hugged her and thanked her for defeat-ing him.

�That devastating loss, which Ithought was the end of my world politi-cally, really opened a door that wasmuch wider and gave me 10 years ofabsolutely wonderful experiences,� hesaid.

Franklin said Crump is a great organ-izer who showed even as a campaign vol-unteer that he �had a lot of moxie politi-cally.�

�His greatest asset, in my opinion, isthat he�s a people person,� Franklin said.�He gets to know people, and they likehim, and he does a real good job in what-ever he�s assigned to do. ... There are notenough adjectives available to me todescribe how much I think of BillCrump.�

Crump spent four years as chief ofstaff for Franklin and then did the samefor U.S. Rep. Connie Mack. He workedon the campaign and the transition teamfor President George H.W. Bush andarranged trips for Bush and VicePresident Dan Quayle. He also spentabout two years as deputy to LeeAtwater when Atwater was chairman ofthe Republican National Committee.

Sometimes, he was awestruck by hissurroundings. He remembers whenAtwater took him to the job on the tran-sition team for the first time and simplysaid, �We�re going to see the boss� � andsoon he was sitting down with Bush, thepresident-elect.

�I was in a daze,� he said. �I had neverin my life thought that I would be in aposition like that � and didn�t under-stand how I�d gotten there in the firstplace.�

After Atwater�s death, Crump ran thenonprofit organization Fairness for the�90s and then served as special assistantto Lynn Martin, the secretary of labor.

He enjoyed the work in Washington,but the hours took a toll. He had twosons, Will and Josh, and was concernedabout missing their childhoods, since hetypically left home at 5 a.m. and didn�treturn until 9:30 or 10 p.m. So he decid-ed to move back to his hometown.

�If I�d never had children, I�d still bethere. I would�ve never moved home,� hesaid. �But I moved home for them.�

v v v

After returning, he bought BaffPrinting, a downtown business, and run-ning it proved to be �a wonderful experi-ence,� he said.

�It provided me with an immediateimmersion back into the community,because I got involved with the chamberand all the different aspects of the com-munity.�

He also worked with his wife, Jane,there for a while, until she took a job atViking as a marketing home economist.In 2002, he took a part-time job inViking�s incentive program, planningtrips for successful dealers. When thestress of the two jobs got to be too much,he closed Baff and moved to Viking full-time in its governmental affairs office.

During this time, he was also active inthe chamber and other organizations.Viking has been well-represented in gov-ernment and civic groups over the years,and Crump said recently retired CEOFred Carl has had a lot to do with thatbecause he allowed employees to usework time for other endeavors. In fact,Crump replaced Carl on the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board and eventuallywas elected chairman in December 2009.

�Fred and Viking have been such apart of the community, and he hasencouraged everybody to get involved inas many ways as they can,� he said.

Given the many friends he has madethere over the years, the recent layoffs atViking after its sale to The MiddlebyCorp. were difficult, but he is confidentthat better days lie ahead.

�Even though I realize and know andam confident that this will all end upbeing very good for the town and forViking and whatever, it�s a hard thing to

�I didn�t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth at all. But I had everything I needed. And Ithink I learned from (my parents) that there�s nothing nobler than serving other people in some

way and helping other people.�Bill Crump

This is an image from a campaign ad from when Bill Crump ran for Leflore County cir-cuit clerk. He lost the race to Mabel White, but he says that if he had won, he would-n�t have had the opportunity to work for U.S. Rep. Webb Franklin in Washington andspend 10 years in the nation�s capital.


go through,� he said.Now Viking�s director of corporate and

governmental affairs, he expects to betaking on more responsibilities, althoughthose are still being worked out. But hesaid Middleby also encourages employ-ees to be active in the community � andhe plans to continue.

�I�d like to stay at Viking as long as Ican be of help to the company and con-tinue to help the community,� he said.

Carl said Crump is a true leader.�Bill is totally devoted to making

Greenwood a model community in everyway possible,� he said. �He not only hasa vision for how we can make our towneven better; he knows how the local,state and federal governments work andwhat�s required to get things done.�

Crump also brings great enthusiasm,energy and determination to causes hebelieves in, Carl said, citing �The Help�as an example.

�Bill almost singlehandedly got �TheHelp�here and was instrumental inensuring that they had a very positiveexperience,� he said.

Angela Curry, executive director of theIndustrial Board, said it has been a priv-ilege to work with Crump. �Bill is a veryastute businessman, and that attributeserves our organization and this commu-nity well as we engage existing andprospective businesses,� she said.

v v v

As a leader in economic development,Crump has stressed that communityleaders needed to focus on more thanjust �industry-chasing.�

�We had to look at retail; we had tolook at service; we had to look at otherthings that could bring jobs and bringmoney into this community,� he said.

One such opportunity came up whenhe heard some people wanted to look atthe Elks Hall building on WashingtonStreet. Director Tate Taylor andProducer Brunson Green said it was for

a film based on Kathryn Stockett�s novel�The Help.�

Crump wasn�t familiar with the bookthen. But he did remember the filming of�Ode to Billy Joe� and �The Reivers� inGreenwood years before, and he realizedit could have an impact. So he went towork and used contacts at AT&TMississippi and Entergy Mississippi tosecure needed funding.

Taylor said Crump showed great faithin the project, given that it started as anindependent film. Then, onceDreamWorks Studios got involved, hehad to persuade studio people to choose

Greenwood over Louisiana, which couldoffer better incentives.

�We had to make the case thatGreenwood would be a great character. ...If they found a flaw, Bill Crump found away to reverse it,� Taylor said.

Taylor said Crump understood themovie�s potential and made an invest-ment in the city.

�That�s what a smart businessmandoes,� the director said. �He had a visionof what it could do, and it paid off inspades.�

Once Greenwood was selected, itmeant a lot more work for Crump, since

he was the primary local contact for thefilmmakers. Once again, Carl allowedhim time to do it.

�Almost every day, I went to the setwherever they were filming,� Crumpsaid.

Taylor said when people approachedhim with questions while he was writ-ing and casting, his typical answer was�Call Bill Crump� � and that turnedout to be good advice.

He also said he, Crump and othersinvolved in the film became friends andstill stay in touch.

�Bill�s just a great guy,� he said.A number of people were skeptical

about �The Help� at first because of theunfavorable portrayals of Mississippi insome past movies, but Crump believedthis project would be done well.

�I had several people tell me that Ishould not be pushing this � that Iwas creating a problem for Mississippiand for Greenwood,� he said. �And Ijust didn�t see it that way.�

He said he has watched the filmprobably seven or eight times and seessomething new every time � and he�sheard hardly any negative commentsabout it or anything associated with it.

He also has been recognized from hisvery brief appearance in the film as thelieutenant governor � even by peoplewho didn�t know him before.

�It�s amazing the people that I heardfrom across the country that recognizedme and some of the stories that peoplewould say,� he said. �You know, theywould jump up in the middle of thetheater and say, �That�s Bill Crump!��

Years ago, coming out of a smalltown, he wouldn�t have expected tohave a brush with Hollywood � or todo and see many other things he�s doneand seen. But he said he has been veryfortunate.

�If I had to die tomorrow, I wouldhave to say that I have had a wonder-ful life and that God has been extreme-ly good to me,� he said. !

Bill Crump shakes hands with Richard Nixon while sailing on an Amway yacht in theHudson River during an event hosted by Trent Lott. Crump was chief of staff for U.S.Rep. Connie Mack at the time.

Bill Crump worked on the transition team for President George H.W. Bush and didtravel advance work for Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

Actress Bryce Dallas Howard rehearses a scene from the hit movie �The Help,� whichwas filmed in the Greenwood area during the summer and fall of 2010. Crump wasthe driving force behind bringing the production of the movie to Greenwood.


North Sunflower Medical Center

Model-makingSome of Wayne Walters� peers at

Baptist Hospital in Jacksonthought he might be making a

mistake when he traded city life for rural,moving his family from Madison tobecome the chief executive officer ofNorth Sunflower Medical Center atRuleville.

However, that has not been the case.Walters had been employed in the busi-

ness side at Baptist for nearly 11 yearswhen Billy Marlow asked him to headthe small rural hospital that had experi-enced great growth under Marlow�stenure as chief executive.

Walters said it�s been an exciting time.�It�s a model � the way it�s working �

being able to create jobs for the communi-ty and provide better health care,� hesaid. �We�re the number one critical-access hospital in the nation for patientsatisfaction and cleanliness.�

Walters said he was �taken aback�when he was asked to take the helm atNorth Sunflower.

�I wasn�t expecting it,� he said. �I haddone some consulting for (Marlow) since2005. I helped him on the revenue cycleside. I came up hunting every year andgot to know them. We called on eachother on different issues.�

Marlow had his wife, Robyn, callWalters when he was on the way to thehospital in Jackson in a helicopter for thesecond time with medical problems.

�I met him at 2 in the morning. Still ona stretcher, he took my hand and said,�Wayne, it�s time for you to come toRuleville,�� Walters said. �I laughed. In ashort period of time, he had a contractready.�

He was happy in his job in Jackson ata growing medical establishment, but theRuleville hospital has brought himincredible satisfaction, he said.

�It�s fun to work in a place where every-one is so committed to customer service,�he said. �Access is the number one com-plaint people have. We have a ruralhealth clinic open 365 days a year, 16hours a day. We pride ourselves in gettingpeople into the clinic fast.�

Walters said he enjoys his work greatly,as well as the side benefits the Delta pro-vides.

�We already came to Greenwood once ayear and stayed at The Alluvian. Mywife, Jennifer, likes shopping in down-town Greenwood.�

The family is living in Greenwoodwhile getting a home ready in Ruleville.

�We�re going to live next door to thehospital,� he said.

Their 13-year-old son is enrolled atPillow Academy and enjoying the schooland new friends he has made.

�It�s funny, but when we drove intoRuleville and Cleveland, we liked it a lot,�Walters said. �We don�t need fancy the-aters or big stores. We like small-town

life. Everyone is so friendly � glad you�rehere.�

The hospital�s success and continuedgrowth are a great source of pride forhim.

�I�d venture that no other small ruralhospital has what we have here,� Walterssaid. �We�ve created quality health care.The CT scanner saved Billy�s life. We�retrying to have an atmosphere peoplewant to come to.�

For North Sunflower Medical Center,Walters and the team at the hospital areplanning for continued growth andimprovement.

�We�re working on a three-year plan,�hesaid. �One thing we�re doing is working toprovide people with less expensive drugs.Mike Gilbow, who owned a pharmacy inDrew, is ready to retire from the ownershipof his business in Drew and is going towork for us here as we open a pharmacy inour clinic. We plan to keep a presence inDrew, and we�re also purchasing theSpencer�s Pharmacy in Ruleville.�

When he isn�t working, Walters loves tohunt, and Ruleville offers just what he�slooking for in his hobby. �I love being ableto go duck hunting two miles from thehospital and then being able to get thereby 8:15,� he said.

All in all, the move has been great forWalters and his family.

�It�s fun to feel a part of building some-thing,� he said. !

Hospital among nation�s best critical-access facilities

Wayne Walters says North Sunflower Medical Center is providing better health care and creating jobs for the community.

�It�s fun to feel a partof building some-

thing.�Wayne Walters


STORY AND PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN

Dr. Brantley Nichols

The right place

I t took a while for Dr. BrantleyNichols to find out exactly where hefit in the medical world, but his delib-

erate search paid off for him.Nichols, a former resident of

Greenwood who is now an oral and max-illofacial surgeon in Hattiesburg, travelsto North Sunflower Medical Center eachweek to perform surgery in an under-served area of the state. Bringing him toRuleville was part of a successful plan by

Billy Marlow, executive director of thehospital, to resurrect it.

The journey to where he is � doingsomething he loves and feels he has tal-ent for � came after taking six monthsafter college to find his place.

�A lot of people just drift. I like to ana-lyze things, look at it,� he said. �I wasn�tin a hurry.�

He was a quarterback on the PillowAcademy football team and played foot-

ball at Mississippi Delta CommunityCollege. While enjoying athletics, he gotto know Dr. Ed Field of Oxford, an ortho-pedist who took care of athletes at OleMiss and came to MDCC.

�I saw his phone ringing off the hookand asked him, �What are you going to dowhen your kids are involved in activi-ties?�� he said.

He followed Field and watched him insurgery. He also spent time with general

dentist Dr. Rob White of Greenwood,orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charlie Wrightand other physicians.

�I asked them, �What do you think ofyour profession?,� �Do you have anyadvice?,� etc.,� he said. �I wanted to get tothose people who are accomplished andsee what they�ve done.�

One thing he learned was he didn�twant to be on call all the time, as manyphysicians are. Now, as a maxillofacial

Took twisting path from Greenwood to RulevilleDr. Brantley Nichols stands in the ultra-modern operating room at North Sunflower Medical Center, where he performs surgery each week in Ruleville.


surgeon who works on victims of acci-dents or other facial trauma, he is on call20 days a month. He takes off for hisfamily time and for his favorite avocation� hunting.

�I chose dentistry because I didn�twant to be on call like Dr. Field,� he said.�General dentistry is an art. I liked beingable to have conversations with mypatients, but I talk too much. I didn�t getanything done.�

After a while, he wanted somethingdifferent.

He graduated from the University ofMississippi Dental School and then com-pleted a residency in maxillofacial sur-gery at the University of Kentucky.

�When I found maxillofacial surgery, Iknew it was for me,� he said. �Sometimes

with facial trauma it�s like puttingHumpty Dumpty together again. I likeputting people�s faces back together.�What am I missing? How can I makethis person look good again?��

Nichols gets great satisfaction fromhelping people to look like themselvesagain

�I do one or two cases of facial traumaa week, sometimes pretty big trauma,�he said. �The �bite,� or facial cheek struc-ture, is the foundation of the face. Onceyou get that lined up, it is easier to buildthe face. If you don�t do that, you canmake someone look funny.�

Nichols and his wife, Courtney, live inHattiesburg with their two young daugh-ters, and the majority of his work is donethere. But he flies to North Mississippi

each week to perform surgery at NorthSunflower Medical Center in Ruleville.

�I work in the clinic in Hattiesburg onMonday. That afternoon I fly intoGreenwood and drive to Ruleville,� hesaid.

He sees patients from about 5 a.m.until around 3 p.m., when he returnshome. The hospital charters a small jetto bring him each week � part of a suc-cessful plan to turn around a dying ruralhospital and bring needed medical assis-tance to the Ruleville area.

Nichols, a high-energy person, wasbeginning to get bored with his Tuesdaysoff in Hattiesburg.

�I had spent six months drivingaround South Mississippi and meetingreferrals (dentists who could refer

patients for surgery),� he said. �You canonly play so much golf.

�Billy Marlow and Dr. JerryTankersley called me. He didn�t know Ihad finished my residency training. OnceI heard about the hospital in Ruleville, Iwanted to come here,� he said. �My par-ents live in Greenwood, and my grand-mother lives in Doddsville.�

Nichols has nothing but good things tosay about the Ruleville hospital.

�It has been great,� he said. �The staffhere works really hard. The facility is sonice. Everything you have to work with isnice. I am so blessed. Every day I run intosomeone who knows a family member.

�Every time I come in contact withsomeone I knew growing up, it�s neat. Tosee this hospital thriving is great.� !

�When I found maxillofacial surgery, I knew itwas for me. Sometimes with facial trauma it�slike putting Humpty Dumpty together again. Ilike putting people�s faces back together. �What

am I missing? How can I make this personlook good again?��

Dr. Brantley Nichols

Dr. Brantley Nichols relaxes and discusses his work after a day of surgery in the board room at North Sunflower Medical Center.


Tallahatchie General Hospital

Repeat successAfter hearing the incredible turn-

around story of North SunflowerMedical Center in Ruleville,

board members at Tallahatchie GeneralHospital in Charleston wondered if theirhospital might benefit from lessonslearned there.

The answer was yes. They asked BillyMarlow, who was then CEO of theRuleville hospital, to take a look at theirsand suggest possible remedies. Thingshad gotten so bad, local people preferredto drive to other area hospitals ratherthan use the one at home.

Marlow contracted with the hospitalboard to put together a managementteam, and Tallahatchie General was onits way to recovery. One of the first thingsMarlow did was to ask Jim Blackwood totake the helm.

Blackwood, a Jackson attorney and afamily friend of Marlow�s, heard aboutthe hospital�s plight and Marlow�s plan toturn it around.

�I was working with Billy on some legalthings at the time and started talkingwith him about taking on such a chal-lenge,� he said.

He was getting a bit burned out in hisprofession.

�In law practice, even when you win,nobody is happy,� Blackwood said. �I wasinterested in rebuilding, in creating posi-tive things. I became the �boots on theground� for Marlow and his team.�

He got to the hospital in March 2011. �It was similar to Ruleville � in fact,

about the same size in volume, revenueand physical space,� he said. �Here, asthere, we had an older facility, built in themid 1950s. It had financial struggles.Employee morale was low. There hadbeen no pay raises, and they were shortstaffed. Housekeeping had suffered agood bit, and people weren�t alwaysfriendly. It was run-down.

�The first thing we did was get theplace super clean,� he said. �When youcome in, I can guarantee one thing: Youwill see somebody cleaning something,whether it needs it or not. Doris Ledfordof North Sunflower played a key role inthis area.�

Blackwood also required all employeesto go through customer service training.

�It was eight hours of mandatory train-ing, and we put in discipline for employ-ees who did not attend, unless they had aproven emergency,� he said.

Patient rooms were very small, onlynine feet wide. In a critical-access hospi-

tal, which is a designation for hospitals inlocales where health care access is limit-ed, there can be no more than 25 rooms.

�We demolished rooms and created 17spacious ones, double the size of the oldones,� Blackwood said. �They�re as nice asanywhere in the state. Our goal was tocreate an aesthetically pleasing room asin a nice hotel.�

Customer service is also key.�We pamper them with good customer

service, provide in-house therapy, andgood food. Patients have responded, andour census is up,� he said.

New diagnostic equipment was alsopurchased, including a 16-slice CT scan-ner, new X-rays and new lab equipment.

The emergency room, which will get acomplete makeover in the next year, nowhas tele-medicine.

�If a doctor has a difficult trauma comethrough the door, there is a flat-screentelevision on the wall,� he said. �We canpunch a button, and a board-certifiedemergency room physician appears onthe screen. It connects us to University(of Mississippi) Medical Center (inJackson). We can zoom in on the patient,and the doctor can provide guidance inreal time.�

They keep up with numbers, he said.�Our goal is to shorten the wait time to

see a physician in the ER,� he said. �Nowit�s 15 minutes. Our average timebetween presenting at the ER and dis-charge is one-and-a-half to two hours. Wewant to give people an alternative to driv-ing to other hospitals. Customer service iskey.�

Like Ruleville, Tallahatchie General isalso providing a clinic, which seeks to get

patients in quickly and provide access365 days a year. It�s open from 8 a.m. to 5p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

One area of expected growth is inswing-bed care, which helps patients whoaren�t ready to go home but can�t stayany longer in the hospital.

�A lot of the patients are elderly, mayhave had a hip or knee replacement andneed therapy before going home,� he said.

Anew service that has begun is inten-sive outpatient psychotherapy for seniors.

�It�s group therapy, where seniors candiscuss important concerns, like feelingsof isolation, loneliness, financial issues,end-of-life decisions,� he said.

Blackwood also directs a 98-bed nurs-ing home.

�Half of it was vacant. We created oneside for patients needing more care, espe-cially with dementia, and set up a betterstaff-to-patient ratio,� he said.

�That side has activities structuredespecially for them, such as with a short-er duration. It takes into considerationthe way they touch, hear things. We haveolder films they may remember, identifywith.�

The hospital has made a turnaroundbut has more to go. �We always have aproject under way,� Blackwood said.

Blackwood lives in Oxford with hiswife, Kelly, and their two boys, ages 3and 5. Personally and vocationally, head-ing the hospital has been just what heneeded.

�There�s a lot of satisfaction. It makesme feel good to see something turnaround in a positive way,� he said. �It hasexceeded my expectations.� !

Charleston hospital stresses customer service

Tallahatchie General Hospital has done extensive remodeling and brought in lots of new equipment.

�It makes me feelgood to see somethingturn around in a posi-

tive way.�Jim Blackwood

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS COURTESY OF TALLAHATCHIE GENERAL HOSPITAL


Living the dreamAshley Robinson

Some people work all their livesand never reach their dream job.Ashley Robinson, however, didn�t

have to wait long. He secured his dreamjob at age 32 at his alma mater whenhe was named the new athletic directorat Mississippi Valley State in lateAugust 2012.

When his record-setting basketball

career was over at Valley in 2003,Robinson, the school�s single-season andcareer record holder in assists (601),went to Italy in hopes of landing a pro-fessional contract. But when things did-n�t work out, he turned to plan B, pur-suing a career in administration withthe hopes of one day running the athlet-ic program at Valley.

With no options left in basketball, hestarted the plan for capturing hisdream job nearly 10 years ago.

�Did I want to coach, or did I want tobecome an administrator?� Robinsonsaid. �I said I wanted to be an AD, andthere�d be no better place, when I getthe experience, (than) to come back andbe the AD at Mississippi Valley State

University.�When I said that, people just said,

�Oh, whatever.� It was a vision cometrue. It�s an inspiration to young stu-dents � it can be done.�

Robinson, now 33, has been on the jobsix months and says he couldn�t be hap-pier.

�It�s everything I had hoped for and

Ex-hoops star�s plan brought him back to MVSU

STORY BY BILL BURRUS ! PHOTOS BY BILL BURRUS AND THE JACKSON CLARION-LEDGER

First-year Mississippi Valley State University athletic director Ashley Robinson is excited about the challenges that lie ahead for him as he works to build up a program thatis strapped for cash.


more,� Robinson said of his new job. �Ihaven�t stopped long enough to catchmy breath. I have been meeting a lot ofpeople in the community, trying to beseen in the community so Valley can beseen.

�I will be at a lot of high school sport-ing events and getting involved in thiscommunity. If we�re going to ask thecommunity for support, then we haveto support this community.�

Talk with Robinson for a short periodof time, and it�s evident he has a strongpassion for building up Valley�s athleticprogram and bringing in much-neededrevenue. That passion and intensitywill be needed.

According to a USA Today reportdetailing the athletic budgets of allNCAA Division I programs last May,MVSU�s revenue of $4.1 million wasthe second-lowest in the country.

Robinson says that this year�s athlet-ic budget is $4.3 million for its 18sports teams and that some of the rich-er schools in the Southwestern AthleticConference operate with a budget ofthree times what Valley has. But youwill never hear Robinson complainabout a lack of resources because herefuses to let negativity creep into any-thing he does.

�At the end of the day, it�s not aboutthe size of your budget but about win-ning championships and graduatingyour athletes. We plan to work harderand do more with less until we can getthings turned around and generatemore money through sponsorships andthings like that,� Robinson said. �Wehave to remain positive. Valley has gotto remain positive. There is no room forany negatives.�

Robinson has launched three athleticsponsorship initiatives, including theAthletic Director�s Challenge, whichgives supporters the option of donatingas little as $10 per month.

�In order for this to work, though, ouralumni have to come together as oneand become focused on making a differ-ence,� he said. �All gifts, whether smallor large, are vital in providing the nec-essary resources to enhance the aca-demic and athletic experience of ourstudent-athletes.�

Valley is using an aggressive socialmedia campaign to reach fans andalumni and recently upgraded its web-site.

�We�re using the Internet, Facebookand Twitter extensively,� Robinsonsaid. �That�s what you have to do inthis day and age. The first thing apotential donor or business is going todo is go to your website.�

Interest in Valley athletics should beat an all-time high, Robinson says, con-sidering how well the school�s teamshave been playing on the field and per-forming in the classroom.

�Five MVSU teams played for aSWAC title during the 2011-12 seasons,

including the baseball, softball, men�sbasketball, women�s basketball andwomen�s soccer teams. Three of thoseteams won conference titles: men�s andwomen�s basketball along with the soft-ball team, which earned its seventhSWAC Tournament title in the lastnine years. Then we had a strong fin-ish in football to give us our best sea-son in more than five years,� heexplained. �We had 89 Valley student-athletes earn academic honors by com-pleting a full academic year in resi-dence, maintaining at least a 3.0 cumu-lative GPA. The women�s soccer teamled the way with a 3.52 team GPA.�

Robinson�s rise to athletic directorhas been rapid since he got his start inadministration in 2006 as the academiccoordinator at Delaware StateUniversity. In 2009, he went to PrairieView A&M as the assistant vice presi-dent of athletic compliance and aca-demic advising.

When hired at Valley in August 2012at the age of 32, Robinson was theyoungest athletic director in theNCAA�s Division I.

Valley softball coach Lee Smith, whoserved as a student manager on theDelta Devils basketball team whileRobinson was playing, wasn�t surprisedat all to see his old friend advancethrough the ranks so quickly.

�He was always a feisty guy and ahard worker,� Smith said. �You couldjust tell he was going to be somethingspecial one day because he was a realleader � on and off the floor.�

�He was the type of person, healways came in and worked hard andgave it 100 percent,� college teammateAttarious Norwood said. �He workedlike he always had a point to prove.�

Robinson says that�s because as a 5-foot-7 basketball player you have toplay with a chip on your shoulder. Hewas cut from the basketball team as a

sophomore at Murrah High School inJackson but made the team the nextyear and then became a starter as asenior.

�With my height, I was told I was tooshort since I started playing in the sev-enth grade. I knew I had to prove folkswrong,� Robinson said.

He developed strong a work ethic ata young age, living in Bolton in a ruralsetting with his grandparents until hewas 10. Robinson was required by hisgrandfather to cut the grass and takecare of many other chores.

�He pushed me and instilled a strongwork ethic in me and taught me to be aman and to put God first. There weretimes I didn�t like it or understand it,but, of course, I did as I matured,�Robinson said. �I learned a lot fromhim. He passed away in 2005, a coupleof years after I graduated from Valley.He�s gone but certainly not forgotten.�

Robinson also acquired an attentionto detail from his grandfather. Hepreaches about structure and organiza-tion, and he makes sure those whowork for him follow the same pattern.

�I�m a firm believer that it doesn�ttake money to be organized and struc-tured,� said the Valley AD. �That�s oneof my No. 1 things � I want to makesure we�re organized and structured. Ihave weekly meetings with my staff sowe can all organize our efforts in thesame direction.�

One of Robinson�s biggest projects isfinding the money to fund more footballscholarships so the school can playsome �big money� games againstFootball Bowl Subdivision schools.

Last summer, Mississippi StateUniversity canceled its 2013 openeragainst MVSU because of a rule pro-hibiting FBS teams from counting awin against an FCS team that does notmeet the NCAA�s financial aid require-ments.

Valley falls below the guideline,which requires an FCS team to providescholarships to at least 90 percent of its63-man roster limit over a rolling two-year period. If an FBS team plays anFCS team below that average, its winwill not count toward bowl eligibility.

Robinson said the school funded 41scholarships this past season andhopes to meet the 90 percent standardin two to three years.

The cancellation hits MVSU hard inthe pocketbook because MSU wasscheduled to pay Valley $350,000 forthe game � a payday exceedingValley�s expected football revenue($274,000) for the 2012 fiscal year.

So what does a man with so much onhis plate do away from work? Well,watch sports, read motivational booksand think about work.

�There is never much off time in ath-letics,� he said. �When I�m not reading,I am thinking about ways to build thisprogram.� !

�At the end of the day, it�s not about the size of your budget but winning championships andgraduating your athletes. We plan to work harder and do more with less ...�

Ashley Robinson

Ashley Robinson (3) is pictured here in 2003 during his senior season as MVSU�srecord-setting point guard. He holds the school�s single-season and career records forassists. When hired at Valley in August 2012 at the age of 32, Robinson was theyoungest athletic director at an NCAA Division I school.


Upchurch Plumbing

Looking for next marketWith work and family wrapped

tightly together, a second gen-eration of the Vennis

Upchurch family seeks to move thefamily�s business into the future, contin-uing where their father left off when hepassed away in 1997.

Upchurch Plumbing was a traditionalplumbing, heating and air-conditioningcompany with one truck and one helperthat Vennis Upchurch began in April1970. At the end of that year there werefour employees working full-time.

Now there are approximately 198

employees, down from 264 since theeconomic downturn. It has not stoppedUpchurch, however, from getting somevery big jobs this past year, continuinginto 2013. Current jobs include theUSDA lab renovation at Stoneville;enhancements at the library atMississippi Valley State University;Central Mississippi Crime Lab inJackson; Kirk Auto Complex inGrenada; Wise Center renovations atMississippi State University; Life Helprenovations in Greenwood; LefloreCounty substation in Greenwood; boiler

replacement at the Western CurrencyFacility in Fort Worth, Texas;Thompson Agco, a new facility in Boyle;and the Johnson Commons renovationat the University of Mississippi.

Some recently concluded projects are:Greenwood Leflore Hospital plant reno-vations; HVAC upgrade Phase I atMississippi University for Women inColumbus; and Harlow�s Casino addi-tion and renovation in Greenville.

Mike Upchurch, 53, is vice presidentand is one of four siblings who work inthe business. His brother Robbie, 54, is

president, his brother David, 49, istreasurer, and their sister, CindyHawkins, 48, is secretary.

�It�s a company I feel good about �the people, structure. We are downsiz-ing now, but expect to upsize again,� hesaid.

After successfully navigating a num-ber of business markets � includingcasinos, hospitals, catfish processingand federal prisons � Upchurch is look-ing for new places to go.

�We�re looking for the next market �either one we have been in or a new

43-year-old family company keeps evolving

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS COURTESY OF UPCHURCH PLUMBING

Vennis Upchurch founded Upchurch Plumbing in 1970. Now, his four children run the company: from left, Robbie Upchurch, 54, president; Mike Upchurch, 53, vice presi-dent; Cindy Hawkins, 48, secretary; and David Upchurch, 49, treasurer.


one,� he said.�The federal prisons are tapering off.

We went through catfish, prisons, casi-nos, hospitals. We�re still doing a littlein all arenas but looking for somethingnew.�

Working together as a family is whatthey�ve always done, Mike says: �It�show we grew up. I started working at10 and Robbie at 11.�

When they graduated fromGreenwood High School, both brotherswent to work full-time. David went toMississippi Delta Community Collegeand then began work at the familybusiness. Cindy went to Delta StateUniversity and entered the business.

�We all have different jobs, but wehelp and support one another to keepthe business working,� Mike Upchurchsaid. �When Dad was alive, we dideverything with him � ballgames,hunting, going to church together. Westill do that. It�s the family culture.�

Upchurch says a lot of familiesdepend on the business, and that ismotivation for them to all work hard.

�Dad treated people fair. He instilledthat on us. He respected his employees.It�s the way we try to do it,� he said.

Mike says his father didn�t say a lot,but they could tell he was happy theywere involved in the business. �Weknew he was glad we were here. Wejust knew it.�

Upchurch got into the commercialbusiness in 1972, when they secured ajob in Greenville for Holiday Inn, aswell as renovation of the main branchof the Bank of Greenwood on HowardStreet. They soon spread throughoutthe Delta.

In 1974, the company joined withUniversal Steel Builders of Grenada,which was building a number of facili-ties, particularly manufacturing build-ings, in Memphis and Jackson.Another beneficial partnership waswith Allen Corporation of Indianolahelping to build low income housingprojects around the state and in

Arkansas and Tennessee. They werealso doing many other types of projects,including one for Boeing in Greenvilleand others around the Delta.

In the 1980s, the company concen-trated on catfish processing buildingsand then prisons. In the 1990s, it wasmainly casinos, prisons and VikingRange Corp. �We were fortunate to beable to work with Viking and continueto work with them today,� Upchurchsaid.

In August 2005, the company mobi-lized people to help rebuild the coastafter Hurricane Katrina. The compa-ny also continued to build federal pris-ons as well as casinos, and in 2009, itgot a $16.6 million contract for renova-tion of the McCoy Federal Building inJackson.

It has also completed numerous hos-pital and university projects. �Over thelast 10 years, Upchurch Plumbing hasaveraged starting 64.5 jobs each year,�Mike said.

The company has started two othercompanies in Greenwood � UpchurchBuilding Supply, which they sold in2003, and Upchurch Rental Companyin 2001.

In 2002, the company startedUpchurch Services, Inc. in Oxford, doingHVAC and plumbing services for com-mercial and industrial customers. In2006, it was relocated to Horn Lake, andanother office in Jackson opened in 2009.

�Today we have 50 service trucks and68 field employees working mainly thenorth half of Mississippi, westernTennessee and eastern Arkansas,�Upchurch said.

The company won�t rest on its laurelsbut is ready to go in whatever directionthe market goes. Mike Upchurch sayshe doesn�t just work in the companybecause he needs to; it�s something heloves.

�It�s good to come to work every day,�he said. �It makes you feel good to dosomething that supports so many peo-ple.� !

Projects Upchurch Plumbing has worked on include the McCoy Federal Building inJackson, above, and the Adams County Correctional Facility near Natchez, below.

�We all have different jobs, but we help andsupport one another to keep the business

working. �Mike Upchurch


Turnrow Book Co.

Against the tide

Walking into Turnrow Book Co.is like walking into a brain.There�s the creative side �

from a section labeled �creative truths�to traditional fiction � and there�s theformulaic, organized side, marked byhistories, cookbooks and other referencevolumes.

On tables and shelves, the bookstore�sowners, Jamie and Kelly Kornegay,have made it clear where their ownfavorites lie; there�s a section for

Southern and regional literature, whichpulls from the abundant source of theMississippi Delta, and there�s a wholewall devoted to staff picks, which hun-gry readers check frequently forupdates from employees they�ve come toknow and trust.

The whole business also is comple-mented to the highest degree by thewarm smells of grilled cheese and toma-to soup. With locally baked bread andeasy access to William Faulkner�s �A

Light in August,� how could a place sorife with culture and hominess haveanything to worry about?

In the age of discount America, quitea bit. With companies such as Amazonand Walmart frequently slashing bookprices in half, independent bookstoresacross the country have struggled tokeep customers. Many have been forcedto close. Some have turned to alterna-tive sources of revenue, such as charg-ing customers to attend author readings

and signings, since it�s become common-place for readers to hear an author readat a local bookstore and then go andbuy the book at a better price else-where.

But Jamie Kornegay says Turnrowwill never consider competing for pricesor charging for other services. ForTurnrow, the aim is fostering an atmos-phere that creates a cohesive communi-ty.

�It�s unsustainable for us to beat them

Human touch key to bookstore�s success

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JEANIE RIESS

Jamie Kornegay said that Turnrow Book Co. won't compete with the slashed prices of discount companies like Amazon because it already offers something they don't: anatmosphere where customers can relax, interact and get book recommendations from people who know them.


on price, so we have to excelin every other way we can,�he said. �First, our physicalspace is one of our mostpopular features. And with-in that space, we�ve createdan environment that isfriendly to all members ofthe community and to allideas. This is neutralground, where people of allkinds, or varying opinions,can meet and interactmeaningfully.�

Turnrow has stayed suc-cessful based on the humancomponent of its brick-and-mortar store. Amazon mayrecommend a book to youbased on a computer-gener-ated algorithm, but Jamieor any other Turnrow staffmember can recommend abook based on personalknowledge of the book�s con-tent or personal knowledgeof a customer�s interests.

Kornegay said publisherscommonly pay Amazon topromote certain books overothers. So it�s likely a bookis being advertised to cus-tomers even if its endorse-ment is based solely on acut of cash.

�We purchase, arrangeand display books based noton how much a publisherhas paid us to put themthere, but on their qualityand their significance tolocal readers,� he said.

Hiring a well-read staff isanother way Turnrow pro-vides customers with mean-ingful recommendations,said Kornegay.

�We hire people whoknow about books and whoconstantly read new books,so we�re able to make rec-ommendations based on thetastes of individual cus-tomers,� he said. �We havepeople who live across thecountry who�ve asked us tosend them books of ourchoice regularly becausethey�re confident we knowwhat they enjoy.�

Kornegay went on to saythat including a wide vari-ety of signed books alsohelps keep Turnrow com-petitive with droppingprices.

But lying at the heart ofother companies� priceslashing is the toll it takeson our value of books.

For words to get from anauthor�s head to a reader�spalms, a lot has to happen,and the process involves a

huge number of people.Agents, editors, publicists,printers, carriers, sales rep-resentatives and finallybookstores are all involvedin the distribution of a book,not to mention the author.

�I�d go so far as to saythey�re devaluing books andliterature in this country.We pay the appropriateprice for a book, which goesto pay (all the peopleinvolved),� he said.

The business model thatbig discount companiesemploy relies on ropingcustomers in with lowprices and then convincingthem to buy many moreproducts than they original-ly intended.

�Some of the chains sellbooks at a loss just to getyou into the store, saidKornegay. �They�ll operateat a loss to win you as acustomer.�

Last year, Amazonreceived criticism forencouraging people to gointo brick-and-mortarshops, get recommendationsfrom local shop owners andthen scan the bar codes ofitems with their smart-phones to find better pricesonline.

�Who gets rewarded forthe work there?� askedKornegay.

Ultimately, though,Kornegay is confidentenough about whatTurnrow offers toGreenwood to have faith inits continued success. Byproviding the communitywith a space that�s consis-tently warm, inviting anddiverse, the bookstore hasbecome a center of not onlyGreenwood but a largerDelta community.

Supporting businesseslike that of whatever ilk isimportant, Kornegay said.

�Whether it�s books,apparel, food, jewelry or anyother type of store we havein Greenwood, the questioncomes down to this: �Am Iglad this store is in mytown?�� he said. �If theanswer is yes, then youshould support it. Whatwould we have without thestores and services inGreenwood? A town is notan assembly of ports youcan plug into and get every-thing you need shipped in.It�s a symbiotic relation-ship.� !

�We purchase, arrange and display books based not on how much a publisher has paid us toput them there, but on their quality and their significance to local readers.�

Jamie Kornegay

Turnrow's "Creative Truths" section highlights favorites from the literary nonfiction genre. The shelves arelined with recommendations for all kinds of readers from Turnrow employees who have read each book.


Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice

Answering callLike most entrepreneurs, Clara

Reed saw a need and decided tofill it.

The 70-year-old CEO of Mid-DeltaHome Health and Hospice, which isheadquartered in Belzoni, has madetaking care of sick, often elderly, peopleher life�s work for the past 35 years.

�As a nurse, I saw the frequency ofreadmissions to the hospital of patientsrecently discharged � often becausethey didn�t know how to manage theirillness,� she said. �I made a decision todo home care.�

Besides the vision she had of helpingothers, she also hoped to spend moretime at home with her two children.That part didn�t work out too well, shesaid with a smile, although both her sonand daughter work with her in thebusiness of health care.

She quickly learned there was somuch more than just the health carepart. �When you own your own busi-ness, you have to do everything �staffing, marketing, payroll,� she said.

She started with just herself and fourpart-time employees.

�I had no assets to borrow on,� shesaid. �It was March of 1978. I was justable to get $2,000, and I used it to buygas and see patients. I couldn�t bill forservices until August. I kept up withemployees� time and paid them whenwe began to get paid.

�In August we got approved by theMississippi Board of Health and got aprovider number. I literally droveclaims to Jackson. During Septemberwe started to get paid. Before the end ofthe year we started to get salaries. Wehaven�t missed a paycheck since then.�

Now Reed�s companies have around850 employees. In addition to profes-sional nurses and therapists, she isproud of having helped train some peo-ple formerly on welfare for various jobs.

�Some of them are still with us,� shesaid.

Her companies include the homehealth care and hospice agency, anadult day care and a durable medicaldevices company, as well as a personalcare group, supervised by registerednurses.

�We didn�t want to get into medical

Reed has provided care for sick, elderly since 1978


Clara Reed has run Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice since she founded it in 1978. Now she�s planning to slow down and pass more of the work to her children.


equipment, but many people did nothave insurance or the ability to pay,�she said. �A lot of patients wanted todonate equipment back to us.�

Her company also owns Mid-DeltaHome Health of Louisiana, in Vidalia,and in April 2011 acquired QualityHome Health Inc. in Bastrop, La.

Home care is especially importantnow, with the Affordable Health CareAct going into effect, Reed said. Thereare penalties to hospitals that readmitpatients for the same illness within 30days, so there is more need to teachpatients how to care for themselves,Reed said.

One asset in the battle of managingchronic illness is technology, Reed said.Her company uses telemonitoring toremind patients to weigh themselves,eat, take their medications and moni-tor their oxygen levels.

�It�s all done to promote patients�learning to take care of themselves,�she said.

Mid-Delta also uses the ZOE system� a box with an EKG program withelectrodes � to monitor congestiveheart failure.

�It tells us two weeks ahead of thenormal time if a patient is beginning tobuild up fluid and we can intervene,�Reed said. �It decreases emergencyroom visits.�

The focus of Mid-Delta is the wholepatient, she said: �They may be diabet-

ic but may have something else goingon. You have to pay attention to symp-toms early.�

Mid-Delta offers services in psychi-atric nursing, occupational, speech, res-piratory and physical therapy, diabeticfoot care, enterostomal therapy, servic-es by a registered dietitian and otherservices as needed.

Since not everyone is suited to homecare, nurse turnover is high, Reed said.

�We have about 100 to 150 nurses,�she said. �Home care pay is higher insome areas, but paperwork is hard. Ittakes a special person. There is no oneto come behind you, like in the hospi-tal. You have to be thinking ahead. It�snot just what you see, but what couldhappen.�

Reed feels some patients could bemanaged at home and not have to gointo nursing homes if they had a care-giver.

Leflore and Carroll counties are twoof the 22 Reed�s company serves withboth home health and hospice servicesFour others are served for hospiceneeds. Mid-Delta has recently pur-chased the old Western Sizzlin buildingon U.S. 82 in Greenwood and is trans-forming it to house a personal careservice.

Mid-Delta Home Health is the firstand only home health agency inMississippi to become dually accreditedby the Community Health

Accreditation Program Inc. and theJoint Commission on Accreditation ofHealthcare Organization. Mid-Deltaalso underwent a rigorous evaluationby the Joint Commission onAccreditation of HealthcareOrganizations in 1995 and was giventhe highest level of commendation fromthe nation�s largest accrediting body.

In 2009, Reed was inducted into theMississippi Business Hall of Fame, justone of her numerous awards.

Reed plans to slow down this nextyear and turn over much of the work toothers � husband Henry Reed Jr., sonHenry Reed III and daughter PamelaReed Redd.

�I want to go fishing,� she said.Not one to just sit down, however,

she has another calling.About eight years ago, she felt a call

to become a minister and completedgraduate studies from Wesley BiblicalSeminary in Jackson. She currentlyserves as pastor of Upper RoomFellowship Ministries and is enrolled inTrinity Theological Seminary inBelzoni, to further her seminary stud-ies.

She had no idea when she beganwhat would happen,and how large hercompany would grow.

�I was young and foolish,� she said.�It wasn�t about making a living. It wasabout serving needs. I�ve enjoyed all ofit.� !

Mid-Delta Home Health and Hospice offers adult daycare at its facility in Belzoni.

�As a nurse, I saw thefrequency of readmis-sions to the hospital ofpatients recently dis-

charged � oftenbecause they didn�t

know how to managetheir illness. I made adecision to do home

care.�Clara Reed


Drake Waterfowl Systems

Drake-ologyTate Wood remembers the first

year of Drake Waterfowl Systemsas lean times.

The 47-year-old Greenwood nativeand 1983 graduate of Pillow Academyrecalls all too well struggling to put themoney together to travel the UnitedStates to promote their product samplesin 2002.

�I can remember going to that changejar you never think you�re going to needto put gas in my car,� said Wood, whoco-founded the duck hunting supplycompany with fellow Greenwood nativeBobby �Bejae� Windham Jr., also a 47-year-old 1983 Pillow graduate.

The co-owners went 11 months with-out a paycheck in 2001 while they puttogether their first line made up of eightapparel products. It was apparent earlythat their hard work, smart designsand sacrifice would pay off when theirdoor-to-door sales efforts led to 150independent retailers adding the Drakebrand in-season.

In that first year, Wood and Windhamdid it all, including answering thephone, writing orders, building theirown show booth and taking out thetrash.

�When you start a business, everyoneneeds to have an all-hands-on-deck atti-tude,� Wood said.

At the end of their first selling season,the company hired a graphic designerto join the group.

Fast forward 10 years, and Drakeemploys 13 in its marketing/sales officein Olive Branch, has 20 sales repsaround the country and produces 4,500different items from clothing to decoysand from blind bags to footwear.

The company is the biggest namebrand in waterfowl apparel outside ofthe big box retailers such as Bass Proand Cabela�s, which have their own pri-vate clothing lines but still offer Drakeproducts.

Windham says Drake sales havegrown an average of 22 percent everyyear and have doubled over the lastthree years. This past year, Drake soldproducts to 870 retail locations in 40states.

�We have been able to achieve thisgrowth by offering products that duckhunters wanted because we are duckhunters. We differentiated our productsin the marketplace from day one andkeep our line fresh for the consumers byoffering different product features that

Pillow grads turned �Delta boy common sense� into business

Greenwood natives Tate Wood, left, and Bobby Windham Jr. stand in Windham�s Olive Branch office. The two Pillow Academygraduates formed Drake Waterfowl Systems more than 10 years ago and have grown it into a hugely successful business.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BILL BURRUS


we wanted to use ourselves,� Windhamsaid. �Take our quarter Eqwaderpullover, for instance. Nobody had awaterproof arm and chest area with abreathable body, and now people all overthe world wear and use this product.

�Plain and simple, it�s just some goodol� Mississippi Delta duck huntingexperience coupled with hard workthat has paid off.�

Wood sums it up neatly: �Good ol�Delta boy common sense.�

Windham and Wood have been goodfriends since meeting in the sixth gradeat Bankston Elementary School. Theirrelationship grew through their highschool years and then culminated in2001 when they decided to developtheir own company based around theirpassion for duck hunting.

That�s when the term Drake-ologywas first coined. What started out asnothing more than a buzzword aroundthe office has evolved into the science of

how the company develops each prod-uct. It�s where generations of duckhunting experience meet today�s tech-nological advances.

Rather than trying to be all things toall hunters, Wood and Windham start-ed this company with a pursuit-specificbrand. They introduced Ol� TomTechnical Gear in 2005 for turkeyhunters and then RutWear Non-Typical Gear for deer and big gamehunters the following year.

In 2010, Drake increased its footwearline to include several different types ofwaders, boots and shoes and started itsMigration Nation, a Web communitysupported by a television show thatairs 26 times a year on the SportsmanChannel.

The biggest recent explosion forDrake has been its stylish Waterfowler365 line, a casual sportswear collectionthat hit stores in 2012. The lineincludes shirts, vests, fleece pullovers

and hoodies, pants and shorts. Drake also has a line of Mississippi

State University-licensed clothes thatfeatures the company�s distinctive logoand an MSU logo on shirts, vests,pullovers and coats. That deal startedin 2011, and the company now has alicensing agreement with theUniversity of Southern Mississippi andwill be putting out a University ofMississippi line this fall.

The partnership for Windham andWood has blossomed through the years,and Wood says the sky is the limit forwhere Drake can go in the future.

�Several years back, I would occa-sionally worry about our running out ofideas. Since then, I�ve come to realizethat�s never going to happen. Ideaswe�ve got plenty of. It�s executing yourideas that separates most companies,�Wood said. �When we decided to startDrake, we had both been around theblock enough times to know trust is the

most important part of a partnership.Along with trust, it�s critical you eachhave similar values. Having been closefriends for 30 years, we knew we coulddepend on one another and what toexpect.

�This is a great partnership becauseBejae and I are blessed to have com-pletely opposite skill sets that comple-ment one another�s strengths andweaknesses.�

Another thing they share, outside of apassion for duck hunting and good busi-ness sense, is a knack for tinkering andimproving things. That�s how they keepbuilding on their innovative designs tokeep the Drake brand growing.

Wood�s love of duck hunting sproutedat an early age under the tutelage ofhis father, Avery Wood, who before hisdeath in 2001 was one of Greenwood�smost knowledgeable duck hunters.Now Tate is passing it on to his 12-year-old son, Wil. !

�Plain and simple, it�s just some good ol�Mississippi Delta duck hunting experience coupledwith hard work that has paid off.�

Bobby �Bejae� Windham Jr.

Drake Waterfowl Systems co-founders Tate Wood, left, and Bobby Windham, both 47, have been good friends since the sixth grade and business partners since 2001.


Baptist Town

Revival

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN

The redevelopment of Greenwood�shistoric Baptist Town communi-ty, which started more than four

years ago, is proceeding at a rapid pace,according to officials with the program.

The city has finished rehabbing 12homes there in partnership with theFuller Center for Housing, saidGreenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams.

That program, which totaled some

$60,000, was completed in December. Itis just part of a larger $209,000 grantfrom the Foundation for the Mid Southfor the community.

The next element � beautifying theentrances to Baptist Town � will usethe remaining $149,000 in grant fundsfor landscaping and lighting, McAdamssaid. Work is expected to begin soon.

Brantley Snipes, the executive direc-

tor of Main Street Greenwood, whoearned a master�s degree in landscapearchitecture from North Carolina StateUniversity, is serving as landscapedesigner.

�What we�re doing is working to cre-ate an identity for the communitythrough the landscape,� Snipes said.

Beautification projects will be cen-tered on Avenue A, Pelican Avenue and

Pearl Street.�We are looking at streetscape ele-

ments to reflect the character of thecommunity,� Snipes said of the yearlongproject.

Those efforts include street lighting,road striping, crosswalks and the instal-lation of sidewalks at each of the entry-ways. Plans also call for a �pocketpark,� which will feature outdoor seat-

Historic community�s redevelopment on fast track

Greenwood�s historic Baptist Town community has a rich musical history. Efforts to improve the community in terms of housing and beautification are beginning to bear fruit.


ing, at the corner of McCain Street andStephens Avenue.

In addition, McAdams said, work onplacing nine �Katrina cottages� inBaptist Town is slowly proceeding.These are the type of houses that wereused to replace Federal EmergencyManagement Agency trailers on theGulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

The Mississippi EmergencyManagement Agency has given itsapproval for the cottages to be used aspermanent homes, and the GreenwoodZoning Board has already approvedvariances for their placement.McAdams said the project is in thehands of the Greenwood HousingAuthority.

Gregory Flippens, director of theHousing Authority, said the plans toplace eight two-bedroom cottages andone three-bedroom one in Baptist Townare proceeding.

Under the agreement with MEMA,the houses will be made available fortwo years under a lease-purchase agree-ment with the Housing Authority.

Flippens said the Housing Authoritywill execute an agreement with thefoundation regarding the cost associatedwith moving the cottages to their sites,attaching them to foundations, con-structing driveways and walkways anddoing landscaping.

The Housing Authority will managethe cottages on a day-to-day basis andwill provide homeownership readinesstraining for families who lease them.Flippens said the Housing Authoritywould require that work be completedwithin 45 days once a contract is execut-ed.

Emily Roush Elliott, an EnterpriseRose Fellow with EnterpriseCommunity Partners Inc. of Boston, isworking on the Baptist Town project inconjunction with the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic DevelopmentFoundation and the Carl Small TownCenter of the School of Architecture atMississippi State University.

�It�s going great,� she said. �I can�tbelieve how open and excited people are.�

Elliott, who will be working on rede-veloping Baptist Town for the next threeyears, said the placement of the cottagesis a paramount concern simply becausethey offer a tangible demonstration of

outside efforts to help.She complimented the Harvard

Group, a group of students from theKennedy School of Government whobegan working in Baptist Town in 2009and brought the residents of BaptistTown the feeling of solidarity.

McAdams said this is the final yearfor the Harvard Group�s involvementsince the goals it set have been largelyaccomplished.

�This project is one of the main rea-sons we were given Emily,� the mayorsaid.

Robert Benford, a resident of BaptistTown for 40 years, said he�s seen theneighborhood transformed from a com-

munity of shotgun houses to one litteredwith vacant lots and back again to acommunity with families.

For Benford, a retired Greenwood FireDepartment battalion chief, the workstarted in 2009 is beginning to takeshape.

�Everything seems like it is going towork,� he said.

The efforts at revitalization are appre-ciated, Benford said: �You�ve got to givesomebody a chance.�

Still, he said, homeowners will ulti-mately be responsible for Baptist Town�sfuture.

�Actions speak louder than words,�Benford said. !

�What we�re doing isworking to create anidentity for the com-munity through the

landscape.�Brantley Snipes

Brantley Snipes, executive director of Main Street Greenwood, is serving as landscape designer for the Baptist Town project.Here, she inspects new crosswalk striping at the intersection of Pearl and McLemore streets at one of Baptist Town�s entrances.


Greenwood-Leflore County Branding Campaign

Asense of place

Aroom full of Greenwood andLeflore County residents sat inthe main conference room of the

Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber ofCommerce last spring to toss out ideasabout what it means to live here.

They talked about how people in theregion unite for common causes. Theytalked about community involvement

and volunteering. They talked aboutthe spirit of Greenwood and the placesthey eat and drink and socialize. Butlying under all of those concrete detailsof living here was something unspokenand impossible to define, said AngelaCurry, executive director of theGreenwood-Leflore-Carroll EconomicDevelopment Foundation.

�We asked people, �What do you thinkof the community you live in?� And ofcourse we got really good feedback,� sheexplained. �But we also noticed that alot of the community members weresaying the same things, and they wouldend with, �It�s just so ... Delta.��

That tagline was quickly appropriat-ed to represent Greenwood as part of

the city�s new branding campaign.According to Beth Stevens, executivedirector of the Chamber of Commerce,the need to rebrand Greenwood cameout of a desire on the part of the city�svarious entities to provide a more cohe-sive identity.

�We all have different audiences, butwe are all working toward the same

New website presents unified imageThe website at the heart of the county�s new branding campaign went online in October.

STORY BY JEANIE RIESS ! PHOTOS BY JEANIE RIESS, JOHNNY JENNINGS AND ANDY LO


thing,� said Stevens. Stevens said the original idea was a

centralized website for the chamber,Main Street Greenwood, the EconomicDevelopment Foundation, theConvention and Visitors Bureau andthe city. But when the heads of thosegroups got together to dream up whata website for all five of them would looklike, they realized that they need to goback to the drawing board and rebrandthe city and the county.

�We asked ourselves, �How are we

going to pull this all together?�� saidStevens. �A few months into theprocess of actually doing the website,we realized we all had a different colorscheme, a different look. We had toredesign our brand.�

The Economic DevelopmentFoundation received a grant of$145,000 from the Foundation for theMid South to develop a marketing planthat would include a new comprehen-sive website for the county, the city,tourism, economic development, Main

Street Greenwood and the Chamber ofCommerce.

The meetings, said Curry, were aseries of �Charrettes� � forums forfeedback from local stakeholders � inwhich two design firms in charge of theproject asked attendees to describewhat makes Greenwood Greenwood.

The key here, said Curry, was thatboth designers were outsiders. RandyWilson, whose design firm, CommunityDesign Solutions, is based in Columbia,S.C., teamed up with Chicago-based

John Maldreaux of Maldreaux andAssociates to come up with a taglineand marketing campaign that wouldinstantly say, �That�s Greenwood.�

�Sometimes it takes someone elsecoming in and saying, �Wow, this is areally great community,�� said Curry.

The power of the brand is in its sim-ple, coherent statement: �That�s SoDelta� says what cannot be said aboutGreenwood � the city is a world apart,a place you have to visit to truly under-stand. Never mind stereotypes,

�The Delta in itself is a unique place. Even with the obstacles characteristic ofthe Delta, though, I think Greenwood has been able to progress. I think that

only speaks to the united front and our willingness to unite, to make this com-munity a really good community.�

Angela Curry


Greenwood is wholly original. �Those words always seemed to come

out. �It�s just so Delta,� or �That�s socharacteristic of this place,�� said Curry.�That�s what the Delta is known for �its culture and cohesiveness.�

But why should one city be emblem-atic of the whole Delta?

�We were a little bit conceited in ourassumption that we epitomized theDelta,� said Stevens, laughing. �Butwe�re OK with that. Greenwood, wefeel, stands out in the crowd. It has alot of things going for it. I�ve had a lot ofother towns say that�s such a greattagline, but we got it first.�

Greenwood as a stand-in for thewhole Delta, Curry said, is a touchysubject, but she agrees that the town�ssuccess speaks for itself. The city is oneof the few Delta towns that hostshomegrown industry, from VikingRange Corp. to Staplcotn to local busi-nesses and restaurants.

�The Delta in itself is a unique place.Even with the obstacles characteristicof the Delta, though, I thinkGreenwood has been able to progress. Ithink that only speaks to the unitedfront and our willingness to unite, tomake this community a really goodcommunity. We�ve seen other areas of

the state decline. And we always getthe comment, �You all seem to be doingso much better than other places,��Curry explained.

She went on to say that a huge partof that success is as simple as using theresources you already have, ratherthan throwing all of your energy intorecruiting talent from afar.

�It�s using your assets, using your oldbuildings, using the talented people inyour community to create jobs,� shesaid. �That sets Greenwood apart.�

Curry paused a moment andlaughed: �Of course, you have otherplaces that say the same thing!�

So far, feedback from the communityand beyond has been positive. Nearly300 people from all across the commu-nity attended the website�s launchparty in October, and Curry said thatthe branding package has been usefulin selling Greenwood to potential visi-tors and businesses.

�It�s useful in advertising and pro-moting our community,� Curryexplained, �because now, you�re goingto see the same design, and that�s thewhole point. When the chamber doesan ad, it has to adhere to our brandingreport. You have to use a certain font,photo and look.�

Curry said that a brand serves toidentify a community.

�No matter where you are or whereyou go, if you see �That�s so Delta,� youknow that�s Greenwood. And we wantpeople to see it over and over,� she said.

But for branding to be successful,everyone, from all branches of the com-munity, has to come together. The oft-mentioned �two Greenwoods� must beone, something that both chamber rep-resentatives feel has been very success-ful.

�You�ve got to get the entire commu-nity to share their thoughts on thisthing, and that�s what we did from thevery beginning,� said Curry.

Stevens said that the branding com-panies were successful in getting differ-ent parts of the community to add valu-able feedback to the initiative.

�It�s very inclusive,� she said. �We�reall striving for the same thing. We�re allworking toward the same goal.Regardless of where you live or thecolor of your skin, we�re all in thistogether.

�And at the end of the day, that�swhat makes a good community. All ofour organizations have a great abilityto bring all of the different sectors tothe same table.� !

�We�re all striving forthe same thing. We�reall working toward the

same goal.�Beth Stevens

Thomas Gregory, second from right, the city of Greenwood�s chief administrative officer, shows the county�s new unified website to, from left, Brianna Elam-Perryman, CharlesRobinson and Leflore County Supervisor Wayne Self during the website�s launch party last October.


Leflore County Schools

Fresh opportunities

In August, the Leflore CountySchool District added health sci-ences and Junior Reserve Officers�

Training Corps to its curriculum. Instructors Beverly Quinn and Sgt.

1st Class Dwight Washington say theknowledge and confidence their stu-dents have gained in the past fewmonths are prompting them to raisetheir expectations.

Quinn, the health science instructorat Leflore County High School, servedas the district�s nurse for seven years.One day in 2012, Dr. Viola Williams

McCaskill, the district�s superintendentof education, asked her to considerteaching the soon-to-be-launchedcourse.

Quinn said she�s beginning to get thehang of teaching.

�It�s getting better. It�s like I�m learn-ing a new career,� she said.

In fact, she is once again a studentherself, because she has to take classesto be a health science instructor.

Quinn took on the job of developingthe district�s health science curriculumfrom the ground up and accepted a

teaching position despite a seeminglyinsurmountable hurdle � no budget.

That might have stopped others intheir tracks, but Quinn simply turnedto her contacts at Greenwood LefloreHospital � Key Britt, the hospital�sassociate director of administrativeservices, and William Massey, directorof material control. The hospital endedup donating items worth several thou-sands of dollars to the program.

�They donated seven hospital bedsand a bunch of equipment to get myprogram started,� Quinn said. �Without

them, I wouldn�t have these beds. Iwouldn�t have that Dynamap, whichchecks blood pressure and such.�

The program is open to any studentswho are interested in careers in healthcare, not just in nursing. One studentdropped the course early, but 15 stu-dents � eight from Leflore CountyHigh and seven from Amanda ElzyHigh � are still in it.

Several of her students want tobecome nurses, but others are interest-ed in a variety of health-related jobs,including athletic training, dental

New programs bring higher expectationsBeverly Quinn, left, is now the instructor of the Leflore County School District�s health science program, which is located at Leflore County High School. This year, Quinn isteaching students about careers in health care. Here Quinn is seen with some of her students, from left, Zaria Crockett, Ladarius Stewart, Sarah Shinn, Romonia Harper andStephanie Ramsey.



hygiene and social work.�I teach anatomy and physiolo-

gy, but in it, I throw in my nurs-ing skills or health care skills,�she said. �I teach them how tocheck vital signs, how to use theequipment and basic nursingskills.�

The two-year course, which isopen to 10th- and 11th-graders,has high standards. Each stu-dent must average �C�s andabove and not have a record ofdisciplinary problems.

�They�ve got to want to behere,� she said.

Initially, some studentsthought the class, which runstwo periods, would be an easy�A,� but it takes hard work,Quinn said.

�Right now, we�re learning allthe different parts of the heart,�she said. �They are going to haveto learn about the function of theheart. We�re doing real anatomyand physiology. We also havefun, too.�

Quinn said the training givesthe students an edge to continuetheir health care training upongraduation.

�I give them a little edgebecause I�ve been out in theworking world,� she said. �Theycan relate to me. I can tell themstories and teach about the expe-riences that I�ve gone through inthe nursing field.�

In addition to classroomhands-on instruction, Quinnsaid, her classes take field tripseach month to see health profes-sionals at work. Already they�vevisited the hospital, a nursinghome and a dentist�s office.

�When we toured the hospital,we went to medical records,billing, where they do the com-puters, central supply,� she said.�Health care is just not nursesand doctors.�

Quinn, who earned her degreein nursing from the Universityof Mississippi Medical Center,has worked in health care for 20years, including hospital, homehealth and clinic settings.Becoming a school nurse,responsible for the district�sseven schools, made sense sim-ply because it was easier toschedule time with her family.

Quinn said she�s seen her stu-dents catch onto the idea of ahealth care career.

�We�re required in this class tobuy scrubs. When these kids puton those scrubs, they wear theirscrubs like on our field trips orfor anything special that we do,�she said. �They think they havehung the moon. They love put-ting on those scrubs; they lovewalking around on campus.They make them feel impor-tant.�

Quinn said she�s alreadypreparing to recruit prospectivestudents for next year in a fewmonths.

�I give them a little edge because I�ve been out in theworking world. They can relate to me. I can tell them sto-

ries and teach about the experiences that I�ve gone throughin the nursing field.�

Beverly Quinn


v v v

Sgt. 1st Class Dwight Washingtonsaid the Junior ROTC program atAmanda Elzy High School has come along way since August.

�When I first got here, really, nobodywanted to be in the program,� he said.�Then, when I started explaining tothem the things that we were going tobe doing, how this program can be ben-eficial to them, then that caused a fewmore to say, �OK, I might want to stayin this thing.��

The esprit de corps of the unit isinfectious. �There are a lot more whowant to get in now, but it�s too late inthe year,� Washington said.

Washington, 48, a veteran infantry-man, served 22 years with the Army,later serving as an instructor and as arecruiter. He spent five years as aJunior ROTC instructor in the Jacksonschool district before coming toAmanda Elzy.

Now he has 44 students in the dis-trict�s Junior ROTC program, with allbut one coming from Amanda Elzy.

The program, which is open to stu-dents in ninth through 12th grades,provides five hours of instruction andphysical training per week. If a studentcompletes two years of the program, itreplaces the normal physical educationand health component.

The cost of the program is borne bythe district this year, but the U.S.Army will underwrite successive years.

Washington said he�s honest withthose students who are interested inenrolling.

�It�s going to get tough. But you�vegot to keep pushing on,� he said. �Inorder for you to be successful, there aregoing to be obstacles in life. You can�tquit.�

Washington said students have a dif-ferent walk when they wear their uni-forms. Putting on the uniforms trans-forms them, both both mentally andphysically, he said. Still, often class-mates not in the program ridicule them.

�I�ve got some kids that don�t want towear the uniform because other kidspoke fun at them: �Oh, you�re wearingthe pickle suit,�� Washington said.

�I try to get mine to understand ��Let them talk about the pickle suit,��he said. �You tell them that uniformhas a lot of history. You explain to themthat is the uniform that our young menand women wear across the world, indifferent locations, who are fighting forthis country so that you and I can be ina free country. Freedom is not free.

�When you put that uniform on,you�re putting on history, every singletime you wear it,� Washington said.

Students in Junior ROTC advancethrough four levels of Leadership,Education and Training, known asLET.

In LET I, they are introduced to basicconcepts of military doctrine and physi-cal training. In LET II, they receivemore advanced training. By the time ofLET III begins, Washington said, he�salready groomed the most promisingstudents to staff the unit�s battalioncommander and battalion executiveofficer positions.

Washington said it was fortunatethat two established Junior ROTC stu-dents � a LET IV and a LET II �

transferred into the school district atthe beginning of the school year.

Three days of classroom instruction� Monday, Wednesday and Friday �are balanced with military dress anddrill on Tuesday and physical trainingon Thursday, he said.

The program hones the students�abilities and gives them focus. It alsohelps the students work on their com-munication skills and helps make themmore well-rounded.

�Our mission is to motivate youngpeople to be better citizens,� he said.

Upon completion of the four-year pro-gram, students are eligible to apply forappointment to the service college oftheir choice, not just West Point.

Washington said his students partici-pated in marching in the Roy MartinDelta Band Festival and ChristmasParade in December and are lookingforward to the next one.

They also credit him for making adifference in their lives, he said.

�A lot of them have told me theywant to be just like me. I tell them tobe better,� he said. !

Sgt. 1st Class Dwight Washington is the Junior Reserve Officers� Training Corps instructor at Amanda Elzy High School. This year, Washington is providing 44 students withmilitary instruction and physical training. Washington stands in front of an image of the school�s fighting Panther mascot, which was done by his students.


Agriculture

Still No. 1Although corn and

peanuts may have com-manded the headlines,

the simple soybean remainsLeflore County�s top crop.

�Acreagewise it�s going to besoybeans and then corn,� saidJerry Singleton, an agent withthe Leflore County ExtensionService.

In official numbers for 2011,soybeans accounted for 95,000acres, corn came in at 69,000acres and cotton was third with42,000 acres.

In 2012�s unofficial numbers,soybean production jumped toan estimated 110,000 acres, andcorn increased to 74,000 acres.As in 2011, cotton came in thirdwith 27,000 acres.

In fact, Singleton said, withthe sole exception of 2001, soy-beans have remained in the topspot in terms of planting eachyear since 1995.

He said the combination ofhigh prices and good yieldsmakes soybeans and corn goodprospects compared to cotton.

�You pencil out a better profitthan with cotton right now,� hesaid.

He expects to see cottonacreage drop off again this year� a drop of 50 percent from2012. By contrast, he said, thecounty had approximately 850acres of grain sorghum andanother 850 acres of peanuts in2012.

Bud Tate, general manager ofFarmers Grain Terminal, saidthat although the largestincrease in acreage will be forsoybeans, corn is still a big play-er.

�In 2007, 930,000 acres of cornwere planted in Mississippi.That�s the most I can rememberin my career,� he said. �In 2012,that number was around700,000 acres.�

Still, with some farmers aver-aging 200 bushels of corn peracre and with a price of $6 perbushel, corn is a natural choice,Tate said.

Yields on corn have rangedfrom a low of 150 bushels peracre to a high of 230 bushels, he

Soybean continues reign as county�s top crop

STORY BY BOB DARDEN ! PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

A combine makes a pass in a soybean field during harvest time. Soybeans are the top crop in Leflore County, according to farmers,because the beans command a high price and have lower growing costs than other crops.


Despite good prices for corn and peanuts, most farmers in Leflore County have consistently chosen to grow soybeans, seen here in the field before picking.


said. Typically, soybeanyields are running around60 bushels per acre, Tatesaid.

Farmers would have toconsider input costs of soy-beans and corn in theirplanting decisions. Thosecosts run between $500and $750 per acre respec-tively.

Farmer Ricky Belk saidhe�s planning to go withcorn in a big way this year.

�I�ll probably be about 85percent corn. The price oncorn is good, and the fertil-izer has gotten a littlecheaper,� he said.

Belk said an added bene-fit with corn is that theherbicides used in treatingit are good at taking care ofpersistent weeds, such aspigweed.

He said he�s heard of var-ious yields but has nevergotten near 200 bushels ofcorn per acre.

�There were some goodcrops around here; I�venever had one that high,though,� Belk said.

Farmer Mike Sturdivantsaid that although there�sbeen a heavy push to cornand soybeans, he�s stillplanning to plant some cot-ton this year along withsome grain sorghum.

�Price is driving the soy-beans and the cornbecause of our infrastruc-ture. With corn, you�ve gotto have a separate cornhead for your combine, andyou need a lot of trucks,�he said.

He said other farmersare making similar calcula-tions based upon theirexpected yields and theirability to handle the cropat harvest time.

�With 200 bushels ofcorn versus 60 bushels ofsoybeans, you�ve got thatmany more trucks, thatmany more trips to make,�Sturdivant said.

Although cotton is nearthe bottom in acreagecountywide, Sturdivantsaid he has no regretsabout sticking with it, par-ticularly since the farmingoperation has a cotton ginas part of its infrastruc-ture. Still, he said it�s�debatable� whether cottonwill come back as a majorcrop in the Delta.

�We�re going to try it forone more year,� he said.

Farm manager GeorgeJeffords, who works forfarmer Tommy Gary, saidhis crop mix is still uncer-tain.

He said corn plantingcould start as soon as thelast week of February. !

�Acreagewise it�s going to be soybeans andthen corn. ... You pencil out a better profit

(with those crops) than with cotton right now.�

Jerry Singleton

Bobby Pierce, a control operator with Farmers Grain Terminal, surveys the grain board inside the grain elevator. The board, which Pierce callshis �bible,� provides information about the amount of corn and soybeans stored within the elevator�s 147 bins, along with other critical details,such as moisture content within each bin.


Shane Sanders Tree Service

STORY BY BOB DARDEN ! PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN AND LINDA BASSIE

Shane Sanders didn�t start off withthe idea of making a living bycutting trees; the idea just grew

on him over time.Now, Shane Sanders Tree Service

employs five people in both Minter Cityand Greenwood. The business, muchlike an acorn, started small and hasgrown over the past 11 years.

To hear Sanders tell it, it all started

with a bucket truck.�Me and my daddy, Johnny Sanders,

we were in the construction business,building houses together,� said Sanders,34. �We bought a bucket truck to workon some buildings.�

Sanders, who has also worked as acar and heavy equipment salesman, didlandscaping work with a bulldozer anda backhoe before his dad got the bucket

truck, but the addition of the truck real-ly expanded business opportunities.Soon Sanders was using it to trim treeson the side, and business picked up.

�It took me about three years to real-ly get rolling � to get the business upto where it could stand on its own,� hesaid.

Now the business boasts four buckettrucks, most of which are garaged at

the company�s Greenwood location onLaSalle Street.

The Minter City location is conven-ient to Sanders, who lives in MinterCity.

Over the years, Johnny Sanders hascontinued to help his son with the busi-ness.

For the company�s first four years,Sanders said, his father and another

Sanders didn�t intend to start tree-cutting businessShane Sanders, the owner of Shane Sanders Tree Service, says his business has grown over the past 11 years because of the pride he and his crew take in their work.

An ideathat grew


worker helped. Since then, busi-ness has continued to grow andprosper, and more employeeshave been added. In 2010, oncebusiness was beginning to hum,Sanders opened the Greenwoodlocation in order to be more cen-trally located, he said.

Sanders said his businessbenefits from positive word-of-mouth from his customers.

�Everybody in Greenwoodknows me now, since I�ve beenhere so long. It�s just picked upeverywhere,� he said.

Sanders said his tree trim-ming business serves people inarea cities including Greenville,Grenada, Winona, Clarksdale,Sumner, Webb and Charleston.

He has handled jobs for theU.S. Army Corps of Engineersbut prefers doing residentialwork because it involves lesspaperwork.

Sanders said he�s also devel-oped a lucrative sideline withhis tree business � selling fire-wood.

Contractors are required bylaw to dispose of branches andtree trunks from a job siterather than simply puttingthem out on curb for pickup.Since most homeowners justwant the debris removed, it is asimple matter of splitting the

more salvageable pieces of atree into firewood. The unus-able remainder is taken to thelandfill for final disposal.

Not only does repurposingthe wood provide an economicalway to get rid of the unwantedtrees, but it also gives Sanders�employees something to do overthe winter months, when busi-ness slacks off because of wetweather.

Even in winter, business cansometimes be brisk, thanks tothe occasional winter storm.

�We stay busy year �round. Inthe winter, we�ll get a highwind or a storm or whateverand business picks up tremen-dously,� he said.

Sanders said his crews havea way to get onto soggy groundwithout leaving a mark.Plywood planks are placed onthe ground, and the heavytrucks can roll into an area sat-urated with rain.

�We never make a track,� hesaid.

Sanders said his businesshas taken off because �we takea lot of pride in what we do.�

It never fails: The more workhe does, the more businesscomes his way.

�The more calls I get, thebusier it makes me,� he said. !

�It took me about three years to really get rolling � to get the business up to where it couldstand on its own.�

Shane Sanders

Mike Parker, an employee of Shane Sanders Tree Service, uses a chainsaw on some downed limbs.

Mark Warfield cuts limbs from a bucket truck. The company�s origins sprang from the purchase ofsuch a truck.


Mission Hope


Giveand take

The purpose of Mission Hope ofWinona is to save people fromhunger and want of life�s neces-

sities, such as clothing and householdgoods, but it did quite a lot for its co-directors, Randy and Mandy Dees, aswell.

�I went straight into the woods towork as a logger as soon as I graduatedfrom high school,� Randy said. �Iworked at it a long time, but the indus-try was going down because of high fuelcosts and low timber prices. I told theLord, �I need to get out of this. I need

Ministry has been blessingto workers, too

Mission Hope co-directors Mandy and Randy Dees stand behind bags being preparedfor people who need food assistance.


something else to do.��He set a date when he would be out

of logging, and within a couple of days,someone had called from the CarrollMontgomery Baptist Association, want-ing to talk to him about directing aministry to people in need. �It was defi-nitely a God thing,� Mandy says.

That was five years ago, and the twoof them are still hard at work providingwhatever help they can to those whocome to the building on Church Streetin Winona. The building, a former fac-tory site, was given to the ministry byMontgomery County.

�It�s a large building, able to hold fur-niture, clothing and food. Sometimeswe get unusual objects,� Mandy said.�We�ve had pianos that no longer workand things nobody knows what to do

with. One lady gives a donation andtakes almost anything and recycles it.She makes all kinds of things to sell.�

Randy had already been involved inmissions in a serious way, taking teamsof people to Alaska to rebuild andremodel churches and once to Japanfor the same task. So his name cameup when the Baptist Association waslooking to start the ministry.

He said there is great need in thearea.

�There aren�t a lot of jobs. Some fac-tories are down in number, and someare closing. People come needing helpin different ways.�

Each month on the first and thirdTuesday nights, the ministry gives 168bags of food to those who have certifiedwith the ministry as to their need.

Then again on the followingWednesday mornings, food is passedout.

�We get food from the MississippiFood Network and from local churchesand individuals,� he said.

Food collected is mostly non-perish-able, although they will accept perish-ables and give them out immediately.

Several people volunteer regularly,and sometimes people just show up.

�Everyone is welcome,� Mandy said.�We have some who just want to getout of the house and who come andvisit and help us. The ladies of FirstBaptist Church of Winona�s Women onMission group come each food deliveryto pack the bags.�

The Carrollton Baptist Women onMission group comes on the third

Tuesday to help counsel and certifypeople. Randy does a lot of counselingwith people.

�They talk about anything they wantto get off their chest. And we tell themabout Jesus,� he said.

One regular volunteer is ChuckHaggerty of the Coila area, who saysthe ministry has helped him a greatdeal.

Haggerty, 70, is retired from theNavy and moved to Carroll Countyfrom North Carolina.

�I was looking for something to dowith my time, and Brother Dees cameand spoke to our church. He told of theneed,� Haggerty said. �It was ananswer to my prayers. I�ve been hereMonday through Friday ever since.�

He said the work fits his personality

�There aren�t a lot of jobs. Some factories are down in number,and some are closing. People come needing help

in different ways.�Randy Dees

From left, Lori Palmertree of Poplar Creek, Mandy Dees and Elizabeth Bailey of Greenwood sort through items donated to Mission Hope. The ministry accepts clothing, foodand household items to be distributed to those who come in needing help.


and keeps him active. He is also ahandyman and helps with repairs.

Mandy said Haggerty helps keepthings light, which is nice for those whocome in, often embarrassed to ask forhelp. �It makes it easy for people whohave sincere needs,� she said.

No one pays anything. �The churchesdidn�t want us to charge, so anyonewho needs it can get help,� Mandy said.

Sometimes people leave a donation,which is given to the association foraccounting. �We have some ladies whocome to do their yard sale shoppingwithout having to get out,� Mandy said.�They always leave a very nice dona-tion.�

It�s sometimes the things you would-n�t think about that make a differenceto people, Mandy says. Even toiletscan be a needed item. �They get bro-ken, and they�re expensive. People areglad to get them.�

Mandy says very few items are notused. �We get mostly usable items,� shesaid. �Sometimes people come to getgifts for Christmas or birthdays.They�re not new but are in good shape.�

Often, women come to Mission Hopeafter leaving an abusive situation.

�They don�t have anything but theclothes on their backs when they showup at a mother�s or grandmother�shouse,� Mandy said. �They�re veryhappy when they see what we can givethem.�

Sometimes people call with serioussituations.

�One lady called and wanted to com-mit suicide,� Mandy said. �Randytalked with her, and she felt better.�

They also get help from Becky

Bennett, a licensed counselor in Winonawho volunteers at Mission Hope.

There are several events each year.On Thanksgiving they cook a meal,and on Christmas there is toy distribu-

tion. Last year more than 300 toyswere given away. This April there willbe a baby shower for all babies under 1who come to the mission.

�A lot of our moms are single and

don�t have a lot. Even a pacifier can beextra,� Mandy said. �We need diapersand wipes and any other baby items.�

The last weekend in July, they host aVacation Bible School. Area churchmembers come to help with the teach-ing, crafts, music and fun.

�People are great about donating. Wetake everything but cars,� Mandy says.

Other big items are definitely need-ed. �We need refrigerators and stovesthat work, and we�re low on furnitureright now,� Mandy said.

In addition to her work helping tokeep things going at Mission Hope,Mandy gives basic computer classesand is certified to teach adult readingand writing. She says many areashamed to admit they cannot readand don�t want to try, especially if theyare older.

She has a master�s degree in instruc-tional technology and is certified toteach kindergarten through eighthgrade. She also has been certified toteach adult literacy and to instruct oth-ers in teaching it.

The Deeses are paid by the BaptistAssociation. As members of MissionService Corps, they get assistance otherthan financial. Once a year they meetwith other ministries of the same typeand discuss how things are done inother places.

The Dees want more people to knowabout Mission Hope and to come forhelp. �We�re the best-kept secret inMontgomery and Carroll counties,�Mandy says. And a secret is not some-thing they want to be.

�Everyone is welcome. It�s beenamazing.�

Norman James of Winona looks through the assorted items at Mission Hope.

Mandy Dees shows computers that were donated to Mission Hope. She has a master�s degree in instructional technology and teaches basic computer classes.


Charles Edward Wright

Local pioneerCharles Edward Wright, an 18th

century and 19th centuryGreenwood businessman, left a

legacy of institutions and services in thecity.

The city�s first steam power plant,which is now a part of GreenwoodUtilities, the city�s first artesian well, anice plant, coal company, an ice cream fac-tory and a bottling company all bear theimprint of Wright � a Yankee whohailed from McComb, Ill.

According to Wright�s grandson,Charles Lee Wright, city president ofCB&S Bank, it all started with a riverjourney back in October 1893.

�How did he get to Greenwood? He wasgoing down the river, clearing logjams onsteamers. He got to Greenwood and said,�This is where I�m going to get off,��Charles Lee said.

Somehow, Wright, who didn�t have a lotof money, managed to apply himself, hisgrandson said, adding, �He started offwith nothing really, just like everybodyelse.�

Once in Greenwood, Wright met hisfuture wife, Josephine Price, whom henicknamed �Daisie.�

Josephine was the daughter of aMethodist minister, Charles Lee said.

The Wright family home, located at 414Fulton St., which was built by Wright, isnamed Daisie in his wife�s honor.

Charles Lee said Greenwood was avastly different place when his father,Charles Edward Wright Jr., was growing

up, since everything north and west ofthe Yazoo River was pretty much farm-land.

�Downtown was the place to be,�Charles Lee said.

He remembers how his fatherdescribed it.

�He said, �Son, when I was growing up,there were more horses than there werecars. Fulton Street was dirt, and acrossthe street from my house was a dairy,�Charles Lee recalled.

Many of Wright�s businesses were with-

in walking distance of the family�s homeon Fulton.

The power plant, which opened inMarch 1894, and the artesian well, whichwas successfully drilled in May 1895, arejust across the street, appropriatelynamed Wright Place.

Charles Lee said his grandfather useda little subterfuge when he was buildingthe family�s home on Fulton Street.

�He told his wife, �Someone is buildinga house right next to my plant.�She neverknew it was going to be her house,�

Charles Lee said.�I�m sure it wasn�t hard to do that in

those days. Now, my wife would shootme. You don�t go out and buy or build ahouse without your wife knowing what�sgoing on,� he said.

Wright was involved in other businessventures with his partner, T. StaigeMarye.

Together the pair owned Marye &Wright, which sold ice, soda water, fancylump coal and electricity.

Wright also had an ice cream plant,which also sold butter and milk to localstores.

In 1897, Wright installed the city�s firstwater system.

In 1901, the Greenwood City Councilauthorized a referendum on a franchiseto Wright for the construction of a water-works, electric lights and sewage systemfor the city. The city reserved the right topurchase the utilities at any time.

Between 1901 and 1902, the entire sys-tem consisted of a steam powered gener-ating plant with a 90-kilowatt alternator.

The waterworks had a 4-inch flowingwell, which was approximately 700 feetdeep and two steam-driven pumpingengines with a 100,000-gallon elevatedtank.

In 1904, the city exercised its option tobuy the entire complex for $123,000.

Wright was close friends with JoeBiedenharn, who began bottling Coca-Cola in Vicksburg in 1894, Charles Leesaid.

Businessman had impressive string of firsts

STORY BY BOB DARDEN ! PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN AND COURTESY OF CHARLES LEE WRIGHT AND ALLAN HAMMONS

A variety of soft drink bottles that bear Wright�s name. He was the first to bottle Coca-Cola in Greenwood.

A picture of an ice cream factory in Greenwood that was part of a thriving businessempire Wright built over the course of 27 years.

Portrait of Charles Edward Wright as a young man. Wright is credited with buildingGreenwood�s first power plant and water system. The astute businessman, a nativeof McComb, Ill., brought Yankee ingenuity to Greenwood beginning in 1893.


Wright had shares in Coca-Cola. Hiswife, a devout Christian, made him sellthem once she found out that the sodacontained cocaine, he said.

Even though Wright was no longer astockholder in the company, he beganbottling Coca-Cola in Greenwood.

Charles Lee said he owns several ofthe bottles used by his grandfather�s bot-tling operation.

Some have �Coca-Cola� blown in theglass while others don�t.

People are still finding the bottles atconstruction sites in Greenwood, hesaid.

Unfortunately, Wright�s promising lifewas cut short on Sept. 29, 1920, whenhe was struck by a switch engine in theSouthern Railroad Yard, not far from hisfamily�s home. He was 58 years old.

Greenwood historian DonnyWhitehead said the Southern RailroadYard later became part of the Columbus& Greenville Railway.

According to the Commonwealth pub-lished at the time of Wright�s death, theentire city paid tribute to him at hisfuneral.

Charles Lee said his grandfather�scontributions to the growth and prosper-ity of Greenwood are still evident today.

�His life is a wonderful success story,�Charles Lee said. !

Wright�s family home, Daisie, located at 414 Fulton St., was named in honor of his wife, the former Josephine Price. Wright nick-named her �Daisie.� The house is located across Wright Place from Greenwood Utilities.


Night Life

PHOTOS BY ANDY LO

After darkWhen work is done and the sun goes down, many people like to go

out, whether it�s to a restaurant or a club. They meet with friends orfamily for a meal, a drink, to listen to music, to dance or have fun in

other ways. There are plenty of night spots in Leflore County. Some are well-known and others are hidden away. Sometimes, you have to do some search-ing to find a good time.

From left, Michelle Koob, Marlene Wyatt and Lauren MacLean search for answers onTeam Trivia Night at Webster�s Food and Drink. Thomas Gregory hosts Webster�s weekly trivia contest.

Josh Crump, left, and Kelvin Scott converse over coffee at BitterSweet Coffee Company. Luke Brumfield and Mika Krienke dine at Capricorn�s Internet Cafe in Itta Bena.


Julianna Holland and Courtney Hodges enjoy drinks in the bar at the Flatland Grill. Adam Carpenter and Noah Carpenter chat over a couple of cold ones at Flatland.

From left, Nancy Tharp, Katherine Cole, Bill Crump and Mayor Carolyn McAdams chatat Giardina�s Restaurant. Things get hot in the kitchen for Cameron Shaw at Giardina�s.

The sister trio Southern Halo � from left, Natalia, Christina and Hannah Morris, all of Cleveland � performs at The Alluvian.


Marcus L. Harvey lines up a shot during a game of pool at Joe�s.Barbara Day plays darts at Joe�s Place.


Greenwood Public Schools

Davis Elementary School science teacher Ryan Melton assists students, from left, Takiyah Johnson and Tierra Martin with the Promethean board.

High-tech teaching


I t�s not uncommon to pass a smallchild in the grocery store clickingaway on a cellphone. Where little

girls have traditionally dragged babydolls behind them, now come iPad-tot-ing toddlers, playing games and watch-ing movies from little devices that reston their laps.

Although some question the value ofthe ever-expanding dependence on tech-

nology and the Web, especially the waysthose outlets occupy the creative,absorbent minds of the young, there�sone place that screens and gadgetsseem to have found an appropriateplace in the lives of children: in school.

Students in the Greenwood PublicSchools are learning to use computersand other devices to enhance theirlearning, according to Interim

Superintendent Jennifer Wilson.�Children are being introduced to

technology at a very early age, oftenbefore they learn to speak and writeeffectively,� she said.

Since technology is fun, cool, new andinnovative, so too becomes learning,and Wilson said that students approachclassroom topics with more eagernessknowing that they get to post their

answers on the one of the district�s 21st-century Promethean boards, whiteboards that are connected to computers,so that teachers and students can draw,type and surf the Web in front of theentire classroom.

�When students are asked whetherthey want to attend a class with orwithout a Promethean board, theresponse in overwhelmingly �... with a

Electronic devices transforming classroom


Promethean board!�� Wilson said.Enthusiasm for the technology trans-

lates, if accidentally, to enthusiasm forthe academic subjects the tools aretaught to teach.

�They exhibit enthusiasm, rapidresponse, when asked to go to theboard,� Wilson said. �(There�s) a senseof eagerness to be up and in front of theclass. �Can I go next?� is one of themany questions teachers are beingasked when it comes to teaching withadvanced technologies.�

Greenwood Public Schools has alsoimplemented SMART Boards (a differ-ent brand of classroom technology simi-lar to Promethean boards), visual toolslike digital cameras, student responsedevices that allow students to answerquestions quickly, tablets and graphingcalculators.

Many teachers in the district evalu-ate students via online assessmentsites, tools that provide immediatefeedback and can help educators learnquickly who in a class is catching onand who isn�t.

Wilson explained: �When checkingfor understanding, a teacher can pose aproblem to the class, have all studentssolve the problem and then post theirresponses using their Prometheanclickers. Within a matter of seconds,the teacher can identify which studentsgot it and which ones did not.�

Computer proficiency has also becomea key part of hiring new teachers.

�It�s critically important, since ourdistrict has regularly scheduled and

continued technology professionaldevelopment and requires teachers tointegrate technology into the class-room,� Wilson said. �The computer pro-ficiency of new personnel is very rele-vant, an integral part of the interview-ing and hiring process, and serves as avantage point in determining the rigorin the instructional process.�

Although technology sees no bounds,Wilson said good teaching and qualityeducational standards are still mostimportant in the classroom and are val-ued still more highly than even themost high-tech chalk board.

�Nothing can replace an excellent

teacher who provides direct instruction,constantly checks for understandingand provides encouragement and tar-geted feedback,� she said.

But Wilson was quick to point outthat high-tech tools can make theeffects of good teaching go further: �Theuse of technology can enable a teacherto do his or her job more effectively andefficiently.�

The district has also put a great dealof effort into making sure parents arenot left out of the tech bubble. Whenkids come home and ask for homeworkhelp, a parent must be up-to-date onthe technology that the student is

using every day in the classroom. �They attend monthly training ses-

sions at each school site to become betterprepared to assist their child technologi-cally with projects, homework, researchand presentations,� said Wilson.

She added that parents can also keepup with their children�s progress up-to-the-minute, with a Web portal thatincludes updates on attendance, gradesand discipline.

�Parents have the opportunity to seethe application of technology at all levelswiththin the district from the centraloffice to the teachers� classrooms,� shesaid.

Teachers have always been taskedwith the difficult enterprise of makinglearning fun. Students don�t like everysubject, but they need to learn, andtechnology is just one way that stu-dents at Greenwood Public Schools areengaging in interactive learning,instead of being lectured to at a desk.

�Students respond to technology andbecome engaged immediately,� Wilsonsaid.

But to Wilson, the implications of asound technological education reach faroutside of the classroom.

�As a result of the interaction andinvolvement, students are betterequipped to compete globally and meetthe workplace demands of the 21st cen-tury,� she said. �Every student needs tohave access to and become proficient inthe use of technology because this isfundamental to being productive in aglobal society.� !

�As a result of the interaction and involvement(with technology), students are better equippedto compete globally and meet the workplacedemands of the 21st century. Every student

needs to have access to and become proficientin the use of technology because this is funda-

mental to being productive ina global society.�

Dr. Jennifer Wilson

Greenwood High School teacher Shavonda Johnson helps student Raven Cotton navigate through an online energy tutorial in the computer lab on campus.


Greenwood Cobras Motorcycle Club

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BILL BURRUS

Morethan bikers

The Greenwood CobrasMotorcycle Club has been goingstrong since its inception in

1971, but the club isn�t just about rid-ing.

The club has 50 members, but not allof them own motorcycles. That�sbecause the Cobras are known for giv-ing back to the Greenwood community.

�Those members who don�t ride firstheard about what this club is doing inthe community and wanted to be a part

of the good things our club is doing,�said Cobras president ClevelandWoods, who joined the club in 1974 andhas been at the head of the table fornearly 20 years.

Greenwood City Councilman RonnieStevenson, a member of the Cobrassince 2004, loves a good ride on hisHonda 1800 Gold Wing, but he getseven more pleasure from the nonprofitclub�s charitable deeds.

�We do everything from put on an

Club offers opportunitiesfor community service, fun

From left, Ronnie Stevenson, Quince Epps and Korine Crigler are three of about 50 members of the Greenwood Cobras Motorcycle Club.


Members of the Greenwood Cobras Motorcycle Club line up outside their new clubhouse on Johnson Street.


annual Easter egg hunt for kidsto handing out Christmas pres-ents to kids at the Gilliam HeadStart Center,� Stevenson said.�The club also rides in manyChristmas parades around theDelta and participated in theGreenwood parade for the firsttime this past year.�

Henry Brooks, 50, a Cobrasmember for 32 years and theMC�s current vice president, saysthe club started with about 12members, and membership hastripled to around 50 in the lastseven years.

�I find that more and more peo-ple are looking for a positiveexperience and to be a part of agroup that is doing good thingsand having a lot of fun,� Brookssaid. �We have a diverse groupthat includes some female mem-bers and a good many membersfrom local law enforcementgroups.

�I really enjoy the freedom thatcomes when we are out riding asa group and spending timetogether doing fun stuff as aclub.�

Club get-togethers are mucheasier these days since theCobras opened their clubhouseon Johnson Street in Greenwoodlast summer. The club leased thebuilding with an option to pur-chase, and all of the work tospruce up the place was done byGCMC.

�With the clubhouse, it�s somuch easier and quicker to meet,and that allows us the opportuni-ty to get together more frequent-ly,� said Brooks, who rides a 2011Harley-Davidson.

The Cobras are part of a five-club organization that is hostingthe National Black BikersAssociation roundup in earlyAugust in Tunica. The event,which Stevenson calls probablythe second biggest nationallybehind Sturgis, drew more than50,000 bikers in Dallas last year.

�We�re expecting just as manythis year in Tunica. Obviously,not everyone can stay in Tunica,so we�re planning to have to fillup the Greenwood motels,�Stevenson said.

Twice a year, the Cobras host amotorcycle rodeo at Little RoundLake south of Greenwood. Theclub is one 15 groups that makeup the Mississippi MotorcycleAssociation.

�During the warm season, wego from Jackson to Starkville onthe weekends to ride,� Stevensonsaid. !

�I find that more and more people are looking for a positiveexperience and to be a part of a group that is doing good things

and having a lot of fun.�Henry Brooks

This sticker adorns the front door to the Greenwood Cobras Motorcycle Club�s clubhouse.


Robert Collins

Climbing the ladderSitting on a tractor when he was

11 years old, Robert Collinsstared at the boss� house on the

plantation where he worked and knewthat he wanted to make something ofhimself, though he didn�t know how togo about doing that.

He was already working full-time as afarmhand in Tutwiler at that point, andalthough his feet could reach the pedalsof the tractor he drove, the lack ofpower steering in the heavy machinewas enough to make his arms sore.

�We stayed in little shotgun houses.We didn�t have running water, and thetoilets were in the back. There werechickens running around the house.And the boss� house was a big house,with water running, and a big old pret-ty yard,� he said with a smile. �And Iwould be out on that tractor in the daytime, and that was my dream. But Ididn�t have any idea how to go about it.�

More than that, a bright future witha big house seemed unattainable toCollins, who stopped going to schoolwhen he was just 11 years old, since, inthose days, kids had to wait till they gotthe crop out for the day before theycould trot down to the local elementaryschool.

�I didn�t think it was possible� he said.�When you�re making $2.50 a day, itwas kind of difficult to see that fardown the road.�

Today, Collins is president of theLeflore County Board of Supervisorsand is a successful entrepreneur. A roadis exactly what he�s been on; he startedCollins Truck and Tractor here inGreenwood with just one truck, growingthe business to 12 trucks and an autorepair shop. When asked how he gotfrom the boy on the tractor to the jovial,successful business man he is today,though, he said it�s all in attitude.

�I think it�s my attitude toward otherpeople,� said Collins. �I�ve always saidyes sir, no sir. If you come into my busi-ness and you�re 20 years old, I�m goingto say yes sir, no sir. That�s the way Iwas raised.�

Of course, there were many stepsalong the ladder before he began run-ning his own business.

Collins moved to Greenwood when hewas 21 with a baby and wife in tow. Hebought a house, and the next day hewent about looking for a way to pay forit.

Dropout found success in business, politics

STORY BY JEANIE RIESS ! PHOTOS BY JEANIE RIESS AND CHARLIE SMITH

�I feel good. I�m enjoying my life. When I turned 50, something wentoff in my head that time is all you have, and you gotta start living

your life.�Robert Collins


�I looked all over Greenwood, and Iwent to National Picture Frame, andthere was a really long line. Peoplewent in and said, oh, they�re not hir-ing.�

Undeterred, Collins went in to see forhimself.

�I started talking to the personnelmanager,� he explained, � and he said,�We aren�t hiring.� I told him, I need ajob, that I had come off the farm andhad been working there all my life.�

The man offered Collins a job in theIndustrial Park, spray-painting the fin-ish on picture frames. Three weekslater, he was the line leader. Twomonths after that, he became the nightshift supervisor.

His secret to success? The only thinghe had ever known: hard work.

�It�s amazing how hard work paidoff,� he said.

Like everything difficult in his life,however, Collins is casual about thedays he spent toiling at the factory.Describing the work he did there, hesaid with another big smile, �It wascool.�

From National Picture Frame,Collins found a job at Staplcotn. It wasthere that he learned the ins and outsof running a business and driving atruck, two skills that would come inhandy when he opened his own truck-

ing company. Although Collins has been successful

without a traditional education � hesaid his experiences are what gave himthe knowledge he needed to be success-ful � he urges young people to stay inschool and get a sound education.

That message is reflected in the suc-cess of his four children. Collins hasbeen married twice. He raised two ofhis own children, and with his currentwife, Shameka Collins, he raises whatare technically his stepkids, though hedoesn�t like the label.

�They�re just like mine. I�ve fed themso long they look like me,� he said,laughing.

His oldest daughter graduated fromAlcorn State, holds a doctorate and wasthe teacher of the year last year in theLeflore County Public School District.

The desire to see others succeed isalso what motivated Collins in hispolitical life, which began about fiveyears ago, when he and his wife wentto hear a speaker from Jackson at theLeflore County Civic Center.

The speech had an impact on Collins. �She said that people are always

complaining about things being bad,but there are too few people who stepup and do something about it,� he said.That caused him to spring into action.

�And on my way back home I said, I

think I�ll run for supervisor of our dis-trict, cause I think I can do a good jobat that. My wife said oh, you can�t winat that. But we won,� said Collins.

Collins added that although his polit-ical life started only five years ago, hewished he had known how happy itmade him 25 years ago.

�That�s the life I�d want to have. Ienjoy working for people,� he said.

Although he didn�t get to politicsuntil later in life � Collins is 63 � hesaid he does not have anything to com-plain about.

�I feel good. I�m enjoying my life. WhenI turned 50, something went off in myhead that time is all you have, and yougotta start living your life,� he said.

Collins attributes most of his currenthappiness to his wife.

�My wife motivates me and keeps megoing. If I didn�t have a young wife andthose two kids, I�d probably be some-where watching TV. But we�ve got alifestyle where we�re going and going,�he said.

His current bliss stands alone asremarkable, but it�s made all the moreprecious by a past that wasn�t alwayspleasant. Collins did not know hismother until he was in his 20s. Shegave birth to him when she was just 13years old, and he was raised by hisgrandmother.

Racism was so common growing up,said Collins, that it wasn�t even some-thing to noticed � until a young blackboy from Chicago was visiting his rela-tives in Leflore County and was mur-dered by white men in 1955 after report-edly whistling at a white woman. Thatboy was Emmett Till.

�I was scared the day Emmett Tillgot killed. I was small, real small then.That was my scariest time. I rememberit like it was yesterday. We werescared,� he said.

Still, Collins said that being raised ona plantation helped him become whohe is today. Much of that was in thediscipline he received. He learned towork hard, and he was raised by anentire community, where each persontook responsibility for his upbringing.

That fear he once felt helped to moti-vate him. And now, he said, it�s in thepast.

�It made me realize that I had to domore to succeed. And a black person inbusiness, it�s kind of harder for him tosucceed. Now, it�s getting better, butback then it was hard,� said Collins.�But that�s in the past, and I focus onthe future.�

Not only his future, but that of thenext generation: �I try to teach my kidsthat you can get more in life by beingnice.� !

Wayne Self, back left, turns over the presidency of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors to Robert Collins in January 2012. In front are County Administrator Sam Abraham,left, and Vice President Phil Wolfe. Collins was elected to the District 5 seat in 2007.


Reeling in the years

STORY BY RUTH JENSEN ! PHOTOS BY RUTH JENSEN AND COURTESY OF MACK ALLEN SMITH

Mack Allen Smith

Rock-a-Billy Hall of Famer MackAllen Smith of Greenwood haswritten a new book, �Rock-A-

Billy Rebel,� detailing experiences withmany of the musicians he has sharedthe stage with � some local artists andmany from across the Mid-South.

In the book are 106 photos, includingsuch people as Little Richard, ChuckBerry, Ace Cannon and many lesser-known artists.

Throughout his music career, Smith�sband, with its Delta sound, haschanged. Today Mack Allen Smith andthe Flames consists of Smith, LaneyO�Briant, Barry Smith, Jamie Williams,Benny Rigby and Stephen Winters.Others who play from time to time areBill Walker, Murry Moorman, SteveMcGregory, Sanford Horton, GloriaHathcock, Jamie Isonhood, RandyWilliamson and Michael Bole.

Smith, a songwriter and singer, hasrecorded 178 songs, 73 of which he

wrote. One of Smith�s songs, �I�m NotDrunk, I�m Just Drinking,� was fea-tured in an HBO special in 2012.

He�s still writing songs and still tryingto get them recorded. �I pitch them allthe time,� he said.

He owned a nightclub in Greenwood,called Mack Allen Smith�s Town &Country Nightclub, which he kept openfrom 1971 to 1976. In 1973, a blacksinger, James Govan, sang in the club.

�He was the only black singer to singthere and was the best,� Smith said.Govan is one of the many artists whohave a chapter in the book.

Smith said he wrote this book toshowcase many artists he knew person-ally, unlike other books written fromsecondhand knowledge. One singerSmith put early in the book wasWarren Smith � not a relative � whocame to Greenwood in 1960 and calledMack Allen.

�I will be staying here in Greenwood

Singer-songwriter chronicles career in new book

�Praise the Lord, I�mhaving fun. Please don�tlet it end anytime soon.�

Mack Allen Smith

Mack Allen Smith, center, at a 1980 gig at the Delta Queen in Vaiden with, from left,Paul Melton, George Thomas, Larry Acey and Laney O�Briant.


at my mother�s house for a few months,so I�d like to hook up with a good bandfor a few gigs. I�ve been told you havethe best band around these parts,� hesaid.

Warren joined his band, and theyplayed throughout north Mississippi forthree months. Smith already had a bigcountry hit on Liberty Records called �IDon�t Believe I�ll Fall in Love Today.�Before he left Greenwood and headedback to California, Liberty released hissecond single, �Odds and Ends, Bitsand Pieces.� Sun Records releasedother records by Warren Smith.

Another friend detailed in the book isJohnny Vincent, a �50s studio ownerwhose studio, Ace Records, was bestknown for �Sea Cruise� by FrankieFord, �Just A Dream� by JimmyClanton and �Rockin� Pneumonia and aBoogie Woogie Flu,� by Huey PianoSmith, as well as many other releases.

�Besides Sam Phillips, Vincent wascertainly a major contributor in shap-ing music for future generations,�Smith said. �In my opinion, Vincentwould have to be rated second behindSam Phillips.�

In 1975, Smith signed a contractwith Vincent to record for Ace Records.This resulted in four record releases onAce.

�I consider it an honor to have knownJohnny and be listed on his roster ofAce recording artists,� Smith said. �Andthe fact that we became good friends ispriceless.�

During the early 1980s, Smith andhis band shared the stage of theCountry Music Palace in Vaiden andthe Delta Queen with Ace Cannon,who is best known for �Blue EyesCrying In the Rain.� �My band backedup Ace at these gigs and did a greatjob,� Smith said. Cannon also played atSmith�s Greenwood club.

�I got to meet and hear him live inMay 1971 at my club outsideGreenwood,� he said. �My club waspacked, and Ace knocked everyone�ssocks off, including mine. He had agreat backup band, and his sax playingwas the best I had ever heard. I haven�theard anyone since that even come

close to Ace Cannon.�Smith says he �never got famous or

made a lot of money from his music,�but throughout his career he recordedmany albums and played in countlesshonky-tonks. In 1979 he touredEngland for two weeks. These days, hemakes an occasional appearance but nolonger in honkytonks.

In 1956, Smith�s band, Mack AllenSmith and the Flames, was formed.They played at the 51 Club, at theVFW in Kosciusko and in Greenwood.Smith joined the Marines in 1957 andtook his music with him. He played atthe USO Club in Oceanside, Calif., andwith a black band in Los Angeles.

Smith and the band, first called TheCarroll County Rock & Roll Boys,played for a radio program eachSaturday afternoon. It was broadcastfrom the Greenwood VFW. There hemet his wife of 50 years, Lois. Theyalso performed at a ballpark inGreenwood with Sun Records artistsWarren Smith, Sonny Burgess and

Charlie Feathers. �Bob Neal, a popular disc jockey from

Memphis who promoted the show,talked to me about coming to Memphisfor an audition at Sun Records,� MackAllen says.

A band member, Ellis Hopper, triedto get him to forget college and go toMemphis to try to make it in the newRock-A-Billy Revolution that wassweeping the nation, but he didn�t go.

�I probably should have gone to SunRecords for an audition, but I didn�t,�he said. �They had some good artists onSun, and I may or may not have gottena contract. Nevertheless, it wouldn�thave hurt anything to give it a try.�

Hopper tried again later to get Smithto go to an audition with Sun andwhen he refused, quit the band.

In 1959, Smith did go to Sun andrecorded four songs. He was asked tocome back into the studio and recordwith the studio band, but a band mem-ber, David Lee Cox, wanted to see ifanother studio would record the band.

�Another bad career move,� Smithsays. �It never happened.�

However, after 40 years, the mastertape of those songs was released in theNetherlands on Redita Records.

Along with writing songs, Smith isalso working on his second novel. Hesays he has disowned the first one,which was pretty risqué and wasbanned in the library across from hishouse. However, he is proud of hismemoir, �Looking Back One MoreTime.� He also spends some time doinggenealogical research.

Smith was born and raised in CarrollCounty, and he says he got most of hismusical ability from his mother, whowas an outstanding guitar player, andthe Herbert family. Fannie MaeHerbert played guitar and sang oldJimmie Rodgers songs, while herbrothers, Jimmy and Archie Herbert,played guitar, fiddle and bass and sangall the country songs that were popularat the time.

He got a guitar for Christmas at age10 but didn�t take to it. On mostSaturday nights, the Herberts wouldplay for country dances at their home.They were family style, without anyalcohol, he recalls � unlike the laterdays, when he needed a fifth of JackDaniel�s and a few packs of cigarettesto fuel his music. �I got loosened upwith alcohol,� he says.

But after a while, it all got to be toomuch. He quit drinking in 1984 andsmoking in 1970. He even quit playinghis music. He didn�t want to miss hisson�s football games at Pillow Academy,and he didn�t want to go back to thehonky-tonks. The Smiths also have adaughter, Cindy.

In 2002, his brother asked him to playat a gathering at Black Hawk. He�splayed ever since, mostly for local get-togethers. In addition to appearing withthe band, Smith takes a one-man show,accompanied by karaoke CDs, to nursinghomes, parties and other venues.

�Praise the Lord, I�m having fun,� hesays. �Please don�t let it end anytimesoon.� !

Mack Allen Smith, center, and the Flames perform at the old Black Hawk school in 2009. Playing with Smith are, from left, BarrySmith, Laney O�Briant, Jamie Winters (behind Mack Allen), Stephen Winters and Benny Rigby.

Mack Allen Smith, in dark coat, performs at the Moose Lodge in Greenwood in 1965 with, from left, Terry Jenkins, HardinBrowning, Bill Bole, Buddy Miller, Barry Smith and Murry Moorman.


Reno�s Cafe

Familiar fare

Reno's owner LaUnice Gray�s menus of breakfast and lunch fare offer options for even the most creative diner.

Walking into Reno�s Cafefor the first time, itmight feel like you�ve

been here before. The scene is eerily familiar, like

one you�ve read about in a dimenovel or seen in a film by theCoen brothers, with the smell ofbacon and smoke filling therestaurant�s dark corners.

A jukebox blares �70s-era hip-hop and R&B tunes, while the

restaurant�s regulars grace itsmarked-up tables, waiting forsteaming plates that LaUniceGray makes to order.

Indeed, familiarity is whatmakes this small Baptist Townrestaurant run; Gray has 20orders in her head that she saysshe never gets wrong, eachbelonging to the same customerswho eat at the restaurant almostevery day of the week.

The restaurant has been serv-ing tamales, hamburgers and tra-ditional breakfast fare for 26years under Gray�s leadership,but the 52-year-old Greenwoodnative said Reno�s existed forabout 30 or 40 years before shetook it over. It�s always operatedon West McLaurin Street, thoughit�s moved from door to door. Itcurrently resides at 201 WestMcLaurin St., across the street

Customers keep coming back for home-style cooking�A lot of people come from out

of town, they�ll say, �Oh, so-and-so was talking about Reno�s so Ihad to come see for myself.��

LaUnice Gray

STORY BY JEANIE RIESS ! PHOTOS BY JOHNNY JENNINGS


from McLaurin Park.No food suppliers visit

Gray�s kitchen. She pur-chases all of the food shecooks at grocery storesaround Greenwood, so thatshe can control exactly howmuch food to prepare forthe day�s customers.

�Everything is alwaysfresh because I go to thegrocery store the nightbefore,� she said.

Gray can operate Reno�sthis way because sheknows her customers, shesaid. Four breakfast staples� eggs, grits, bacon andpancakes � are arrangedin 32 different combina-tions.

�I tried to think of everypossible combination thatsomeone would order, sothat I could price it,� Grayexplained.

Gray lives right next doorto her restaurant, so cook-ing for her family is never aproblem, even when Reno�sis busy.

�My family, they all lovethe food. We just come overhere and cook dinner,� shesaid.

Gray has four sons, ages35, 33, 26 and 6. She hasone grandson, who is 16,and two more grandchil-dren who are both babies.

Reno�s is open daily forbreakfast and lunch. Graysaid breakfast is the busiesttime of day, most likelyowing to what Gray called�the best homemade pan-cakes,� but lunch is alsopopular.

All of the hamburgers aremade from fresh groundbeef. �We never use pat-ties,� said Gray.

The tamales, which wereperfected by Gray�s mother,Pearl Johnson, are not youraverage run-of-the-Deltafare; they are cooked andserved in a tomato-basedsauce. Johnson learned tomake the tamales whenshe was just 18, working atLucas Barbecue on Avenue

F.When Gray started run-

ning Reno�s, Johnsonstepped in to make thetamales. Recently, however,Gray�s mother fell ill, andnow Gray and her brother,Bubba Willis, are left withthe difficult task of prepar-ing them.

�It takes four hours tomake about 40 dozen ofthem,� said Gray.

Gray said there�s nosecret ingredient to thetamales, which have drawnattention from out-of-towncustomers.

�Customers love it,� shesaid. �A lot of people comefrom out of town, they�ll say,�Oh, so-and-so was talkingabout Reno�s, so I had tocome see for myself.��

�You just have to get itright,� she said.

A recipe for tamales is notthe only cooking tip Graylearned from Johnson.While Johnson was work-ing at Lucas Barbecue,Gray would work one of herdays for her a week, so thatshe could learn the busi-ness and perfect her ownrecipes.

�I started working withmy mama, and anything Idid wrong, someone wouldsay, �Baby, you gotta do thisthis way� or �No, you don�tdo it like that,�� sheexplained.

�No matter how muchyou think you know, some-body always knows morethan you. You have to learnfrom others,� she said.

Gray also worked atother restaurants, such asWendy�s and Pizza Hut,where she learned aboutmanagement, stocking andother tricks of the trade.Those skills are important,but Gray said the mostimportant element of run-ning a successful businessis liking what you do.

�You gotta love it,� she said.�You have to care about whatyou�re doing.� !

Reno's Cafe has been in Baptist Town for at least 50 years, operating under differentowners and at different storefronts.

LaUnice Gray makes tamales the way her mother taught her � braised in tomato sauce instead of wrappedin corn husks. It takes four hours to make about 40 dozen tamales.


Top recruitsNorthwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center

Northwest Mississippi RegionalMedical Center is focused onadding new talent to its staff

while continuing to provide the bestcare for its patients, its CEO says.

The Clarksdale hospital is recruitingphysicians in internal medicine, pri-mary care and family practice, as well

as obstetrician/gynecologists and a gen-eral surgeon, said CEO Bill Buck.

In the last year, Northwest hasbrought in a new nephrologist, anotherinfectious-disease physician, a sportsmedicine rehab specialist and a gas-troenterologist. Another pediatricianalso has been brought to town, he said.

�For the next year, most of our futureis going to be looking at providing theright level of talent or medical expertiseto support the means of the communi-ty,� Buck said.

In addition, the hospital has a newinpatient rehabilitation unit that hasbeen accredited by the Commission on

Accreditation of RehabilitationFacilities.

This year, the hospital will be refur-bishing its cardiac catheterization lab,including replacing some equipmentand adding space for things such as apre-op patient holding area and a recov-ery area.

Hospital adds talent to medical staffDiscussing the newly accredited Inpatient Rehab Unit at Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center are, from left, Michael Smith, director of plant operations; CharlesMeyers, assistant director of plant operations; Margaret Swartzfager, director of rehabilitative services; and Dr. Patricia Hampton, chief nursing officer.

STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS COURTESY OF NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER


Northwest will be trying toexpand its wound care programthis year, too, Buck said.

Other than that and the addi-tions to the catheterization lab,most of the the ongoing build-ing-related work this year willbe routine maintenance ratherthan additions, he said.

�We�re just trying to focus onwhat we do best, and that ishopefully taking care of ourpatients,� he said.

The 195-bed acute care hospi-tal has between 400 and 420employees, depending on thetime of the week or month,Buck said.

He said Northwest is �moder-ately busy.� It has experiencedthe usual increase in patientnumbers this season because ofrespiratory illnesses and the flubut has enough staff to serve itspatients well, he said.

In general, �we�ve seendecreases like most otherproviders in the Mississippiarea, but our volume sinceDecember has really started toclimb,� he said.

According to its website,Northwest had more than52,000 patient interactions in2011 and is one of CoahomaCounty�s largest taxpaying enti-ties and employers.

In 2011, it had a total econom-ic impact of more than $92.4million, including more than$37 million in employee wagesand benefits, $29.7 millionworth of uncompensated careand more than $1.7 million intaxes paid.

It has invested $10 million infacility and service improve-

ments in the last five years,including the da Vinci PhysicianAssisted Robotic SurgerySystem, renovation of the inpa-tient dialysis unit and a CTscanner upgrade.

It also offers a variety of edu-cational programs on smokingcessation, childbirth and othertopics.

Buck became CEO in June2012, when he came from Texas.

Previously he had been doingsubcontracting work with othercorporations and hospitals.

�Clarksdale�s a very nice com-munity � wonderful people,� hesaid. !

�We�re just trying to focus on what we do best, and that ishopefully taking care of our patients.�

Bill Buck

Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, one of Coahoma County�s largest employers, had a total economic impact of more than $92.4 million in 2011.


John Paul Walker

Bulldog for life John Paul Walker grew up in

Schlater dreaming of being aMississippi State Bulldog one day.

After graduating from PillowAcademy in 2001, Walker went toMississippi State University and gradu-ated in December 2005 with a bachelorof arts degree in communications withan emphasis in public relations.

Walker, 30, has remained active withMSU in the eight years since his gradu-ation with his work with the MSUAlumni Association. He just finishedserving his second year of a three-yearterm as the young director for the cen-tral region for Mississippi for theNational Board of Directors for theMSU Alumni Association.

The young directors must be betweenthe ages of 26 and 31 during their termin office and are responsible for helpinggrow the number of recent MSU gradu-ates on the dues-paying alumni roll andrepresenting the younger demographicof the MSU Alumni Association to thegoverning board of directors.

Walker was approached by a schoolrepresentative at a football game aboutapplying for the position. He did justthat and got the non-paying position.

Walker is thankful to have the oppor-tunity his alma mater has given him.

�Being a part of the alumni associationat this level is an excellent way to getother alumni involved and promoting ouruniversity, and it�s a way for me to stayinvolved with Mississippi State � whichhas been such a special part of my life asa kid, then as a student and now as aproud alumnus,� Walker said. �I willalways stay involved with the alumniassociation in some capacity, but I haveno idea in what capacity it will be.�

Walker attends two national boardmeetings a year and helps the nationalboard serve food at one MSUSoutheastern Conference football gamea season at the alumni tailgate tent inThe Junction.

Walker said he�s proud to have been apart of the alumni association recentlywhile it surpassed its annual member-ship goal for a fifth consecutive year �breaking the all-time record for activealumni with 43,568 members.

Walker says the total membershipworldwide is more than 125,000.

�Active members not only providecritical financial support to MSU, butthey also volunteer their time in ourmany alumni chapters,� Walker said.

�Our alumni worldwide are literallyMississippi State�s voice around theworld.

�I travel to MSU alumni functionswithin my region and encourage peopleto join and stay plugged into our univer-sity. Mississippi State has a lot to offerwhen it comes to our alumni. MSU notonly provides an atmosphere to receivea great education, but it becomes a partof you.�

Walker is also the president of Leflore-

Carroll Chapter of the MSU AlumniAssociation. This group put one of themost successful �Our State Tour� eventsof 2012 last May at the Leflore CountyCivic Center, where more than 400 folksturned out to hear Bulldog head footballcoach Dan Mullen, MSU head basketballcoach Rick Ray and others speak.

�We had a lot of people pull togetherand put in some hard work to makethat event such a success. I am veryproud that we had the largest atten-

dance outside of the Central MississippiExtravaganza in Jackson,� Walker said.�That was a pretty big deal for our localalumni association.�

When Walker isn�t working as anindependent insurance broker inGreenwood, traveling on behalf of MSUor attending State athletic events, hespends his time coaching and refereeingyouth basketball games and serving asthe public address announcer for PillowAcademy home basketball games. !

Stays involved with MSU as alumni leader

John Paul Walker just completed his second year as a member of the MSU Alumni Association�s National Board of Directors.

STORY AND PHOTO BY BILL BURRUS


4-Way Electric

Bob Hunter is not your averageelectrician, and 4-Way Electric isnot a place you call to wire your

house � but often people think so.�We get calls every day asking for a

price on wiring an addition to someone�shouse,� Hunter said. �Some lady arguedwith me that we were the ones that

fixed her washing machine.�Actually, 4-Way is a re-manufacturer

of transformers and other equipmentneeded by electrical power companies.This past year its sales volume wasnear $12 million, Hunter said.

The company is owned by Hunter, 74,who is chairman and CEO, and Jeff

Coleman, 50, who is president. Hunter says he doesn�t anticipate

retiring. �I�ve done nothing but work allmy life. Why stop now?� he said.

Both men, plus two others, boughtout Jimelco, a much smaller Greenwoodcompany that did what the companydoes now, in 1991. The other two part-

ners left. Coleman had worked atJimelco after working for Air Productsnext door. Hunter had retired from FordMotor Company in Lorain, Ohio, andthen took a job that brought him toKosciusko and later to Greenwood,where he also worked for Jimelco.

Things have changed a lot since then.

CEO confident more success lies ahead

Powerful growth

Derrick Starks works on a recloser at 4-Way Electric in Greenwood. The company currently employs about 80 people.



�In the beginning, Jeff and I dideverything,� Hunter said. �Now wehave about 80 employees. We�re in fluxright now. We didn�t lose anything dur-ing the recession. We actually addedemployees. Our growth has beentremendous.�

From one building that includedoffices and manufacturing facilities, thecompany now has three � one for cor-porate offices and two for manufactur-

ing. Painting was outsourced but isnow done in-house. Hunter says theGreenwood Leflore Industrial Boardand its executive director, AngelaCurry, were a great help in getting theneeded buildings.

Hunter attributes 4-Way�s success tothe attitude that surrounds whateverthe company does: �We take care of ourcustomers � get it done, and doneright, the first time.�

Hunter says the company hasexpanded about 300 percent from thoseearly days, and there is room for moregrowth: �We have about 15 acres here,and we�re only using nine.�

Until 2007, the people who deliveredthe products also acted as salespeople.But as the company continued to grow,it added two outside regional salespeo-ple, as well as one inside salesperson.

Hunter and Coleman keep their eyes

on all orders that come in, and Hunterstays out in the manufacturing areamost of the day, which starts just before6 a.m. and ends around 6 p.m.Coleman is the one who most oftengoes into the field when an outageoccurs and service is needed by one oftheir customers, along with a crew thatdoes repairs.

Hunter says the company strives �togive great service to its customers, keep

Jeff Coleman, left, and Bob Hunter, above, were among four partners who bought a smaller company in 1991 and creat-ed 4-Way Electric. The other two partners left, and now Coleman, 50, is president, and Hunter, 74, is CEO and chairman.

Felix �Bubba� Ashmore, left, and Will Bowers work on a large regulator at 4-Way Electric. The company re-manufactures equipment used by electrical utilities throughoutthe southeastern United States.


our quality high, andexpand our capabilities toserve our customers.�

And, he said, �we�realways trying to expandour territory.�

In addition to re-manu-facturing transformers,regulators, reclosers andcontrols, 4-Way is anauthorized dealer forCooper Electric, one of thelargest makers of newtransformers and otherequipment used by electricutilities around the world.

�We service their prod-ucts in our shop, and wego out to do service whenit can�t be brought to us,�Hunter said. �WhenCooper has a problem inour area, they call us.�

When damaged equip-ment is brought in, it isrepaired and sent to itsowner. If the companycan�t take it back, then anadjustment is made on re-manufactured equipmentthat is sold to the cus-

tomer, and the damagedequipment is kept andmade like new.

4-Way sells to most ofthe electric utilities inMississippi, as well asmany in Tennessee,Alabama, Arkansas,Kentucky, Missouri,Oklahoma and part ofTexas. The companyadded field service workand substation mainte-nance and repair a fewyears ago.

With new technology aswell as many governmentregulations on the electricutilities, Hunter andColeman stay up-to-dateby attending seminars acouple of times a year andby reading their field�spublications.

Hunter and Colemansay they expect the futureto hold more success for 4-Way Electric.

�You have to grow,�Hunter said. �You can�tstay where you are.� !

�We didn�t lose anythingduring the recession. We

actually added employees.Our growth has been

tremendous.�Bob Hunter

Shane Floyd, an employee of 4-Way Electric, welds a transformer can.

Bob Hunter confers with employees Jay Sanders and Scott Dees about an order. Working behind them are Tavares Martin, left, and Derrick Starks.


Viking Range Corp. Employee Health and Wellness Center

Healthy resultsSince opening in January 2012, the

Viking Range Corp. EmployeeHealth and Wellness Center has

made a difference in the company�s bot-tom line, as well as employees� health.

The clinic, which is run by Biloxi-based Medical Analysis, offers a widevariety of services. Just a sampling ofthose includes physicals, screenings, X-rays, lab tests, health-related classes,and treatment and education regardingdiabetes, cholesterol, weight manage-ment, hypertension and other topics.

Suzi Bogard, CEO of MedicalAnalysis, said it was evident very soonthat the clinic was getting results.Employees don�t have to pay co-pay-ments or deductibles, and the companysaves money because visits to doctors�offices are down, as are costs for phar-maceuticals and lab work.

�We received an e-mail from theirinsurance company that after the firstsix weeks of operation, we had alreadysaved them over $100,000 in healthcare claims,� Bogard said.

Beth Tackett, Viking�s humanresources director, said it�s not justabout limiting costs but about encour-aging healthy living � a priority ofViking Chief Executive Officer FredCarl Jr.

�I think that goes back to show howdedicated Viking � and, in particular,Fred � is to maintaining the healthiestlifestyles possible for our employees,�Tackett said.

v v v

Tackett said other vendors hadapproached Viking before about open-ing such a clinic. However, the timingwas right this time, and MedicalAnalysis proved to be a good match, shesaid.

�We specifically were interested inMedical Analysis because of the greatreviews that we got from the differentmunicipalities and organizations thatalready used their services but alsobecause they are a Mississippi-basedcompany like we are,� she said.

A space on Howard Street was select-ed becase it provided convenient accessfor employees at all of Viking�s locations,as well as their dependents. The clinicopened Jan. 4, 2012, offering all of itscurrent services from the beginning.

�It has been up and running at a

Employees save time, company saves money

Maggie Robinson, an employee of Viking Range Corp., is given a check-up by Katherine Hughes, a nurse practitioner at the com-pany�s Wellness Center.

STORY BY DAVID MONROE ! PHOTOS BY BOB DARDEN


great capacity since that point,� Tackettsaid. �The employees have been really,really happy about the opportunity tobe able to come here.�

The clinic now has two staff mem-bers: Margaret Hayes, who is its coordi-nator, and Katherine Hughes, a nursepractitioner.

It offers 20-minute one-on-oneappointments with the nurse practi-tioner, with the opportunity to extendthat time if necessary. It can handlesome lacerations, but emergency casesand situations that the clinic is not pre-pared to handle are referred elsewhere.Viking also has a good relationshipwith other area providers who workwell together, so the nurse practitionerdoesn�t have to do everything.

Each employee is allotted $300 a

year for wellness services. All of theseservices are voluntary and confidential,and that helps employees speak morefreely with Hughes, Tackett said.

�She�s able to really develop that rela-tionship with the employees wherethey can have more of a real education-al experience and that nurturing oppor-tunity for them to really get to askquestions and learn more about theirhealth issues,� she said.

For example, people with diabetes orhypertension can discuss those condi-tions and get advice on nutrition andexercise. Some employees who had beendiabetic for years only recently learnedabout preventive measures that can helpimprove their lives, she said.

Viking also allows employees tomake appointments during the work

day. Scheduling a clinic visit is mucheasier than scheduling a hospital visit,which usually requires blocking outhalf a day, Bogard said.

�You take somebody off a productionline, it slows things up,� she said. �Sothey were really pleased that they wereable to rush them over to the clinic andget them back, and business keepsgoing.�

The clinic now can see 30 to 35 peo-ple a day. Bogard said she would knowbetter at the end of winter whether itmight need to add a third person. Thepriority is to make sure everyone canbe seen within a day or two of request-ing an appointment, she said.

�We want to get everybody in asquick as possible,� she said. �Get themin, get them well and get them out �

back to work.�Medical Analysis has more than 30

clinics in Mississippi, Louisiana,Missouri, Alabama and New Jersey. ATennessee location is scheduled to openin March.

Its clients include some school dis-tricts, and Bogard said they expected tolose some of that business because ofstate budget cuts. But this hasn�t hap-pened because the districts are savingmoney on workers� compensationclaims, she said.

Generally speaking, the locationsoffer the same services, and MedicalAnalysis has served some clients aslong as 11 years.

�Because we are a free clinic to theemployees, our utilization is wonder-ful,� Bogard said. !

�We want to get everybody in as quick as possible. Get them in, getthem well and get them out � back to work.�

Suzi Bogard, CEO of Medical Analysis

Matt Finke, left, an employee of Viking Range Corp., has some blood drawn by Margaret Hayes, the clinic coordinator at Viking�s Wellness Center in Greenwood.


Riley Poe

FFaarrmmiinngg iinnhhiiss bblloooodd


Farming comes easily to RileyPoe. You could even say itruns through his veins.

�I think I started to work when Iwas 12,� said Poe, who is now 36. �Ithink I started out driving trac-tors.�

Back then, he was working forhis father, Bobby Poe. They farmedindependently until about 2011before joining forces. Today, theyhave a partnership, Poe PlantingCo., and farm some 1,900 acrestogether.

�It made things simpler. We werehelping each other anyway, so wejust put everything together � allof our equipment, everythingtogether,� Poe said. �That simplifieda lot of paperwork.�

A 1996 graduate of Cruger-Tchula Academy, Poe attendedMississippi Delta CommunityCollege before deciding to devote allof his time to farming.

The 2012 crop was one for therecord books, he said.

�It�s the best year I�ve ever had,�he said. �We needed it after 2009.That was horrible.�

Poe said typically every yearthere�s a trade-off.

�The corn might be good and thebeans weren�t, or the beans weregood but the corn wasn�t,� he said.

And that�s not even taking intoaccount the crops� prices. But the2012 harvest was a happy conflu-ence of good yields and good prices.

�The beans and the corn weregood, and the prices on both weregood,� Poe said. �Our inputs weren�tquite as bad as they normallywould be. Fertilizer was high, but itwasn�t as high as it was in �08.�

One good thing for the farmingpartnership is that only about 350acres are dry land, and the rest areirrigated. In 2012, adequate rainfallkept irrigation to a minimum, Poesaid.

�Rain water is always better thanirrigation,� he added.

By mid-December, Poe had got-ten his fields ready for planting.Corn and soybeans will be the pri-mary crops this year, and he�llbegin planting them in March.

Most of Poe�s farmland is rentedfrom landowner K.K. HendersonKent, who says the young farmerknows his stuff.

�Riley Poe is a hell of a Deltaplanter. He does an excellent job,�

Drawn toagricultureat early age

Leflore County farmer Riley Poe has been involved with farming for many years. Poe and his father, Bobby Poe, operate Poe PlantingCo., which farms some 1,900 acres of corn and soybeans.


she said.She said Poe also keeps a

neat and organized shop. �That�s something that

maybe only a woman landlordwould notice, but it is appreci-ated, and it says volumes abouthis character and the kind ofman he is,� she said.

Poe said an advantage ofpartnering with his father isthe ability to share equipment.He said the operation hasmoved from two smaller eight-row combines to a larger model.The larger, more efficientmachine helps reduce laborcosts for both operations.

Bobby Poe, 68, said he wasn�tsurprised by his son�s interestin agriculture.

�He�s loved it all his life. Hewas raising stuff in the yard �milo and rice � when he was akid,� Bobby Poe said.

There�s also been a bit of arole reversal between fatherand son, Bobby Poe said: �Now,I go to ask him what we�regoing to plant. ... I just about lethim do about all of it now.�

The lure of farming didn�thold as much appeal for Riley�sbrother, Wayne, now aGreenwood firefighter.However, Riley Poe is hoping to

bring a new generation of farm-ers up with the help of his wife,Tricia.

The couple, who live inGreenwood, have three sons:John Riley Poe, 6, and twinsJacks and Yates, 3.

John Riley isn�t as passionateabout farming as his youngerbrothers, but once he�s on thefarm, he warms up to the idea,Poe said. On the other hand,the twins are crazy about farm-ing and always have been, Poesaid.

A farmer has to have a lot ofoptimism, and getting into thatfield on the ground floor is adaunting prospect for anyone,he said.

�I don�t see how you could getinto it without somebody tohelp you � somebody who�salready in it,� Poe said.

In addition, since the farmeconomy began to boom a fewyears ago, �it�s hard to findland,� he said. �Now, with theway prices are, I haven�t heardof any land that�s swappedhands this year or come up forrent or anything like that.�

Poe said he�s committed tofarming for the long haul.

�You have to like it to do it,that�s for sure,� he said. !

�I don�t see how you could get into (farming) without somebody to help you �somebody who�s already in it.�

Riley Poe

Bobby Poe, left, says his son, Riley Poe, right, showed an interest in farming at an early age by plant-ing milo and rice in the family�s yard.


Dr. Christopher Capel

STORY BY BETH THOMAS ! PHOTOS BY BETH THOMAS AND COURTESY OF GREENWOOD LEFLORE HOSPITAL

�I love this place�

Dr. Christopher Capel practiced in Greenwood from 1997 to 2003 before taking a job elsewhere. Leaving, the surgeon says, was a mistake. He returned here in May.

With a steady hand and com-passionate heart, Dr.Christopher Capel at Lucas

Surgical Group can surgically mendmany problems.

And the Utah native says he�s happi-er than he�s ever been practicing gener-al, chest and vascular surgery in

Greenwood.�I practice here in Greenwood because

I love this place,� he said. �I�m not herebecause this is the only place I can prac-tice. I�ve practiced at plenty of otherfacilities, and this really is the bestone.�

Capel practiced at Greenwood Leflore

Hospital from 1997 to 2003 before tak-ing a job elsewhere. He said it didn�ttake long to learn he had made a mis-take.

�The only reason I left is that at thetime we didn�t have tort reform and ourmalpractice premiums went throughthe roof,� he said.

For the next 10 years, he practiced inKentucky, Washington and Arizona, butin his mind, nothing compared toGreenwood.

�I looked for any opportunity to comeback,� he said. �I called the hospitalshortly after I left, but they had alreadyhired another vascular surgeon and did-

Surgeon feels at home professionally, personally


n�t have an opening. I was gone for 10years before an opening became avail-able. I called (Dr. John Lucas III), andsoon afterwards my family was makingthe move back here.�

Capel started practicing again atGreenwood Leflore Hospital in May2012, and he said he isn�t leavingagain.

�When I made the decision to moveback to Greenwood, I made the deci-sion to finish my practice here,� hesaid. �I�m 52 now, and I plan to practiceuntil I�m at least 70. I want my familyto grow up in this town.�

Capel said there�s something specialabout Greenwood, and he�s neverenjoyed practicing anywhere else more.

�I had the best years of my life inGreenwood before I left, and I�m havingthe best again now that I�m back,� hesaid. �And it helps that our hospital hereis the best in the Delta.�

v v v

Capel has seen a number of big-cityhospitals and small-town clinics, andhe said most of the time, the best careis offered in the smaller facilities,where the doctors and patients knowone another on a first-name basis.

�I want to get rid of this myth that�bigger city� means �better doctors,�� hesaid. �Sure, you can go to Jackson orMemphis for medical care, but what wehave right here in Greenwood is phe-nomenal. And going to a bigger citydoesn�t necessarily mean you�re goingto get better care.�

The closeness of community andopportunities to provide state-of-the-artmedical care drew him to Greenwoodin the first place.

�I grew up in St. George, Utah, whichis also a small town. But I absolutelyfell in love with the South, Southernpeople and Southern culture,� he said.�Even though I�m not a Southerner, Ifeel like I�ve been adopted and acceptedinto it.�

He even jokes about being an hon-orary Southerner because he has aSouthern family member. �Myyoungest son was born in Mississippi,so he�s a real Southerner,� he said witha laugh. �That counts for something.�

He also likes being able to care forhis patients from start to finish.

�There�s nothing you need done surgi-cally that I can�t do right here inGreenwood and do well,� he said. �Mypatients have complete support and con-tinued care from one person. I take careof them from start to finish, and theynever have to worry about being turnedover to another physician.

�Patients want a relationship with aphysician who is going to be there forthem, and I want my patients to knowthat I truly care about them,� he said. �IfI didn�t believe that the best health carethey could get on planet Earth was here,then I�d send them somewhere else.�

Through his practice, Capel said he�sformed wonderful relationships with hispatients, and he remembers everyonehe operates on.

�The thing I love most aboutGreenwood is the size,� he said. �... Ifeel like I share a common bond with it.

And it�s always a big advantage whenyou have positive outcomes after sur-gery, and people are happy to see youout places, and you�re happy to seethem.�

Just as he did before, Capel takes hisjob seriously.

�Whenever I operate on somebody, Ifeel a bond with that person; it�s like amarriage,� he said. �I will always beconnected to them, and I think aboutmy patients all the time.�

During his first tenure, Capel per-formed 100 carotid artery surgeries ayear. The surgery restores proper bloodflow to the brain and reduces the risk ofa stroke.

�I have 16 years of experience inchest and vascular surgery, and that

makes my practice unique. Also,because of the services I provide, I�mable to see a lot of the same patientsyear after year,� he said. �When I oper-ate on a patient, they know they�ll havethe same doctor taking care of them atthe hospital and following up withthem in the clinic. That�s one of thethings that make a small-town clinic sowonderful. It�s more than just an opera-tion; they become both a long-termpatient and friend.�

v v v

Capel lives happily with his wife,Marilee, and children Britney, Bryanand Benjamin. The family also has asinging cockatiel named Yugioh and two

Jack Russell terriers, Ginger and Lizzie.He said he likes Greenwood�s small

size for his children�s sake. �There are advantages to everybody

knowing who you and your kids are,and they watch out for them. Of course,they also tell you when your kids aredoing something bad,� he said with alaugh. �If you live in a big city, youprobably don�t find that out.�

Capel spends a lot of his time at workand doesn�t travel much, but he�s OKwith that because he loves what he does.But when he�s not at the clinic, he proba-bly can be found in the woods huntingdeer or on the lake catching fish.

�Living in Greenwood is perfect fordoing all those outdoor activities,� hesaid. !

�I want to get rid of this myth that �bigger city�means �better doctors.�Sure, you can go to Jackson or Memphis for medical care, but what we

have right here in Greenwood is phenomenal. And going to a biggercity doesn�t necessarily mean you�re going to get better care.�

Dr. Christopher Capel


Coretta Green

Family touch

Principal CorettaGreen is up close andpersonal with her

students and teachers atJ.Z. George Middle Schoolin North Carrollton, andbelieves that�s one of thekeys to bringing success toher school.

The day starts early forGreen, who is at work wellbefore her students begin toarrive at 7:20 a.m. She andsome teachers are alwaysthere to greet and directthem to classes. During theday, she is usually in thehalls and classrooms, mak-ing sure students arebehaving and learning.

While she expects respect,and she�s tough, Greendoesn�t want students tofeel she is unapproachable.

�The overall number onething for me is makingmyself accessible to stu-dents and parents. Studentscan come up to me and say�we need to talk� or slip me anote. It decreases confusionand increases good relation-ships between students andbetween students andteachers,� she says.

�We operate like a family.We take care of students asmuch as we can. Sometimesparents call and ask forhelp in dealing with anissue.�

Then Green brings thechild in to discuss whateverproblem there is.

�I do a lot of counseling,especially in the earlier partof the week,� she says.

Green believes in cultivat-

GeorgeMiddleprincipaltries to beaccessible


Coretta Green, who grew up in Greenwood and Carroll County, was named principal of J.Z. George Middle School in 2012.


ing a good relationship with parents andrequires teachers to email her their list ofparental contacts each month. �I takenotes when we have a parent/teacher con-ference and ask teachers to give me anupdate on those students. If they haveimproved, I ask teachers to communicatethat improvement to parents,� she said.�We let parents know when studentshave done something good, as well asunsatisfactory.�

At least once each nine weeks, Greenmeets with each class to discuss wherethey are in growth for the year. �I showthem how to figure the QDI, or qualita-tive distribution index, that showswhether a student meets growth,� shesaid. �I help them understand the pur-pose of tests and the importance of per-forming well.�

The goal at George Middle School isto have each student achieve at least afull year academically each year. �It�sall about growth. It�s not just for thetests, but to be able to go on and dowell in school and life,� she said. �Iwant them to have choices.�

George Middle went up significantlyin its scores on state-mandated testsduring Green�s tenure, particularly thispast year, and she believes a hands-onpolicy is important to that success. Tofind out if students are learning, Greengoes into classrooms regularly andquestions students to see if they�veactually learned what the teacher isimparting. If not, then she suggests tothe teacher to work further on thatsubject matter.

After her first year at GeorgeMiddle, there were some changes instaff �that were necessary,� she said.�Last year, most teachers remained.

Now we have a group of people whowork hard to see our students achieve,�she said. She makes sure each depart-ment has time to meet together by hav-ing planning periods the same for allteachers in a department. �We mentornewer teachers.�

It�s academics first, and it�s student-centered, Green says. And she�s notabove giving incentives for students whoexhibit good behavior, as well as improvetheir test scores. She�s keeping tabs ondiscipline referrals and hopes incentiveswill help reduce those by 10 percent fromlast spring semester.

�We won�t know until the end of thesemester, but I believe they�re going to bereduced,� she said.

For fewer discipline referrals at theend of a month, a class gets to do some-thing fun. So far this year, the sixthgrade has won twice and has earned amovie day and a fun day.

The class with the best attendance isrewarded at the end of the week.

�We work on attendance, and inOctober had a 97 percent attendancerate. They get to have a jean day,� Greensaid. Normally students wear uniforms.

Before coming to George as a princi-pal, Green was assistant principal atHathorn Elementary School in Vaiden,and then principal after Shirley Lesterretired. Hathorn received the �high per-forming� designation. Green gives cred-it for that to hardworking teachers andstudents, as well as some good parents.

�Mrs. Lester had laid a good founda-tion, and we worked hard to keepachieving. �We were a lower socioeco-nomic group, and we outperformedexpectations. We were highly recog-nized,� she said.

After Hathorn was closed and stu-dents moved to Marshall Elementaryin North Carrollton, the district was re-arranged to accommodate the new stu-dents, and the high school was dividedinto a middle school for students ingrades six through eight, and a highschool for grades nine through 12.Green was named principal.

A former teacher, Green taught fami-ly and consumer science for nine yearsat J.Z. George High School and oneyear at Oxford High School. She saidone of her biggest challenges as a prin-cipal was getting familiar with theentire curriculum.

�I did a lot of reading, networkingand attending workshops,� she said.

Green, 43, grew up in Greenwoodand Carroll County, and graduatedfrom Vaiden High School, where shewas an outstanding basketball player.She earned a scholarship offer fromMississippi College, where she playedbasketball and earned a Bachelor ofScience degree in family and consumersciences. She still enjoys playing �whenI have the time.� She also likes to workout.

After graduating from MC, which shesays she �loved,� Green earned aMaster�s degree from Mississippi StateUniversity and later became certifiedin school administration. Her days as aprincipal are busy, and certainly neverdull, but it�s a job she relishes.

�When I was a teacher, I didn�t thinkI wanted to be a principal, but I wouldget frustrated when I wanted to dosomething for my students and could-n�t. I feel I can accomplish more fromthe top, and I can affect more students.I love it.� !

J.Z. George Middle School Principal Coretta Green chats with students and bus drivers as school dismisses.

�When I was ateacher, I didn�t thinkI wanted to be a prin-cipal, but I would get

frustrated when Iwanted to do some-

thing for my studentsand couldn�t. I feel Ican accomplish morefrom the top, and Ican affect more stu-

dents. I love it.�Coretta Green


John Stewart might not seem like aferociously ambitious entrepreneurout to cut his competition to shreds.

That�s because, contrary to the typicalvision of a successful businessman, he�snot.

Stewart is polite and soft-spoken, andfrom across the desk from him at theDelta Oil Mill, which he manages, amonga slew of other projects aroundGreenwood, it�s clear he catches his flieswith honey.

�I don�t know if there�s one most impor-tant thing to running a business. It�s acombination of getting feedback from cus-tomers and being willing to put forthyour own effort,� he said.

In addition to managing the oil mill,Stewart also rents out property withbusiness partner Mark Singleton. Theduo owns The Village Shopping Center,among other retail and residential build-ings. When he is not tied up with thosetwo enterprises, Stewart is managing,along with co-owner Matt Gnemi, theother businesses he�s more locally famousfor: Webster�s Food and Drink andRiverfront Liquors.

How can one person spread himselfamong so many different businesses? ForStewart, the opposite would be far more

challenging: �I�m just not suited for anine-to-five; I don�t know what I woulddo.�

AGreenwood native, Stewart, 47.attended Pillow Academy before headingto Starkville to earn his bachelor�s degreefrom Mississippi State University. Hecame back to his hometown just aftergraduating in 1988, and he took a job �onthe bottom of the totem pole,� as he putit, working for Delta Oil Mill.

Stewart was hired as a managementtrainee, but at that time there weresmaller mills run by the company acrossthe state, and he dabbled in various posi-tions in those places before returninghome a few years later.

When he returned to the Greenwoodprocessing plant, he began working inshipping and sales for the company. Aftera few years, he worked his way up tomanagement.

One amazing feature of the oil mill isthat one thing goes into the factory, andabout a million different things come out.Stewart explained that the mill takes thecotton seed from the gin.

First, the lint is removed from the seed.That part, said Stewart, is used for bond-ed paper, currency, the casing forprocessed meats, camera film, gunpow-

der and countless other items. �Then you�ve got the seed without the

lint,� said Stewart. The hull of the seed is used to feed

dairy cows. Stewart said it�s a lot like hay,in that it is not high in nutritional valuebut mixes well with protein.

Finally, the cotton seed oil is the veg-etable oil that goes into cooking. Stewartsaid it�s a moore healthful cooking oilthan most because it has fewer saturatedfats than others, and it�s useful because itdoesn�t taste like much, so it doesn�tmask the flavor of, say, fried chicken.

Of course, an oil frequently used for fry-ing chicken might have some unfortunateolfactory side effects. Driving past themill, which is on U.S. 82, one might findthe smell of the processing oil to be eithernauseating or appetizing, depending onthe day.

Stewart said that the smell changesmostly depending on the weather. On arecent rainy day, he said it smelled�awful� because �with all the rain andeverything, you can�t help but have somespillage, and when it spills, it immediate-ly goes bad in this kind of weather.�

The finished products of the mill aresent out regionally and nationwide.

After he had settled into his career at

the mill, Stewart began buying propertywith Singleton in the 1990s.

�We don�t have a lot of stuff; it�s just acouple of things scattered around,� hesaid.

Though he said it�s not much, the con-glomeration is a good case study for suc-cessfully going into business with afriend. The relationship is symbioticbecause each does what the othereschews.

�Mark does the legwork stuff, and Ikeep the books on it,� said Stewart. �Itmakes for a good fit. He doesn�t like to dodetails, like keeping up with the books,and he�s more into the other stuff.�

Stewart said the rental business alsoadded a nice balance to his life at theoffice.

�It�s very different from what I do here,�he said.

Stewart�s involvement with Webster�s,however, engaged a more emotionalnerve than an enterprising one.

When he was growing up inGreenwood, Webster�s was one of hisfavorite local spots. He came home fromcollege and hung out there, and he saidhe has many memories of the establish-ment that was such a big part of hisyouth.

Stewart stays busy with businesses, real estate


John Stewart started working at the Delta Oil Mill right after he graduated from Mississippi State, and he gradually worked his way up to become the mill's manager.

Quiet successJohn Stewart


When he moved back home after col-lege, his affection for the restaurantendured.

�Even before I owned it, I ate dinnerthere almost every night,� he said, laugh-ing.

So, when the previous owner ofWebster�s decided to call it quits, Stewartencouraged two young Viking employeesto take on the project of buying the busi-ness and renovating it.

Gnemi and another Viking employee,Robert McBryde, bought Webster�s in2005. When McBryde decided to leavethe operation, Stewart swooped in.

Around the same time, Stewart pur-chased Riverfront Liquors, the store thatstands across the street from Webster�s.The purchase was mostly one of conven-ience, said Stewart.

�At Webster�s, we�ve got a limit ofinventory, and if all of a sudden you havea big group that comes in and they wantsome specialty item that we only haveone or two bottles of, we send someoneacross the street,� Stewart explained.

Owning so many businesses mightseem exhausting, but Stewart said thegood fortune of having stellar partnerskeeps him pretty relaxed.

�The way it works, and I really have

the better end of the deal, is that Mattreally does a lot more work than I do,�said Stewart. �He doesn�t get enoughcredit for it.�

Stewart said that the responsibilitiesare also evenly divided between the twoof them, which helps in terms of man-agement.

�Matt does more of the work atWebster�s, and I do more at Riverfront.And that way we�re not stepping on eachother�s toes. We�ve known each other for-ever; we trust each other, and no one�sstealing from anybody,� said Stewartjovially. �It just seems to be a good fit.�

Stewart is still a frequent patron of therestaurant of his youth, and it�s not justbecause he owns the place.

�I go over there nearly every night, getsomething to eat and have a drink ortwo. If somebody needs anything, I�mthere, and I�m watching, but I�m not real-ly working all that hard,� he confessed.

As for his success, Stewart is humbleat best. He owed his good fortune to hisbusiness creed: It�s good people willing tolisten to their customers who run a solidbusiness.

�We�re not the smartest peoplearound,� said Stewart, �but we�ve beenreally fortunate.� !

�I don�t know if there�s one most important thing to running a business. It�s a combination ofgetting feedback from customers and being willing to put forth your own effort.�

John Stewart

Wester's was a favorite hangout for Stewart while growing up in Greenwood, and hegladly accepted the challenge of keeping it going into a new era.


Bettie Ray

Bettie Ray, chairman of theGreenwood-Leflore CountyChamber of Commerce�s

Ambassadors, has a lot of experience inbusiness and in selling.

Ray, 71, who is Greenwood MayorCarolyn McAdams� executive secretary,said the ambassadors serve an impor-tant, often unappreciated, function: Theysell the city and what happens there, not

just the chamber.�What an ambassador should do is be

the best representative that they can be forthe city, because the more people you canconvince that the city is important, the big-ger the chamber�s going to be,� she said.

Ray, a native of Memphis, was involvedin chambers in several other places �Memphis, Orlando, Fla.; Miami,Nashville, Tenn., and the San Francisco

Bay area � before moving to Greenwoodin 2006.

This is her first time to serve as chair-man of the Ambassadors. The chairmanserves a one-year term.

Initially, Ray came to Greenwood toserve as the concierge at The Alluvian.She held that job for three years beforejoining McAdams at City Hall.

While working at The Alluvian, Ray

met McAdams, who arranged for thereservations of executives from theCorrections Corporation of America,which ran the Delta Correctional Facility.

Ray said being an executive secretaryis different from her other jobs.

�In all the jobs I�ve ever had before thisone, I either owned a business, was themanager of a business or was in salesand marketing,� she said.

Mayor�s secretary leads chamber ambassadors


Nick Joseph, left, the Greenwood city clerk, shares a laugh with Bettie Ray, right, the mayor�s executive secretary, and Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams. Ray is thechairman of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce�s Ambassadors.

�The best representative�


Still, those perspectives have provesinvaluable.

�I know the value of being able tostep into somebody�s office and say, �Notonly do I want to talk to you about myproduct, but I also want to speak to youabout the importance of being a mem-ber of the chamber,�� Ray said.

When Ray was in California and inMemphis, most businesses she dealtwith had plaques on their walls pro-claiming membership in the chamber.

�It�s real simple to go in and say, �Ah,I see you�re a member of the chamberof commerce. I�m an ambassador forthem. Tell me what you want them todo for you,�� she said.

By being in business and serving asan ambassador, a person can promote abusiness and the chamber at the sametime. �That�s why I got involved in ithere,� Ray said.

v v v

The ambassadors meet on the firstFriday of every month.

Their next meeting will take place atThe Alluvian.

�Instead of having a lunch meeting,which we usually do, we�re going tohave breakfast at their wonderful buf-fet,� she said.

Ironically, Ray said, about 80 percentof the ambassadors have never beeninside the boutique hotel.

�What better person to go in and seewhat�s happening at a hotel than some-body who is going to go out and talk

about it?� she said.Ray said it�s important for ambassa-

dors to visit the Museum of theMississippi Delta and the Greenwood-Leflore Public Library and to becomefamiliar with all the city has to offertourists.

�I think the ambassadors should sellthe city. That�s the greatest marketingtool,� she said.

But it goes beyond mere cheerlead-ing.

�You�re representing the businessesthat belong to the chamber,� she said.�It�s important if you go in one businessand they say, �Oh, I�m looking for suchand such,� you can say, �Oh, let me tellyou about who�s a member of the cham-ber; it�s so-and-so, and I think theycould probably help you with that.�You�re the goodwill ambassador who isspreading the word.�

She said she is optimistic aboutGreenwood despite the recent layoffs atViking Range Corp.

�Greenwood will continue to existbecause its people are strong-willed,�she said. �It�s a very smart community.People want this city to be successful. Ithink Greenwood is going to bestronger because of this.�

v v v

Ray spent several years as a salesand marketing executive with HolidayInn in Memphis and Florida.

When she married her second hus-band, Jerry Ray, a native of Fulton who

had lived most of his life in California,the couple went into business togetheras Ray & Associates, which sold tomass merchants.

�I sold everything from Liz Claiborneclothing to Chanel fragrances andPioneer electronics,� she said.

Jerry Ray died in 1998, and his wifemoved back to Memphis, where sheworked for eight years for the MemphisBusiness Journal. She came toGreenwood in 2006.

She said her late husband�s businessphilosophy still rings true.

�The secret to success is to find aneed and fill it,� she said. �I think that�sgood advice, no matter what businessyou�re in.�

There were other words of wisdom,as well.

�The person who can talk the mostand make the biggest impression is notalways the best salesman,� she said.�The best salesman is the one whoshows up on the same day on the samemonth at the same time. Everybodyknows they�re dependable.�

McAdams said Ray has been a greataddition to City Hall.

�People tell me all the time how cour-teous and professional she is,� themayor said. �That�s what you want.Sometimes, she can calm the stormbefore it comes into my office.�

Ray said she hopes her tenure aschairman of the ambassadors will be asuccessful one.

�It�s been a fun ride, and I hope itcontinues,� she said. !

�Greenwood will con-tinue to exist becauseits people are strong-

willed. It�s a verysmart community.

People want this cityto be successful.�

Bettie Ray


Economic Development

ResurgenceThe middle of a global economic

recession might not seem like thebest time to be taking chances by

thinking outside the box, but for theGreenwood-Leflore-Carroll EconomicDevelopment Foundation, it was in withthe new, and watch the old improve.

The foundation made encouragingstrides in 2012 with respect to new busi-nesses and industry, but it also crossedthresholds of another sort: making sure itwas courting a wide range of projects thatboth created jobs and improved the quali-ty of life in the region.

�We�re focused on creating a well-round-ed economic development program thatdoesn�t just focus on one element of thecommunity,� said the foundation�s chair-man, Bill Crump.

�We�re not just looking for industrieswith smokestacks. We�re also looking forretailers and restaurants. Our goal is tovary it, and hopefully in the future wewill get more involved in educationalopportunities like Teach for America,� hesaid.

That kind of thinking, coupled withwhat Executive Director Angela Currycalls a �creative economy,� has helpedturn things around for the Greenwoodarea in the past year.

�For the past couple of years, economicdevelopment was just really slow,� saidCurry. �That was true for Greenwood,Clarksdale and just about any other statein the country.�

The year 2012, however, brought withit significant changes.

Tractor Supply Company, a nationwidechain, chose Greenwood for its latestexpansion. Asecond McDonald�s location

has also opened on U.S. 82. �Over the last few years, the interest in

locating industries and businesses haswaned,� said Crump. �But we did nothave as many requests for informationthen as we�ve had in the last year and ahalf. We�re getting a lot more site visitsand a lot more people asking for informa-tion. We�re very encouraged that thingsare turning around.�

Curry said that in the past year alone,more projects have come across her deskthan in the previous several years com-bined.

Those businesses are not just factoriesand manufacturing plants. One of thisyear�s highlights is the Baptist TownNeighborhood Revitalization Project,which has made significant progressunder the leadership of architecture fel-low Emily Roush Elliott. Elliott wasbrought on with significant help from thefoundation, and she will live and work toimprove conditions in Baptist Town forthe next three years.

�It�s not just creating jobs,� said Curry.�It�s also about improving the quality oflife for your citizens.�

In addition to the good of the cause,investing in community developmenthelps bring more businesses to the area.Curry said many businesses looking toexpand investigate not only buildings,infrastructure and monetary incentivesbut also local schools, safety and liveli-hood.

�Often they don�t even tell us that theyare touring schools or exploring our neigh-borhoods,� she said.

In that way, community developmentdrives economic development, and when

one improves, so does the other. Business also drives business, which is

one reason the foundation has reachedout to a diverse group of retailers andmanufacturers to look into moving toLeflore and Carroll counties.

�We are now working on three projects,�Curry explained. �One is a distribution-type project; one is an alternative energyproject; and the other is a wood productmanufacturing company.�

The variety continues. Of those compa-nies, one is an established internationalcompany, and the other is a start-up.

Per Curry�s �creative economy,� thefoundation has put a great deal of effortinto encouraging entrepreneurship. Acre-ative economy is one that uses its internaltalent and infrastructure to create jobsand opportunity, as opposed to seekingindustry from outside.

�When the economic situation was real-ly slow, we had to look at nontraditionalprojects. You look at the assets you havein your community, and you try to play offthose assets,� said Curry. �If we haveblues assets, let�s make a blues museumor open up a small blues club. You useyour local talent to create jobs.�

Offering potential homegrown compa-nies support is a key ingredient to thatsuccess.

�When a company closes, that displacedworker might say, �Hey, I might just thinkabout going into business for myself,��Curry explained. And that�s where thefoundation steps in.

�We�ve had a greater focus on entrepre-neurship,� Curry said.

One program the foundation offered,called Operation JumpStart, called 17

existing and prospective small businessowners to complete an eight-weekmicroenterprise development program.Out of the program, three very differentbusinesses have successfully gotten start-ed.

According to Curry, the program wasinvaluable to the success of those compa-nies. �It provided technical assistance andguidance to people already in businesswho needed help staying in business, orhelp to those people who are looking toget into business and are looking for thebest way to start,� she said.

Another way the foundation has soughtto support ingenuity was by organizing asocial media workshop for local businesses.

�It�s about bringing resources to peoplewho might not know a lot about socialmedia,� said Curry. �We had people whowere looking for that kind of informationand were looking for that help. We plan todo more of those.�

Curry said the foundation has alsotaken a personal interest in smaller busi-nesses trying to take off. One such exam-ple is Greenwood�s newest chiropractor,Kimberly Jefferson.

�When she first came to town, she con-tacted me, and she is a prime example ofhow it should be done,� Curry said. �Shetook her time; she covered all the bases;she contacted all the right people. She gother ducks in a row, and now she has asuccessful chiropractic business. And I�vecaught up with her business and watchedher grow.�

�It�s not just big business for us any-more,� she said. �It�s everything. It�s abouthelping residents be able to have a betterquality of life.� !

Foundation focuses on quality of life

McDonald�s opened a second store in Greenwood in 2012.

Tractor Supply Company is opening a location in Greenwood on U.S. 82 West.


Accountants Directory 8Advanced Rehabilitation 48Ag Spray Equipment 86Alfa Insurance 114Alluvian, The 40 Anel Corporation 80Annette & Shelia's 62APAC 90Artrageous T's 46Ashley Furniture 125Attic 82 102Attorneys Directory 54AW Tree Service 106Ayers-Delta Implement Inc. 62Bank of Commerce 112Barnes Paper 60Beard & Riser 34Beattie Massage Therapy 52Bond's Towing 62Bowlin Heating & Air 116 C&C Auto 118Capital City Beverage 10Capps Center 96Carroll Academy 104Carrollton Family Clinic 71Cash Plus & Title Plus 102Charles Spain Auto 104Chawla Hotels 86China Blossom Restaurant 58Clevenger's Jewelry & Gifts 2Clint Williams Co., The 68Compass Pointe 14Conerly�s Shoes 12Country Meadow Personal Care Home 32 Crystal Grill, The 12Crystal Health and Rehab, L.L.C. 118Custom Glass 30Daughters of the American Revolution 67Delta Distributing 22, 114Delta Emporium 121Delta Farm & Auto Supply Inc. 102Delta Health Alliance 75Delta Irrigation and Supply 90Delta Sigma Theta Sorority 67Delta Steam Laundry 52Dixie Roofing 80Doctors/Dentists Directory 74, 75Dubard Realty 12E&H Realty 62Eastland Law Offices, PLLC 86Edward Jones Investments 94EMI Staffing 108Entergy 96Expressions 26Family Dental Associates 14Fast Cash 120

First Presbyterian Church 26First South Farm Credit 98First United Methodist Church 16Flatland Grill 14Four Paws 82Franklin Coffey Estates 110Fred T. Neely & Co. 120Fresh Laundry 110Friends of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta 67Gingko Tree, The 18Golden Age Nursing Home 34Greenwood Animal Hospital 18Greenwood Commonwealth 121, 128Greenwood Downtown Drugs 84Greenwood Leflore Hospital 20Greenwood Leflore Public Library 123Greenwood Market Place 110Greenwood Rotary Club 67Greenwood Utilities 48Greenwood, City of 1Greenwood-Leflore CountyChamber of Commerce 22, 28, 108, 120

Greenwood-Leflore-CarrollEconomic Development Foundation 36

Harold Floyd Heating & Air 38Homefront Home Improvement Center 56Horan & Horan 123Hughes, Chris DMD 114J.D. Lanham Supply Company 14Jack�s Package Store, Inc. 112Jim Neill 125Jim�s Home Furnishings 8Johnson-McAdams 62Jones Electrical Supply 72Jones Sign Co. 30Kenneth R. Thompson Jr. Builder 94Kirk Brothers 62Kornfeld's 34Kosciusko Medical Clinic 116Lamb�s Photography 18Leflore Ace Hardware 71Leflore Ace Hardware (3.1.8) 36Leflore County Board of Supervisors 94Leflore County Chancery Clerk 46Leflore County Schools 92Life Help Mental Health Center/Denton House 56Life Help Mental Health Center/Garden Park 68Lusco�s 28Lynbar Jewelers 3Magnolia Home Center 96Mai Little China 3Mallette Furniture 32 Malouf Construction 62Malouf Furniture 50McCaleb Discount Furniture 72Mid Delta Home Health 42, 43

Mid Delta Rental, LLC. 72Mid South Copier Systems, Inc. 32, 108, 120Mike Rozier Construction 62Mississippi Gift Company, The 12Mobile Auto Glass & Truck Accessories 3, 16Norris Bookbinding Company 62North New Summit School 50North Sunflower Medical Center 64, 65Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Inside Back CoverOld Time Farmers Market 18Park Café 22Parker Wrecker & Salvage 106Patmar Computers 118Pillow Academy 16Pinkston Seablue 58Pioneer Credit Company 116Prime Time Plumbing 48Puddleducks 82River Heights Healthcare Center 92Riverview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center 26Sanders Tree Service Back Cover Scott Petroleum Corporation 24Sequel Electrical Supply 100Shell Rapid Lube 116Sims & Rice Realty Development 90Southern Ag Credit 62Southern Duplicating 77Southern Tire 8St. Francis Church/Immaculate Heart of Mary 38St. John�s United Methodist Church 58Staplcotn 104Stark Exterminators 80Steve Daves Heating & Air 52Sunflower Home Health 106Tallahatchie General Hospital Inside Front Cover Terrace Gardens 36Terrace View 100Thompson Machinery 88Top Dog Powersports 38, 84Tri-Lakes Medical Center 68Triple M Irrigation 10Trustmark National Bank 84University of Mississippi 82Upchurch Plumbing, Inc 112Upchurch Rental 48Upshaw Law Office 100Viking Range Corporation 30Village Car Care 46Westerfield Plumbing 56Westminster Presbyterian Church, PCA 28What's Cooking? 50Whole Foods Store, The 52Williams and Lord 62Wilson and Knight 62


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