The evening of March 24 was a time for the Magee Chamber of Commerce to honor the citizens and businesses that have contributed so much to the City of Magee and the surrounding community and recognize the progress of the city itself.
The Chamber held its 66th annual membership meeting banquet last Thursday night. Over 200 people attended this year’s event in the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church of Magee.
The evening started with live entertainment by Johnny’s Auto Group, Johnny Gregory and crew. The Pledge of Allegiance was lead by Captain Eric Williams of the Mississippi Army National Guard, and Rev. Darnell Moffett gave the invocation.
The meal was offered buffet style this year with bar-b-que pork and sliced pork loin with all the fixings.
Chamber President Lee Maddox, in his second term at the helm of the organization, reported that the Chamber had a busy year with 13 ribbon cuttings and 33 new members added. He recapped events like the fall carnival; Mingle on Main, a new event hosted after hours on Main Avenue in Downtown Magee to kick off the holiday season; Magee’s annual Crazy Day and the Christmas Parade.
Maddox acknowledged all the support for these events from local businesses without whom these programs would not have happened.
STAR students and teachers were introduced from each school. These students made the highest ACT score of the year, and they chose their most influential teachers. Supt. Dr. Toriano Holloway presented Magee High School’s award to Thomas Dyess, son of Teddy and Shantell Dyess. After moving to Ridgeland with his family, Thomas returned to Magee to complete his senior year with his former teammates. He selected Kimberly McCann as STAR Teacher.
Nick Lee, headmaster of Simpson County Academy, recognized SCA’s STAR Student, Scott Maddox, son of Joanna and Keith Maddox. He chose Chris Murphy as his STAR teacher.
Magee Mayor Dale Berry told the crowd that for four years running the city has had record tax collections. He acknowledged his board and their decisions to purchase new equipment for the city to the tune of $12 million and no increase in taxes.
Mayor Berry presented two keys to the city for accomplishments over the years with the first going to Debbie Crofton-Walker, who recently retired from Peoples Bank. He also presented a key to the city to Suzy Thames for her many years of volunteering on community projects with the latest being serving on the Chamber board and working with the First United Methodist Food Bank.
Helping with the presentations for the evening was Magee’s Miss Hospitality, Anna Kaitlyn Ashley, daughter of Joey and Jennifer Ashley.
Donna McLean presented the three inductees into this year’s Hall of Fame, all of whom were retirees who had dedicated years of their lives to teaching, coaching and leading the growth of Magee’s students.
The first new Hall of Fame member was Lynn Keyes Tutor, who began teaching in the 1940s and taught all 12 grades by the time of her retirement in 1983. She is also a writer. Her son, Terry Tutor, accepted the award on her behalf.
The next recipient of Hall of Fame honors was Charles Funchess, who taught social studies and history. His motto was “Get all the knowledge you can and always do the right thing.” Later in life he added to that motto, “Tell somebody about Jesus every day.”
The final Hall of Fame inductee was Coach Earnest Jaynes, who influenced many children with his 45 year career path as teacher, coach and finally principal.
The Outstanding Citizen Award was presented by Dr. Rusty Slover to his close friend, Christian Carrico.
Carrico has been involved in many projects, including serving as Chamber president, Simpson County Development Foundation president, organizer of the city park improvement committee, organizer of the McNair Springs clean-up effort and tennis team volunteer as well as a host of other activities including reporting on sports for Simpson Academy.
The Spirit of Magee award went to dual recipients this year for their volunteer effort to make Magee a better place to live. Dot Nichols and Chris Lane were selected for their service to the community. Nichols was unable to attend the presentation.
Earl Clark made the presentation for the Business of the Year. Central Hardware was selected as this year’s recipient based on the four generations that have developed the local business, now in its 75th year.
PriorityOne President Robbie Barnes then spoke about the current school bond issue to be voted on by the community. His goal, he said, was to state the importance of the bond and the funding of the new consolidated high school for Simpson County. He plainly reiterated that the school board had already made the decision to consolidate into one centralized facility. The bond issue is just one way of funding the new school. Basically it boils down to whether the tax is a 20 year note through a bond or if it is a large increase in millage that will continue to be in force from now on. The election was held Tuesday, March 29.
The final presentation for the evening went to Edith Polk for her support of the ACT testing program in Simpson County. Not only is this national test the standard for high school students and their acceptance to college but also it assists young adults in placement of studies that will help them in their future education planning.
The evening concluded with Lee Maddox passing of the gavel to the incoming President of the Chamber Board, Nancy Brown. She outlined some of plans for the future and encouraged participation of individuals and businesses.
