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Tuesday night, March 7th, the annual Magee Chamber of Commerce banquet was held. Approximately 150 people were in attendance.
Chamber President Chris Purdum presided over the meeting. Mayor Jimmy Clyde was recognized for his 42 years of service to the city of Magee.
Mayor Clyde’s speech contained some interesting facts about our city:
Love’s is scheduled to open sometimes around Memorial Day.
Real Pure Water has been purchased by Silver Springs Water. The Richmond family of Silver Springs, Florida owns the plant. Possibly, 35 jobs will be added when the new production lines are added in May.
Magee has experienced over $7.5 million of new construction over the last year. We have 308 businesses within the corporate boundaries of Magee.
Magee is considered the sixth safest city in the state of Mississippi.
Our fire department is constantly working to achieve a class 5 insurance fire rating.
Magee achieved a milestone in being named a Healthy Hometown by Blue Cross Blue Shield which brought the city a $25,000 grant. The grant has been used to further improve our parks and employee health center. Morton was the only other city in our state that was named a Healthy Hometown.
City of Magee is upgrading all of its parks. A Splash Pad is under construction at the Sportsplex. Turf has been placed on all infields at the Sportsplex. A new pavilion, resurfacing of the tennis courts, relighting and reworking the ball fields, paving the walking track and upgrading lighting has taken place at the city park. Cameras have been added to all parks.
Chief Justice Bill Waller gave the keynote address entertaining the crowd with family stories and pertinent information about the law.
Star students and teachers from Magee and Simpson Academy were recognized. Student Tucker Sobczak and teacher Chris Monk represented Magee High School. Jacob Holbrook and Kevin Davis represented SCA.
Barbara Magee and Edith Polk were inducted into the City of Magee Hall of Fame.
Ashley Jones presented the Spirit of Magee award. Ashley led the crowd through a poem of clues leading to the announcement of Shirley Gibson Maddox as the Spirit of Magee for 2017. Shirley has been instrumental in the development of the Simpson County Job Corp.
Donna Martin presented Suzy Thames with the Citizen of the Year award. Suzy is a “volunteering” lady! She has worked with numerous organizations in the county and state as well as with the development of the Lamp Light Theater.
Ian Cowart was introduced as the new Chamber of Commerce president. The first duty of Ian’s tenure was to adjourn the meeting!
A note from Sue:
I want to tell ya’ll that I am sorry my pictures are not the best! The ones Patrice made are awesome…but mind…well, I think I need some more lessons…but I hope you enjoy the pics anyway! Congratulations to the Board of Directors of the Chamber and Chris Purdum for an outstanding banquet! Everything was lovely. The meal catered by Smoky Mountain Grill was delicious…and everyone looked beautiful!
