REPORT FROM MISSISSIPPI HILLS HERITAGE WEEK

Overview of Heritage Week
The dual purpose of Mississippi Hills Heritage Week (June 6-12, 2004) was to gather information to incorporate into a concept plan that is being developed for the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area, and to build support for the heritage area initiative. Heritage Week consisted of: 6 Local Stakeholder Meetings, a Heritage Assessment Tour, and the 2004 Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Conference (June 10th and 11th).


Stakeholder Meetings & Assessment Tour
The 6 Local Stakeholder Meetings and Heritage Assessment Tour involved the following communities: Pontotoc, New Albany, Ripley, Ashland, Holly Springs, and Oxford. These activities took place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and were funded through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.

The stakeholder meetings and assessment tour were conducted by Mr. Phil Walker, principal of the Walker Collaborative in Nashville, TN. Much valuable information was gained during the tour, and many lively discussions were generated in the local meetings.

During these meetings, Mr. Walker gave a brief overview of heritage areas and guided a discussion regarding local heritage resources and related issues--including how communities would benefit from inclusion in the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area.

There were an average of 10 persons present for each of the six meetings, with broad stakeholder representation from within each community. Those who attended these meetings included: five mayors, 8 members of various county boards of supervisors, a college president, chancery court clerk, county administrator, Mainstreet director, Habitat for Humanity representative, 2 bank representatives, 2 development foundation directors, 2 members of the media, numerous members of historical societies, and a range of community volunteers.

Only seven of those individuals who attended the local stakeholder meetings were in attendance at the conference later in the week, meaning that an additional 50 or so persons were involved in the heritage-area planning process through these efforts.


Tour for Conference Speakers
Four of the five speakers for the 2004 Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Conference arrived on Wednesday, June 9th, and were given a tour of the area that afternoon (which was of limited focus due to time constraints). The University of Mississippi provided a driver and 13-passenger van for the tour, the Oxford portion of which was conducted by Mayor Richard Howorth, the campus portion by Justin Smith.

The tour featured: the historic Oxford cemetery and William Faulkner's gravesite; the Oxford Square and Square Books; a guided tour of Rowan Oak (with a special guide again arranged by Ole Miss); the Oxford Depot; the Grove and University Circle; a guided tour of the Lyceum; and the Belfry.

From Oxford, the group then travelled up scenic Mississippi Highway 7 to Holly Springs, where they were joined by director of tourism James Thomas and Holly Springs' Mayor Andre DeBerry--both of whom assisted with the tour. Beginning at the historic Presbyterian Church, the tour proceeded to the town square, and then on to the campuses of the Mississippi Industrial College and Rust College.

The tour also featured: Walter Place and a number of other historic homes, including Athena, Montrose, Arleewood, Wakefield, and Cedarhurst; the Chalmer's Institute (the first public university in the state of Mississippi); the Holly Springs Train Station; Phillip's Grocery; and the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center.

All present for the tour were impressed by the area's resources and the potential for heritage tourism development--and the tour itself illustrated the powerful effect of inter-community cooperation.


The Conference--
Demonstrating the Power of Partnerships
Also demonstrating the power of partnerships was the conference itself, which was made possible by the Mississippi Development Authority - Division of Tourism, U.S. Forest Service, North Central Mississippi Resource Conservation & Development Council, the University of Mississippi, the Oxford Mayor's office, Oxford Tourism Council, Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation, Blue Mountain College, the Blue Mountain Mayor's office, Union County Development Association, Tippah County Development Foundation, the CREATE Foundation, and Corinth Realty.

Contributions of particular significance were made by: Mississippi Tourism, which sponsored the five nationally-recognized speakers (Becky Anderson, director of Handmade in America; August Carlino, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation; Curt Cottle, heritage tourism/heritage area consultant; Dan Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor Coalition; and Carroll Van West, director of the Tennessee National Civil War Heritage Area); the U.S. Forest Service, which funded the involvement of Phil Walker, our heritage area consultant; and, the University of Mississippi, which demonstrated its vital importance to the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area initiative in a number of ways, including: 1.) by making available (and overseeing preparations for) the rehearsal hall at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, which provided a fantastic venue for the conference; and, 2.) by providing 6 University vans to shuttle conferees back and forth to the Oxford Square for lunch.

The conference itself was well-attended, and those who contributed to the event through their donation of time and travel also helped demonstrate the strength of the growing Alliance. (A breakdown of attendance for the conference is provided in the following section.)


Thursday, June 10th -- Oxford, Mississippi
The first day of the conference featured presentations by Becky Anderson, Augie Carlino, Curt Cottle, Dan Rice, and Carroll Van West, and was emceed by Phil Walker. Those in attendance were:

Representatives from Congressional Offices:
*Bill Canty, Senator Trent Lott's Office
*Mindy Maxwell, Senator Thad Cochran's Office
*Joe White, Congressman Roger Wicker's Office

Representatives from National and State Preservation Organizations:
*Nancy Tinker, National Trust for Historic Preservation
*David Preziosi, Executive Director, Mississippi Heritage Trust

Mayors and Other Elected Officials:
*Andre Deberry, Mayor of Holly Springs
*Richard Howorth, Mayor of Oxford
*Janice Antonow, Alderwoman, City of Oxford
*Jane Rule Burdine, former Mayor of Taylor, MS

Representatives from Community / County Development Organizations, Mainstreet Associations, and Tourism Entities: *Duane Bullard, Director, Tippah Co. Dev. Foundation
*Glenn Duckworth, Director, Union Co. Dev. Assn.
*Max Hipp, Director, Oxford-Lafayette Co. Economic Dev. Foundation
*Del Horton, Director, Corinth Area Tourism Promotion Council
*Kasey Montgomery, Tourism Specialist, Union Co. Development Association
*Allison Windham, Director, Ripley Mainstreet Association

State and Federal Agency Representatives:
*Frank Brinkley, USDA Rural Development, Tupelo Field Office
*Jack Elliott, Mississippi Department of Archives & History
*Michelle Weaver Jones, Community Outreach Coordinator, Mississippi Department of Archives & History
*Jerry Pendleton, Management Analyst, Natchez Trace Parkway
*Todd Sanders, CLG Coordinator, Mississippi Dept. of Archives&History

Regional / Area Agency Representatives:
*Rhonda Goolsby North Central MS Resource Conservation & Development Council
*Troy Holliday President, North Central MS Resource Conservation & Development Council
*Robert Jordan Director, Northeast MS Resource Conservation & Development Council
*George Rowland Coordinator, North Central MS Resource Conservation & Development Council

Representatives from Local & Regional Planning Organizations, Preservation Commissions:
*Colbert Jones, Planning Director, City of Oxford
*Tim Liddy, President, Holly Springs Preservation Commission
*Lisa Stevens, Northeast Mississippi Planning & Development

District Representatives from Historical & Heritage Museums / Societies:
*Martha Coleman, Pontotoc County Historical Society
*Virginia Dillard, Pontotoc County Historical Museum
*Jessie Edwards, President, Mississippi Industrial College Alumni Assn.
*Cindy Grubbs, Tishomingo County Historical & Genealogical Society
*Betsey Hamilton, Union Co. Heritage Museum
*Richard Ramsey, Director, Howlin' Wolf Blues Society of West Point
*Jill Smith, Director, Union County Heritage Museum

Representatives from Institutions of Higher Learning:
*Dr. Anne Abadie, Associate Director, Center for the Study of Southern Culture
*Dr. Alan Barton, Assistant Prof., Sociology and Community Dev., Delta State University
*Dr. Kim Beason, Professor, Department of Health, Exercise Science, & Recreation Management, Ole Miss
*Kimberly Brown, Director, Carl Small Town Center
*Mark Camarigg, Living Blues magazine
*Dr. Betty Duggan, Dept. of Southern Studies, University of Mississippi
*Dr. Jim Gilbert, Interim Chair, Dept. of Health, Exercise Science, & Recreation Management, Ole Miss
*Dr. Gloria Kellum, Vice Chancellor for University Relations
*Chance McDavid, Mississippi State University Extension Service
*Albert Sperath, Director, University of MS Museums and Historic Houses
*David Wharton, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Ole Miss
*Dr. Matt Zuefle, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Park and Recreation Management Program, Ole Miss

Representatives from Business / Private Enterprise and the Media:
*Emily Johnson, Marketing Manager, Best Western Downtown Oxford Inn&Suites
*Dwight Weatherford, Weatherford McDade, Ltd. (Planning Consultants, Landscape Architects)
*Jennifer Farish, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Other:
*Robyn Clary, 5th-year architecture student, Mississippi State University
*Hilda Hill, Community Volunteer
*D. Jason Pressgrove, intern, Carl Small Town Center, Mississippi State Univ.
*Waurene Roberson, Oxford-Lafayette County AMOS Network


Friday, June 11th -- Blue Mountain, Mississippi
The second day of the conference featured a Concept Plan Workshop, which was conducted by Phil Walker. Augie Carlino, Curt Cottle, Dan Rice and Carroll Van West contributed to the workshop sessions.

Workshop Participants:
*Mike Armour, State Director, Appalachian Regional Commission
*Richard Babb, Attorney-at-Law, Ripley
*Alan Barefield, Mississippi State University Extension Service
*Frank Brinkley, USDA Rural Development, Tupelo Field Office
*Duane Bullard, Director, Tippah Co. Dev. Foundation
*Mr. Edward Burge, Mayor of Blue Mountain
*Robyn Clary, Mississippi State University
*Martha Coleman, Pontotoc County Historical Society
*Dr. Bettye Coward, President, Blue Mountain College
*Glenn Duckworth, Director, Union Co. Dev. Assn.
*Dr. Betty Duggan, Dept. of Southern Studies, University of Mississippi
*Jack Elliott, Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History
*Rhonda Goolsby, North Central Mississippi Resource Conservation & Development Council
*Troy Holliday, President, North Central MS Resource Conservation & Development Council
*Del Horton, Director, Corinth Area Tourism Promotion Council
*Michelle Weaver Jones, Community Outreach Coordinator, Mississippi Department of Archives & History
*Karen Beth Martin, Office of the Mayor, Oxford; Oxford Cultural Tourism Committee
*Chance McDavid, Mississippi State University Extension Service
*Matthew Miller, Mississippi Chapter of the Nature Conservancy
*Kasey Montgomery, Tourism Specialist, Union Co. Dev. Assn.
*Ken P'Pool, Mississippi Department of Archives and History
*George Rowland, Coordinator, North Central MS Resource Conservation & Development Council
*Jill Smith, Director, Union County Heritage Museum
*Nancy Tinker, National Trust for Historic Preservation
*Allison Windham, Director, Ripley Mainstreet Association
*Dr. Matt Zuefle, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Park & Recreation Management Program, Ole Miss