Chamber honors 9 Wesson servants
- Wesson News
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Special to Wesson News
A business, not-for-profit organization and seven individuals received recognition and accepted honors for their contributions and service to Wesson last month.
At a special awards banquet at the Co-Lin Thames Center, the Wesson Chamber of Commerce presented:
Organization of the Year Award to Friends of the Library for its work in supporting Wesson Public Library through special programs, promotions that encourage use of its resources and funds to expand those resources. It assists with programs targeted for children and youth and National Library Week and conducts promotions to build user traffic.
Citizens of the Year Awards to Dixie Hutson Thornton and Michael R. King.
Thornton has served the Wesson community through volunteer leadership in the American Legion Auxiliary in which she served as president of District 7 and is the historian and member of the local executive committee. As president of the Wesson Garden Club, she helped it achieve state and regional recognition for its programs. She is active in Sylvarena Baptist Church and serves on the Southern Baptist Region 6 Women’s Missionary Union Board of Directors.
In 2014, she worked with the Wesson Chamber of Commerce and Town to set up a town museum to help celebrate Wesson’s 150th anniversary – a temporary facility that will soon return to become a permanent part of the town’s life through the work of Friends of the Library. Thornton is a 44-year Army wife, mother of one daughter and a granddaughter.
King serves as Wesson Ward 4 Alderman and is President and CEO of Summerwind Consultants, Inc., which develops antiterrorism and risk management decision-support software tool. He spearheaded development of the Wesson Veterans Memorial.
A Brookhaven native, he graduated from Florida State University and started a law enforcement career with the Brookhaven Police Department, which he continued as a military policeman after being commissioned as a U.S. Marine Corps officer in 1983. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and U.S. Army Command and Staff College, holding a Master of Military Art and Science. He received the Legion of Merit Award, Defense Meritorious Service Meda and the Presidential Service Badge and retired as Lieutenant Colonel before founding his consulting firm.
Educator of the Year Dr. Barbara Roberson, Wesson High School principal. Wesson Attendance Center Principal Tommy Clopton commended her for “creativity in developing individualized plans for students according to their needs, “pulling all students up and finding the right path for each one.”
Roberson has been an educator of 28 years, 14 years at Wesson Attendance Center as a teacher and counselor.
Policeman of the Year to Tim Stevens, Wesson Police Department (WPD) assistant chief. WPD Police Chief Chad O’Quinn called Stevens “a leader and mentor” who exemplifies the force. “We’re peacemakers who are confident in our public service, loving what we do,” Q’Quinn said.
Fireman of the Year to Sean Riley. Wesson Fire Department is small on funds, but big on volunteers like Riley, Chief Ken Carraway said. “We’re responsible for 72 square miles,” he said. “Each of us brings 800 training hours to the job, including 120 hours for certification and 12 hours refresher training every year. We’re prepared for the worst, trained for what we never want to happen.” Riley, Carraway said, “started as a kid as a junior firefighter, has a kind serving heart and responds to most of our calls.”
Business of the Year to Copiah Bank. “Wesson is a small town, but has two banks – Trustmark and Copiah – that are solidly committed to its growth with assets,” Chamber President Teri Bath said. Bath noted new business openings in Wesson encouraged by the presence of the town’s banks: Spray Foam Solutions with eight to nine new jobs, Fire House Barbeque with seven new jobs, Skidworks, a property maintenance company started by Steven Ashley related to his real estate organization, and Park Place Concessions.
In addition to the award winners, the Chamber also honored two recently retired owners of long-time Wesson businesses: Gerri Bland, who operated Miss Gerri’s Beauty Salon, and Nena Smith, who operated a dance studios.
SIDEBAR
Three speakers, who have helped Wesson in their unique roles in the community, lauded the more than one hundred town leaders, including citizens, government officials and representatives of business and not-for-profit organization on hand at the Chamber of Commerce awards event.
“It’s amazing what you do,” affirmed Representative Becky Currie, who serves the community in the State Legislature.
"The Biblical injunction to help ‘the least of these’ guides me to do what I do to make the community the best,” she said. “Fixing what needs to be fixed – the Old School, police station, roads, Wesson Attendance Center; supporting Co-Lin, getting funds for you.”
Dr. Jackie Martin, vice president of the Co-Lin Wesson campus, said the local college is seeking to grow with the town.
She cited “student success” as its top priority reflected in Co-Lin’s graduation rate, which is the highest among colleges and universities in Mississippi.
The college is also renovating buildings, improving its athletic facilities and reaching out to local high school students to continue studies at the institution, she said.
Wesson Mayor Alton Shaw said the town is all about “people helping each other” and pointed to its government activity as a venue to that happening.
He said the town operates on a $2 million budget with grant funding that keeps taxes at a minimum in maintaining a Class 7 fire department with volunteers, recent upgrading of police department facilities, and providing a municipal park with a playground. On the horizon for the town, he said, are road repairs, location of a pharmacy, and opening of a new convenience store.
“We have a lot going on and to be happy about,” Shaw summarized.
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