A rose to Cypress Park Apartments manger Amanda Miles and Nadia Colom, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of the Golden Triangle, for their collaboration on a “satellite club,” to be held at the apartment complex on South Lehmberg Road.
Miles came upon the idea after realizing a need for an after-school program for her residents, which include about 175 kids. An unused clubhouse seemed a perfect venue. Miles reached out to Colom to see if there would be a possibility of establishing a club on site, an idea Colom considered an excellent way for her club to extend its reach into the community.
The new club, the first of its kind in the area, is expected to provide Boys and Girls Club program for 50 kids and will be open from 3-7 p.m. on weekdays. We applaud this innovative approach and the efforts of Miles and Colom to make it happen.
A rose to Nancy Carpenter, executive director for the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, who was named Mississippi’s Business Woman of the Year for 2017. Carpenter, who came to the CVB in 2008 after more than 30 years in the banking industry, became the organization’s CEO and executive director in 2011 and has worked with both city and county officials on a number of projects, including a variety of projects near the city’s Main Street entrance — everything from the Riverwalk, the soccer complex, the Tennessee Williams home, Catfish Alley and the proposed children’s museum, which will be located in the old Elks Lodge on Main Street.
Under her direction, the CVB has formed partnerships on the local and state level to enhance our city’s tourism, economy and quality of life. It is a well-earned honor.
A rose to the first responders who reminded us Wednesday that the service they provide can be a matter of life and death.
East Oktibbeha County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Greg Ball and firefighter Chris Sartin, along with deputies Tyrone Edmonds and Brandon Griggs of the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office, combined their efforts to save a woman from a house fire. The lone occupant of the home, a woman, was stuck in a window as she tried to escape the fire as first responders arrived. The quick response to the call, along with the actions of these four men, transformed what could have been a tragedy into a misfortune. We applaud these public servants for a job well done.
A rose to Jody Woodrum for her service to the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District. Woodrum will step down as the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at the end of the year. In her role, Woodrum was the “go-to” person on just about everything happening in the district, it seemed. Her expansive knowledge of how school districts operate, boundless energy and accommodating nature are qualities that won’t be easy to replace.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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