| 316 W. Commerce St. | Hernando, Mississippi | 38632 | 662-429-4414 | fax 429-0952 |  |
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Leadership DeSoto Off to a Great Start
The Leadership DeSoto Class of 2007 started with a bang as usual. The group began the program with a two-day orientation held November 16 and 17. The class met for the first time at Whispering Woods for a day of leadership training and team building, led by Kevin Russell, who has facilitated the opening day of the program for more than 10 years. Following a day of classroom-type learning, the group gathered at Parkwood for hands-on training in teamwork as the members completed the infamous Ropes Course. While many of the class members began the program as strangers, after two days of intensive team training, many new friendships began to form.
On December 13, the group gathered again in Hernando for the first-ever Leadership DeSoto County Bus Tour. Similar to the bus tour taken by members of the Mississippi Legislature who attended “Rockin’ & Rollin’ in DeSoto County,” the Leadership DeSoto bus tour gave the group an overall view of the county from east to west and north to south. Those class members who have not lived in DeSoto County for very long learned a lot about the county as a whole, and those who have lived in DeSoto County saw areas where they might not normally travel. Senator Doug Davis, a Leadership DeSoto graduate, narrated the tour, with help from Representatives Wanda Jennings, Forrest Hamilton, and Ted Mayhall, who also rode on the bus tour. Senator Merle Flowers met the group for lunch at Old Style Barbecue, and he joined with the other legislators in speaking about bills that will be introduced in the upcoming legislative session.
Over the next several months, the Leadership DeSoto class will meet to learn about issues facing DeSoto County in the areas of economic development, education, health care, and county government. The group will also work on small group projects, all of which are part of a class-wide project to plan a future parade of homes in cooperation with the North Mississippi Homebuilders Association and the Northwest Mississippi Community Foundation.
This year’s class members include David Baker, Fisher & Arnold; Walter Banks, Baptist Memorial Hospital – DeSoto; Brian Bloom, DeSoto Times Today; Angie Brazil, BancorpSouth; Lanny Charles, Parkwood Behavioral Health System; Kacy Collier, Junior Auxiliary of DeSoto County; James Edwards, University of Mississippi – DeSoto Center; Marty Garrard, BankPlus; Ashley Gray, University of Mississippi – DeSoto Center; Hazel Hammond, Sherwin-Williams; John Heard, SSR, Inc.; Angie Irving, Bob Leigh & Associates, Realtors; Nick Manley, Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens & Cannada; Denise Miller, Comfort Suites; Miles Mitchell, First Security Bank; Nick Naylor, Community Bank; Steven Parman, Entergy; Jon Pointer, Pointer Insurance Agency; Renee Powell, M&F Bank; Sean Reynolds, DeSoto Civic Center; Joey Ries, BancorpSouth; Stiles Rougeou, M&F Bank; Shad Sims, Atmos Energy; Angela Summers, Rhea & Ivy, PLC; Beth Taylor, Northcentral Mississippi EPA; Amy Thornton, First Tennessee Bank; Evans Wells, Trustmark National Bank; Wayne Williamson, Renasant Bank.
