Welcome to the Cleveland-Bolivar County Newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide you, our members and the community, insight on how the Chamber is working for you. The newsletter will provide information on ribbon cutting ceremonies, new members, Team Cleveland events, tourism, economic development, and so much more!
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- SOLES
-Magnolia Proper, LLC
-Flatlanders
November 3
SOLES
4:00 pm 327 Cotton Row
November 10
Magnolia Proper, LLC
12:30 pm Cleveland Collective
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The Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce hosted the 38th Annual Octoberfest earlier this month in downtown Cleveland, hosting more than 50 BBQ competition teams as well as arts & crafts vendors, children’s activities, and festival concessions for the two-day weekend event. A variety of musical acts entertained festival goers Friday night and Saturday during a weekend of pleasant weather and family fun.
Boneyard Smokers, Bon Ton, and BareButt Smokers came out with 1st place finishes in the Patio competition categories of pulled pork, ribs, and pork loin, respectively; and pro teams Hank’s BBQ, Diamond D, and Rolling bones secured 1st place finishes in whole hog, pulled pork, and ribs. The MBN Championship Prize went to the Diamond D Cooking Team.
The Chamber hosted a brief “Brews & Buns” event to thank the volunteers for their hard work after the weekend. More than sixty people turned out to help work in different festival areas, and their hard work is especially appreciated!
The Chamber would like to thank Russell Gainspoletti, who served as Octoberfest Chair. Through his leadership, along with sponsors chair Jeffrey Farris, the Chamber was able to increase sponsorship donations for the festival by more than 60% from previous years. The Chamber would like to also extend a special thank you to Elise Jenkins, BBQ Competition chair; Tricia Walker, entertainment chair; Robert Maxwell and Will Bradham, concessions co-chairs; Corley Mullins, arts and crafts chair; Haley Kelly, VIP and sponsors area chair; and Sydney DeFillips, children’s area chair.
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On Wednesday, October 27 through Friday, October 29, Chamber staff hosted Chance McDavid and Ellen Bordeaux, two representatives from the Mississippi Development Authority. While participating in a site visit, the pair toured Cleveland and presented to the retirement committee and other community stakeholders about certified retirement community status, a designation that Cleveland has been seeking for several years in order to market the community and Bolivar County as a desired destination for retirees nationwide.
While visiting, the pair toured Delta State University, visited with Bolivar Medical Center staff, discussed the Mockingtrail Square build with its site developer, enjoyed meals at several local eateries, and attended a concert at the Bologna Performing Arts Center. The reps also visited local museums and discussed volunteer opportunities in different community sectors, while speaking with recent retirees who chose to make Cleveland their home.
Retirement committee chairman Ned Mitchell worked alongside other committee members to draft the itinerary for the visit. Further information will be forthcoming from MDA after a thorough review of Cleveland’s community assets.
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MDA representatives tour Delta State's campus with Emily Jones, Delta State archivist, for retirement community certification.
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Team Cleveland Main Street is excited for the downtown’s upcoming Holiday Open House, scheduled for November 13 & 14. Shops will open 10am-5pm Saturday, with extended shopping hours Sunday afternoon from 1pm-4pm. Be sure to grab some hot chocolate and goodies on the downtown walking trail from Team Cleveland members Zoe Coffee Co., Mississippi Grounds, and Dominos pizza for the lighting of the Christmas Tree and kick-off to 50 Nights of Lights. This will be a great weekend in town signaling the arrival of the holiday season. Remember to #ShopLocal as you make your Christmas lists this year!
Throughout the holiday season, we’ll be updating the holiday schedule of events and posting via our community calendar and facebook page. The Cleveland Christmas Parade will take place on Thursday, December 2, and is now accepting applications for floats and groups. Other holiday events will be announced in the coming weeks!
Main Street has also seen an influx of out-of-town visitors from the American Queen Steamboat Company. Team Cleveland is actively seeking volunteers for steamboat docking dates to welcome passengers while handing out informational brochures and downtown walking maps during the peak hours of the Hop-On, Hop-Off tours, from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Please check the volunteer sign-up schedule and contact Cade Holder at holder@clevelandmschamber.com if you are interested in volunteering as a steamboat passenger greeter!
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Team Cleveland Downtown Window Decorating Contest
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Team Cleveland members will be awarded 1st, 2nd, or 3rd prize for their window designs, which will be judged by impartial representatives from outside of the county with backgrounds in Main Street development. Team Cleveland will provide brown paper to cover your windows during the decorating process, to heighten the suspense! Windows will be revealed and judged on Saturday, November 13, for Holiday Open House, and the winners will be announced from the stage that night at the Christmas Tree Lighting in downtown Cleveland.
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Governors Conference Recap
Sean Johnson attended the 2021 Governor's Conference on Tourism in Jackson, Mississippi October 21 -22. In addition to attending programs on Influencer Marketing and Placemaking, he was able to meet with other Tourism Directors from around the state and discuss challenges and opportunities. One of the many opportunities discussed was the possible continuation of state and federal money into the state’s local tourism organizations. While Cleveland and other organizations benefited from a disbursement last year, that money was only available to be used in marketing efforts. This new money, if it materializes, can be used for tourism development projects. Possible development projects can include planning assistance, enhancing public venues and parks, public-private partnerships to construct new tourism offerings, improvements to museums, downtowns, recreational facilities, etc. Cleveland Tourism is currently working on a list of projects for which we can apply for funding if the money becomes available.
Ad Placement
We have print ads going out in Delta Magazine, Oxford American Magazine, Mississippi Magazine, Mud & Magnolias Magazine, Delta Business Journal and DeSoto Magazine promoting 50 Nights of Lights and other holiday events in Cleveland. We will be pushing ads for 50 Nights of Lights and other holiday events on Instagram, Facebook, Eventful and other online media beginning Nov 1, 2021.
Other Items
We are working on a new website for Cleveland Tourism. Along with some design changes, we are re-writing most of the content so as to be more likely to be indexed and ranked by search engines. Our current website is not properly optimized, so this is a must. We are also changing platforms from Wix to Squarespace to allow more social media integration with the website.
Tourism will be meeting with travel planners at the TravelSouth Conference in New Orleans along with Greenwood in early December. We currently have meetings set up with two-dozen tour operators and travel planners from around the world. We are currently creating sales sheets for this sales mission.
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Highway 61 Walking Challenge
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The Highway 61 Walking Challenge was a 15-week community event beginning July 1 through October 1. It was designed to encourage walkers of all levels as well as those benefiting from additional encouragement towards a healthy lifestyle. As part of the registration, participants had access to blood pressure testing, blood sugar screening, nutrition information, discounted gym memberships and more!
The 2021 walking challenge also included a customized walking tracking app, which provided complete transparency within the challenge. One was able to track their progress as well as other participants with their smart watch or phone. In addition, the walker tracker app provided engaging content and empowering tips towards a healthy lifestyle.
A special thank-you to our Title Sponsors; Bolivar Medical Center, Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi and Stern Cardiovascular.
Pictured from L to R Back Row
Mitch Millican, Grand Champion 2,711,229 steps
Shelia Millican 1,779,064 steps
Tammy Whalen, 2nd Place Winner 2,467,486 steps
Ed Phillips 1,589,028 steps
Geoff Terry 1,365,822 steps
Front Row L to R
Carol Tatum 1,192,622 steps
Barbara Livingston 1,378,233 steps
Rebecca Mccreary, 3rd Place Winner 2,441,486 steps
Mary Ruth Phillips 1,655,773 steps
Melissa Castle 1,665,944 steps
Allison Morse 1,349,591 steps
Caitlyn Thompson 1,197,564 steps
Not Pictured
Cayce Friesenhahn 2,039,258 steps
Anita Cox 1,895,363 steps
Georgia Tindall 1,646,788 steps
Benjamin Haydel 1,626,083 steps
Tom Allen 1,594,532 steps
Don Joe 1,405,962 steps
Shina White 1,340,825 steps
Lisa Cooley 1,191,913 steps
Michelle Johansen 1,183,259 steps
Jon Westfall 1,089,748 steps
Joannah Taylor 1,073,546 steps
Megan Brumfield 1,066,423 steps
Elizabeth Gong 1,056,412 steps
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November 2 Chamber Board of Directors Meeting
November 13-14 Holiday Open House
November 13 50 Nights of Lights Tree Lighting @ 6:30 pm
November 15 Membership Monday
November 16 Team Cleveland Exec Committee Meeting
November 27 Small Business Saturday
November 30 Chamber Exec Meeting
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