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!

The Cleveland Christmas Parade was held on December 2nd at 6:00 p.m. in downtown Cleveland. The parade is one of Cleveland’s many family events, and hosted everything from  cotton candy to face painters, dancers to balloon artists. Families had a variety of food options, ranging from downtown dining to on-location food trucks. The parade encompassed everything from your favorite Disney characters, vintage cars, tumblers, motorcycles, dancers, decorative floats to rocking marching bands. The Chamber would like to thank their contributing sponsors and the entire community for making the 2021 Christmas Parade a magical experience. 

Team Cleveland Main Street has had an extremely successful start to the holiday season! On the weekend of November 13th and 14th, Team Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the Chamber of Commerce all hosted Holiday Open House, with the Saturday tree-lighting serving as the kick-start to this season’s 50 Nights of Lights. All of the downtown merchants created phenomenal holiday window displays, and judges from Mississippi Main Street awarded prizes to the top designs.The lighting ceremony was broadcast live through the downtown speaker system, in partnership with WDSW The Trail, a broadcast service of Delta State University. 

If you are interested in volunteering for any upcoming Christmas holiday promotions, please contact Cade Holder at the Chamber or reference our volunteer sign-up sheet here. 

More information on downtown activities is posted daily on the Team Cleveland Main Street Facebook page, and the schedule of events for the remainder of the Christmas season can be accessed on clevelandmainstreet.com. 

Team Cleveland is happy to announce its second WineDown(Town), sponsored locally by Ware Wine and Spirits! The event will be a festive sip-and-shop experience held in downtown Cleveland Thursday, December 16, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. There, participants can take advantage of extended shopping hours and a few libations (and discounts!) that even the savviest of shoppers will enjoy.

Shoppers can access the $20 pre-registration online, or, walk-up to the gazebo the night of the event and purchase a $25 cash only wristband anytime between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Please note that online sales will be cut off at 4:00 p.m. the evening of the event.  

If you would like to register for a wristband, click the button below. Please note refunds will be unavailable after Sunday, December 12th.
 

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On Monday, November 15, the Chamber hosted Membership Monday, a come-and-go breakfast morning networking event. The ladies of QaDash Wellness LLC stopped by to express their interest in joining the Chamber and shared their holistic approach to wellness!

On November 22, the Chamber hosted the Delta State Welcome Back event for faculty and staff. The event was held at the Warehouse, located at 229 Sharpe Ave. Attendees enjoyed complimentary wine and beer along with a variety of food options ranging from pulled pork sliders, cheese bites, pasta salad, sausages, to mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies. 

The Delta State Welcome Back Party was sponsored by:

-SouthGroup Insurance Services
-Cleveland State Bank
-Cannon Motors of Mississippi
-Delta Electric Power Association
-Roy Collins Construction Company

Images and video promoting 50 Nights of Lights are now available on the Visit Cleveland Facebook page. The images, taken by a professional photographer on the opening night of 50 Nights of Lights, have been very popular, racking up over 350,000 views and tens of thousands of interactions. The video, which was just posted on Monday, November 22, was shot by local filmmaker Ben Powell, and can be viewed here.

While anecdotal reports say that this has been a good year for 50 Nights of Lights visitation, we are going to try and be more scientific about it going forward. To help us in getting a real count on downtown visitation during 50 Nights of Lights, we are working with the Cleveland Police Department to install a traffic counter on Cotton Row. We will place the counter out for a limited time this year and then place it again during the same period next year to see how we’re improving.