New Staff

We have two new staff members here at the Chamber that we would like for you to meet.

Jan Rutkowski is our new Membership Services Coordinator. She has been with us since June 19 and is in charge of most everything having to do with membership in the Chamber.

Jan is a native Grenadian, attended school in Grenada County and graduated from Grenada Lake Academy. She has been married to Joe Rutkowski for two years and she has two daughters.

Joe has four sons, so between them they have six children, which makes them Grenada's "Brady Bunch!"

Jan says they have six kids in five states. She doesn't know how they slipped up and got two in the same state, but figures they will remedy that soon!

Linda Smith recently joined us as our new Office Manager. Linda has been around Grenada all her life. She grew up and graduated from high school in Charleston, but has been in Grenada since 1970.

She is the former Linda Lane, but has been married to Ronnie Lee Smith for "a thousand years." They have two children - daughter Jennie and son Lee. Linda is the proud grandmother of Miss Hannah Lane Taylor, who she assures us is the "world's most wonderful grandchild."

Linda worked with the child support unit of the Health and Human Services for 11 years and before that she worked with the Mississippi Employment Service.

She brings many years of service to the community with her to our Chamber, and now has a chance to continue that service in a different vein.

Give our two new folks a call and welcome them to the Chamber!

Ambassadors Club

OK, all you Ambassadors! Regular meeting is next Wednesday, July 19 at noon at the Holiday Inn.

Thanks for your assistance in manning the hospitality tent at Thunder on Water. This has been a fun project for several years and your help has been invaluable.

Jan Rutkowski will be working closely with the Ambassadors Club as part of her duties as Membership Coordinator and you will get a chance to meet her at Wednesday's meeting.

Retail Committee

The Retail Committee will meet on Thursday, July 20 at 8:00 a.m. at the Chamber office.

Please note this change in time. This committee has previously met at 8:30, but at the last meeting decided to change to an earlier time to allow members to get back and open their businesses.

Mixon Gutter & Supply

Mixon Gutter and Supply joined the Chamber during our recent membership drive and we are thrilled to have them!

Phillip Mixon got his first benefit from Chamber membership the day he joined! He sold gutters and siding to one of our Chamber staff that day!

He came right out immediately, installed the gutters and siding and did an excellent job with it - for a great price! It really looks great and made a big improvement in the house. (Can you guess which staff member got new gutters?)

If you need gutters or need your old ones replaced, give Phillip a call at 226-5481 or go by and see him at 900 Eastview Drive. He'll do a great job for you!

Hilly Griffin State Farm

Hilly Griffin's State Farm Insurance agency also joined during our membership drive.

Hilly has been in Grenada "since the dirt was new" and can help you with any of your home, car, health and life insurance needs.

He can save you money on your personal insurance needs as well as designing an overall plan for your coverage. Hilly also covers businesses - big ones and small ones!

He has "24 Hour Good Neighbor Service," and if you want to know all about that just go visit with him at 1115 Sunset Drive or give him a call at 226-3032. He'll be glad to explain it to you!

Cross County Seed Store

Jerol Vaughn at Cross Country Seed Store is also one of our new members. He has such a wide variety of items in his store that you just have to go over there and check it out.

He has great birdhouses and bird feed. He has all sorts of tools that you absolutely have to have in order to garden successfully.

He has tons of seeds and hundreds of bedding plants, trees and shrubs. He has fertilizers to make it grow, and weed killers to make it stop growing!

In fact, if Jerol doesn't have it - then you probably don't need it! Whatever your yard and garden needs are, give him a call at 226-3323 or drop by the store at 1815 South Commerce Street.

Thought for the Day

Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?