Telling Our Story

With all the news we hear today, news of Mississippi placing last in this poll and at the bottom of that list, there are still a few things we have in Miss’ippi that others have forgotten or just never had to begin with.

When I was a young boy growing up in the Mississippi Delta, I used to love our family gatherings. I could sit and listen for hours to my father and grandfather, uncles and cousins all telling story after story (and probably lie after lie) about the good ol’ days and how they used to do things. About how they faced the roughest and toughest opponents on the football field and baseball diamond, about the times they outsmarted the law and their parents and about how they would sneak out of town to the “all girls” college to steal a dance with an older redhead (my grandmother).

I think I know now that much of what they remembered as fact has been exaggerated and forgotten and replaced with little white lies to enhance the appeal and create really good stories to entertain wild-eyed little boys that were hanging on every word. As a boy these stories were more entertaining than any TV show. They added to the character of each of my family members.

It is hard for me to look at any one of my family members today without thinking of at least one story to go along with each of them (and I usually have two or three to choose from). As many times as I have heard those stories told and re-told, I can probably tell them just about as good as or better than their authors.

The thing that makes each of those stories stick way back in the back of my mind somewhere is that they were memorable. I could relate to them. I could visualize them. I could find myself lost in teller's world.

I love the part of my job when I get to travel. I especially like it when I am exposed to people who aren't familiar with what I do, with Jones County and especially with Mississippi.

Recently I was on a trip talking to two of my counterparts from Boston, Massachusetts. They were on their first trip to the South. A little bit of shyness, a little bit scared and a whole lot of culture shock had set in. They had their stereotypical mindsets about what the South would be like and especially those of us from Mississippi.

Once we got past the usual, "Yes, we have running water" and "Yes, we wear shoes", we finally got down to business. They asked me what I do for Jones County. I started to rattle off my usual response, "I am the Chamber of Commerce Director for the Jones County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Authority of Jones County".

I thought about it for a split second. I could have said that. It would have told them my title. They would have known exactly my position, but my answer wouldn't have resolved the question, what do I DO for Jones County.  So without thinking about it, I responded, "I'm a professional storyteller".

Immediately they wanted to know more.

The thing we do better than anyone else, and I venture to say better than anyone in the South is telling our story. Mississippi has more Musicians, Authors, Poets and Artists per capita than any other place in the world. We are known worldwide in just about every category for our storytellers who are masters in their respective fields.

I by no means am a great storyteller, but I do enjoy sharing our Jones County heritage with those local and abroad. I like to paint a different picture of Mississippi. I like to get people excited about coming here. I like to tell our story.

We say it on just about every project we work in economic development, "If we can only get them here, they'll never want to leave". Several companies are testaments to this statement. Several of you have never wanted to be anywhere else, and it shows.

In whatever business or industry you’re in, I encourage you to do your part in telling our story. Don’t only tell our story to those who aren’t from here. Tell it to those who have lived here all their lives. Tell it to those who have forgotten the magic and beauty of this place we call Mississippi and the place we love to call home.

The best stories are the ones we love to tell over and over again and they never grow old.

In addition to telling our story, if you’d like to see our story in pictures, the Chamber of Commerce has set up a Pinterest page to help share our heritage, keep visitors up to date with events and what to do while they are here. I encourage you to go to http://pinterest.com/jonescountyms and follow our pins! 

Happy Pinning and happy storytelling!

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* This article was originally printed in the Sunday, July 29, 2012 issue

of The Chronicle's "Planting Seeds" column.