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Rural King Now Open
If you’re reading this, Rural King has just officially opened their doors to the public for the first time in their first-ever Mississippi location, right here in Columbus! They are located at 2304 Hwy 45 in the old K-Mart building. They were kind enough to let us swing by to check out their massive store.
Rural King offers a wide variety of items for everyone from farmers to hunters to outdoor grillers to people simply looking to pick up a little junk food. They carry feed, pet food and supplies, hunting supplies/bait, weapons & ammo, grills, live chickens and rabbits, clothing, and much more. They also have an in-house repair department.
Pets (on-leash) are welcome, and they even have FREE pig ears and doggie biscuits for them to munch on. They also price match automotive batteries with other stores in nearby counties.
They plan to hold a proper Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting on the 26th. They are open 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
Senior Resources Fair Comes to Columbus
COLUMBUS, MS
Today was Senior Day at the Legion Hall in Columbus! Tons of vendors were on-site offering information about all sorts of things that can help our Seniors and Disabled folks with issues such as healthcare, planning for the future, and even getting reliable transportation; there was even a local pharmacist on-site giving out free flu vaccinations. There were too many places to list, so please check out the picture gallery at the link below and consider giving any of the vendors a call with your questions.
Please talk to your doctor before changing your diet or trying out any new medications, medical methods, or procedures.
Shoutout to our friend Elyssa of One Little Lady Transportation LLC for giving us the heads-up about this great event! Her independent taxi service can be booked for rides both near and far, so please drop her a line if that’s what you need!
https://www.facebook.com/goodforbusinessms/posts/pfbid02nhcefr2vi69LDmEKP4Upkpm89aeypgqjtYyXudY11J3WbHc7SvRCJXf3N1YLf2zfl
Come Fly with Me
COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of The Dispatch and Braden Simmons
The Columbus-Lowndes County Airport recently announced that the culmination of a $3+ million expansion will soon officially open for business, in the form of a 9,600-sq-ft hangar that has been added to the facility. Their runway was also recently repaved, and a weather station will be coming soon, as well: “The weather station is going to be a great tool,” Operator Dan Duston said. “… If (pilots are) in the air and they need to divert … they can pull up our airport’s weather from the cockpit and see it in real time.” This will be able to offer pilots localized data on the current conditions; until it is complete, they will continue to use the weather system at GTR Regional.
The hangar itself will provide safe shelter for a number of aircraft in inclement weather, which will hopefully encourage owners of small jet aircraft to reserve space there: “We’ve had a demand off and on for jets that’s passing through … and a lot of these people don’t want their multi-million dollar aircraft sitting out on a ramp in a hail storm, and so we can put it in there (and) keep it safe,” he said.
Much of the funding for current and future improvements along these lines comes from government grants.
“There’s an old saying that you build a mile highway and it takes you a mile, but you build a mile runway, and it takes you to the world,” Duston said. “… It’s a tool. It’s infrastructure. It’s transportation. … There is a positive economic impact that comes from having this airport.”
Please click here for the original article: https://cdispatch.com/news/with-new-hangar-and-revamped-runway-complete-columbus-lowndes-airport-looks-to-continue-expanding/
Independent Entrepreneur Spotlight
GTR AREA
We recently interviewed a couple of lovely ladies who run their own businesses right here in the GTR.
Brittany Goss, Bootstraps & Butterflies Digital Marketing
Goss launched B&B in June of 2022 in Starkville. She says that the name is a combination of the old saying (You know the one!) and Muhammad Ali’s line: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” She got her start in the field in 2007 and became more active in social media in 2013 or so: “In my opinion, marketing fuses the two, making it the best of both worlds for me, and digital marketing brings it all online,” she says. “I’m passionate about visual storytelling and dedicated to helping businesses share their stories to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Digital marketing allows businesses to communicate with their consumers, educating them about their services and how they can help. It’s one of the best ways to engage with customers.”
– Contact info for inquiries: info@bootstrapsandbutterflies.com
Customer Testimonials:
“Brittany has been an invaluable resource for setting up social media accounts and helping link platforms together. In addition, she has provided excellent ideas for content. I appreciate her work ethic and will continue to call on her for my company’s social media needs.”
Kathy Kenne, Managing Partner, Tellos Creative
“The Unity Park needed a website so that people would learn what it was all about. Brittany was recommended to me, and we began to meet to put the website together. She completely designed it around the information I gave her…Through this experience with Brittany, I have learned that she is innovative,
creative, imaginative, positive, encouraging, and very enthusiastic.”
Jeanne Marszalek, Former Chair, Oktibbeha County Unity Park
“We hired Brittany to improve our SEO so that people could find our small elder care business more easily when they were desperate to find the help they needed. She was so professional and kept me updated at every step, and I actually felt like she cared more about the business than I did! . . . Brittany is a Godsend!”
Charlotte Long, Owner, Ethical Caregiving
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Tiffany Wilson, Fresh Start Cleaning
Wilson established her cleaning service a little over a month ago, and she’s already doing great work for folks who could use some housecleaning. Her mom taught her how to clean properly starting from a young age, and she decided to put her knowledge and experience to good use helping others with their cleaning needs. Wilson has also done work as a mortgage processor and loan officer, but decided to strike out on a new path after seven years or so on the business.
You can contact Tiffany on her page at Fresh Start Cleaning and get a quote for whatever cleaning job you need done. She is currently focusing on residential work, but may branch out in the future. She also has other experienced professionals available whom she can call in to help with larger jobs. Please see her page at the link and the customer testimonial in the photos for more info.
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Finally, we’d like to give a shoutout to High Ground Coffee LLC in Starkville and to UP down Eatery & Coffeehouse in Columbus, where these interviews were conducted. Both of them have very friendly people and great food! Go check them out, too!
Crossroads Up Ahead
STARKVILLE, MS – Courtesy of the MSU Foundation
The Mississippi State University Foundation has officially announced plans for a major Cotton District-area retail, restaurant, and hospitality project, which is to be Anchored by the Hotel Madelone. The area will be called the Crossroads District, and is slated to include all of the above, as well as ample green space and a pedestrian land bridge over Hwy 12. Please see the video at the link for more information.
Let’s All Go to the Drive-In
Gu-Win, AL – Courtesy of the Dispatch and Cadence Harvey
The Blue Moon Drive-In Theatre in Gu-Win, Alabama is one of the few places around where you can get the unique experience of catching a flick while seated in the comfort of your very own car…and both recent events, such as a devastating lightning strike just a couple weeks ago and an unexpected downturn in business over the last year, are threatening its very existence. Started in 1996 by Chris Curtis and his father, this tiny operation once saw as many as 250 cars for each showing, but now subsists on barely a third of that. All this, and it’s basically just him keeping it all held together: “Most of the time, anybody that comes in here can tell you that it’s just me standing behind this thing,” said drive-in owner Chris Curtis. “It’s safe to say I’m the only employee, but friends help.”
He is hoping that more people will come out to take advantage of the unique opportunity to experience this uniquely American form of entertainment. He isn’t looking for charity; he wants to earn your business: “I don’t want GoFundMe’s or things like that,” Curtis said. “I can handle it, just as long as you come watch a movie. We can only stay open if people come. We’ll make sure it stays open as long as people want to come out.”
Curtis shows both modern releases on his two screens, as well as classics that people may have missed the first time around – everything from the new “Naked Gun” and “Fantastic Four” installments to the original “Beetlejuice” and “Gremlins.” “It’s something I just came up with recently, so I haven’t gotten too far into it,” he said. “But I got to make this place a little different, just give it more of a nostalgic feeling.”
His fans also had some things to say:
Lowndes County resident Vylene Yoder went there for the first time earlier this year. “The whole place was so family-oriented and felt so safe and peaceful,” Yoder said. “It’s such a godsend because it’s something fun and affordable I can take my whole family to do.” Her teenage kids agreed.
Monroe County’s Tiffany Hamlin is a regular there, never hesitating to take the hour+ drive: “For us it’s the nostalgia and the fact that these drive-ins barely exist anymore,” Hamlin said. “. . . It’s just a really neat experience you can’t get anywhere else. You can’t get the same feeling from a movie theater. . . I think it would have a huge impact on the community if they were gone, so I hope that people go and experience the drive-in,” Hamlin said. “. . . There’s absolutely nothing like it.”
With the venue’s thirtieth anniversary coming up next year, it is the hope of Chris and his family that they’ll still be working hard there in another thirty years: “This would be four generations here with my grandfather, my dad, myself and now my son,” Chris said. “… It means a lot to my dad, so it means a lot to me, and I’d like to see it continue for another 30 years.”
So why not check out their site and plan a little road trip – maybe on your own, maybe with friends and family – to the ol’ drive-in and pass a good time. Grab some fresh popcorn and soda while you’re at it. They’ll appreciate your business and look forward to taking good care of you next time.
Please click here for the original article: https://cdispatch.com/news/slow-year-threatens-future-of-blue-moon-drive-in-in-gu-win-ala/
4690 US Highway 43, Gu-Win, AL
+1 877-987-2583
bmdrivein@gmail.com
bluemoondrivein.com
They are about an hour’s drive NE of Columbus, between
Sulligent and Winfield.