Miss Leeds Area Committee Wins Best Public Relations Award

Congratulations to the Miss Leeds Area Pageant Committee for the Best Public Relations in Large Markets award they won at the Miss Alabama Academy Awards Luncheon this past Saturday at Samford University in Birmingham.  This is the second year in a row that this team has won that particular award.  Sandra McGuire, Miss Leeds Area Committee Chair, accepted the award on behalf of the committee.  The team also won 3rd place in Most Prizes Awarded and Honorable Mention for Best Program.  The MLA Committee was also nominated for Best Website and Best Script. 

The Miss Leeds Area was founded in 1980 and is an official preliminary to the Miss Alabama Scholarship pageant.  MLA is a very prestigious with a number of MLA girls going on to win Miss Alabama as well as Miss America pageants.  Our current Miss Alabama, Jennifer Proctor, is a Miss Leeds Area girl.  The next Miss Leeds Area Pageant is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jun. 23 at Leeds High School.  For more information about MLA, please visit www. MissLeedsArea.net.

The 2^nd annual Ladies Client Appreciation Event hosted last week by Steve Sink and Edward Jones Investments was a huge success with over 50 ladies attending at The Livery Event Center.  Most ladies went home with a door prize.  Lunch was provided by Rusty’s BBQ from their catering menu and a number of women-owned businesses were recognized.  Steve also provided some helpful financial and investment information.  Everyone had a great time.

The 2nd annual Shred Event was hosted by the Leeds Jane Culbreth Library and sponsored by The City of Leeds last Saturday.  Shred-It team members were on location to help participating citizens unloaded their unwanted papers into the automatic shredding truck.  Many of our citizens watched as those papers were destroyed on site.  Over 3,000 lbs. of paper were collected during the event!  If you missed this annual event, the library is offering Shred-It collection boxes that will be unloaded once a month.  You can bring your papers during normal business hours.  For more information, please call the library at 205-699-5962.

Please remember to Shop Local as you look for that perfect Mother’s Day gift for your mom.  Area retailers have plenty of options to choose from.  When you Shop Local, your tax dollars stay right here in the Leeds/Moody area to enhance your quality of life.  It’s important to think first before buying just anywhere and spend your money right here.

Mum & Me Mercantile, LLC on the Parkway will host a Mother’s Day weekend of fun May 11-12 with artists and 900 Degrees food truck.  Lots of festivities are planned.  Also, if you are looking for a special gift for Mother’s Day, please stop in to browse.  Mum & Me has a huge inventory of unique gifts so you will be sure to find the right one for your Mom.  Please visit their Facebook event for more information and check out their website at www. MumAndMeMercantile.com.

The Leeds Arts Council will host the annual Leeds Community Chorus event at 7 p.m. this Saturday, May 12.  The Leeds Community Chorus is a diverse group of singers, not only from the Leeds area, but from surrounding cities and counties.  This group comes together every year to study and rehearse various choral scores, which culminates in a spring concert at Leeds Theatre & Arts Center.  The music they study is varied and ranges from classical to rock and popular selections.  They find that their audiences really like pop selections and have chosen a theme this year that will really appeal – “Elvis is in the House”.  The program will include performances by the chorus of Elvis’ greatest hits such as “Don’t be Cruel”, “Love Me Tender”, “Jail House Rock” and others.  To round out and complete the theme, a popular Elvis tribute artist, Terry Pageant, will make a guest appearance.  Everyone is encouraged to attend for a great evening together.  Tickets are $10 each.  For more information, please visit www. LeedsArtsCouncil.org or call 205-699-1892.

National Police Week begins Sunday, May 13 so thank you to our local police force for keeping us safe and sound!  They work very hard and put their lives on the line every day for the well-being of others.  Thank you!

Moody Kiwanis Club is scheduled to meet at Noon on Tuesday, May 15 at Moody City Hall.

The Moody Area Chamber of Commerce Corporate Liaison Group will meet at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 15 at Moody City Hall.  This month, the group will have a keynote speaker, Juliana Eraso with Dragonfly Business Solutions.  Also, there will be an opportunity for each person to share business information about their company as well as talk about different civic projects.  If you are a chamber member, you are eligible to attend this meeting.  If you are not a chamber member and are interested in more information about what the chamber of commerce does, this would be a great meeting to attend.  For more information, please contact Andrea Machen at 205-640-6262.

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce Corporate Ambassador Group is scheduled to meet at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center.  This is the last meeting before Creek Bank Festival and they will be discussing final details.  Lunch is $10 and RSVP to Sandra McGuire at 205-699-5001.

Breakfast for the Brave will be served at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 17 at the Leeds River Campus of Eden Westside Baptist Church.  If you are a policeman, fireman, EMT or other first responder in the greater Leeds Area, please come by for a FREE breakfast and fellowship.  For more information, please visit www. EdenWestside.org.

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly chamber luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, May 17 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center.  State Representative Dickie Drake will be the guest speaker.  Also, the Teacher of the Year Award will be presented.  Lunch is $12 with RSVP and $15 without RSVP.  Please make reservations by calling Sandra McGuire, Executive Director, at 205-699-5001 or email Sandra@LeedsAreaChamber.com.

There’s only one week until Leeds 24^th Annual Creek Bank Festival.  You will not want to miss a full day of fun at Leeds Memorial Park next Saturday, May 19 (rain date:  May 26).  There will be plenty of Arts & Crafts as well as other vendors and food trucks so there will be opportunity to shop.  Elvis is back by popular demand as well as the Mascot Challenge, Moon Pie Eating Contest, Lip Sync Battle, Balloon Artist, Face Painting and Dog Pageant.  The Cruising the Creek Bank Car Show is back and proceeds will benefit Leeds Outreach and Backpack Buddies.  New this year will be a second entertainment stage, Hula Hoop contest, baby changing station and more.  Plan to bring your family and spend the entire day for plenty of fun.  For more information, please visit www. CreekBankFestival.com.

The Distinguished Young Women of St. Clair County Scholarship Program is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jun. 2 at Springville Middle School Auditorium. Make plans to attend as eight area high school senior women compete for college scholarships.  Admission is $10.  For more information, please email stclair@distinguishedyw.org or call 205-515-5544. 

Job Openings:  City of Moody is accepting applications for a part-time fire fighter/paramedic and part-time front desk/general help.  Visit www.moodyalabama.gov for more information.  Darrell Walker Workforce will host a Job Fair on Thursday, May 17 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at Moody City Hall with full-time opportunities available for warehouse, manufacturing, general labor, assembly and forklift jobs.

Thought for the Week:  “Whenever you do not understand what is happening in your life, just close your eyes, take a deep breath and say: “God, I know it is your plan.  Just help me through it.” ~Unknown

 I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news so please send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com.