There’s something thrilling about sharing information with the next generation.  I had the opportunity to talk to the Moody High School Multimedia Classes last week about being an entrepreneur, starting a business, owning a business and how I use what they are learning in my company, adr Business & Marketing Strategies.  These students are learning about photography, Photoshop, video, video editing and website development which is a lot of what I do on a daily basis.  We discussed some basic success principles and how nothing happens without a vision, hard work and tenacity.  To be a leader, you must have a great attitude and get the job done without excuses.  We all had fun reading a page out of one of my favorite books, “The Magic of Thinking Big,” which talks about “excucitis”, the failure disease that explains the difference between the person who is successful and the person who always has excuses on why he is not a success.  The students had fun brainstorming on a marketing script and volunteers in the class actually took turns performing the script with video and audio.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with these talented students and wish each of them well!

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce will host their chamber luncheon at 11:45 a.m. today, Nov. 15 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center.  Guest speaker will be Mayor David Miller who will give us an update on what’s happening with the City of Leeds.  Lunch is $12 with RSVP to Sandra McGuire at 205-699-5001 or Sandra@LeedsAreaChamber.com.

The Doris Stanley Memorial Library will host The U.A. B Touring Company’s performance of the “Diva Tour”, a salute to amazing women who shaped popular music.  The performance will be tomorrow, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at Moody Civic Center.  The show is free to the public!

The Leeds River Campus of Eden Westside Baptist Church will host a Fall Family Fun Day this Saturday, Nov. 17 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.  Please bring your kids for games, prizes, food, face painting, cake walk and lots of fun.  You could win a free turkey for Thanksgiving!  For more information, please call 205-338-7711.

The Mid-South Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society will meet at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 17 at historic Leeds Depot.  Their program will be Historic North American Locomotives.  A book signing will be held before and after the meeting with Presenter, Ken Boyd, who is a Mid-South Chapter member, photographer and author of two historic locomotive books.  At the meeting, this group will also celebrate the chapter’s 10^th anniversary.  Plan to attend and celebrate this historic milestone with them.

Leeds City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19 at Leeds Civic Center Meeting Room.

Moody Lions Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19 at White’s Chapel.

The St. Clair County Bicentennial Celebrations will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 20 with a presentation and birthday party of the birth of St. Clair County in Ashville at 10 a.m. while the celebration in Pell City will take place at 2 p.m.  Everyone is invited to celebrate so plan to attend!

Moody Kiwanis is scheduled to meet at Noon on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at Moody City Hall.

Eden Westside Baptist Church River Campus will host a Come & Go Lord’s Supper on Wednesday, Nov. 21 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Bring your entire family to downtown Leeds for the first annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Thursday evening, Nov. 29.  Enjoy Selfies with Santa, Live Entertainment, Food Trucks and Shopping on the Parkway.  Experience the magic of Christmas and holiday festivities with the Leeds community as they light the Christmas tree at 6:30 p.m. in the gazebo area next to Leeds Arts Center.  Food trucks will be available from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.  Downtown shops, including Mum & Me Mercantile, will be open as late as 7 p.m. so you can do some Christmas shopping and there will be plenty of entertainment.  This event is sponsored by the Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce, the Leeds Redevelopment Authority and Lehigh Cement Company.  For more information, please visit Leeds Area Chamber dot com or call 205-699-5001.

Plan to kick off the Christmas season in Moody for the Celebrity Waiter Toys for Kids Luncheon which will be held on Friday, Nov. 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Moody Civic Center.  The luncheon will benefit Moody’s Toys for Kids program.  For ticket information, please contact Melissa Fraser at 205-640-0307.

Thought for the Week:  “You can’t hit a target if you don’t know what it is.” ~Tony Robbins

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.