Greenwood Soul Mates – Beth Stevens
For us, “soul” represents that unique essence each person contributes to their community, weaving a colorful tapestry of stories, talents, cultural experiences, and more. In Greenwood, this tapestry is formed by numerous unique individuals whose captivating stories and deep connections to the region’s food, music and history define our identity as a town and make Greenwood such an extraordinary place to visit. These remarkable individuals are our “Soul Mates.”
Probably the most popular expression used to describe a setting or town during perfect weather, is a “Chamber of Commerce Day”. Well, no one’s possibly used that phrase in Greenwood as much as this month’s Soul Mate, Beth Stevens, who is the Executive Director of the Greenwood–Leflore County Chamber of Commerce and has been for 20 years.
She grew up in Grenada, Mississippi. In 1994, she moved to Greenwood where she raised a family and created a career and life. Now she wholeheartedly considers herself a Greenwoodian.
“I married a Greenwood guy, a Navy pilot, and that took us all over the world,” Beth said. “It was my first marriage, but we ended up with two fabulous kids and three grand kids, with one on the way. Now I call Greenwood home for good.”
When she moved to Greenwood she needed a job, so she ventured over to the Greenwood Commonwealth.
“My background is in journalism, so I went and asked if they were hiring,” she said. “They told me they didn’t have anything open in writing, but they needed a receptionist. I accepted immediately and as fate would have it a Lifestyle Editor position opened six months later, and I ended up doing that.”
After working there a few years, Beth made what she called a “crazy lapse in judgement” and opened a retail store. She appreciated learning the skill set, but at the time the economy didn’t support those types of stores and she ended up closing it. Beth went back to the newspaper, and another twist in her journey happened.
“The previous Chamber Director had decided to retire, and a friend encouraged me to apply,” Beth said. “I knew all about the Chamber from covering them for so many years, and here I was a single mom and knew it would be a great job. I went through the interview process and was hired as director in April 2004. It was easily the best career decision I’ve ever made.”
Beth is an admitted workaholic and said she got that characteristic from the fertile genes of her busy bee parents. She admits she can’t even sit still after a day’s work.
“I don’t like boredom and people always ask me when I find the time to sleep,” Beth said. “I grew up in a home where my mom and dad both worked and both remained active outside of work, whether in civic or church activities. They made a point to bring me along, so I learned to be involved at an early age.”
Even when Beth’s not doing the work of Chamber Executive Director, she spends her time with unique, time-consuming, yet side-hustling pastimes like calligraphy, gardening and making homemade snacks.
“My husband and I have a big garden and grow things,” she said. “Because of that we’ve become very immersed in the local food scene and even co-manage the farmers’ market on Saturdays. That recently wrapped up for the season. Calligraphy also keeps me busy with weddings and special commissioned pieces.”
Beth’s philanthropic attitude doesn’t stop at managing the local food market and making salsa. She’s also past President and a current member of the Greenwood Rotary Club; board member of both Main Street Greenwood and Museum of the Mississippi Delta; and is very active at North Greenwood Baptist Church.
“I sing in the choir and am on the praise team,” she said. “I feel better when I’m productive, and it’s just who I am. I know it can be exhausting to think about all the things I do, but I just move forward and remember what my mother told me.”
Beth adores Greenwood and loves the entire personality of our special Delta town. She believes the people all have a common goal of wanting the town to be better and succeed.
“My favorite thing about Greenwood is the get-it-done mentality we have,” she said. “The community portrays a welcoming spirit. In my job and civic activities, I have learned that potential sponsors, residents and anybody within this town rarely says no when asked for something. I am continually blown away by the gracious generosity of this place.”
With the holidays coming up, Beth took the opportunity to discuss three fun events this season — the Holiday Open House (November 7), the Roy Martin Christmas Parade (December 6) and a brand-new Greenwood event – the Delta Dickens Christmas (December 14).
“Greenwood is social and all three of these will be great this year,” she said. “We are bringing back the trollies for the open house so people can hop around easily. Mississippi Magazine is covering the Christmas Parade this year. In its 89th year, it’s the longest running parade in the state of Mississippi. We’ve even fixed up a new float for Santa Claus. I heard he is thrilled about it. The parade is as popular as ever and I would guess there are 10-15,000 people in town every year for that day.
“As for the Delta Dickens Christmas, the timing for this is so perfect,” Beth continued. “The Greenwood Little Theater is doing the Christmas Carol play, so we have partnered with them to do this inaugural event. There will be carriage rides, snow, hot cider and all the Victorian characters from the book. We love having this vision come to reality.”
When speaking with Beth, you might get the feeling she could carry on about Greenwood for hours. But when it came to talking about the “soul” of Greenwood, she got right to the point.
“It’s not a physical thing,” she said. “I think soul is something deep inside us that creates a feeling or an emotion. It makes us who we are. As far as Greenwood, there’s a deep, interconnected essence that shows itself in very special ways. It’s a tapestry of our community that brings our people, our cultures, our traditions and our ideas, together in a way that encourages us all to fight for the good things we have here. The soul of Greenwood invites us all, natives and transplants alike, to really cherish our memories and create new ones for future generations.”
And Beth also got to the point in describing Greenwood in one word – open.
“We are open in so many ways,” she said. “We’re open for business, visitors and those who want to move here to be a part of what we have in Greenwood. We are open to new ideas and ways of moving our community forward. We welcome everyone with open arms, just as I was welcomed here 30 years ago.”
Beth cringes when so many times she hears people say there’s nothing to do in Greenwood. “Well that’s wrong,” she said. “We have a lot of things to do in Greenwood and the budget doesn’t matter.”
Here are some of her favorite things to do:
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