Vicksburg’s own Shirley Waring will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and presented with the Mississippi Ambassador for the Blues Hall of Fame award during a ceremony in Chicago Oct. 15.

Waring has served as the president of the Vicksburg Blues Society for 12 years and dedicated herself to preserving and promoting the blues in Vicksburg and throughout Mississippi.

“I lead the Vicksburg Heritage League and the lady who founded the Vicksburg Blues Society was moving away,” Waring said of how she got involved. “She was involved with the Vicksburg Heritage League with me and she left the reigns to me to handle the Vicksburg Blues Society.”

The main task given to Waring when she took over the blues society was to get Vicksburg involved in the International Blues Competition. Flash-forward 12 years, and a winner from the Vicksburg Blues Society’s competition has made the finals in the international competition five years in a row including winning the competition twice.

“That is a major, major accomplishment to get us and Vicksburg in the international spotlight regarding blues,” Waring said.

Waring’s Mississippi Ambassador award is in recognition for all she has done to promote the blues throughout the state. As part of her continued dedication to the genre, she will also be in charge of the new Mississippi Blues Hall of Fame.

“It gives us another opportunity to attract visitors to Vicksburg and bring attention to what we do here to complement the Mississippi Blues Trail,” she said.

The induction ceremony will take place Oct. 15 in Chicago at Buddy Guy’s Legends. During the ceremony, Waring will also be presenting an award to the Artie “Blues Boy” White Foundation, of which she is a board member, from the hall of fame.