Day of Service: First Lady, Miss Mississippi partner to clean up Vicksburg

Published 4:59 pm Thursday, June 16, 2022

As part of a statewide day of service, Mississippi’s First Lady Elee Reeves will be in Vicksburg on Saturday to volunteer with visiting royalty.

Reeves, in collaboration with Miss Mississippi 2021 Holly Brand, Keep Mississippi Beautiful and Volunteer Mississippi, will begin the day of service at the Vicksburg Convention Center and work to clean the surrounding streets in the downtown Vicksburg area.

Reeves and Brand will be joined by the 31 candidates competing in this year’s Miss Mississippi Competition, with each young woman representing her individual hometown, city and community.

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“I’m incredibly excited to help host this day of service,” Reeves said. “Volunteerism is key to bettering the lives of others and helping to foster a stronger sense of community.”

In recognition of the First Lady’s announcement of the cleanup effort that will take place in downtown Vicksburg, the governor, in a proclamation, declared June 18, 2022, as “Mississippi Serves – A Day to Volunteer” and is encouraging all Mississippians to volunteer for a service project across the state on Saturday and to make volunteer service as part of their daily lives.

David Blackledge, who serves as the executive director for the Miss Mississippi Corporation said, “We are very grateful that the Governor and First Lady have chosen to honor the Miss Mississippi Corporation and our Miss Mississippi, Holly Brand, by providing a statewide day of service called Mississippi Serves in Vicksburg on June 18, 2022. We are also excited to have our First Lady, Elee Reeves, and our Miss Mississippi candidates join us in Vicksburg to kick off this statewide event.”

Preliminary competitions for the Miss Mississippi Competition begin Wednesday, and Blackledge said the day of service clean-up effort will serve as a worthwhile project for the candidates to participate in before the competition gets underway.

For anyone interested in participating in the day of service or learning more, email ann.beard@govreeves.ms.gov.

About Terri Cowart Frazier

Terri Frazier was born in Cleveland. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Vicksburg. She is a part-time reporter at The Vicksburg Post and is the editor of the Vicksburg Living Magazine, which has been awarded First Place by the Mississippi Press Association. She has also been the recipient of a First Place award in the MPA’s Better Newspaper Contest’s editorial division for the “Best Feature Story.”

Terri graduated from Warren Central High School and Mississippi State University where she received a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

Prior to coming to work at The Post a little more than 10 years ago, she did some freelancing at the Jackson Free Press. But for most of her life, she enjoyed being a full-time stay at home mom.

Terri is a member of the Crawford Street United Methodist Church. She is a lifetime member of the Vicksburg Junior Auxiliary and is a past member of the Sampler Antique Club and Town and Country Garden Club. She is married to Dr. Walter Frazier.

“From staying informed with local governmental issues to hearing the stories of its people, a hometown newspaper is vital to a community. I have felt privileged to be part of a dedicated team at The Post throughout my tenure and hope that with theirs and with local support, I will be able to continue to grow and hone in on my skills as I help share the stories in Vicksburg. When asked what I like most about my job, my answer is always ‘the people.’

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