MINUTES

Posted on Oct 23, 2016

October 18, 2016

President Jaclyn Adams presided over the meeting. Thanks to Steve Ramp who gave the invocation and to Gene Owens who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Cory Moore and Samantha McCann served as our greeters today.

Sean Priebe sat in for Tracie Fowler and introduced today’s guests. Chris Dunkley is a quest of Jerome Brown and submitted his Rotary membership application today. Jim Furr is a guest of Allen Anderson.

President Jaclyn Adams presided over the meeting. Thanks to Steve Ramp who gave the invocation and to Gene Owens who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Cory Moore and Samantha McCann served as our greeters today.

Jaclyn noted that Russ Henley has resigned from the club. She also reminded board members that the board will meet immediately after next Tuesday’s membership meeting.

James Mitchell then introduced today’s guest speaker, Emily Havens. She is the Executive Director of GRAMMY® Museum Mississippi located in Cleveland. She has served in this position since January 2015, The Museum opened its doors in March of this year.

There are only two Grammy Museums in the United States. One is in Los Angeles and the other is located in Cleveland, Mississippi. Emily says many people ask her why Cleveland was chosen as the site for the country’s second GRAMMY® Museum. The answer she says is very simple. Mississippi has more Grammy winners than any other state in the union. In fact, Mississippi has more Grammy winners than the next five states combined. Cleveland is also located centrally between St. Louis and New Orleans which represents the primary recording footprint for our region.

The 28,000 square foot facility was a huge economic benefit to the area. All but four subcontractors who worked on the museum were Mississippi companies. The total construction budget was just over $20 million. The Museum is also a benefit to Delta State University. It offers DSU students opportunities to use their education in a real-world environment.

Emily says the tourism impact of the Museum is meaningful to Mississippi Delta. Since the March, 2016 grand opening more than 25,000 visitors from 44 states and several other countries have visited. A total of 4,500 students have been through the Museum. The 192nd Blues Trail Marker was unveiled recently at the Museum.

She says the Museum is the most technologically-advanced music-themed museum in the South. Visitors will experience the history of recorded music, see artifacts and hear stories of global music icons. Visitors will also learn, through interactive exhibits, Mississippi’s impact on modern music. Visitors are also able to write, produce and record their own song which is then emailed to them as a memory of their visit.

Some of the artifacts you will see in the Museum include BB King’s Lucille, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s instruments, a guitar with Johnny Cash’s and Marty Stuart’s names hand carved in the back of the guitar and a Jimmy Page guitar. One of the very first artifact received for display is a Bob Dylan guitar.

The Museum is open seven days a week. Adult tickets are $12. Youth tickets are $6 and senior citizen tickets are $10. It is located at 800 West Sunflower Road, Cleveland, MS. You can get more information or set up a guided tour by calling 662-441-0100 or by visiting events@grammymuseumms.org. Visit the website frequently because their exhibits change on a regular basis. A Taylor Swift exhibit will begin on March 2, 2017 and end on September 5th. A John Lee Hooker exhibit will follow and a Supremes Exhibit is being planned to follow Hooker.