L-R: Anthony Harris, Noah Harris, Rep. Kent McCarty, Lynn Walton, Sen. Brice Wiggins.
President Lynn Walton presided over today’s meeting. Wes Brooks provided the opening prayer. Anthony Harris led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Lynn led us in the Four Way Test. The meeting was held at the Holiday Inn North and on Zoom. Bill MacLauchlan thanked those who helped with today’s meeting and noted that we have guests, who will be introduced later.
Lynn noted that a child who lives in the area lost his mother recently. He is living with his grandmother and needs school clothes and uniforms. Anyone wishing to help should see Lynn. Lynn also noted that Jerome Brown was recently elected president of the Mississippi Council on Economic Education.
Bill McCleod introduced Noah Harris, Anthony’s son. Noah has been accepted at the Harvard Law School and was elected the first black student body president. Noah published “Successville,” a children’s book. He says the book shows children that they can do anything as long as they set goals, work hard and develop their natural talents. He is attempting to get the book into the Dictionary Program so it can be distributed to children. The Dictionary Program has distributed 31 million books in the past.
Mark Killingsworth then introduced our guest speaker, The Honorable Brice Wiggins, a state senator from south Mississippi. Senator Wiggins congratulated Noah for his successes. As a state senator, he got passed the Early Childhood Learning Collaboration. The legislation teams state funds with private funds to get early learning programs into every part of the state. He noted that Mississippi is now ranked in the top five states in the country in early childhood learning. He thanked Representative Kent McCarty, who is present at today’s meeting for his assistance with this legislation.
Senator Wiggins has also transformed child abuse legislation in the state, making it easier to file child abuse charges without having to prove a pattern of abuse. He has also worked on legislation combating public official and hospital board fraud. Because of the legislation, retirees can now see what the hospital boards are doing with their pension programs. Several public officials have been sentenced or are being investigated for fraud due to the legislation.
Mr. Wiggins says his goal as an elected official is to take basic Mississippi values, apply them to legislation and make Mississippi a better place to live. Lynn thanked Senator Wiggins for his presentation and his hard work.
There being no further business to come before the club, Lynn adjourned the meeting with our motto: “Service Above Self.”