Delta Council: Blessed By Nature (and Tom Gary)

Pictured from left to right, top to bottom: Lawson Gary and Thomas Gregory styling in their seersucker suits; President Tommy Gary gladhanding his constituents; Sen. Trent Lott taking questions from the press; Attorney General Jim Hood mingling among the crowd. Centered is the program from the event.

The Delta Council Annual Meeting is the hot spot for politics and publicity in the Mississippi Delta. Held annually on the campus of Delta State University in Cleveland, the meeting is a symposium of agricultural related topics and issues.

As such, the position of president of the Council is no small task; it takes considerable time and effort to succeed as the organization's chief executive and primary lobyist. Greenwood native Tommy Gary of Wildwood Plantation and Gin was tapped for the lofty position over the next year.

At first I wondered what Mr. Gary was doing sitting next to Sen. Trent Lott on the stage of the Bologna Performing Arts Center as I sat in my chairback in the balcony. I only know Mr. Gary as my fishing buddy from past trips to Canada, not the guy leaning over to tell the former Senate Majority Leader something seemingly important.

But when I heard them announce the next year's Council president, I quickly figured out that Tommy James was immediately more important than he was five minutes sooner.

Another Greenwoodian selected to lead the Delta Council over the next year is former Schlater mayor and Viking Range employee, Bill Crump. Mr. Crump is the current Director of Governmental Affairs for Viking. His son, Will, flew down on the Viking corporate jet with Senator Lott for the event. Will is a staffer for Sen. Thad Cochran in Washington, D.C.

Before the meeting got underway, Lt. Governor Amy Tuck payed a tribute to State Sen. Bunky Huggins of Greenwood and former U.S. Congressman Sonny Montgomery of Meridian, both of whom passed away last week.

During the keynote address by Senator Lott, he reinforced the importance of transportation in the Delta. "Lanes, planes and trains" was the wordplay he used to refer to his knowledge of transportation issues. Lott also remarked on the status of the proposed I-69 that is slated to run north-south through the western part of the Mississippi Delta.

"As long as I'm in office, we're going to keep building it," he said.

After the keynote speech, another Greenwood native, Gerard Litton Mohammed, presented the 'Wear Cotton' awards to those who were best dressed in cotton. Although Sen. Lott had whispered to outgoing Council president Kent Wyatt that the awards were rigged, he won one for his seersucker suit. The crowd laughed.

Lott, who hails from Pascagoula, Miss., had commented earlier that he had to buy a new suit for the event because his previous one washed away in Hurricane Katrina. He had to remind his wife, Tricia, that "they are just things," referring to the material posessions lost in the storm.

After the formal meeting was dismissed, fried catfish and hushpuppies were served on the Delta State quadrangle. Notable persons encountered on the quad include Attorney General Jim Hood, former State Representative Charlie Capps, former DSU president and outgoing Council president Kent Wyatt and Tchula Mayor and House Congressional candidate Yvonne Brown.

Noticeably absent was Delta politico Edward Sanders. Mr. Sanders graduated from Mississippi State University the following morning and regretted not being in attendance.

The Delta Council wasn't the same without him.