We are tired. Bone tired. But it is the satisfied kind of tired you get after you have given something your all. Last Saturday night we gathered with about 770 of the best and brightest this community has to offer. Business owners, professionals, friends, and family assembled to celebrate the finalists of the 2024 FestivalSouth Best of the Pine Belt Awards, sponsored by Southern Eye Center. And celebrate we did!
We did our best to throw a 1980’s themed party for these outstanding winners, and I just hope they enjoyed the evening as much as we did. The participation in this year’s contest was outstanding, with 162,860 nominations and 325,369 votes. That is 488,229 times that Pine Belt residents interacted with this contest, a new record. And some of the categories were decided by 1 or 2 votes. We greeted the finalists with the statement that, “if you are in the elite list of finalists here tonight, you are already a winner.” I hope they took the statement to heart because it is the truth.
It is very humbling to stand on a stage and look out over an audience of these folks who truly keep the Pine Belt running. They are the business owners and professionals who employ us and our neighbors. They drive our economy and boy, do they give back.
I would like to give a few shout-outs. First, to Mike Lopinto and all the folks at FestivalSouth who work tirelessly to make sure the arts are thriving in the Pine Belt. To the staff at the Lake Terrace Convention Center for the magical setting. To Gulf South Productions, who make it possible for all of us to look and sound good. To Jacob Brumfield for the amazing photos and Honey Films for the amazing video. To DJ Don King for knowing exactly what songs to spin. And finally, to Susan Slaughter, Cade Slaughter, Kathryn Slaughter, Mayor Toby Barker, and USM President Dr. Joe Paul for reminding us of what it means to be a positive catalyst in our community.
My favorite feedback after the contest is from those businesses and professionals who inquire about how close they were to winning. Although I try to tell them they have won by making it to the finalist phase, they are still motivated to work harder in the attempt to win next year.
The complete list of finalists and winners is in the August issue of Signature Magazine, which will hit the streets during the first week in August. If you don’t want to wait, you can see the list online at bit.ly/BOPB24. I hope your favorites won!
So, we are tired, but we were all here bright and early on Monday morning. Although we could all use a break, and we would love a period of rest and looking back on a great event, we still have a weekly paper, and monthly magazine, and a killer “Football” magazine to produce. We drive on just as the finalists gathered on Saturday night are doing. Newt Gingrich said it best, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
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Christina Pierce is the publisher at Hattiesburg Publishing, which produces The Pine Belt News and Signature Magazine.
