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The Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce was on Friday rescheduled to Jan. 27, after attendance for Friday’s meeting at DeepWoods by Mary Bell restaurant fell short of achieving a quorum.

A handful of members present at the early morning meeting heard updates from Ozelle Hubert on the group’s efforts toward fostering establishment for a county health care authority.

“The consultant, Mitchell Monsour, met with the mayors in Whitehall and also the County Commission,” Hubert said. “We met with commissioners on a Saturday, and it was determined that they were not ready to make a decision regarding our proposal to create a health care authority. They will try to take it up at the next commission meeting.”

Hubert apprised the members who attended of plans for an upcoming event, the First Jubilee Fest to support the third-annual Jubilee Motorcade, which would include Corvettes, muscle cars, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, music, and vendors for the March 4 event.

“The owner of Southern Star Entertainment told me we can have the event in their parking lot,” Hubert said. “We will congregate at Concordia College if it wasn’t damaged by the storm. What we’ll do is to cross the bridge from Selma into Lowndes County and end at the Southern Star.”

Hubert also discussed the need for an event in 2023 to promote National Rural Health Day on Nov. 17 with a celebration and other events.

Friday’s meeting was intended to recognize Bell Funeral Home for its contributions to the county by awarding the funeral home with the Chamber’s 2022 Small Business of the Year, Hubert said.

The award will be presented at the group’s next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 27.

Organizers floated ideas for hosting the meeting by telephone conference but eventually settled on another in-person gathering.

‘Sometimes you don’t have people’s attention on a conference call,” said Chamber Secretary Cynthia Carter. “Since we are planning the event, we might need to meet.”

The Chamber will meet on Jan. 27 at DeepWoods by Mary Bell. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m.