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The Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce met at Mary Bell’s Café on Feb. 10 and discussed the organization’s First Annual Bloody Sunday Jubilee Celebration Fest.

Chamber President and Executive Director Ozelle Hubert described plans in place for the event which intended to commemorate the historic 1965 Voters Rights March from Selma to Montgomery by way of Lowndes County. Planned around the Third Annual Bloody Sunday Jubilee Motorcade from the Perry County Courthouse in Marion, the celebration will culminate in White Hall, at the Southern Star Entertainment Center parking lot.

“I’ve been part of the initial group which started the Third Annual Bloody Sunday Jubilee Motorcade,” Hubert said. “Since we end [the motorcade] in Lowndes County, this is an opportunity for the Chamber to get involved and build a festival around our presence as part of that Jubilee Celebration. It’s going to be from Perry County through Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.”

The festival features classic Corvettes, old and new “muscle cars,” motorcycles, RVs and ATVs. Hubert said the event will host guest speakers sharing information on health education and screening, vocational education and career planning, counseling, rural housing and healthcare services development, new business opportunities, and tourism.

Music, games, arts, crafts, a horse show, and food vendors will also be on hand, Hubert said.

“We will have an opportunity for guest speakers to talk for 5 or ten minutes,” Hubert said. “We’ll do this about every half hour as people move around. There will be a central stage up front and we’ll move it under the carport if it rains. There will be space for people to move around and interact with each other and have conversations. There will be food and arts and crafts.”

The event is the first of many celebrations designed to bring citizens together for community initiatives.

“This is an opportunity to support our Chamber and get people involved,” Hubert said. “Our focus is set up for economic and community development. We embrace the four basic guiding principles of challenges, advocacy, education, and workforce development.”

Chamber members hope the event will foster community involvement in its development efforts.

“That’s my objective for being here, is to speak to some of [Lowndes County’s] elected officials and let them know that for this area to grow, there are some things we must do,” said Reuben Gardner, owner of Reuben’s Construction Company in Prattville. “About 80% of my employees are from Lowndes County. I’ve been the chairperson for the [Prattville] planning commission for 16 years and I want to see the same [growth] happening here. We want to help the people who really need help. We need to organize, plan, and get people involved in moving forward.”

In other business the Chamber:

• Heard a report from the group’s last meeting;
• Acknowledged the commitment and continuous support of Alabama Power and Bell’s Funeral Home;
• Discussed ideas for stimulating economic growth; and
• Learned the Lowndes County Commission was not yet ready to move forward to establish a Lowndes County Health Care Authority.

The next Chamber of Commerce meeting is scheduled for March 10 at 8 a.m. at Mary Bell’s Café. For more information about the First Annual Bloody Sunday Jubilee Celebration Fest, contact Ozelle Hubert at (251) 387-0357 or dochubert7@gmail.com.