Josh Peterson

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Alderman unanimously voted to appoint Roxanne Patton to fill the vacant alderman seat on the board.

The vote to appoint Patton was unanimous and came without discussion.

Patton in no newcomer to politics. She previously served as an alderman from 2008-2014 – under mayors Betty Superstein and Lonnie Norman.

Patton is filling the alderman seat vacated by Marilyn Howard, who was appointed Mayor last month after the passing of Mayor Lonnie Norman. Patton will serve for the remainder of Howard’s term, which is through August of 2022. Patton was immedietely sworn in to take her seat. 

Meanwhile, the board voted to appoint Mark Messick as the new vice mayor for the city. Messick is in the middle of a four-year term as alderman, which expires in 2022. Vice Mayor is a position appointed by the board each year, usually in September.

Manchester’s board of Mayor and Alderman  passed a resolution Tuesday night to take responsibly for the operating losses for the Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of the resolution, which allows the mayor to take the proposal to the county government. Aldermen Chris Elam, Mark Messick, Bill Nickels, Bob Bellamy and Roxanne Patton all voted in favor. Alderman Ryan French abstained from voting.

The center has long been contentious on the local political scene for its yearly operating losses that have been split between the county and city governments. Advocates often argue the financial impact of the center goes much further than operating losses when accounting for hotel/motel tax and other local expenditures related to the building.

According to the Manchester budget, the city paid out $195,668.99 to cover operating losses to the center for the fiscal year 2019-2020 (these numbers have yet to be audited). That means the county also paid an identical amount, bringing operating losses to approximately $391,337.98 for the year. By voting to assume responsibility, the city will now be on the hook for all of that loss every year – or for more or less, depending on how the center performs financially. 

Alderman Bob Bellamy said the city can cover that extra amount without increasing taxes or dipping into reserves because the debt service payments on the building end this year.

“We make our last payment on the debt of the building this upcoming June,” explained Bellamy. “We can take that money that was going to debt service every year and use it to cover the other part of those operating losses at the current level.”

According to Manchester Chief Financial Officer Bridget Anderson, the debt payment the city is due to pay this year is approximately $204,000. This will be the final payment for the building.

The County government will still need to approve the new deal, a move that is expected.

Manchester Mayor Marilyn Howard announced on Tuesday that the Grand Marshal of the 2020 Manchester Christmas Parade will be Bonnie Gamble.

Gamble, who is the director of the Parks and Recreation Department, announced earlier this year her plans to retire from her position next June.

“This person is famous in my eyes. She’s a woman who is of integrity, a woman who has vision and is a woman of faith who walks it,” explained Howard at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Luncheon Tuesday when she announced Gamble to be the Grand Marshal.

The Manchester Christmas Parade, themed “Childhood Dreams of Christmas,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28. Registration forms for floats are available at the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department at 557 N. Woodland St.

Pictured below is the parade route. 

Local businessman Jay Kalvala and current city resident Gene Holmes paired up to work on a project to show support for law enforcement officers at Manchester Police Department.

They began this project in September, and last month were able to recognize four more officers. The officers were: Major Bill Sipe, Captain Devin Deford, Sergeant Keith Hendrix and officer Jon Holland.

Mr. Kalvala and Mr. Holmes stated they intended to continue this project until every officer is recognized. 

Pictured below are officers recognized last month. 

Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars hosts two essay competitions.

The Voice of Democracy contest is comprised of a typed essay, audio recording and must be 3 to 5 minutes in length.
It is open to students in grades 9-12, and this year’s theme was, “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?”

The Patriots Pen essay competition comprised of a 300-400 typewritten essay. It is open to 6th, 7th and 8th grade students and this year’s theme was, “What is Patriotism to Me?”

This year’s winners are as follows:

Winners in the Patriots Pen Competition:
1st place: James Farless, Temple Baptist School; 7th grade
2nd place: Chandler Grace Meacham; Westwood Middle School; 8th grade
3rd place: Keena Elizabeth Seivers; Westwood Middle School; 8th grade
4th place: Sydney Reagan Wells; Westwood Middle School; 8th grade
5th place: Mariah Stewart; Temple Baptist School; 8th grade.

Winners in the Voice of Democracy Competition:
1st place: David Tran, Webb School; 10th grade
2nd place: Lexie Stewart, Temple Baptist School; 12th grade
3rd place: Lauren Perry, Coffee County High School; 11th grade
4th place: Grace Butler, Temple Baptist; 12th grade

Essay entries were submitted from 4 schools with 51 essays entered in the Patriots Pen essay contest and 24 essays entered in the Voice of Democracy contest for a total of 75 entries.

The top 3 essays, will now move up to the VFW District level, where they will be judged against the winning entries from 10 other VFW Posts, by December 15th.

An Awards Ceremony will be held at VFW Post 10904 on January 11th for all winners and their families.