Brown and Clark at MDOT Awards Celebration

Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta State Delta Center for Culture and Learning, and Wanda Clark, creative director of Hammons and Associates of Greenwood, presented the keynote speech at the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) Outstanding Achievement Awards March 23 in Jackson.  The theme of this year's celebration was " Honoring the Blues in the Place Where it All Began:  The Mississippi Blues Trail."  The event honored MDOT employees throughout the state who have been recognized by their supervisors and peers for their superior performance.  Clark serves as Project Director for the Blues Trail and Dr. Brown serves as Project Engineer for those parts of the Trail that are funded by MDOT. They appeared as representatives of the Mississippi Blues Commission, which along with the Mississippi Development Authority/Tourism Division oversees and helps fund the Trail.  The Mississippi Blues Trail began in December of 2006, and today has 100 interpretive displays scattered across the state, with four more in other states.  The Trail has received major financial support from MDOT, as well as major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Development Authority, and local Chambers of Commerce and Convention and Visitor's Bureaus.  The Trail web site has now received visits from 88 countries around the world, and over half a million web pages worldwide include the term "Mississippi Blues Trail."  The official Blues Trail web site is www.msbluestrail.org.