Chamber Events
ANNUAL CELEBRATION DINNER
In 2022, the Clinton Chamber was honored to recognize these spectacular individuals and businesses at our annual celebration:
Chamber Ambassador of the Year: Wendy Hutchins
Outstanding Citizen of the Year: Judge Kenny Lewis
Chamber Distinguished Service Award: Jonathan Ford
Small Business of the Year: Lavallee electrical Services, LLC
Large Business of the Year: Baptist Healthplex - Clinton
At the yearly Annual Celebration Dinner, the Clinton Chamber invites its entire membership and interested community parties to join us in reviewing the past year and all our successful programs, events, and initiatives. This happy event is a great networking opportunity for many organizations, and it often includes an unofficial “State of the City” address from our mayor.
In addition to entertainment and community updates, this joyous event is the time when the Clinton Chamber presents a number of awards to recognize special individuals and businesses that have made exceptional contributions to our community over the past year: Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Large Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Chamber Ambassador of the Year, and the Chamber Distinguished Service Award. Our city also honors individuals and businesses during the Chamber’s Annual Celebration with awards given by our local Main Street Clinton association.
For the Chamber awards, nominations are accepted from the public at the end of each year for the Outstanding Citizen Award, the Small Business of the Year and the Large Business of the Year.
A committee carefully considers the merits of each nominee before the year’s selected honorees are revealed at the Annual Celebration.
The nominee for Outstanding Citizen Award must have been active in community activities, a resident of the Clinton Public School District, and have an excellent reputation and character. The Business of the Year Awards are given to outstanding Chamber members who have shown growth, innovation of product, exemplary customer service and/or contributions to the community. The Small Business of the Year is given to an establishment with one to nine full-time equivalent employees, while the Large Business of the Year is given to a business with one to 10 or more full-time equivalent employees.
Annual Luncheons
The Clinton Chamber is proud to host two luncheons each year for our community: the Education Appreciation Luncheon in the spring and the Public Service Appreciation Luncheon in the fall. These luncheons, open to the community as well as Chamber members, are a great opportunity to network with area company and organization leaders and to honor special members of our community for excellence in their areas of specialty: Police, Firefighter, City Employee, and Educators.
Clinton Connect
Clinton Connect is a program put on by the Chamber throughout the year that provides opportunities for members to network, have some fun together, and learn new skills. It also allows local businesses to host a Clinton Connect event to showcase their businesses’ specialties to other business owners in the community.
Back to the Bricks
Held every August, Back to the Bricks is an official Mississippi College “Welcome Week” event organized and sponsored by the Clinton Chamber and Main Street, along with the City of Clinton. Over 30 businesses fill the Quad on MC’s campus with games, drawings and prizes as new students enjoy dinner, music and fellowship while getting acquainted with their new home, Clinton.
Red Brick Brew
Red Brick Brew, sponsored by May & Company, is an AHA sanctioned, BJCP registered competition that is part of the Red Brick Roads Music & Arts Festival. Homebrewers from all over the state submit their brews for judging by both BJCP official judges and the general public. Awards include: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category, Sponsor’s Pick, Best of Show (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), and People’s Choice. The 1st place Best of Show winner had their brew brewed in a small batch by Fertile Ground Beer Co. Best of Show 2022 winner was Gary Haygood.
Red Brick Roads Music & Arts Festival
The Clinton Chamber and Main Street Clinton will join forces again for the 6th annual Red Brick Roads Music & Arts Festival on August 26-27, 2022. The festival spotlights talented regional artists, singers, songwriters and bands, while also promoting our local businesses and artists. In 2022, this festival attracted over 5,000 guests to Clinton’s quaint downtown, where they enjoyed a perfect setting for good music, good food and drinks, and good times. Join us at this exciting festival in 2023!
Ribbon Cuttings
Whenever a new business opens in Clinton and joins the Chamber, we have the distinguished honor to present them officially to our community with a special ribbon cutting ceremony. These ceremonies are completely open to the public and offer residents and our Chamber members the chance to welcome our new business and network with other local professionals.
At times, the Clinton Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting for an already established member to celebrate a business expansion, re-branding, additional product lines, or other great improvement. Regardless of whether the business is young or old, the Chamber’s ribbon cuttings are always a fun celebration of our community’s progress.
The Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade
The Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade, held on the first Saturday of December for the last 49 years, is an annual festive highlight the Chamber organizes for our city. Each year our city and businesses join together with schools, clubs, and organizations to parade our streets with floats, fire trucks, bands, marchers, cars, lots of candy and of course, Santa. For many, the Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade signifies the start of the Christmas season and is one of our best attended events to kick off Clinton’s holiday activities.
In 2022 the Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade theme was “A Gingerbread House Christmas,” and participants were encouraged to decorate their floats as fun, colorful, gingerbread house wonderlands. Along with lots of candy, last year’s parade featured seasonal flair and heartwarming displays of holiday memories.
By far one of the most popular events each year, the Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade touches most households in Clinton. Adults and children are either in the parade, working diligently as volunteers to help the event run smoothly, or up early to claim a viewing spot along the parade route as they eagerly await its start every December. Year after year, our community shows up for this feel good event and the festive fun the parade imparts to everyone involved. If there’s an event in Clinton not to miss, it’s certainly this annual holiday favorite!
Yule Run Clinton
In December 2022, early risers had the opportunity to dash through Clinton’s decorated downtown before running the Clinton Boulevard route of the annual Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade by participating in the Chamber’s fifth annual Yule Run Clinton race event. Presented by Continental, Yule Run 2022 “You Can’t Catch Me!” was held both in person and virtually to allow for local Clinton residents to participate along with runners from all over the globe. The race was held bright and early on the morning of the parade and concluded before the start of the parade to allow local participants and their families to relax and enjoy the annual parade festivities too.
Designed for all ages to participate, Yule Run Clinton is split into three race categories: 5K Walk, 5K Run, and 10K Run. All participants received a specially themed t-shirt, finisher medal and participant packet to commemorate the day’s holly-jolly fun. Additionally, special awards were given in each category to the top three male and female finishers in each of the event’s seven age divisions.
Yule Run Clinton always adds another healthy, energizing dimension to the excitement surrounding the Clinton Chamber Christmas Parade for residents and visiting runners alike.