Yalobusha Historical Society Minutes – Jan. 20, 2011

The Yalobusha Historical Society held its regular monthly meeting in its headquarters in the former Presbyterian Church in Coffeeville on January 20. There were 25 members and guests present.

    Lawrence Litten spoke the opening prayer. President Mike Worshamled the audience in giving retiring Program Chairman Opal Wright a hand of applause, and thanked her for her 14 years of service in that capacity.  Julia Fernandez is the new Chairman, and she and Opal have some interesting programs already lined up for the year.The February program will be brought by Mr. Larry Hart, Mayor of Water Valley. He will speak on “The Great Flood of 1927.” The public is invited to all Society meetings.

    The main order of business was the election of officers for the year 2011. They are as follows: President: Mike Worsham; Vice-President: Carl VIck; Treasurer: Pat Brooks; Secretary: Betty R. Miller. These officers serve on the Board of Directors, along with three elected members at large. They are: Dave Hovey, Joy Herron and Julia Fernandez.

    Mike gave a report on the recent meeting of the Board of Directors and discussed the Society’s quarterly publication, THE PIONEER. Emma Hovey is serving as Editor, replacing John Moorman who recently resigned. John and his wife, Kerron, had put together an issue, and Mike, Dave and Emma are currently printing that issue, on the Society’s recently-purchased printing machine.  All four issues for the year 2010 will be printed and in the mail in the next few weeks, and the Spring 2011 issue will be printed next. We are happy that THE PIONEER is back on track, after a two-year lapse. Membership in the Society is $20.00 per calendar year. All correspondence may be sent to YHS, Box 258, Coffeeville, MS 38922.

    Mike announced the appointment of the following committees and their heads: Headquarters: Carl Vick; Publication: Dave and Emma Hovey to co-chair, with Emma as Editor of THE PIONEER; Library: Pat Brooks and Program committee: Julia Fernandez. The committee heads will be asking for volunteers from the membership to carry on their work.

    Program Chairman Julia Fernandez then introduced the speaker, Mrs. Rita Green. Rita and her husband live in Horn Lake, and have a  three year old.  As a Family Resource Management Extension Agent for Mississippi State University, she teaches personal financial education for the citizens of the Mississippi Delta region under the categories of money management, credit, fraud, estate planning, housing, and home buyer education.  She holds a Masters and Bachelor of Business Administration .  She also has experience working as a consumer credit counselor and college professor.  Her subject for the day, as mentioned, was “Identity Theft.” More specifically,, she explained what it is and what we can do to keep it from happening to us. When your identity is stolen, it means that a criminal has obtained personal information on you, from numerous sources, such as Social Security numbers, debit and credit cards, etc. Rita explained that there are several means the thieves use to get this information. We just need to make it more difficult for them, and we can start by shredding all papers that contain information on your credit, bank account, even utility bills. Rita said thieves think nothing of digging in garbage, looking for something they can use in obtaining ‘something for nothing.’  Never throw personal papers in the garbage, never place mail in your mailbox unless you are going to be at home,  and have someone pick up your mail or put a hold on it if you are going to be gone from home a while.

   Another way we can foil a potential thief is to be more aware of our surroundings. If you are paying for a purchase with a debit or credit card, try to position your body so that a person standing nearby can’t see you punch in your P.I.N. A thief can memorize the numbers, follow you outside and steal your purse or wallet, and use ALL your credentials as if they belonged to them. When you pump gas, leave your purse in the car, lock the car and keep the key in your hand. (And ladies, DON’T leave your purse unattended in a shopping cart!)

  Rita suggests that we check our credit reports on a regular basis. She passed out booklets containing much useful information on the subject of identity theft and other crimes that the public is subjected to. Combined with her excellent program, we are all better informed about the crime, and we thank Rita for bringing this serious problem to our attention, and for giving us guidelines in avoiding becoming a victim ourselves.  It is very apparent that Rita is quite knowledgable on her subject, and she did an excellent job of sharing the information with us. Thanks, Rita for a most interesting program.

ATTENDING: Rita Green,  Kay McCulley, Betty R. Miller, Lawrence and Bettie Litten, Julia Fernandez, Opal Wright, Mike Worsham, Pat Brooks, Tom Moorman, Carl and Mae Vick, James and Polly Simpson,  Sue Fly, Dave and Emma Hovey, Herb Hayward, Dot Criss,  Joy Tippit, Joy Herron, Margaret J. Ross, Jean Fly, Sarah H. Williams and James Person.

Betty R. Miller
226-6975