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Small Covington County town comes to life.

Article Excerpt
SEMINARY -- The small town of Seminary, located on the banks of the Okatoma in South Mississippi, may have only 360 residents. But its townsfolk have learned to maximize their assets to foster economic development.

The town quadrupled in size on Nov. 1, when some 1,500 people celebrated the 17th-annual Founder's Day, a day-long celebration that included a fireman's breakfast. parade, antique car show, beauty pageant, pet show, class reunions, and entertainment ranging from the Dixieland Cloggers of Brookhaven to Small Room 9, a local rock band recently featured on VH-1.

"Last year, we had about 2,000 guests, but this year's attendance was a little low because of so many competing activities," said Mike Wilcosky, promotional committee chairman. "USM had their homecoming that day, and Laurel had something going on. It was the day after Halloween, and Seminary High School had played football at Enterprise the night before and won 36-8, having the first undefeated season since 1967. I suspect some people were sleeping in."

About 50 vendors, selling items ranging from hand-painted goblets to funnel cakes, reported more man $5,000 in sales for the day.

Founder's Day boosted business for downtown Seminary merchants, such as the barber, baker and candlestick maker who occupy adjacent spaces along North Oak Street.

Sami Weems, co-owner of Sami Jean's Bakery & Deli, which formerly housed the town...

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