DTMSA Renovations

After 20 years of business we are pulling up the carpet and getting a face lift. Our renovations will set the precedent for the Facade Grant Program we are introducing in 2010. The new program will be available to the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association Members. This is another way we are giving back to the community and making Downtown Tupelo even stronger.

MLM - Ladies Shopping Night

Are you looking for the perfect gift for the man in your life? You shouldn't look any further than MLM Clothiers in Downtown Tupelo. They are having a Ladies Shopping Night Tuesday December 15th.
Specials include:
Suits 30% off
Sport Coats 30% off
Sport Shirts Buy 1 get 2nd 1/2 off
Sweaters 25% off
Dress Pants 25% off
Scarfs $25 off
Outerwear 20% off
Outerwear 20% off
All purpose coats - Regular $189.50 Now $125.00
Top Coats - Regular $249.95 Now $125.00

Merry Christmas from MLM

Clydesdales in Tupelo

In a special event presented by Express Employment Professionals in association with the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, the Express Employment Professionals Clydesdales will appear at the Lee County Agricenter on Dec. 4.

The free event will offer an opportunity to view the black and white horses weighing an average of one ton each the day before they star in the Christmas Parade. Since 1999, these gentle giants have won numerous awards and have achieved recognition around the world including the World Championship in the 8-horse hitch and the 6-horse hitch.

Those who attend are encouraged to bring cameras to photograph the Clydesdales. Hot chocolate and cookies will be available.

Jim and Julianne Goodwin own Express Employment Professionals offices in Tupelo and Booneville. Express employs over 300 workers at over 80 local companies providing temporary, contract, and executive recruiting for all staffing needs.

For more information on this event and horses, call Express Employment Professionals at 662-842-5500 or visit the website Expressclydesdales.com.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Staff of the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association would like to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.
Debbie, Craig and Allie

Dearly Beloved

The Tupelo Community Theatre presents Dearly Beloved November 19th - 21st at The Lyric Theatre. Tickets available for purchase by phone 662-844-1935 at the Lyric Box Office.

Tickets are 1/2 price for the Saturday Matinee @ 2 pm if you bring 5 canned food items. These will be given to the Boy Scouts for their Scouting for Food Project going on now.

MLM - 1/2 Off Sale

MLM Clothiers in Downtown Tupelo is having a gigantic 1/2 Off Sale you don't want to miss. It runs until November 30th.

The Main Attraction Trunk Show

The Main Attraction in Downtown Tupelo is having a Trunk Show on Thursday November 19th from 5 - 7 pm. State of Grace Jewelry from San Francisco will be here showcasing their latest designs. This is a great opportunity to purchase Christmas Gifts for friends and family.

75th Elvis Birthday Extravaganza

Brandon Bennett and Bill Cherry

w/ EAS Band
in Concert at The Lyric
January 7, 2010 @ 7:30 p.m.

Big plans are in store for the 75th Elvis Birthday Celebration. The festivities start on Thursday January 7, 2010 with an Elvis Birthday Extravaganza Concert at The Lyric. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m featuring: UETA Winner Brandon Bennett & 2009 UETA Winner Bill Cherry with the EAS Band.

Ticket Prices include service charge:

Front Row Seating is $79

Premium Seating on Row 2-6 is $54.00

General Admission is $29.00

Front Row and Premium Seating receive invitations to Pre-Concert Reception at the CVB Lobby and VIP Meet and Greet Following the Concert.

Tickets are on sale now by phone 662-841-6598 or at The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Office between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

A Halloween to Remember

Saturday was a day to remember. We celebrated Let's Go Walking MS; The Mayor's Marathon; and The Halloween Carnival and Costume Contest at The Farmer's Market. Below are a few pictures from the day:

Halloween Costume Contest

Children in elementary school or younger will have a chance to show off their Halloween style in a Costume Contest and Carnival on Oct. 31.
The free event, held at the Tupelo Farmers Market on South Spring Street, will take place from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. At 10 a.m., one lucky child will win a bicycle donated by Toys-R-Us. The costume contest will begin at 10:30 a.m. and award prizes for the top three costumes.
The first fifty children to register will receive a goody bag. Late season fruits and vegetables will be available for sale from local vendors as well as homemade baked goods, canned goods, and fall decorations.
For more information on this year’s Halloween Costume Contest and Carnival, call the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association at 662-841-6598 or visit the website TupeloMainStreet.com

TCT Haunted House

If you are looking for some Halloween Fun you should check out the TCT Haunted Theatre. This is the 4th year and they have some special surprises in store you don't want to miss. The Haunted Theatre is open on Thursday Oct 29th 7 - 10 pm, Friday Oct 30th and Saturday Oct 31st 7 - 11 pm. The cost is $10 each and they accept cash, local check or credit card(visa/mastercard).

Downtown Trick or Treat

Ghosts and witches and monsters too They're all invited - and so are you! Trick or Treat with the shops of Historic Downtown Tupelo Halloween brings out our best character! We joined together to create safe fun for the whole family. October 29, 2009 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Stop by these participating stores: Beauty Motif, Ladybug's, The Main ARTery, MLM, Monogram It!, Omi, Reed's, Swirlz, & The Main Attraction.

Cellular South Networking at Noon

Cellular South Networking at Noon today showcased Dr. Dan Jones, Chancellor for The University of Mississippi. He spoke to a crowd of business leaders and Ole Miss Alumni about the importance of higher education and health care in the state of Mississippi.

10th Annual Chili Fest a Huge Success

The 10th Annual Chili Fest on Friday October 16th was a huge success. Co-Chairs Shipman Sloan and Paul Mize did an outstanding job. A record number of teams and attendees for Chili Fest this year. Attendees received a bowl of Chili provided by Jim Beane, a drink, the opportunity to sample Chili by the teams and hear some great live music with their ticket.

The 2009 winners are:

America's Most Wanted Chili - "Make Ya Wanna Slap Your Mama Good!" - 1st Place

Ikon Swashbucklin Scallywags - "Better Luck Next Year" - 2nd Place; Sauciest Get Up! - Best Costumes; and 2009 AT&T Big Pepper Award
Mitchell Distributing - "Crowd Favorite" - By Vote of Attendees

Community Bank - "Serve It Up Right" - Best Presentation

Up In Smoke - "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" - Most Original Recipe

Renasant Renegades - "Mystifying Oomph" - Most Unique Taste

Shockleys - "Rowdiest Cooks!" - Best Team Spirit

The McCarty Co. - "Most 'Souped' Up Kitchen" - Most Creative Tent

The Spice is Right - "Supreme Scheme" - Most Original Theme

Photos Compliments of Sam Agnew

We hope to see you again next year. 2010 Chili Fest is tentatively set for Friday October 15th.

Get Downtown for Chips and Salsa

On Thursday October 15th from 5 - 7 pm The Downtown Merchants will be competing to see who has the best Salsa. Please join in the fun. To participate stop by the following merchants between 5 and 7, taste the salsa and then cast your vote for your favorite. The winner will be announced on Friday October 16th during Lunch at Chili Fest.

Participating Merchants:

• Beauty Motif
  
• Kirksey Brother's
• Lady Bug's
• Main Attraction
• MLM
• Omi
• Reed's
• Swirlz

Papa V's Receives “MOVING TUPELO FORWARD” Award

Today Mayor Jack Reed, Jr. and Tupelo Development Services representatives presented John Robbins with the “Moving Tupelo Forward” award at 11 a.m. at the Papa V’s location on East Main Street.

Pictured Left to Right: Mayor Jack Reed Jr., Debbie Brangenberg, Ben Robbins, John Robbins, Fred Pitts, B.J. Teal, Markel Whittington, and Pat Faulkner.

10th Annual Chili Fest Promises to Please Appetites

Attendants will vote for who’s who in Tupelo Chili.

Tupelo, Miss. – Forty themed teams will put on aprons and cook up their best chili recipes in attempt to win hearts and stomachs at the 10th Annual Chili Fest presented by AT&T on October 16.
The festival, held on Broadway Street, will offer a lunch of chili from Bar-B-Q by Jim and drinks for $5 from 11:00 to 1:30 and feature live music by John Milstead. Dinner will cost $10 and also include chili tastings for each team beginning at 5:00 pm. Rooster Blues will take the stage at 5:30 followed by Kent Burnside at 8:00.
Awards will be presented at 10:00 pm for the best chili voted on by both attendees and judges and creativity including best team spirit, costumes, and theme.
For more information on this year’s Chili Fest, call the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association at 662-841-6598 or visit the website TupeloMainStreet.com.

Presented by: AT&T

Sponsored by: Bud Light

Annual Sponsors: Hilton Garden Inn, Bar-B-Q by Jim, WLOV, Daily Journal, Renasant Bank, Redmagnet Technologies, Reed’s, North Mississippi Medical Center, WTVA, Yellowbook, Cellular South, Coca-Cola, BancorpSouth, WKDH

New Hotspot

Downtown Tupelo has something new to brag about! The Main ARTery is a hub for artists and enthusiasts to come together.



Patrons can enjoy and bring home the work of Ginny Foxworth pottery, Katherine Corbett Speck, Brent Farrar, Brian Taylor, Kit Stafford, William Heard, Brent Martin, Mark Shelton, Ben and John Scott, Terri Leigh Clayton, Aaron McElfish and Hal Boehner.

Local artists can rent space and sell their work. Mediums from photography, to paintings and drawings, to pottery and more are all welcome.

The Main ARTery also has classrooms that will offer after school art lessons with Sarah Lambert on Tuesdays 4-5:15 for $65 a month. Thursdays from 11-1 adults can get art pointers from Charlie Buckley. Charlie will also hold intermediate art lessons for children 4-5:30. Both Thursday lessons will be $75 a month including material.

The classroom can also be rented out for paint parties. Make your reservation for an adults only party or for bridal showers, mom's night out or just a fun night with friends. For $25 a person all paint and supplies will be provided, just bring your own food and drink. It's also a great place for kid's birthday parties.


Got questions call phone number is 269-2035. Open Tuesday-Saturday 9:30 am-5:30 pm or by reservation for parties and events.

Down on Main Street

Thursday, August 20
5:30-10:30
Free Concert in Fairpark

The Benders and Blue Mountain

Egg Bowl trophy will be on display!!! So support your Mississippi team by wearing your colors!!

Get Downtown 1st

Sign up now for "Get Downtown 1st" our new downtown restaurant and retail E-Guide. Email subscribe@tupelomainstreet.com for the latest trends, unique gift ideas and dinner specials. Get Downtown Tupelo!

We're a bit excited for Down on Main. Hope you are too. Free music just might be a good excuse for a trip down town... It is for us. It's this thurday. For details, check out our website and http://www.tupelomainstreet.com/

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.

Oh and we're also pretty excited to share this news:

This past week at the Annual MS AIA conference, the Boys and Girls Club of the Gulf Coast was awarded the Sambo Mockbee Membership Award for Design Excellence. This award is very special since it is voted on by the AIA membership at the conference.

Way to go JBHM!

Down on Main Street

The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association announced Down on Main Street, a new free music event in Fairpark. Down on Main Street will be held Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 pm.
The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association’s promotions committee and Quality of Life each began working on a free event in Fairpark. The groups merged in April to form a new committee with the goal to enhance the quality of life in Tupelo and bring more visitors to the downtown area.
“We are constantly looking for great, new ideas to help make downtown and Tupelo a great place to be,” said Debbie Brangenberg, director the Main Street program. “This committee is very passionate about this event and has worked very hard to make this possible for our community.”
Down on Main Street has received $15,000 from the Quality of Life committee for the July event. The Quality of Life is a subcommittee of the Planning Department. They receive funding through Tupelo Water and Light’s round-up program, Tupelo residents can choose to have their utility bill rounded up to the nearest dollar to support the committee. The $15,000 was approved by the committee for Down on Main Street at their June meeting.
“We appreciate the committee’s faith in our event and look forward to working with them on this project,” said Brangenberg.
The Down on Main Street committee plans to make this event a three part series with the next two concerts scheduled for August 20 and September 17. These events are tentative and contingent upon funding. For more information on the event or how to donate, contact the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association at 841-6598.

Tupelo Challenge

One of our wonderful local retail merchants Barbara Fleishhacker found the 3/50 project on the Southern Accents Miss Gracious Living's website. It tells us to think about our three favorite independently owned business and then think about how we would feel if they were gone. It challeges you to visit these stores and spend $50 in each store every month. If half of our city's population would spend $50 in their three favorite stores, we would generate $2,704,350.00 this month alone. Over the course of a year that would be $32,452,200.00.

Ok so how is that different than spending that money in national chain businesses or online? Sixty-eight percent of that revenue stays in Tupelo through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. Only 48 percent stays in Tupelo when we spend it with other businesses. Think about it. So get downtown! Let us show you our businesses are up to the challenge.

For more information on the 3/50 project, contact us at 662-841-6598 or go to http://mrsblandings.blogspot.com/2009/05/350-project.html.

Elvis on Broadway

During the Tupelo Elvis Festival, the King will have a new place to dwell. The Lyric Theatre and Broadway Street in historic downtown Tupelo is being dubbed “All Elvis, All the Time.” With 24 Elvis tribute artists competing in the 2009 Ultimate Elvis® Tribute Artist Competition, fans can sit back and enjoy all the great eras of Elvis. Outside the Lyric tribute artists will meet and greet with fans in between the three rounds of competition. Music will fill the streets throughout the weekend on the free stage with some time for open mic. Other great activities during the weekend are the Elvis Parade, the Elvis-Look-A-Like Parade and the Ladybug's Children's Activities on North Spring Street where youth tribute artists Demi Downing and Nick Gutierrez will headline. Elvis merchandise will be available for purchase to help attendees commemorate the fun-filled weekend. Join us in celebrating Tupelo's favorite son!

2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival

The Tupelo Elvis Festival will be held June 5-7 in Tupelo Mississippi. We are pleased to announce the following entertainers for this year's Fairpark line-up. Headliners are Lucero and Jason Michael Caroll.

Shagadoo, Jamie Davis & Soul Gravy, AllyeriA, Busted Screen Door, Spunk Monkees, The House Rockers, Antioch Road, Drew Chapman, John Milstead, Tatum Shappley, Kevin & Bethany Paige Band, and Steven Floyd and Shane Rowe!

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Competition, a special Friday night concert with Travis Ledoyt, and the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Finals featuring Victor Trevino, Shawn Klush and Donny Edwards will be held at the Lyric Theatre.

The Ladybug's Children's Activities will be held Saturday, June 6. Headliners are Demi Downing and Nick Gutierrez. Free and open to the public!

Tickets are on sale at http://www.tupeloelvisfestival.com/. We hope you can make it to the 11th annual Tupelo Elvis Festival!

Downtown Give-Away

Here's what's going on in downtown Tupelo. Fifteen merchants and restaurant owners are working together to show their appreciation for their customers and to encourage others to try shopping and dining downtown. The Big Downtown Give Away will begin April 1 and end June 5. Each business is offering a prize worth $50 or more in value.

The participating businesses are: Beauty Motif, Boondocks, Bar-B-Que by Jim, Fairpark Grill, Hilton Garden Inn Great American Grill, Kirksey Brothers, Ladybug's, Main Attraction, MLM Clothiers, Monogram It!, Park Heights, Omi Boutique, Reeds Department Store, Sprint Print, Swirlz, Tupelo Hardware.

The 15 winners will be announced at the Fairpark stage during the Tupelo Elvis Festival Saturday, June 6.