10/18/2007 Travel Log
Canton, Mississippi (20 miles north of Jackson)
Watching the Seahawks vs. Saints game on our wonderful RV home theatre. Lisa working too – this time on a flyer to sell the fifth wheel. The gang watching the Saints cream the Seahawks. Shane, Shoshanah, Celia, and Rosa agency staff taking a break at the Xtend training. Mark and Susan making sure the Xtend project was setup correctly. Shoshanah helping out with Xtend training. Shane helping out with Xtend Training MDRS v5 Team Lead meeting. Lisa, Butch McMillan (Agency Director) and Paula Brown (MIS Manager) Shane and Shoshanah take a tour of AbilityWorks, a Division of the Mississippi Dept. of Rehabilitation Services Another photo of AbilityWorks Machinery used to fill and sew-up backs at AbilityWorks. Mark and Shane engage in a bit of friendly North versus South rivalry. When Mark refuses to address Shane and Shoshanah as the "Ultimate Xtend Masters", Shoshanna shows now mercy. Susan, Mark, Shane, and Shoshanah at Vicksburg. Battered and fried pickles. At the Cock of the Walk restaurant - Shane drinks a coke from a tin cup, just like the locals.
Notice that Shoshanah is working away to finish “one more thing” before her training on Monday. Good thing we saved Shane from having to watch the game from a local sports bar filled with Saints fans! Charles and Shane met for the first time after having worked closely together to make the AWARE and ProductivityTrak interface work correctly two years ago. AbilityWorks matches well-trained Mississippians, who have disabilities, with the manufacturing, assembly, recycling, packaging and maintenance needs of business
At AbilityWorks Inc., clients gain experience, plus receive the support, counseling, and instruction, to make it in the work place. Shoshanah said "you eat them with ketchup and they tasted kind of like a hamburger without the burger."
Watching the Seahawks vs. Saints game on our wonderful RV home theatre.
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Travel Log ~10/18/2007
We had a very
productive and fun week in Mississippi with
our friends and customers at the Mississippi
Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS).
Shane Frost and Shoshanah Bain, two Alliance
Senior Development Specialists, joined us.
The week was primarily focused on training
the MIS staff on v5 Xtend. Shoshanah and
Shane were the principle trainers which
freed up Rick and Lisa to meet with team
leads, Paula Brown (MIS Manager), and the
agency’s Executive Management Team.
MDRS has an initial plan for transitioning
to v5 including a strategy for pilot testing
the system and conducting statewide
training. They face three primary
challenges: keeping the MIS staff dedicated
to the v5 Xtend effort, assigning a Training
Team Coordinator, and planning for on-going
v5 operations. The Executive Management Team
understands the situation and we’re
confident will mitigate the issues for a
successful implementation.
We also made sure we ate plenty of local
cuisine including Lisa’s favorite: BBQ! In
fact, the first night we arrived, Shane and
Shanah joined us in our RV to eat delicious
take out from the Haute Pig restaurant
(pronounced “Haughty” in Mississippi!) and
to watch the New Orleans’ Saints trample the
Seattle Seahawks.
~
Lisa and Rick
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Canton, Mississippi
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Canton Facts
- Although not a
major
battle site
during the
Civil War,
Canton was important
as a
rail and
logistics
center. Many wounded
soldiers were
treated in or
transported through
the city, and as a
consequence it has a
large Confederate
cemetery.
- Canton was
intermittently the
adult home of slide
guitarist and blues
singer
Elmore James,
who was born and
grew up about 20
miles north in
Richland and nearby
plantation
communities. Modern
slide guitarist
Sonny Landreth was
born in Canton but
moved to Louisiana
as a child.
- The 1996 motion
picture
A Time to Kill,
based on a novel of
the same title by
John Grisham,
was filmed in
Canton. The city was
also the filming
location for another
motion picture
released in 2000 —
My Dog Skip,
based on the
memoir by
Mississippi native
Willie Morris.
Artifacts from the
filming of both
movies were donated
to the city, and
today are maintained
in exhibits in the
downtown area.
- The city is home
to a large auto
manufacturing
facility owned by
Nissan.
- Canton, like a
similarly-named city
in
Texas, is home
to an extensive
flea market
event. With more
than 1,100 vendors
around the Madison
County Courthouse
square and other
locations, the
market has become
one of the city's
largest events held
each May and
October.
-
Anne Moody,
famed author and
civil rights
activist, wrote
about her
experiences in
Canton in her book,
Coming of Age in
Mississippi
where she worked for
CORE.
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