For years, Columbus has proclaimed herself “The Friendly City.” Now, it’s official.
Columbus has been named the friendliest city in the state as part of a “Best of Mississippi” show set to air on the Discovery Channel, according to Convention and Visitor’s Bureau executive director Nancy Carpenter.
“I think that we are a very friendly city,” Carpenter said. “I’m blessed because I get the opportunity to take visitors out and I get to hear first-hand what a friendly city we are and how fortunate we are to live here.”
Videographers were in Columbus Thursday and Friday filming clips for the two and a half minute segment on Columbus. The segment will air on Christmas Day, Carpenter said.
Coincidentally, several German travel agents were in Columbus on Thursday, touring Columbus for their potential clients.
Frauke Wiese, one of the agents touring the city, said her first impressions of the city were positive.
“It’s not a big town, it’s very tiny and the people we were seeing were very smiling and open and we were very warmed welcomed everywhere we went,” Wiese said. “Whether it was the gas station or the restaurant, we felt very welcome. It’s very nice.”
Wiese and the other agents also visited Cleveland, Mississippi, on Thursday. She said she thinks the south is friendlier than other parts of the U.S. and understands why Columbus is called “The Friendly City.”
“The people in new York, they look straight,” she said. “They don’t look right or left and there’s no talking to people, it’s just sitting in the subway and looking, reading the book or cellphone. But here, you come together with people and you can talk. That’s what I like.”
Fellow agent Daniel Lipp echoed Wiese’s sentiments, saying, “It’s great. They say hello and wave and smiling, it was great. The people, they are really open.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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