Chancery clerks from all 82 counties in Mississippi will converge on Columbus for the 92nd annual Mississippi Chancery Clerks Association Convention on May 19-22.

The four-day event at the Courtyard by Marriott, themed “Rollin’ on the River,” will include educational and recreational opportunities for the clerks and their families, according to Lowndes County Chancery Clerk Lisa Neese. She said each registered clerk would also receive a Columbus-themed “goody bag” that contained $100 for shopping at local retail stores.

“It’s wonderful they’ll be coming to our town, shopping and exploring what Columbus has to offer,” Neese said. “We have fun, but we have educational opportunities, too. I’m excited, and I can’t wait for it to start.”

A Party on the Bridge over the Tombigbee River will kick off the conference on May 19 with food and live entertainment. Clerks will attend classes at the Courtyard from 9 a.m.-noon on May 20 and 21 with vendor booths available for their perusal on-site.

On May 20, convention participants will have the option in the afternoon for skeet shooting or floating on a houseboat down the river, Neese said. Another party with food and entertainment will follow that night.

On May 21, Neese said the afternoon would offer golf at Old Waverly, shopping in downtown Columbus and a possible tour of Columbus’ antebellum homes. The conference will close with a banquet at the Courtyard on May 21, with Golden Triangle Development LINK Director Joe Max Higgins slated as keynote speaker.

Neese, who also serves as the Mississippi Chancery Clerks Association vice president, said Columbus first hosted the convention in the early 1990s and has intermittently hosted the affair since. She said the chancery clerks association foots the bill for the event, and Lowndes County wouldn’t be on the hook for any of its expenses.

“Through shopping and tourism, this will actually bring money into Columbus,” she said.

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.