First Friday Bicentennial Edition

JACKSON, Tenn. – The Bicentennial Edition of First Friday Forum will continue downtown at First Methodist Church on Friday, March 4.

The bicentennial programming and event theme for March is government and politics. Jimmy Harris, the Mayor of Madison County, and Scott Conger, the Mayor of Jackson, will speak on the past, present, and future of Politics and Government History in Jackson and Madison County.

First Friday will be held at First Methodist Church located at 200 South Church Street in downtown Jackson on Friday, March 4. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m., lunch will be served starting at 11:45 a.m., and programming will start at approximately 12:30 p.m.

As this is a catered event, advance tickets are required for attendance. The cut-off for purchase is 6 p.m. the Tuesday prior to the event. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Tickets are $12 per person and can be purchased using a debit or credit card at https://fffmar2022.pushpayevents.com/

Tickets can also be purchased by cash or check at the First Methodist business office during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday or 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Fridays).

First Friday is sponsored by Simmons Bank

The Bicentennial edition of First Friday is held on the first Friday of every month through August 2022. Dr. Larry Ray, former Dean of Arts and Communications at Lambuth University, will be speaking about open houses and architecture on April 1. A reservation link will be released on jacksonmadison200.com soon.

 

About Mayor Jimmy Harris

Jimmy Harris grew up on a farm in Henderson County. He graduated from Lexington High School and the University of Memphis with a degree in Engineering Technology.

Jimmy’s business career began in 1973. He has owned and operated various businesses throughout his career including an ice cream shop, funeral home, cemetery, men’s retail clothing, trailer manufacturing company, drive thru hamburger restaurants and outdoor advertising. He has been in the real estate development and management business in Jackson, Tennessee since 1987.

Jimmy is a member of the Jackson Rotary Club, a Board member of Arise2Read and Salvation Army and attends St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

He is married, has three children and three grandchildren.

He was appointed as Madison County Mayor by the Madison County Commission and sworn in on July 1, 2007 and was officially elected Madison County Mayor on August 7, 2008. He was recently re-elected to another four-year term on August 2, 2018.

About Mayor Scott Conger

Scott Conger was elected Mayor of Jackson on June 18, 2019 with 63.2 percent of the vote in a runoff election. His four-year term began on July 1. Conger is the third member of his family to serve as Mayor of Jackson. First serving as a city councilman in 2011, Conger represented District 5 of Midtown Jackson. He served on the Expenditure Committee, Budget Review Committee, Municipal Solid Waste Regional Planning Board, and was chair of the Taxi Board.

 

Along with his political responsibilities, Conger served as the President and CEO of United Way of West Tennessee from 2015-2019, an organization that brings people and resources together to help meet the needs in the area. Before United Way, his career began in higher education working as an admissions counselor for Lane College, later transitioning to the director of the loan management program. He went on to serve as the Donor Management Director of the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation.

 

From 2010 to 2011, he led the Lambuth Area Neighborhood Association as president. He served on the boards for Jackson Downtown Development Corporation, the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, Area Relief Ministries, The Salvation Army, and WLJT-DTV Public Television for West Tennessee. Conger is a Rotarian and Eagle Scout, having served as Assistant District Governor, Past-President and affiliate of the Membership Committee and Strategic Planning Committee for the Jackson Rotary Club. He is also a member of St. John’s Masonic Lodge and the Jackson Scottish Rite of Jackson, where he served as Past-President and is a York Rite Mason.

 

An alumnus of Lane College, Conger was rewarded with the Tradition Award and Outstanding Young Alumni from the National Alumni Council of the UNCF. He went on to earn his Master’s in Business Administration from Bethel University, where he served as an Alumni Ambassador for the program and is now a member of the board of trustees. An alumnus of Leadership Jackson and WestStar, Conger is committed to providing an educated workforce throughout West Tennessee. He was named one of Jackson’s Finest Young Professionals in 2012 and one of The Jackson Sun’s Forty Under 40 for 2014. He has also been recognized for his community service by New Life Christian Ministries and is a recipient of the William H. Graves Sr. Humanitarian Award. He was voted Best Local Public Servant in The Jackson Sun’s 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards. A member of the Lambuth Memorial United Methodist Church, Conger serves as District Lay Leader, and is involved with the Leadership Team, Staff/Parish Relations Committee and Evangelism Committee.

 

Conger enjoys life in Jackson with his wife, Nikki, daughter, Madelynn, and son, Charlie.