By Evalin Hester
Lillian Karr has retired after 26 years of service. Karr spoke on her years as the manager of the DeQuincy Chamber of Commerce. She said through the years she has had lots of up and downs but as a whole it has been a great 26 years. She received lots of support from the City of DeQuincy, DeQuincy News and all the clubs and businesses in town.
Mayor Buddy Henagan was mayor of the city when she first started and he her gave an office inside the museum. Henagan and herself talked of all the things that she wanted to do for the town. One of the things she wanted to see was a fireworks show. At the time there was no money to have a fireworks show.
Mayor Henagan suggested she get a grant. At the time she didn’t know anything about grants. A couple days later he came to the museum to tell her he got her a grant for her fireworks. Karr, took over as manager when Shelia Dougharty retired. At this time they had about $200 in funds. Its been a struggle to build up the account to benefit the City.
The one thing that she remembers (the highlight) of her job was when the city enter the Clean City Contest. The schools got involved, Hershel Frazier wrote a song and they all went to Shreveport for the results. The City won 2nd place. While there she was asked if she knew she could enter the National. Right away she got on it and entered the city in the national contest.
The schools got involved helping clean up the town along with the businesses churches and neighborhoods. They raised $17,000. She went to Washington along with lot of the children. The children enjoyed the trip, this was the first time most of the children had been on a plane. While in Washington it snowed and they enjoyed the snow. The outcome of all the city’s hard work was they won first place in the Nationals.
Today as she talks with these children who are now grown with children of their own, they still talk about their trip to Washington.
Karr, is thankful for her journey and she will always cherish her 26 years. She is not a native of DeQuincy but has lived here most of her life. Her love for the city fills her heart with happiness. She thanked the City for the plaque that she was presented and she now steps into the next chapter of her life.
