Visitors passing through Century in need of information at the Century Welcome Center on Highway 29 will have a chance to speak face-to-face with a lifelong Century resident, starting Wednesday, April 4, and every Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., after the Century Chamber meeting Tuesday morning.
Currently the office is closed every day due to lack of volunteers and funds.
Former Century Correctional Institution Lieutenant Tony Nolen, retired as of June 2017, will begin working at the Century Welcome Center on Wednesdays for about six hours, cleaning up and landscaping outside, answering the phone and assisting visitors and guests as they arrive. The landscaping has been maintained by inmates so far, but the building needs some pressure washing and general spring maintenance beyond the landscaping currently done.
The chamber offered Nolen $240 a month for six hours on Wednesday of each week, at $10 an hour. Nolen told the chamber he would work those hours and days for $200 a month.
Nolen's association with the chamber started when he worked for the prison and attended the meetings. Nolen said when he decided to retire, he wanted to continue to help the chamber and the community after retirement.
“It started off as a community involvement with the prison when I still worked there,” said Nolen. “I’ve been a Century resident all my life. This is my community, my town, and I would like to see it grow, and I am willing to do whatever to help.”
In a motion made by Catherine Jeter and seconded by Freddie McCall to hire Nolen for $200 per month, the members voted and the motion carried.
Fundraising projects
Chamber members discussed possible fundraising projects, including a softball tournament, a pre-sale for cooked Boston butts and a 5K run. Several members volunteered to form a fundraising committee and Chamber President Mary Bourgeois noted that time is of the essence.
“If we plan something, we've got to move on it quickly,” said Bourgeois. “The problem in the past is, we plan, and then we meet and plan again, but nothing progresses so we run out of time to do anything. If we plan it, we've got to get it moving forward and follow through.”
Freddie McCall, Tony Nolen, Mary Bourgeois and Gretchen McPherson make up the fundraising committee and will be seeking ways to raise funds for the Century Chamber of Commerce.
“We are depending on chamber membership monies to come in, about $4,000,” said Bourgeois. “We need to raise at least that much to keep the Century Welcome Center open and the chamber going.”
