Jarnigan named Visitor Center director
By Randy Bell
Randi Jarnigan has been named the director of the Clinton Visitor Center.
Randi Jarnigan is preparing to accept the responsibilities that come with her new job—which include being the first face that many visitors will see when they stop in Clinton.
“I’m just really excited and honored to be given this opportunity,” Jarnigan said, moments after the Board of Aldermen voted April 21 to make her the new Clinton Visitor Center director, following Marsha Barham’s retirement.
She’s looking forward to meeting travelers who exit the Natchez Trace Parkway, looking for clean restrooms, eager to get some restaurant recommendations or maybe hoping to learn a little bit about the city. The Visitor Center is located at 1300 Pinehaven Drive at Milepost 89 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
“There’s so much history here in Clinton that I think a lot of people don’t realize,” Jarnigan said. “But I think that once [visitors] get here and they fall in love with it like we have, they’ll come back every time they go through this area. Clinton has so much to offer, to give people. It’s such a beautiful place to live. That’s why we’re in so many movies now.”
Jarnigan sees the value of having a Visitor Center in Clinton. When her family travels, they look forward to pulling over along the way and soaking up some local information.
“That’s a big part with us,” said Jarnigan. “We always stop at a visitor center. That’s one of our favorite places.”
The plan is, going forward, for the Clinton Visitor Center to be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. five days a week, closed on Sundays and Mondays starting June 1.
Jarnigan said it’s important to accommodate the many folks who travel the Trace on Saturdays.
The Clinton Visitor Center is located at 1300 Pinehaven Drive. Beginning in June, it will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
“That opens the doors to building some new friendships and relationships with people, and being able to tell them places they can go eat and go see and just brings more revenue into the city.”
As director of the Visitor Center, Jarnigan will also be responsible for scheduling entertainment at the facility including the popular “Friday Nights at Milepost 89.” She will also be in charge of Clinton’s historical markers, as well as will oversee the banner program which honors local men and women who’ve served in the armed forces.
“We have so many veterans in our wonderful town,” Jarnigan said.
Additional banners will be featured on the new lamp posts along Pinehaven Drive as Memorial Day approaches, in addition to the ones on the Clinton Parkway and Highway 80.
“That provides more opportunities to share their faces and their names and for their families to be so proud to see them,” she said.
One of her goals when she takes over in June is to increase the number of volunteers who play a crucial role at the Visitor Center.
As Jarnigan puts it, “Without the volunteers, that place would not be successful. They are what keeps it going.”
Jarnigan is a 1996 graduate of Clinton High School and will earn a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College this month. She has over sixteen years of administrative leadership experience, most recently as the Executive Assistant for the Dean at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Nursing. Prior to that, she held a similar position at Mississippi College.
Her salary as Visitor Center director will be $56,000.
