Holly Springs - Mississippi's best kept secret

Stephanie McKinney, Executive Director

Executive director of the Holly Springs Tourist Bureau Stephanie McKinney says, quote I think this is a really cute town, I mean it is very, very unique. Holly Springs is Mississippi's best kept secret, a small town in Marshall County, thirty-minutes southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, on highway 178. In 2009, Holly Springs was recognized by Governor Hailey Barbour as the Cultural Corner of the Hills region. In 2011, the Mississippi Tourism Association named Holly Springs Best Small Tourism Bureau and Stephanie McKinney is the reason why the state is recognizing its best kept secret. Five years ago, the Holly Springs board of directors hired McKinney as executive director, and with a small staff and budget she promotes the town by doing most of the work herself to cut down expenses. McKinney says she is not the average director. She is fairly open, honest, and authentic, and she does things differently like creating the town's website to save money. She loves Holly Springs and enjoys talking about the town and its residents. "She says, quote it is a easy sell and it is something I can easily get excited about. When I talk about it to other people they get excited and they want to come. We are doing a lot of fun things, especially the last few years with Mainstreet Association coming in. Mainstreet betters the community for the residents, not just for the tourists. A lot of people felt like nothing was happening, now there is a sense that something is happening with Bikers night-community events where everybody comes out, it is not segregated like it seem before, and now everybody shows up for all the events."
Sharon White