As a relative newcomer to southwest Mississippi, I spent severalhours recently reading through The DAILY LEADER’s Focus 2004edition.

It was not lost on me that this was a mammoth undertaking forthe staff – nor was it lost that this year it was my turn to sharein this year’s project.

Since its beginning in the early 1990s, the Focus edition has,by all accounts, become a much-anticipated section of The DAILYLEADER. Among the things I learned from reading last year’s sectionis that everyone has a story.

Having lived here about six months, Focus 2004 served to give mea more personal glimpse into those who lead our community, as wellas our other neighbors who make Brookhaven, Lincoln County and thesurrounding areas the special place they are.

The range of stories in the section introduced me to communityinstitutions – whether people, churches and civic organizations orthe area’s treasured landmarks. Other articles highlightingbusiness and industry showed why the area’s economy is thriving,while still others let me venture outside the confines ofBrookhaven and Lincoln County to “meet” the people and places ofour neighboring communities.

Now we’re gearing up to do it all again. In the coming weeks andmonths, The DAILY LEADER staff will travel the beaten path andbeyond as we attempt to uncover the interesting people, places andthings that define southwest Mississippi.

These efforts will culminate in late April with Focus 2005. Thisyear’s section will feature many themes visited in the past, suchas “People,” “Community” and “Neighbors.” We also have addedothers, including “Faith,” “Agriculture” and “Retirement” – eachintegral in the lives of our readers and in our area.

To make this endeavor successful, we need help from you, ourreaders.

While our writers pride themselves on knowing the area, you whocarry out your daily activities in far-flung corners of thecommunity know it best. We hope you will share with us ideas forstories. We’re looking for anything from the everyday to thespectacular. I’ll guarantee if it’s of interest to one reader it’sof interest to many.

In addition to story ideas, we are asking our readers to submitinformation on their churches, businesses and civic organizationsso we may profile many of these in Focus 2005. You will find theinformation form for area churches in today’s newspaper, and theothers will follow soon.

We also want your input in the selection of the 2005 Citizen ofthe Year.

Do you know someone who has made a difference in his or hercommunity and is deserving of widespread recognition? Someone whodoes what they do out of a real drive and passion but who might gounnoticed by the masses? That’s what we’re looking for. One ofthese individuals will be our Citizen of the Year; many othernominees will be feature among our Unsung Heroes. And we want thesedeserving individuals to be decided by you, the community.

We look forward to Focus 2005 and know our readers do too.Together, we’ll learn more about our friends, our neighbors andmany whom we don’t yet know because everybody has a story, andwe’re eager to tell them all.

Write J. Ben Kelly at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven MS 39602, orsend e-mail to bkelly@dailyleader.com.