People of Union, Mississippi

With Union, Mississippi being such a close-knit community, more jobs are needed to stimulate the economy.

“Union is odd. A third of Union is in Neshoba county and two thirds is in Newton county, but the board of supervisors in Neshoba county has bought the Hunter building. We’re hoping maybe that we can get someone in there because we need a lot more jobs here. We’re just a small community,” Mayor Wayne Welch said.

And while new jobs are needed, one man’s family has been running a business in Union for the past four generations.

“We have families that are 4th generation customers and sometimes even 5th. With knowing those people your whole lives, you don’t just know them, you know their grandparents and great grandparents. Relationships are rare these days. You know, most of the world is real transient, but it’s a lot of people here who have been here their whole lives, and we’ve been able to have a good, solid relationship with them for a long time,” said Jim Ogletre, owner of Piggly Wiggly in Union

And another man, though retired, spent 20 years of his life as mayor of Union.

“Well, I was trying to better the town and make it a better place to live. I worked for the railroad for 30 years. I quit the railroad, retired, came back and ran for mayor and got elected,” said Max Sessums, former mayor of Union.

“The people in Union are great. Like I said, if they have a problem they’ll call you. Overall, we really have a lot of good people. We have a lot of older people in Union, but overall the people are really good and wonderful to work with. We have a lot of good Christian families in Union,” Mayor Welch said.