By Scott Mims

The Chilton Leadership Class of 2010 has unveiled their class project — a promotional video for Chilton County and a brochure that highlights activities in the ever-expanding Minooka Park.

With the help of an Alabama Tourism Department grant, the group printed 100,000 copies of a brochure featuring scenic photographs, a roadmap, contact information and a summary of what Minooka Park has to offer.

Also, a video available on the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce website, chiltoncountychamber.com, promotes many aspects of the county such as recreation, government, community events and industry through a slideshow of photographs accompanied by original music.

“We decided we wanted to promote Chilton County,” said class representative Danny Carter. “We didn’t think it was being promoted well enough.”

The group, sponsored jointly by the chamber of commerce and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, raised $2,800 including the $1,100 matching grant to fund their project. The grant was matched by the county and local municipalities.

Half of the Minooka Park brochures will be distributed around the state to rest stops and other areas frequented by tourists. The rest will go to the chamber and locations around the county.

Several portable displays showing the video will also be distributed to different local businesses.

“We all have to work together to succeed in the county’s growth, and that’s what the video is all about,” said class representative J. Sam Johnson.

Sixteen people graduated from the Chilton Leadership program on Tuesday. The event was held at the Helen Parrish Activity Center in conjunction with the chamber’s monthly business luncheon.

The graduates were: Rex D. Bittle, Danny Carter, Angela Cofer, Jana Conlee, Sherry Cox, Rachel Giles, Lee Gunn, Sheila Haigler, Dearl Hilyer, J. Sam Johnson, Laura Jones, LaGora Lykes, Ralph Mason, Keith L. Moore, Debbie Orange and John Shearon.

Each year, a different leadership class spearheads a project that requires teamwork. Members gain a better understanding of the county’s problems, opportunities and resources, and learn how to build networks with community leaders around the county.

“I’m fairly new to the community,” said class representative Rex Bittle. “I’ve been here for less than five years. It seemed like a quick, in-depth way to learn about the county, and it turned out to be more than I could have expected.”

Class sponsors this year were the Alabama Tourism Department, city of Clanton, city of Jemison, Chilton County Commission, Clanton First United Methodist Church, Gordon Smelley, town of Maplesville, Rep. James M. Martin, Gov. Bob Riley and the town of Thorsby.