This week Children attending the Lorelei Books First Saturday Storytime may be exposed to something they’ve never seen before.
Mark Jones, owner of Lendsi Radio LLC, which includes V105.5 FM, will be the guest reader Saturday for the monthly event. Now what makes Jones so special? Jones is blind. For some of the children attending the event this will be their first exposure to someone who is blind. Despite or because of his blindness Jones is quite a success story.
Jones organizes the V105.5 Christmas Caroling Contest each year, one of the biggest events Vicksburgers would look forward to every year.
Jones cut his teeth as a disk jockey in Vicksburg during the 1970s before moving back to his hometown of Amory to start a station with some friends of his. From there he went on to work in Park Hills, Mo. Not long after that, Jones moved to Alexandria, La., and in 2005, made his return to Vicksburg.
Jones has since settled in and made Vicksburg his home and started giving back. He is a member of Rotary Club and can be seen at many charitable events around town.
Reading to children has been something he and Laura Weeks, the owner of the independent bookstore, have talked about him doing for a while.
“I have a lot of print braille books and this gives me a chance to show people about braille,” he said. Jones said his children grew up around braille books and didn’t perceive them as anything unusual, but for the children attending the Lorelei Storytime he thinks it will be something different.
Jones is different from the everyday folks you may see and that’s truly what gives our community its flavor. Jones is an important ingredient in making the Vicksburg brand a success.