A couple of years ago, Dr. Roger Huey and his family joined the Greenwood Country Club.
What made their entry into the invitation-only membership of the private social club remarkable was their race, African American.
Since then, the Hueys have moved from Greenwood, but two other African-American couples have joined the 400-member club.
The 85-year-old Greenwood Country Club - originally white and Protestant - has offered memberships for decades to persons who are Jewish and Catholic and to those who are of Asian and Middle Eastern descent.
Most white members think the addition of African Americans is no big deal, said Charles Bowman, an architect and lifelong resident of Greenwood.
"People judge people on how they act," said Bowman, who is white.
Banker Jim Quinn, another white member, said, "Personally, I think it has gone just fine."
Both talked about getting to know black members Tony Johnson and Dr. Moses Newsome, who are associated with Mississippi Valley State University.
Johnson joined the club two years ago and Newsome a year ago.
The club, on Humphrey Highway just south of U.S. 82, has a clubhouse with dining areas, a ballroom, a bar and party rooms.
There are tennis courts and a swimming pool, but it is the golf course that attracted Johnson and Newsome.
Newsome, vice president for research, planning, and community and economic development at Valley, said his job is "to try to bridge the gap between the university and the community by helping towns to become more revitalized - to generate economic development in our surrounding towns."
He and his wife, Barbara, moved to Greenwood three years ago from New Jersey.
Rutgers University, where both had worked, had its own golf course. Newsome didn't have access to a golf course at Valley after his transfer, and he had played at the public course in Greenville.
"I like to play golf, and I got tired of going to Greenville," he said. "And actually, I was invited to join and I thought it was a shame - we had this lovely course here and we had not been able to participate in it."
Newsome said he had the financial means for paying the dues, so he joined.
That has been a good experience.
"I have found the members to very cordial and warm and receptive. I have gotten to know a few of the business types, farmers, retiree - young and old - who I might not otherwise know."
Similarly, Johnson and his wife, Tonjanita, moved to Greenwood in 2001, and both work for MVSU.
Tony is the university's director of marketing and trademark licensing. He also coaches the university's golf team.
Tony grew up in Como, was a tight end for the University of Alabama, before becoming professional and joining the Philadelphia Eagles and, later, the New Orleans Saints. He retired from football five years ago.
Johnson said, "I joined the country club because everywhere else I had been, I had been a member of the country club in that area.
"The only question I had was, 'Why not be a member of the country club?'"
Alex Malouf, who founded and runs John-Richard, a home furnishings manufacturer and distributer, is a white member of the Greenwood Country Club.
He was among those who sought membership invitations for African American professionals in the community.
Malouf thinks the vitality of Greenwood depends on its people, black and white, getting to know each other outside, for example, the workplace.
"I was very interested and very proactive in integrating the Greenwood Country Club," he said.
African Americans who had worked hard and succeeded, ought to be offered membership, just as other, white professionals and people in business might receive offers of membership, Malouf said.
The club, he added, has never had a policy that discriminates on the basis of race. But the thought that there might be an unwritten, unspoken rule began to bother him.
Malouf's view: to not consider someone for membership because of race is arrogant and just plain wrong.
"The white community in Greenwood and the Mississippi Delta has struggled with this a great deal in the past 20 or 30 years," he said. "But the black community has struggled for as long as they have been here."
In its heyday, Greenwood stood as the center of business and served smaller communities around it. Some of those towns have disappeared. Others have grown smaller and poorer. When greater Greenwood didn't move forward, it declined.
"That type of thinking, I believe, has Greenwood and the Mississippi Delta in the position it is in today. The old mentality of the Delta is not what we need today," Malouf said.
The country club's vice president, Don Brock Jr., a white attorney, agreed with Malouf.
He mentioned a corporate golf tournament Valley held at the club during its homecoming last month. Local and outside businesses - Nike, for example - sponsored the event. Players came from Mississippi and other parts of the country. Some once caddied at the club.
Brock said he played in a foursome with MVSU's president, Dr. Lester Newman.
"It was a good event, where color was not an issue. That's where it needs to be," Brock said.
Although the club remains private, it still plays a roll in the community, the attorney said.
"It is an asset to this community," Brock said. "And it can be the best asset it can be."
