The Light Up the Trace on the Darkest Day of the Year Luminaria Event has been selected as a statewide finalist for Sales and Marketing Professionals’ Mississippi Pinnacle Awards.

The Light Up the Trace Event was honored at an awards gala at Lake Terrace Convention Center on April 11 in Hattiesburg.

The event featured a black-tie optional seated dinner and live entertainment to celebrate the 2023 finalists.

The Mississippi Pinnacle Awards honor excellence, professionalism, and outstanding achievement in sales, marketing, and community engagement and showcase the highest level of public relations talent in the state. 

Light Up the Trace was created in 2021 in an effort to raise funds to provide safety, security and lighting in the respective communities along the Longleaf Trace corridor while celebrating the season and honoring special people and events. It was part festive holiday, part patriotic celebration and part walk down memory lane.

“This year’s event raised over $6000 in sponsorships and luminaria sales. It is the first of its kind regional event in five locations, three towns, two counties all on one night for a great cause- lighting, safety and security on the Longleaf Trace Corridor” according to Jefferson Davis County Economic Development Director Gary Russell Bass, founder of the event.

SMP is a state-wide organization of owners, managers, and account executives involved in sales and marketing.