Suffolk News-Herald

It was 10 years ago that local businessman Harry Cross III decided that Suffolk needed &uot;a little book&uot; to promote the city and businesses to newcomers.

On Friday, a packed house at the Holiday Inn celebrated the 10th anniversary of Cross’ brainstorm that became &uot;Discover Suffolk.&uot;

The &uot;little book&uot; is now a glitzy, 128-page magazine that is used to help market the city to prospective residents, businesses and industries.

&uot;I know I’ve said it every year, but this is our best Discover Suffolk yet,&uot; said Virginia L. &uot;Jinks&uot; Babey, who was recruited by Cross to produce the magazine in the mid 1990s.

Several speakers long associated with the publication including Cross of ReMax Across Town, the Rev. Mark Croston of East End Baptist Church and Tourism Director Lynette Brugeman praised Babey and her work over the years. Mayor Bobby L. Ralph joined in the accolades.

Babey was choked up as she talked about the support people in the city, those who worked on the magazine and her family members, particularly her parents, Ed and Emily Lemon, both of whom died in the past 18 months.

With publication of the current issue, Discover Suffolk will now be published annually instead of every two years.

&uot;Things are changing so fast,&uot; Babey said.

&uot;This year it was amazing, we had to cut out so much because we didn’t have enough room.

The magazine’s format, however, remained unchanged with lots of newcomer-type information on schools, utilities, attractions, etc., interspersed with profiles of various Suffolk residents.

Among those featured this year include Charles Christian, Ezra Locke and Phillip McNeil, Geri Bradshaw, John Taylor, Nathan Richardson, Pat Gammon and Mary Keith Garret.

Discover Suffolk is available at many city offices and businesses.

For more information, call Discover Media, LLC at

934-1521, or email info@discoversuffolk.com.