by Amanda Curtis

Staff Reporter

"The Best."

When we hear those words, we think of premiere, top notch, fullest potential. Now, add "Lewis County" to it for that local touch. We think of our favorite places around town like the Best Restaurant, Junkyard Dog, the Friendliest Retail Staff, H&R Hardware and Lumber, Best Septic Tank Business, 2C's Septic. What about the people, though? Out of all the fine people of Lewis County, how do we possibly choose just two to reign as The Best? Well, we don't. You, the readers, do.

This year's Best Man and Best Woman are also 2023's Best Elected City Official and Best Teacher. As proven, their reputation precedes them, as the hard work they sow into the community has not gone unnoticed.

Cody and Haley Mitchell are only one year and 19 days apart, both born at Maury Regional, both brought to Hohenwald to be raised. Cody's parents are Randall and Nancy Mitchell. Haley's are Ray and Stephanie Runions. They have two children, Finn (5) and Baylor (1).

The couple married a year after Haley started at Union University. "For us, it just made sense for me to transfer to Union as well," said Cody. "We both graduated. I, with a business degree, and Haley with a degree in education." Cody puts his to work as a Business Analyst for Farm Bureau Health Plans Corporate Office. You can find Mrs. Haley Mitchell sowing into the youngest of lives in the classroom five days a week, "and I absolutely love it," she said. "I am so happy where I am in second grade."

When they're not working for the community, the Mitchells are busy serving it. "We are very active in our church, and pour our heart and soul into it," said Haley. "I grew up in New Hope Baptist Church my whole life, and Cody started going there when we got together in 2010. He leads the singing, and I help with a lot of the kids' department with the drama team and vacation bible school. A lot of my time lately, however, has been focused on the Elementary School Yearbook." Cody also serves his community, via politics. He has served on the City Council and is now a school board member. "We went to Washington, D.C. when I was a kid," Mr. Mitchell said. "During that summer vacation, I got hooked on government. But then, when we were in college, her parents were selling that lot where Family Dollar is now. Seeing that whole process play out, and attending council meetings and planning commission meetings during that year encouraged me to run for City Council as soon as I graduated. And I did. I served Hohenwald in that position for four years. Then, during the hiring of the new superintendent, I was inspired to be part of the new change. I wanted more transparency, and I wanted to help make that happen." Mr. Mitchell has served on the school board since August. "With Haley being in the school system, and the boys getting ready to go to school, I felt the need to focus my time and attention there."

In light of the recent school violence in the news, I asked the couple how they felt about our local schools' progress. "We are absolutely on a forward path," the couple agreed. "The new systems where you have to be manually let in have already helped ease fears tremendously. Before, the doors were unlocked and opened to the community. We live in Hohenwald, this tight-knit, caring community and forget that the world can be a dangerous place, sometimes. We are preparing our kids better now with intruder drills and safety education. The danger is so prevalent that the kids themselves are asking about ways to stay safe, so I'm glad we are able to ease their minds and prepare them. Having a police presence in every school via our SRO officers has been so beneficial, and kids are voicing they feel safe with them around. Of course, there is always space to improve, but we are certainly on the right path. As long as we consider the amount of grandparents, aunt and uncles who are raising our children and continue to ask, what more can we do to better help them, we'll be doing good. Paving a way to a bright future."

When asked about their own future endeavors, the couple agreed, "We love Hohenwald. We left to go to college, but we were ready to get back home. All of our family is here," the couple pointed to the house next door where Haley's family lives. "The church is our family as well. It's always been Hohenwald. Not once have we ever wanted to live anywhere else. Finn calls this His Town. When we come back into town, he always asks if we're back in His Town. He loves it here, and so do we." Haley says, "I personally hope to teach until I retire. I love being with the kiddos and literally cannot think of doing anything else. I get to love on them 6 hours a day, then I go to Walmart and feel like a celebrity. You can't find that kind of community anywhere else in this world." Cody also plans to stay with the school on the school board. "My focus, outside of my career, is the school board. It's something I'm passionate about and believe is important, and I'd like to keep doing it as long as I can as well. As far as other political aspirations, who knows. We have two or three generations ahead of us running things. I'd really like to see some young people taking an interest in our community and the policy making of such. We are the ones who are raising our kids here, building our businesses here. We need to make sure we have a thriving community to do those things in. Oh, who knows...If the opportunity ever arose, Mayor Mitchell has a nice ring to it."