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Marilyn Mills Beach, Ph.D., Transportation Chair, VII International Ballet Competition.

Marilyn Mills Beach
© Richard Finkelstein

"Reception at the Jackson International Airport is the first impression Competition-bound individuals get of Jackson, and it is extremely important that the reception there is handled well."

Marilyn Mills Beach should know, for she has directed the flow of Competition traffic and visitors for six out of the seven sessions. As a visitor to all seven, I have been mesmerized by her cool and command in the basement of Thalia Mara Auditorium. If there is a nerve center which facilitates the Jackson Competition, it is that curtained square over which Marilyn presides.

"In 1979, the founding director, Margie Tyler, called me at my job and said, "I have been able to fill all my Committees, I’ve had great response, but I can’t find someone to head Transportation. Will you do it just this one time?" "Sure, I’ll do it once." Obviously it has been one long "once."

"It developed from that and, like the rest of Competition involvement, it is now has a grass roots base of support which has increased as our organization built and improved. Being Transportation Chair, and working with volunteers, is like running a restaurant. You don’t go home. Being present is the key to service."

Marilyn explained that the Transportation part of the Competition operates several sub-systems to accommodate the needs of the range of activity and personnel which flow into Jackson for the two to three week period when the dance world inundates college dormitories, local hotels and motor inns. There is a sub-system to each service. "We have to be sensitive to the exceptions as well as operate by the rules. The people we service are driven to serve unscheduled needs. It is one of the courtesies we believe in. While having the ability to keep our system going, we have the ability to accommodate individual transportation needs."

Over this lengthy service, Marilyn and her Committee have developed systems for the following groups: Jurors; Faculty; Competitors; Dance School; VIPs and other special guests. The System includes a shuttle system of two bus routes, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., along a 10-12 mile radius from the Competitors’ lodging at Bellhaven College. "It is necessary that the dancers get to their rehearsals on time for that special hour which is theirs, as well as to the Auditorium for their technical rehearsals. Our facilities are spread out with Ballet Magnificat’s studios on the North End and Jackson State University’s facilities on the south.

"We have ten men and women who ride the buses all day long, monitoring and helping the drivers. After all, the driver’s job is to drive, not to trouble shoot. These volunteers get a close up view of the competitors and over the two week period get to know them well."

For the Faculty, there is a motor pool system and a special part of the Transportation Committee to service them.

"I have found that a volunteer works best when they have enough work to feel they are doing a job. Four hour shifts work best, and once they learn the routine, they feel and know they are needed. I have a nucleus that comes, unsolicited, every single day of a Competition. A few have worked every competition. Some have worked two or three, others four or five. Their response is automatic and ballet is the connector. I find that I can count on eighty to a hundred volunteers. I could have more, but numbers are not necessarily better."

Since 1979 the vans and sedans for the Competition’s motor pool have been lent by local authorized dealers. Howard Wilson Chrysler-Jeep is the official IBC motor pool sponsor for the 2002 Competition.. Initially the fleet numbered 35, but limited parking and use required whittling the number to 25. Ergon donates the gasoline.

The last two competitions have benefited from the use of cell phones. "We have twenty and one goes out with each driver, and greatly enhances communication."

This electronic development has provided greater efficiency in Transportation’s biggest single challenge: meeting and delivering some 500-1000 live bodies and sentient beings in and out of the Jackson International Airport. The crunch begins about four days prior to the Opening Ceremony, and includes not only competitors, but coaches and relatives, as well as jurors, faculty and easily 200 students to the International School. Add VIPs and press, the in and out requirements continue daily throughout the two week period. Marilyn looked at me with anticipatory dismay, "July 1 everyone goes out." I can remember either the second or third Competition, when the system was still evolving and cell phones were not yet common. Marilyn had remarked she didn’t expect to sleep for twenty four to thirty-six hours and then there was a thank you party for the volunteers immediately following.

Marilyn commended the cooperation of the management at the Airport. "We have a new general manager out there, Bonnie Wilson from Texas. She has been just great. We have two women, Heather Bunch and Kristin Cooley, out there with three or four people. Heather and Kristin have been fully credentialed by airport security, which gives them access to the gates and the airport baggage areas. It’s made quite a difference. We haven’t lost visitors or luggage so far."

Another change is the monitoring and dispatching of vehicles to the airport. "If there I an unexpected delay, the driver is sent to the holding area. There’s no more wandering around in the airport. The driver appears when the visitor begins to move out with luggage.."

Speaking of Marilyn as individual, she is a native of upstate Mississippi and received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at ‘Ole Miss, as the University of Mississippi is nicknamed. After receiving her MBA at Mississippi College in Clinton, Marilyn spent thirty one years with the Mississippi state bureaucracy. After acquiring a Ph.D. at Ole Miss in Higher Education Leadership, she closed out her State affiliation in December, 1988. She now free lances with business organizations, specializing in staff development and organizational enhancement as well as working on interview development and resumes for private clients. Her governmental clients include Mississippi county school systems and state commissions.

Marilyn’s daughter Allison graduated from high school in June and will enter a Manhatten college in September.

Marilyn speaks both with quiet pride and authority when she concluded, "It’s a unique level of commitment. The Transportation volunteers find it extremely rewarding to be a part of the Competition and get to know the competitors very well. They are interested, and every four years, when I get on the phone to some of them, whom I may not see in the years between, they are always ready to come forward and serve."

As Marilyn reviewed this copy, an older couple from Alabama came up to the table to ask questions. She answered their questions. As they chatted with me about the wife’s remembrance of seeing Pavlova at age six and the De Basil Ballets Russes, Marilyn walked over to the Media Center to supply them with an information packet. It was a quiet, telling example of Marilyn’s belief that the success in the IBC Competition lies in the details.

This piece is part of Ballet.co's overall Jackson Competition coverage. The competition runs from the 15th to the 30th June 2002 and we plan daily reports to keep you in touch:
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