Meet the Official: Bearden, Kingston Town Clerk

Michelle Bearden is a life-long resident of Kingston. Courtesy photo

Michelle Bearden is the Kingston Town Clerk and Treasurer. She is a lifelong resident of Marshall County who grew up in Kingston, graduating from Kingston High School in 1999.

She is now raising two daughters of her own here. Bearden said she loves to travel just about as much as she does her hometown.

Bearden has been in her position since 2021 and said she plans on continuing her work as long as she can. Bearden, who is involved in the Kingston Alumni Association and The Kingston Place Making Committee, enjoys making the Town of Kingston the place to be.

The Madill Record was abletositdownwithBearden for a short Q&A for the residents of Marshall County to get to know her.

Q: Tell our readers about yourself, did you grow up here?

A: “I was born and raised here. I went to college at OSU. I have my bachelors degree in Hotel/Restaurant Administration. After College I went to work for the Chickasaw Nation in hotel management. I worked there for 17 years before I came here to be a city clerk. I have been here almost 4 years now, since 2021. I graduated from Kingston in 1999. I have two daughters, Liberty who is graduating this year and Harley who is 11 years old boh attend Kingston.”

Q: Your family is from Marshall County, have they been here for a long time?

A:“Yes,momanddadboth graduatedfromKingston.We are all involved in the Kingston Alumni Association. In the early (19)80’s my granddad had the Texaco Station here in town and the BBQ Shack. Then he turned the Texaco into the laundromat. Thenafterheretiredfromthe BBQ business my mom took overtheBBQShacksowehad that for so many years. When my mom, Donna, retired she was a kindergarten teacher for 30 years here.”

Q: What made you decide to make the switch from hospitality to city government?

A: “The clerk at the time was retiring and they needed someone for this position. Someone had contacted me and asked if I would be interested. At first I said no, I loved my job. Never had planned on leaving the Chickasaw Nation, but then I started thinking about it more. I took a small pay cut to come here but the pay was pretty close to the same, it was closer to home. It’s less than a mile from my house. I’m right here near my kids during the daytime instead of having to drive to either Thackerville or Sulphur. I thoughtouttheprosandcons; and I thought I do want to do this. I had previously been on the city council before that, about a year or so. I was over parks and cemetery for a couple of years at the sametime as I was working at the Chickasaw Nation. I am so glad that I did, I love it here. I’m home.”

Q: You have a lot of family roots here, you are a hometown girl. What would you say is the biggest change that you have seen here?

A: “Just all the growth so far. I am really excited about allthebusinessesintown.We are going and I am excited to see what the future holds with all the new growth that is coming.”

Q: What do you think this area needs that would be beneficial?

A: “I think we definitely need more entertainment options. I think that is coming in the future. Things for families to do together as well as places for adults to go. I just think entertainment is something we are lacking right now but we are moving in that direction.”

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: “I really enjoy artsy type stuff. I really don’t have a lot of free time to do the things that I enjoy at this point and time but I do like to travel and I like the arts. I traveled to 47 states and six different countries. I have been to Honduras, I have been to Belize, I have been to Grand Cayman, went to Mexico, Jamaica. Belize was my favorite. We took a boat ride down the old BelizeRiverandwewereable to see a lot of wildlife. We saw monkey’s, we saw crocodiles and iguanas. All the things in their natural habitat and we stopped and had a Belizean lunch and then we went on to some ruins. That was my favorite thing I think.” is coming.”

Q: What do you think this area needs that would be beneficial?

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Q: Tell the readers about all the upcoming events in Kingston being planned by the Kingston Place Making Committee, and how exciting it is.

A: “The Bubble run, the 2nd Annual Boat Show; It is very exciting, especially for me. Because I was the one that kind of got the Place Making Committee going. The Chickasaw Nation had contacted me almost two years ago and I went through their Place Making Program. They were selected from several towns and a representative from each town went. They had a consultant company that did a design for each place in each town. We still haven’t heard back from them. They were supposed to pick a town and do the design but we never heard back from them. So the group of business owners and community people that we had gotten together to meet with them we all decided, hey this could be something. Let’s keep meeting and let’s do this here even without the involvementoftheconsultant company.Wejustformedand kept meeting.”

Q: Do you think that more people need to be involved in their local city and government?

A: “Absolutely. A Lot of people have a lot to say on social media and that nature but what we usually find is that those people have never attendedameetingandreally have no idea what is actually going on. It would be really nice if people would attend the meetings that way they would know first hand what is going on. Especially this council we have right now, they are really trying to do a lot and we have a lot of things that need to happen with the infrastructure and we are working on some grants. But the general public don’t see that and they are not here to hear that we are trying.”

Q: Is there anything you want to say to the readers?

A: “I really love my job and I enjoy being here. I am so glad that I am in this position.”