After spending several years living outside of this area, Selma native Jill Anderson has returned home to serve as the tourism director of Selma and Dallas County. With her first official day being Monday, Anderson said she’s excited about her new position and can’t wait to attract as many people as possible to Selma.

“I was actually born in Selma and I lived here until I was 18 months old,” Anderson said. “My dad was in the military so we moved around a lot.”

Finally settling down in Texas, Anderson attended Baylor University where she received a degree in journalism and then went on to work for Heart of Texas Council of Governments.

“I worked there for a couple of years and kind of got an idea of how government works,” Anderson said of her first job. “After that I kind of wanted to go where I could use my degree, I wanted to write, so I went and worked as a public relations officer for the Methodist Children’s Home, which I really enjoyed.”

Working for the Methodist Children’s Home, Anderson said she was able to utlize her skills in social media, feature writing and photography. However, Anderson said, her heart began to tug her back towards Selma.

“My husband and I decided that we wanted to move to this region because my family is from here,” she said. “So he got a job in Selma and we moved back this past August.”

Upon arriving in Selma, Anderson said she was delighted with the history the area offered, so accepting the job as tourism director was just the right fit.

“It’s been really neat learning about Selma and the history that’s in Selma,” Anderson said. “When we got here it was just exciting to see all the different events that were going on.”

Since moving to the area, Anderson said she and her husband have enjoyed attending the Orrville Tractor Show, Riverfront Market Day, haunted tours at Old Cahawba and trying out restaurants.

As the tourism director, Anderson said she is eager to let the rest of the region know what’s going on in Selma and get people excited about the area.

“What I’ve learned today is that we have partnerships with a lot of cities in the area and we want to attract people to Selma so they can learn all about the history here and all we have to offer,” Anderson said. “We want to get the word out so people can come see what we have.”

Along with attracting visitors to Selma for it’s history, Anderson said she hopes to expose what Selma has to offer — things many may not know about.

“People know about a lot of history, but I want people to learn more and get them to stay longer,” she said. “I want them to really get to know Selma.”