These Are the Good Old Days
By Brother Rogers
These are the good old days. That is certainly true in Starkville and Oktibbeha County. Has there ever been a more exciting time to live here? There is a new sense of vitality in our community.
Sports is an ingrained part of our culture, and life here revolves around Mississippi State University. Dan Mullen has brought back excitement in football. Rick Stansbury is a proven winner in basketball with a talented team returning. John Cohen’s baseball team nearly advanced to the College World Series last year and is poised for another run. In addition, MSU has a well-respected, impressive athletic director with Scott Stricklin.
We also are benefiting from young, energetic leadership in our community’s top two leadership positions. Mark Keenum, the president of MSU, has the university on the move. And he sees MSU as a destination, not a stepping stone to another school. The People’s University has a record enrollment of over 20,000 students and two new residence halls under construction to deal with the demand for housing on campus.
Parker Wiseman is one of Mississippi’s dynamic, young mayors and is indefatigable in his efforts to promote Starkville. He started a mayor’s youth council to promote community service for students. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department has the best programming ever for kids and adults and was recognized with a statewide award.
Town-gown relations between the city and university are good. Sales tax receipts are up. Recycling is more popular than ever. Starkville has more choices for hotels and restaurants than ever before, with more on the drawing board.
Downtown Starkville is vibrant again. In addition to strong businesses, downtown is the home of the award-winning Starkville Community Theatre. We just finished the annual downtown block party on Main Street. Downtown Starkville also has a community market that features in-season fruits, vegetables and other local items.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi named Starkville as Mississippi’s Healthiest Hometown in 2011. Starkville was recently named a Playful City USA community by KaBoom! Starkville proudly became the first municipality in the state to become smoke-free in 2006, a move copied by others since.
Another measure of a community’s well-being is the quality of its public schools. Data released in September by the Mississippi Department of Education labeled the Starkville School District as successful. The high school graduation rate improved significantly. But school is about more than just tests. Starkville’s students and teachers compete well against the best-of-the-best in Mississippi and the nation in every competition from academics to athletics to extracurricular activities.
Starkville is also home to some of Mississippi’s best civic clubs. The local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs are among the oldest and largest in the state, while new organizations like the Starkville Young Professionals are thriving.
Bad news is easy to find. The naysayers who complain about America and see gloom and doom around every corner are unavoidable. But in Starkville and Oktibbeha County, our blessings are abundant.
We have many challenges for sure, including how to help our police department in its current predicament. But I am encouraged when I look at the big picture. There is a spirit of optimism in the air here that bucks the national trend. We should not take this time for granted. In many ways, these indeed are the good old days.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
These are the good old days. That is certainly true in Starkville and Oktibbeha County. Has there ever been a more exciting time to live here? There is a new sense of vitality in our community.
Sports is an ingrained part of our culture, and life here revolves around Mississippi State University. Dan Mullen has brought back excitement in football. Rick Stansbury is a proven winner in basketball with a talented team returning. John Cohen’s baseball team nearly advanced to the College World Series last year and is poised for another run. In addition, MSU has a well-respected, impressive athletic director with Scott Stricklin.
We also are benefiting from young, energetic leadership in our community’s top two leadership positions. Mark Keenum, the president of MSU, has the university on the move. And he sees MSU as a destination, not a stepping stone to another school. The People’s University has a record enrollment of over 20,000 students and two new residence halls under construction to deal with the demand for housing on campus.
Parker Wiseman is one of Mississippi’s dynamic, young mayors and is indefatigable in his efforts to promote Starkville. He started a mayor’s youth council to promote community service for students. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department has the best programming ever for kids and adults and was recognized with a statewide award.
Town-gown relations between the city and university are good. Sales tax receipts are up. Recycling is more popular than ever. Starkville has more choices for hotels and restaurants than ever before, with more on the drawing board.
Downtown Starkville is vibrant again. In addition to strong businesses, downtown is the home of the award-winning Starkville Community Theatre. We just finished the annual downtown block party on Main Street. Downtown Starkville also has a community market that features in-season fruits, vegetables and other local items.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi named Starkville as Mississippi’s Healthiest Hometown in 2011. Starkville was recently named a Playful City USA community by KaBoom! Starkville proudly became the first municipality in the state to become smoke-free in 2006, a move copied by others since.
Another measure of a community’s well-being is the quality of its public schools. Data released in September by the Mississippi Department of Education labeled the Starkville School District as successful. The high school graduation rate improved significantly. But school is about more than just tests. Starkville’s students and teachers compete well against the best-of-the-best in Mississippi and the nation in every competition from academics to athletics to extracurricular activities.
Starkville is also home to some of Mississippi’s best civic clubs. The local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs are among the oldest and largest in the state, while new organizations like the Starkville Young Professionals are thriving.
Bad news is easy to find. The naysayers who complain about America and see gloom and doom around every corner are unavoidable. But in Starkville and Oktibbeha County, our blessings are abundant.
We have many challenges for sure, including how to help our police department in its current predicament. But I am encouraged when I look at the big picture. There is a spirit of optimism in the air here that bucks the national trend. We should not take this time for granted. In many ways, these indeed are the good old days.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.