Thank You Starkville!
This column is my final one for the Starkville Daily News. I have accepted a job in Jackson as part of the senior management team at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Thank you to the Starkville Daily News which has allowed me to submit columns for more than 20 years. Many editors have come and gone in that time, and each has encouraged local content. Thank you for reading about the subjects which interested me, such as community development, education, race relations, sports and of course, history. Past columns will remain on my website at www.BrotherRogers.com.
An achievement in which our community can take great pride is the transformation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday from a small gathering of mostly African Americans to perhaps the largest, most integrated celebration in the state. Each January, I have written a column about the thorny, complicated issue of race relations.
I have also written about other heady topics such as school consolidation and the need to change Starkville’s form of city government. (We use the same system as Mathiston and Sturgis. Go figure!) But you readers have kept me grounded. By far, the column for which I received the most feedback was one I wrote describing two kittens who wrestled in my living room.
I am grateful for the many blessings I have received in Starkville. Both of my boys were born and raised here, spent their K-12 years in the Starkville School District, and attended Mississippi State University. Both were Eagle Scouts. Both played youth sports, and in high school one played football and the other was in band. It takes a village to raise a child. To all the teachers, administrators, coaches, band directors, scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, and volunteers who helped them, I am eternally grateful.
I am grateful to the organizations which allowed me to serve, including Boy Scout Troop 14, First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, Habitat for Humanity, Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum, Parents for Public Schools, Race Relations Team, Starkville Kiwanis Club, United Way of North Central Mississippi, and Unity Park. The friendships with people from those groups and the memories we share will stay with me throughout my life.
Most of all, I am grateful to my colleagues at the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service where I have worked since 1990. In particular, I thank Rex Buffington for hiring me and bringing me to Starkville, my dad’s hometown and an area where much of my family has lived since before the Civil War. Rex is an outstanding leader and exemplary citizen with whom I have had the privilege to work for more than a quarter century.
As I begin a new chapter in my career, I leave Starkville in person, but the positive influence of Starkville will stay with me. It’s a good place to raise kids. It’s a good place to get an education. It’s a good place to go to church. It’s a good place to call home.
I graduated from Brandon High School, and friends down there say they will welcome me home. I appreciate their sentiment, but it feels more like I am leaving home. For your kindness, goodness, and generosity to me and my family over the past 26 years, I say “Thank you, Starkville!”
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.
Thank you to the Starkville Daily News which has allowed me to submit columns for more than 20 years. Many editors have come and gone in that time, and each has encouraged local content. Thank you for reading about the subjects which interested me, such as community development, education, race relations, sports and of course, history. Past columns will remain on my website at www.BrotherRogers.com.
An achievement in which our community can take great pride is the transformation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday from a small gathering of mostly African Americans to perhaps the largest, most integrated celebration in the state. Each January, I have written a column about the thorny, complicated issue of race relations.
I have also written about other heady topics such as school consolidation and the need to change Starkville’s form of city government. (We use the same system as Mathiston and Sturgis. Go figure!) But you readers have kept me grounded. By far, the column for which I received the most feedback was one I wrote describing two kittens who wrestled in my living room.
I am grateful for the many blessings I have received in Starkville. Both of my boys were born and raised here, spent their K-12 years in the Starkville School District, and attended Mississippi State University. Both were Eagle Scouts. Both played youth sports, and in high school one played football and the other was in band. It takes a village to raise a child. To all the teachers, administrators, coaches, band directors, scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, and volunteers who helped them, I am eternally grateful.
I am grateful to the organizations which allowed me to serve, including Boy Scout Troop 14, First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, Habitat for Humanity, Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum, Parents for Public Schools, Race Relations Team, Starkville Kiwanis Club, United Way of North Central Mississippi, and Unity Park. The friendships with people from those groups and the memories we share will stay with me throughout my life.
Most of all, I am grateful to my colleagues at the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service where I have worked since 1990. In particular, I thank Rex Buffington for hiring me and bringing me to Starkville, my dad’s hometown and an area where much of my family has lived since before the Civil War. Rex is an outstanding leader and exemplary citizen with whom I have had the privilege to work for more than a quarter century.
As I begin a new chapter in my career, I leave Starkville in person, but the positive influence of Starkville will stay with me. It’s a good place to raise kids. It’s a good place to get an education. It’s a good place to go to church. It’s a good place to call home.
I graduated from Brandon High School, and friends down there say they will welcome me home. I appreciate their sentiment, but it feels more like I am leaving home. For your kindness, goodness, and generosity to me and my family over the past 26 years, I say “Thank you, Starkville!”
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.