Our October social will be held at The Veranda on Tuesday, October 13, 5:30-7:30.
We have extended an invitation to all 5 of the Oktibbeha County Supervisors, and Orland Trainer (District 2) has agreed to attend. The others have not yet responded.
Carl Orlando Marvel Daniel John
Clardy Trainer Howard Jackson Young
Our September social will be on Tuesday, September 8, 5:30-7:30 at Grumpy’s Restaurant. Dr. Bethany Stich will spend a few minutes talking to the group about the importance and impact of the upcoming 2010 U.S. Census on Starkville. As usual, the beer cart will be there, and Grumpy’s was very generous with the food last time they hosted us.
The Greater Starkville Development Partnership is sponsoring its annual Get Swept Up campaign for citizens to help make our community more presentable just before the start of football season. This will take place on Wednesday, September 2, and SYP is organizing a volunteer group.
Please contact Jennifer Prather (JPrather@saffairs.msstate.edu) if you are able to help. It is a great community service event, and you get a free t-shirt!
According to this article, Tupelo is closely watching Starkville’s move regarding the sale of alcohol on Sunday.
Well, we all knew this was coming. It is time to start the official debate on whether or not Starkville should allow alcohol to be sold every day of the week. Our Board of Alderman has agreed (by a 4-3 vote) to hold public hearings on the subject at the next two meetings (August 4 and 18), with a vote by the aldermen occurring immediately after the second hearing.
It is already widely-known that the overwhelming majority of active SYP members are in favor of this, so the SYP board agrees that it is not our duty to shout our collective opinion. Instead, we think we should let other groups be heard and we should do our best to educate our members, and the rest of the community, on the issue. If we are all better prepared and educated, the public hearings will be more productive. Also, the calm, well-informed group is much more likely to convince others of their views.
With that in mind, we will be using this website as a place to post arguments for or against the change in law. I will start by making at least 5 posts that briefly mention common issues brought up in the debate.
Economic Impact
Public Safety / Crime
Public Health
Religion
Morality
Rules
We want you to use the comments section to make your argument. Even if you agree with someone on the big question, feel free to debate the validity of their argument. HOWEVER, I think it is safe to say that most people are not interested in your personal opinions on the issue. We want to educate, not attack each other. So, all posts should be based on convincing evidence (from past examples) or on logic (If ____ occurs, then ____ must also occur).
For example, a logical argument might be, “If someone drinks 10 beers, they will be too impaired to drive.” While there could certainly be some exceptions to this statement (e.g., Andre the Giant), it is logical and most people would not disagree. On the other hand, an illogical opinion might be, “Alcohol is wonderful/terrible.” Surely, you can see how that statement does not help anyone.
The SYP board will have complete power to delete or prevent comments, but we hope that will not happen. Just avoid comments based solely on opinion, do not attack anyone else, and avoid repetition of previous points, and you should be ok. If you MUST do any of these things, I am sure Robbie Coblentz would love to have you visit StarkvilleNow.com. We strongly encourage everyone to use their first and last name when posting, otherwise, we will allow less flexibility. If you do not feel strongly enough to stand by your thoughts, then nobody else is likely interested in hearing them.
Everyone bases their opinions on some sort of evidence or logic. So, let’s hear what motivates you.
Updated website and email list
First, we would like to bring your attention to our new URL (http://starkvilleyp.com). Thanks to Troy DeRego of Longboat Studios and StarkvilleEATS.com for updating everything. Along with the new page comes a much improved email list. Up until now, I simply added and removed people when they asked me, and I would email everyone in a relatively primitive fashion (pasting our email list into the BCC box of gmail). Now, anytime a new post is added to the website, subscribers will automatically receive an email. Each person should also be able to adjust their email settings. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (gradydixon@gmail.com) or Troy (troy@longboatstudios.com).
Christmas in July
SYP will have a tent set up this Saturday to advertise our 2009 Festival of Trees, which will take place in November. We could still use a couple of volunteers to sit at the tent and/or help take everything down (between noon and 2pm). Contact Jennifer Prather (jprather@saffairs.msstate.edu) for more info. Also, there are volunteer opportunities beyond SYP. Below is a message from Melissa Dixon, president of the Downtown Business Association. Please contact her (melissa@blufishdesign.com) if you are willing to volunteer some of your time this Saturday:
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The 3rd Annual Christmas in July, sponsored by the Starkville
Downtown Business Association, will take place this Saturday, July 25
from 10am-2pm. Activities include Summertime Santa, sidewalk sales,
face painting by Dandy Doodlez, an inflatable fun jump at Cadence
Bank, and Sno Cones by SnoBiz. Come early for this season’s Grand
Opening of the Starkville Community Market from 8am-11am on South
Lafayette St.Volunteer Opportunities:
8am-9am (2 people): pick up 75 balloons at Occasions and tie at
street corners and on sidewalk railings on Main St.10am-noon (1-2 people): man the inflatable fun jump at Cadence Bank.
Make sure kids take their shoes off, limit to 7-8 kids jumping at a
time, make sure no one falls out, etc.
noon-2pm (1-2 people): 2nd shift at the fun jumpThanks!
Melissa
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The pins were flying last evening at the Bulldog Lanes. We had a smaller turnout than usual for this mid-summer SYP Social, but it was definitely a blast.
We announced the winner of our Leadership FORUM Scholarship and would like to congratulate Joe Fratesi on the scholarship and his excellent bowling skills. The award provides financial support as Joe participates in the upcoming Oktibbeha County Leadership Development FORUM.
The August 11th Social will be at Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern. Check back here on in your email for updates.
Saturday, July 4th…The Bistro at State Theater, along with help from City Bagel, will be constructing an attempt to break the world record for the largest BBQ sandwich. Representatives from Guinness Book of World Records will be present. The event will begin at 5 pm on the Friday before, and the weigh-in will take place at NOON on Saturday.
Afterward, the sandwich will be cut up and sold for $8 per plate with all proceeds going to support the Starkville Police Department. We encourage all SYP members to attend, but we are also looking for volunteers to help collect money, serve food, etc. If you are interested in helping with this, please email me directly (gradydixon@gmail.com).
Friday, July 10th…Applications for the SYP Leadership Forum Scholarship are due.
Tuesday, July 14th…SYP July Social at Bulldog Lanes. $10 gets you 2 hours of bowling with the highest score of the night earning a cash prize. As usual, the beer cart will be available and Bulldog Lanes has agreed to put out some appetizers for everyone.
Saturday, July 25th…Downtown Starkville Christmas in July, hosted by the Downtown Business Association. At this event, we will have a tent set up to advertise The Festival of Trees, which was a huge success last year (raised over $20,000 for charity). We are looking for some people to volunteer their time to help run the tent. Please contact Jennifer Prather (JPrather@saffairs.msstate.edu) or Robyn Cain (rcain@starkville.org).
Finally, if you have any events or announcements that might be of interest to the group, feel free to pass them along. We hear from a lot of SYPers that want some fun events in addition to monthly socials. Well, if you are planning something fun and have room for more people, let us know about it. It can be a pick-up softball game, a bike ride, an out-of-town trip, etc. The SYP board does not have a monopoly on initiating SYP functions.
November Social at Mugshots
This month’s guests will be the creative writing faculty of the MS State English Department: Becky Hagenston, Mike Kardos, Rich Lyons, and Katie Pierce. Now, before you start sweating like you’ve got a paper due, you should realize that this is a rare opportunity to hear a selection of their recent work with a beer in one hand and a fried pickle in the other.
Becky Hagenston will read from the Versus Anthology Volume 1 where she pits Dorothy Gale (Wizard of Oz) against Alice Liddle (Alice in Wonderland) as high school rivals.
Mike Kardos will read from a story appearing in a new anthology titled The Surreal South.
Rich Lyons will read selected poems from his collected works inspired by and about Jazz.
Katie Pierce has a poetry collection titled Famous Last Words in which she contemplates the final moments of infamous characters such as Bonnie and Clyde, or imagines herself “into a slasher flick.”
Your $5 donation at the door will go toward the Robert Holland Visiting Poets and Fiction Writers Series. Each year, the English Department invites distinguished writers to visit MS State, spend time with the students, and give a reading which is free and open to the public. I have been lucky enough to attend many of these and I always find it inspiring and engaging to hear writiers read their own works.
As Young Professionals, the “quality of life” here in Starkville is at the center of everything we do. We are very lucky to live in a university town where are arts and culture are available to us. In this time of budget cuts, programs like this are the first to suffer. A little bit of money can make a big impact and help to keep bringing great writers to town for all of us to share.