Starkville puts focus on summer activities

 

Not all of the suggestions for a better Starkville need to go through the Board of Aldermen, so some of the city’s unelected leaders have banded together to make their own moves.

The Greater Starkville Development Partnership, the Starkville Main Street Association, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oktibbeha County’s Master Gardeners and the Starkville Beautification Committee all chipped in to make some of the Main Street Association Charrette team’s suggestions a reality.

First up, the charrette team praised Starkville’s summer activities, remarking that there’s plenty going on, yet the perception persists that there’s nothing to do during the summer. To combat that perception, the GSDP has heeded the charrette team’s suggestion to market all of those events under one banner.

The result is the Dog Days of Summer, an evolving list of events aimed at promoting “Mississippi’s College Town” when most of the college students are home for the summer.

Jennifer Gregory, vice president of tourism development for the GSDP, said the promotion is not to be confused with Mississippi State University’s Dawg Daze, a series of events aimed at freshmen orientation. But new students certainly are welcome to the Dog Days of Summer as well.

“Not only are we trying to let people know in town that we have these events, but we have a ton of students in town for summer camps. A lot of their families stayin hotels or on campus while the kids are in camps and it’s another way to let them know what’s going on while they’re here,” said Gregory.

The comprehensive list of activities can be found at visit.starkville.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/mscollegetown.

The next listed event, a Memorial Day Parade scheduled for Monday, is unfortunately not happening, said Gregory, because the organizers couldn’t get event insurance in time to get the proper permits. But there will be fanfare Monday as a Memorial Day celebration will take place at noon in front of the courthouse on Main Street.

Additional events include the ongoing Starkville Community Market each Saturday morning, Starkville Community Theatre performances, a 4H horse show in June and fireworks on July 4.

A retail holiday will take place July 9 as local businesses participate in Christmas In July. Downtown businesses will offer discounts and Santa is even due to make an appearance, appropriately dressed in shorts.

That night Starkville will host the Running of the Bulldogs downtown, an MSU athletics-themed evening which will include an address from Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, plenty of food, the MSU Diamond Girls and grown men being chased through the streets by women Pamplona-style.

Switching gears to the year-round appeal of downtown, the people who keep the city beautiful actually preempted a suggestion by the charrette team with a move in November when Maple and Elm trees were planted along Main Street in the hopes they’ll create a canopy of shade in coming years.

Gregory said the Savannah Holly trees formerly planted along Main Street were pretty and green, but wouldn’t provide the shade the Main Street team said visitors look for in a downtown setting.

Approximately $8,000 was spent on the trees, along with some fall annuals, by the beautification committee. Then the CVB followed up more recently, prior to the Cotton District Arts Festival in April, with a splash of color by purchasing $3,500 worth of flowers for downtown planters.

The master gardeners and the beautification committee offered their expertise on the flower project and Southern Green Keepers donated the labor.