Starkville is turning 175 and we’re throwing a Birthday Party Friday afternoon! Take a look at some of the preparations and how some of our Downtown retailers are celebrating! Make sure to stop by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership Welcome Center tomorrow, 4:00-6:00pm for a fun time for the whole family. We’ll celebrate with cake, refreshments and a wacky photo booth. Bill Thurlow will be providing party tunes and there will be plenty of fun for the kids like balloon animals, face painting & more.

Getting ready for cake and refreshments at Starkville’s 175th Birthday Party!

Fun “accessories” for our photo booth! How about wearing that handlebar mustache?

Frock Fashions is getting into the birthday spirit!

Be sure to stop by Sullivan’s Office Supply to see their display Starkville photos from years gone by!

The Book Mart & Cafe is wishing Starkville a happy birthday!

The Farm to Table Dinner will benefit Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi. Tell us more about GGSIM.
Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi is a non-profit organization that was formed here in Starkville in 2010 by Drs. Mike and Alison Buehler. They had a vision for our state to utilize it’s resources in a sustainable way and saw the need for an interdisciplinary organization among agriculture, forestry, architecture, health, and education that would improve the lives of Mississippians. It would be a place to exhibit advances in ecological design, environmentally sound landscaping and architecture practices, and advances in sustainable living. It would be the first of its kind in Mississippi, possibly the Southeast. Although GGSIM began in Starkville, the organization has quickly expanded state wide and now has chapters all across our state with a large and active chapter right here in the Golden Triangle.

How did GGSIM come up with the idea of the Farm to Table Dinner?
When debating fundraising ideas for the upcoming year, we thought a Farm to Table dinner featuring local foods and business couldn’t be more perfect. It’s been an amazing thing to see the wealth of resources we have right here in our community and surrounding area. Everything you need, whether it’s for a fancy event or just for dinner around the kitchen table, can be found locally. The focus of the dinner is on truly being local. By supporting local business, farmers, artists, restaurants etc., we are keeping our dollars in the local economy. Over 80% of the money we spend on food leaves our state. We can support our community in more ways than one by just looking at what’s available and making the effort to buy local. The proceeds will go towards GGSIM’s Sustainable Agriculture Network which is a network for farmers in Mississippi that are currently using or would like to begin using sustainable methods to farm their land.

So, what does Chef Thames have in store for farm to table lovers?
The dinner will be a one of a kind experience. Chef Ty Thames already features a multitude of locally sourced foods at his restaurants in Starkville (you can read more at www.eatlocalstarkville.com). We knew his talent, creativity and devotion to local foods made him the perfect match for our dinner. The final menu will be a surprise, but he has created an amazing 7 Course meal in which all the ingredients are locally sourced and all the meats, cheeses, etc are hand crafted and cured by him. The beverages and cocktails are even all from Mississippi as well.

Tell us more about the Ecohome where the Dinner will be held.
The dinner will be served on the grounds of GGSIM”s Ecohome that features solar panels, a salt water pool, chickens and beautiful gardens all lakeside. Guests will also see the new, larger Strawberry Fields Farm that will be a fully functioning, rotational, sustainable farm which is currently in progress.

Wow! The GGSIM Farm to Table Dinner is something you definitely don’t want to miss. Seating is limited, so be sure to get your tickets right away. Reserve your tickets at Restaurant Tyler, Bin 612 or by contacting Mandi Sanders at mandi.sanders@ggsim.org.

SUPER BULLDOG WEEKEND is Here!!
Mississippi’s College Town welcomes all of our out-of-town guests from across Bulldog Nation. SBW 2012 is one you won’t soon forget with more things to do and see than ever before! Here is your quick preview…

Official Super Bulldog Weekend Events:
Thursday, April 19 
Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .All Day
Baseball v Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6:30 pm
(on ESPN — pack the park!)

Friday, April 20 
Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .All Day
Pig Cooking Contest set-up (behind McArthur Hall) . . 8:00 am
Farm Bureau Sampling of the Grill
(in front of McArthur Hall, as long as food last) . . . . . . . 4 pm
Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5:00 pm
Baseball vs. Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6:30 pm

Saturday, April 21
Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA
5K run Saturday morning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA
Cotton District Arts Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 am – til
SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS
Pig Cooking Contest Judging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 am
Soccer Alumni Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:00 am
FanFair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Farm Bureau Sampling of the Grill
(in front of McArthur Hall as long as food last) . . . . . . . 11 am
Football team autograph session . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – 12:30 pm
Pictures with Bully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – 12:30 pm
Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:00 pm
(on ESPNU — pack the park!)
Volleyball Alumni Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm
Baseball vs. Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm
Football Maroon-White Spring Game & Sugarland Concert . .5:00 pm
GET TICKETS AT hailstate.com/tickets

Sunday, April 22, 2012
SEC Men’s Tennis Championship match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA
Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm

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THURSDAY:

Greater Starkville Development Partnership
BUSINESS AFTER HOURS
Thurs, April 19
5:30 – 7:30pm
The Veranda with Bulldog Sports Radio broadcasting live.

CASH MOB at Palmer Home store
sponsored by the522.com and Dave’s Dark Horse
Thurs, April 19
4:00-6:00pm
Bring $15 and thrift for a good cause.
First 50 patrons who bring at least a $10 receipt from Palmer Home store  to Dave’s Dark Horse afterwards will receive a free slice of pizza

Starkville Community Theater presents
SECOND SAMUEL
April 19-22, 7:30pm
Playhouse on Main
Enjoy these special activities…
Thursday, April 19 – Opening Night Reception Honoring playwright Pamela Parker
Join us for our opening night performance and a reception honoring playwright Pamela Parker immediately following the show. Sponsored by the Starkville Area Arts Council.
Friday, April, 20 – Talk Back with Second Samuel playwright Pamela Parker
Join us for the Friday night performance and stay for an informal talk-back session with playwright Pamela Parker and the cast of Second Samuel.

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FRIDAY:

We are very pleased to host Bo Bounds of the OUT OF BOUNDS sports radio program (ESPN The Zone 105.9) for a special LIVE broadcast from Downtown Starkville on Friday morning — 7-10am. Join us in front of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership office as Bo talks his special brand of “SEC Football meets the Y’All Lifestyle.”

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SATURDAY:

COTTON DISTRICT ARTS FESTIVAL on Saturday
The annual award-winning COTTON DISTRICT ARTS FESTIVAL sponsored by the Starkville Area Arts Council will take place in the Cotton District this Saturday. You’ll find a street fair full of fine arts and crafts, live music, arts performances, delicious food, activities for kids and much more. Don’t miss the fun all day on Saturday!
Saturday’s Festival includes:
Juried Art Exhibitions
Old Cotton Mill 5K Run
Pet Parade
Taste of Starkville
Songwriter’s Competition
Live Music on three stages
Artisan’s Village
Celtic Village
Children’s Village
International Village
Writer’s Village
and more!!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD the full arts calendar

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It’s Super Bulldog Weekend week in Mississippi’s College Town, and we are getting excited! This final SAVOR OUR SOUTH weekend for Spring 2012 is bigger and better than ever before including a plethora of campus events, Second Samuel performed by Starkville Community Theatre, all the great local dining and shining options you’ve come to expect in Downtown Starkville, and the ARTS. Yes, the annual award-winning COTTON DISTRICT ARTS FESTIVAL sponsored by the Starkville Area Arts Council will take place in the Cotton District this Saturday. You’ll find a street fair full of fine arts and crafts, live music, arts performances, delicious food, activities for kids and much more. Don’t miss the fun all day on Saturday!

SEE A LIST OF ARTISANS
SEE A SCHEDULE OF LIVE MUSIC

From the SAAC…

Some of the best talent in the area can be found on this fun-filled day! The Cotton District Arts Festival will once again host all the great rivalries from years past, including our Poetry Slam, Student Art, and Taste of Starkville restaurant culinary selections – and the ever-entertaining server relay race! Central to the festival is, as always, the Juried Art Competition: To be a winning artisan in the Juried Arts Competition at the CottonDistrict Arts Festival is no small accomplishment, and winners receive both local and regional recognition for their work. The Cotton District Arts Festival is first and foremost a celebration of community, and we are very proud of both the quality of the work and the number of pieces sold and enjoyed by those in attendance each year.

Come stroll through our “villages” and enjoy an abundance of local talent: The popular GSDP’s Artisan’s Village boasts outstanding pieces of work from our artisans; the Kiwanis’ International Village features culture from foreign countries; and we welcome you to discover drama and literature in a whole new way with the Rotary’s Writer’s Village. Dog lovers and MSU fans can delight in the always adorable Spruill Properties Pet Parade; enter your pets, dress them up and show them off for all to see! For the athlete in you, the popular OCH Regional Medical Center Old Cotton Mill 5K run is a great way to start out your day at the festival.

And these events are just the tip of the iceberg in the depth and breadth of the creative and invigorating atmosphere at the Cotton District Arts Festival! For all you music lovers, in addition to the variety of art and food available to festival-goers at the festival, as always, there will also be the three music stages set up throughout the Cotton District, where state-wide and local musicians will entertain audiences of all ages from sun-up to sun-down. As a special treat this year, the 2012 Cotton District Arts Festival is thrilled to announce our highlighted musician, Charlie Worsham, who will be performing the closing act! A native of Grenada, Mississippi, Charlie’s music covers a variety of genres and ages, and he has opened for such well-renowned artists as Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert. You can learn more about this up-and-coming artist at www.charlieworsham.com.

Be sure to come support our “newer” musical talent too, the winners of this year’s McReynold’s Orthodontics Songwriters Competition, back by popular demand! Picked from a wide variety of entries, both local and regional, these musicians will be selected by two panels of judges for their originality, melody, composition, structure, and lyrics.

But the Cotton District Arts Festival isn’t for grownups only! Kids love the festival too, enjoying a multitude of activities including the Junior Auxiliary Children’s Village, where they can take part in any number of artistic activities, the children’s section of the Poetry Slam, a children’s roving reporters activity, a children’s poetry puzzle, and the Student Art Competition! 

Starkville Community Theatre adds to the fun-filled SAVOR OUR SOUTH Super Bulldog Weekend with the opening of its production of Second Samuel on Thursday evening, April 19 at 7:30pm at the Playhouse on Main. The show will run April 19-22 and April 24-28.

Starkville is pleased to welcome Second Samuel playwright Pamela Parker for the Thursday and Friday productions and two very special events…

Thursday, April 19 – Opening Night Reception Honoring playwright Pamela Parker
Join us for our opening night performance and a reception honoring playwright Pamela Parker immediately following the show. Sponsored by the Starkville Area Arts Council.

Friday, April, 20 – Talk Back with Second Samuel playwright Pamela Parker
Join us for the Friday night performance and stay for an informal talk-back session with playwright Pamela Parker and the cast of Second Samuel.

A preview of the production…
“There was a time not so long ago when things was different than they are now days. Not better, just different…” That time was the late 1940s, and in a sleepy little town called Second Samuel what had been called the Great Depression was quickly fading into memory. The war had been won, the election was now over, and “Give ‘em Hell Harry” was still president. It had been an exciting time for sure, but the folks in Second Samuel were ready for things to settle down and get back to normal. Except—this was the summer Miss Gertrude passed away, and deep dark secrets were about to be revealed. Nobody could have imagined how the death of one sweet little old lady would turn the entire town upside down, leaving everybody in Second Samuel wondering if anything would ever be normal again!

Super Bulldog Weekend

Tickets are required for Saturday evening’s Maroon and White Game with Sugarland in concert. Visit hailstate.com/tickets to order yours and get ready for a world-class experience showcasing the best of Mississippi State and everything we love about the New South.

Official Super Bulldog Weekend Events:

Thursday, April 19, 2012 

Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .All Day

Baseball v Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6:30 pm

Friday, April 20, 2012 

Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .All Day

Pig Cooking Contest set-up (behind McArthur Hall) . . 8:00 am

Farm Bureau Sampling of the Grill

(in front of McArthur Hall, as long as food last) . . . . . . . 4 pm

Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5:00 pm

Baseball vs. Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6:30 pm

Saturday, April 21, 2012 

Men’s Tennis SEC Championship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA

5K run Saturday morning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA

Cotton District Arts Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 am – til

Pig Cooking Contest Judging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 am

Soccer Alumni Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:00 am

FanFair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Farm Bureau Sampling of the Grill

(in front of McArthur Hall as long as food last) . . . . . . . 11 am

Football team autograph session . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – 12:30 pm

Pictures with Bully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 – 12:30 pm

Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:00 pm

Volleyball Alumni Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm

Baseball vs. Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm

Football Maroon-White Spring Game & Concert . .5:00 pm

Sunday, April 22, 2012

SEC Men’s Tennis Championship match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TBA

Softball vs. Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1:00 pm

That’s right! Things are all spooked out this Friday as Starkville Community Theatre moves it’s monthly Fourth Fridays celebration of local writers up to FRIDAY the 13th! 

SCT will feature readings of scary or gothic poetry from local writers at 7:30pm at the Playhouse on Main. If you’re a writer, send your submissions to fourthfridays@yahoo.com. Don’t miss this fun opportunity to get spooked out in Downtown Starkville!

Well, we’re already into April, and Spring is blossoming all around us in Mississippi’s College Town. We thought we would share another LOOKBOOK from our great Main Street member boutiques. Just browse through these treasures that are sure to make you and your home blossom this Spring — all found right here in Downtown Starkville! Whether you are a Starkville resident or part of our extended Bulldog family home for a fun weekend, you’ll enjoy friendly faces and personal service as you celebrate our unique local businesses. Find the perfect goodies just in time for Easter baskets, Teacher Appreciation Week, Graduation, Mother’s Day, or just a special treat for yourself! Enjoy!

Aspen Bay

Main Street

Bath Bayou

College Park on Russell St

B. Davis Shoes

College Park on Russell St

Boardtown Bikes

Central Station on Lampkin

Book Mart and Cafe

Main Street

Christines Couture

Main Street

Deep South Pout

University Drive

Frock Fashions

Main Street

George Sherman Clothiers

College Park on Russell St

Harmonie Boutique

Lafayette St Downtown

L.A. Green

Cotton Crossing on Russell St

Libby Story

Main Street

Mary Virginias

Main Street

Montgomery Jewelry

Main Street

Occasions

Main Street

Oooh La La

Main Street

Polka Tots

Main Street

Purple Elephant

Lampkin St

Reeds

Main Street

R.Tabb and Co

Main Street

Simply Home

Lampkin St

Something Southern

Central Station on Lampkin

Sprout

Lampkin St

Thyme

Lampkin St

Vitality Skin and Spa

University Drive