Submissions are being accepted for Mississippi State’s 2022 Story State Storytelling Competition. Undergraduate students from any public or private university or college can participate. To enter, students can email their original nonfiction writing, podcasts and short documentary films to [email protected] by Jan. 28, 2022.

Winners will be announced Feb. 24, 2022, during the virtual Story State event; cash prizes will be awarded to the winner of each category and to the 2022, overall, Master Storyteller.

For specific category, submission, and award details, visit www.storystate.msstate.edu or contact [email protected].

EMCC’s Danny Smith named ‘Outstanding Turfgrass Professional’

East Mississippi Community College turf and landscape instructor Danny Smith is the 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Turfgrass Professional award presented annually by the Mississippi Turfgrass Association.

Smith’s selection for the award was announced Nov. 3 during the Mississippi Turfgrass Association’s annual meeting at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi, which coincides with the Deep South Turf Expo, a trade show featuring educational breakout sessions attended by hundreds of turfgrass professionals from throughout the region.

Smith has taught Landscape Management and Golf/Recreational Turf Management at EMCC’s Lion Hills Center since 2013. Both programs are offered as a one-year certificate and as an Associate of Science degree. Smith said all of the students who have come through the program so far have opted for the associate’s degree.

A 1979 graduate of Noxubee County High School, Smith attended Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on a baseball scholarship. After a year, he was offered a scholarship at EMCC to play for Coach Wayne Byrd’s baseball team, which he accepted. From 1981 to 1983, he played baseball for Alcorn State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture education, with a minor in horticulture.

When he isn’t working, Smith enjoys working out at Core Fitness in Columbus, where he resides. Smith is also president of the men’s group at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Macon, which was his parents’ church.