A rose to everyone in the Golden Triangle who participated in Saturday’s Lemonade Day event.
Lemonade Day began 15 years ago. Since then, more than 100,000 children have participated in the one-day event, a fun, hands-on program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their very own business – a lemonade stand. Participating youth have the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship by setting up their business during their city’s community-wide Lemonade Day. Starkville’s first Lemonade Day was held in 2018, expanding to other parts of the area the following year, thanks largely to the efforts of Mississippi State University Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach Director Jeffrey Rupp and sponsors Mark Castleberry and Cadence Bank. Kids learn everything from making, marketing and selling a product (in this case lemonade) to calculating price points, profit margins, even business loans, thanks to Cadence Bank’s participation. Children learn best through the “show me” example rather than the “tell me” approach. Lemonade Day makes learning about operating a business a fun, hands-on event.
A rose to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office which features an added layer of security for securing weapons issued to its officers. That issue emerged on Monday, when a group of young people — four juveniles and an 18-year-old — were arrested and charged with stealing an assault rifle, a handgun, ammo and body armor from an unmarked police vehicle parked at a private residence. Law enforcement organizations throughout the Golden Triangle allow their officers to keep the firearms issued to them when off-duty, citing the need for the officers to have quick and easy access to weapons during an emergency call. OCSO officers are issued three guns: a patrol rifle, a shotgun and a handgun that remains on the officer. The two longer guns are stored on a rack that locks electronically. Chief Deputy Chadd Garnett said that he feels OCSO probably has the safest system one can have for storing weapons inside of vehicles.
“(Officers) have the ability to immediately unlock it and when they pull, it comes out. And after so many seconds it locks back,” Garnett said. “So our guns are always locked, even if they’re in the vehicle.” We believe this is an excellent safeguard, one other law enforcement organizations should consider.
A rose to Starkville Police Officer Kenya Bibbs for her efforts in organizing the “Hooping with First Responders” basketball event, a one-day fundraiser to support Starkville Police Department’s Night Out Against Crime in August. Teams from the SPD and Starkville Fire Department, along with teams from the community will participate in the event, which will begin at 1 p.m. at the Starkville High gym. As a former SHS basketball player, Bibbs will play on two teams — an SHS alumni team and the SPD team. While the main purpose of the event is to raise money for the Night Out campaign, it is also an opportunity for first responders to build relationships with their fellow first responders and the community. We applaud Bibbs for literally picking up the ball to get this event organized and urge community members to form their own teams and participate (players must be at least 9 years old). Just call Bibbs at 662-769-0971 to join the fun.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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