A rose to all the mothers, moms and mamas this weekend as we celebrate Mother’s Day, the most personal of our national holidays, as was intended by its founder. Ann Jarvis of West Virginia is considered the founder of the holiday, first pushing for a day to recognize mothers in 1905, the year of her mother’s death. Her relentless promotion of the holiday achieved its goal when, in 1914,  President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday. Jarvis insisted on using the singular possessive “Mother’s”  rather than “Mothers’” to emphasize the day is set aside for each family to honor its own mother rather than all mothers of the world.  We may be prone to think of Mother’s Day as a uniquely American celebration, but almost every country, province or territory in the world sets aside a day to honor mothers. Some of those celebrations predate the U.S. holiday by centuries. Truly, the role of a mother is something all peoples honor. For those who are fortunate enough count their mothers among the living, we urge you not to take that blessing for granted. For those whose moms have passed, the day should be one of reflection, memory and gratitude. To those who are moms, we simply say, “Happy Mother’s Day!”

A rose to two great events held last weekend, one a long-time favorite, the other a newcomer whose inaugural event suggests it will be here for years to come. Last weekend, Main Street Columbus, its partners and volunteers held Market Street Festival, which continues to bring thousands of visitors to downtown Columbus for two days of shopping, music and food. The event is great for vendors and downtown businesses, certainly, but it also serves as Main Street Columbus’ primary fundraiser.  Main Street director Barbara Bigelow said that when the counting is finished, this year’s event will likely break the record for funds raised. She said the crowds were the largest she has seen in 10 years with Main Street, with a record-200 vendors. Meanwhile last Saturday in Starkville, the inaugural “Starkville Derby” dachshund race brought dozens of “wiener dog” competitors from as far away as Colorado and Kansas. An enormous crowd turned out for the event, surrounding the perimeter of a makeshift race course on University Drive. Event founder Alden Thornhill, a devoted dachshund owner, created the event to support the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. The event raised more than $21,000 for the organization, drawing the support of a remarkable 52 sponsors. The Starkville Derby committee of Alden and Abby Thornhill, Chris and Abbey Franovich, Michael Fancer and Olivia Turner are to be commended for an outstanding inaugural event.

A rose to Columbus mayor Keith Gaskin and the city council for its willingness to consider more options for renovations of Propst Park. Originally, the city seemed poised to accept a $3.3 million bid to build four new ballfields on the property, even though there is little evidence that demand for more fields warrants the move. During Thursday’s work session, parks and recreation director Greg Lewis presented three options, all of which focused on enhancing current facilities, adding non-baseball/softball facilities and increasing maintenance funds to ensure the park is kept up. Although the council remained undecided on how to move forward, we are pleased that it is considering other options.

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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