A rose to all of our students, teachers, staff and parents as the 2022-23 school year begins. The Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District was the first to welcome students back on July 27 as a part of its new modified school year. Noxubee County students returned on Thursday while Columbus, West Point and Lowndes County students had their first day of classes on Friday. We approach this school year with a sense of optimism. Our teachers have finally received not only long-overdue pay raises but more funds to purchase classroom expenses, something teachers often had to acquire with their own money. Pandemic precautions have also been relaxed, which makes school a little less complemented for everyone. Here’s to a great school year!
A rose to Taste Italian Kitchen for staging a fundraiser event Wednesday to help the Oktibbeha County Humane Society expand its facilities. On Wednesday, the Starkville restaurant held a “Raise to Woof” event, donating all proceeds to the OCHS, which hopes to open a new transport facility to ease crowding at its main building as the crush of new arrivals of cats and dogs continue to strain its resources. The one-day event raised $8,356 and the Bissell Pet Foundation will contribute some matching funds. It’s a great start to the building campaign. The plan calls for 20 additional kennels and a drive bay for easy access to load the animals onto the OCHS Express van. We commend the OCHS for its efforts and thank Taste owners Craig and Michele Fant and their staff for their support of this project, as well as all the diners who participated.
A rose to the Starkville Community Theatre, which announced its plans for the 2022-23 season this week. This will be SCT’s 45th season and its first full schedule in four years. Although the dates haven’t been set, SCT will stage four shows, plus a bonus production. The first show, the musical “Into the Woods” will be staged in mid-October. While we are on this subject, we’d love to see all three of the Golden Triangle’s vibrant theater groups collaborate to take their shows on the road. We could see SCT, Golden Triangle Theater and West Point Community Theater rotate productions among Starkville, Columbus and West Point to extend their combined seasons and expose more people to their performances. Regardless, to all of our area’s theater groups: “Break a leg!”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion