Summer speaker series highlights Starkville natives
July 23, 2012
Members of the Starkville community will enjoy a personal and historical treat Wednesday at the Starkville Public Library as they listen to stories from residents born and raised in Starkville.
Mayor Parker Wiseman will moderate a panel of Starkville natives which includes Maxine Eastland, Dero Ramsey, Ruby Nash Davis, Pat Lane and a surprise mystery guest.
Wiseman said he was fortunate to grow up in Starkville and be able to return later in life.
“Starkville is a place that is more dear to me than any place on earth,” Wiseman said. “It was a wonderful place to grow up, and a wonderful place to come back and start an adult life with Lindsey.”
Paige Lawes, owner of Three Generations Tea Room in Starkville, is a member of the 175th birthday celebration committee and has been a vital player in continuing the summer speaker series.
“There’s no official written history of Starkville, so stories like these help people know what came before them,” Lawes said. “I think foot prints are important to pass on to kids.”
Lawes said much has changed from the sleepy little town Starkville once was, to the booming college town it is today.
“Things have shifted and changed,” she said. “There have been great changes and if we don’t have an understanding of what happened before, we won’t know how to move forward.”
Lawes said the pairing of Mayor Wiseman and Mr. Ramsey will be a special treat for those in attendance.
“(Ramsey) is the great-great-grandson of Starkville’s first mayor, and with Mayor Wiseman there it’s very symbolic that things have moved on,” she said. “I think that’s a real edge there.”
Wiseman said the discussion promises to be an event that will be both enlightening and entertaining.
“I am honored that the organizers are allowing me to be a part of it,” he said. “(The audience) will be treated to a wide array of perspectives from people that have had many, many years of experience growing up in this community, working in this community and raising children in this community.”
“Growing up in Starkville” will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Starkville Public Library.
For more information, call 662-323-2766.
