Perfect weather leads to perfect day for 2007 Cotton District Arts Festival
By Shoshana Brackett
Starkville Daily News
April 2007
By all accounts, the 2007 Cotton District Arts Festival yielded a fun day of food, music, arts, shopping and fellowship as the Starkville community gathered in record numbers. Ben Bounds, executive director of the Starkville Area Arts Council, said attendance this year clearly topped last year's attendance of 10,000. The great turnout can partly be credited to the blue skies and sunshine that graced the festival, he said. "We couldn't have gotten better weather..." Bounds said, noting that the weather was one element of the festival out of the SAAC's control.
The 35 musical acts, all from Mississippi, kept the crowd entertained from three stages while poets shared their work during the Poetry Slam, various groups provided health demonstrations and children used their creativity in the Children's Village.
Visitors, participants and volunteers agreed that the festival was a resounding success. Marcia Parrish said the "air of festivity and seeing people you know" made the festival fun and successful. "It was great," said Haley Haynes, the 2007 Starkville/ Oktibbeha County Miss Hospitality and a judge for Taste of the South. "The people were very friendly and the food was amazing." The attendance numbers were so high that many food vendors ran out of food. The artisans also had great success in selling their products, from pottery and photographs to woodwork and jewelry.
"Everybody I've talked to ... everybody has said this is the best one we've ever had," Bounds said. Bounds credited many for the success of the festival, including Mayor Dan Camp, the Starkville Board of Aldermen, the Starkville Electric Department, the Starkville community, SAAC members and committee chairs, sponsors and partners. Bounds also expressed confidence in the festival's potential for future growth. "This thing has tremendous potential and there's no limitations on how big this could be," Bounds said. "We're going to come back bigger and better next year."
Below are the winners for the various competitions held as part of the festival:
Poetry Slam
High school and younger winners
• 1st place —Katya Gilbo
• 2nd place —Michael Kim
• 3rd place —Charlie Anderton
College and older winners
• 1st place —Claire Sheperis
• 2nd place –Sarah Webb
• 3rd place —Sarah Naqvi
Taste of the South
• Best of Show — Oktoc Grill
• Best on the grill — The Veranda, ribs
• Presentation — Up Your Alley, tamale pie
• Most likely for seconds — Dave's Dark Horse Tavern pizza
• Tastes as good as it looks — Harvey's, shish kabobs
• Best on a hot day — Bop's, frozen custard
2007 Juried Art Contest Winners
Overall winners
• 1st place —Joe MacGown, "Cooperation."
• 2nd place —Frank McGuigan, "Sunshine Daydream."
• 3rd place —Dylan Karges, "Bird Form."
• Honorable mention —Robert Long, "Oil Can Teapot."
• Honorable mention —Dylan Karges, "Posturing."
• Honorable mention — Jo Durst, "Spring's Awakening."
Purchase Prize Donors
• Eric Feng—"Summer Green" by Linda Cambre.
• Bank First, Steve Taylor, president—"Art in the Garden" by Fay Fisher.
• Thomas Shelton Jones & Associates, Architects—"Piano Man" by Frank McGuigan.
• Mayor and Mrs. Dan Camp—"3 A.M." by Linda Neislein.
• Robert Ford, Architect—"Duart Castle" by Gilbert Griffin and "Biomeditation No. 2" by Paige Ammon.
• AmSouth Bank, Sammy Slaughter, president—"Serenity" by Angel Martin.
• David and Dixie McMillen—"Bird Form" by Dylan Karges.
• Peter and Jennifer Rabideau—"Geode" by CeCelia Bowden.
• Larry and Marilyn Tabor—"Tybee Island Marshes-July" by B.J. Chatham.
Merit Award Donors
• BancorpSouth, Buddy Staggers, president—"Posturing" by Dylan Karges.
• Dr. Will Locke—"In Hiding" by Sheila Stewart.
• Alan and Jude Wood Award—"Scrap It" by Frances Scott.
• Beverly Smitherman, Cachet Designs—"Spring's Awakening" by Jo Durst.
• The J.W. Chatham Memorial Award, given by Betty Jane Chatham—"Linda's Magnolia" by CeCelia Bowden.
• The Jane M. Persian Memorial Award, given by Suzy Turner—"Evolution" by Liz Johnstone.
• The Robie Scucchi Memorial Award, given by Marilyn Thompson—"Ferdeltia" by Spence Kellum.
• The Ken Clifford Memorial Award, given by Marilyn Thompson—"Oil Can Teapot" by Robert Long.
• Frank Chiles, State Farm Insurance—"Biomeditation No. 2" by Paige Ammon.
• Judy Ivy, Park Place Salon—"In the Sun" by Stacy Andrews.
• Jim Turner Merit Award, given by Walt Newsom—"Mother Time" by Diane Lyon.
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