JULY SYP events

Saturday, July 4th…The Bistro at State Theater, along with help from City Bagel, will be constructing an attempt to break the world record for the largest BBQ sandwich.  Representatives from Guinness Book of World Records will be present.  The event will begin at 5 pm on the Friday before, and the weigh-in will take place at NOON on Saturday.

Afterward, the sandwich will be cut up and sold for $8 per plate with all proceeds going to support the Starkville Police Department.  We encourage all SYP members to attend, but we are also looking for volunteers to help collect money, serve food, etc.  If you are interested in helping with this, please email me directly (gradydixon@gmail.com).

Friday, July 10th…Applications for the SYP Leadership Forum Scholarship are due.

Tuesday, July 14th…SYP July Social at Bulldog Lanes.  $10 gets you 2 hours of bowling with the highest score of the night earning a cash prize.  As usual, the beer cart will be available and Bulldog Lanes has agreed to put out some appetizers for everyone.

Saturday, July 25th…Downtown Starkville Christmas in July, hosted by the Downtown Business Association.  At this event, we will have a tent set up to advertise The Festival of Trees, which was a huge success last year (raised over $20,000 for charity).  We are looking for some people to volunteer their time to help run the tent.  Please contact  Jennifer Prather (JPrather@saffairs.msstate.edu) or Robyn Cain (rcain@starkville.org).

Finally, if you have any events or announcements that might be of interest to the group, feel free to pass them along.  We hear from a lot of SYPers that want some fun events in addition to monthly socials.  Well, if you are planning something fun and have room for more people, let us know about it.  It can be a pick-up softball game, a bike ride, an out-of-town trip, etc.  The SYP board does not have a monopoly on initiating SYP functions.

June social

Please remember to attend our June social (Tuesday, June 9).
We will be at the State Theater 5:30-7:30, and they have promised to
provide some great appetizers to go along with the beer cart.  Our event will help kick off their grand re-opening.  We will be playing SYP Family Feud just to add something fun and different to the routine, and live music will start at 7:30 with Eclipse: The Ultimate Pink Floyd Tribute.

We ask that everyone try to arrive at 5:30 so we can squeeze in plenty of Family Feud before the band starts.  See you there.

Leadership Forum Scholarship

The Starkville Young Professionals are excited to announce a
scholarship to fund one SYP member’s participation in the 2009-2010
Oktibbeha County Leadership Development Forum.  The Forum is aimed at
enhancing the abilities of emerging and experienced leaders in the
Starkville and Oktibbeha County community.  This is accomplished
through foundational leadership training along with education on
community development, economic development, and government.

The Forum costs $600 per person, which is why this scholarship has
been created.  To apply, please submit your name, occupation, contact
information, and a description (1-page limit) of why SYP should fund
your participation in the Forum.  Email your applications to Grady
Dixon (gradydixon@gmail.com) by Friday, July 10.  PDF strongly
preferred.

The SYP Board members will each score every application on a 100-point
scale according to their assessment of the applicant’s potential to
become an active, long-time leader in the community.  The following
five categories are worth 20 points each:

1. Past leadership / volunteering
2. Financial need / lack of employer support
3. Long-term plans in Starkville
4. Vision for the community
5. Miscellaneous

Applicants will then be ranked according to average score.  Board
members will be recused from the review of applications from immediate
family members.  If our top-ranked applicant is not accepted into the
Forum, we will award the scholarship to the second-ranked applicant.