New MSCC Foundation event to benefit Goldsby Scholarship
New MSCC Foundation event to benefit Goldsby Scholarship
Wild Game Dinner & Auction March 12
ASU Mid-South Mid-South Community College Foundation’s Board of Directors has announced the Tommy Goldsby Memorial Wild Game Dinner & Auction, a fund-raising effort in memory of a Crittenden County businessman who believed in improving access to higher education, Thomas B. Goldsby, Jr.
The event will be held Saturday, March 12, at the Shop at Mark Pirani Farms, just north of Marion.
Created in 2001, the Goldsby Scholarship for concurrently-enrolled high school students allows area 11th and 12th grade high school students to receive both high school and college credit. The program has grown dramatically in recent years. Over 3,100 scholarships have been awarded and nearly 20,000 college credit hours earned by students across Crittenden County. While everyone expected the scholarship initiative to be successful, no one anticipated the overwhelming response.
“Years ago we projected that we would reach a critical mass of students,” noted Jeremy Reece, Vice-Chancellor of Students Affairs, whose department coordinates the scholarship program. “We just knew there would be a point in our region where we would max out the number of students who would be eligible for the scholarship. We were way off.”
“Our students are very fortunate to have this opportunity, and we just want to make sure that it's always available. The beauty of the Goldsby scholarship program is that it doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, or who your parents are. Everyone who meets the program qualifications receives the award. I don't want us to reach a point where we have to pick and choose who gets the scholarship.”
The Wild Game Dinner & Auction is a new event for the MSCC Foundation.
Foundation board member, G.A. “Bert” Robinson, III is chairing the event and plans for it to become an annual one to raise funds for the Goldsby Scholarship. “I am pleased to chair this event because it benefits the Thomas B. Goldsby, Jr.
Scholarship at Mid-South, a scholarship that has helped so many of our region's high school students giving them their first access to college courses at no expense to the families.
This innovative program has saved numerous families in our area millions of dollars since its inception.” “Tommy was a good friend of mine and was a shining example of philanthropy in this area. I know how much he and his family believed in access to higher education, and I know he would be proud that this event brings this scholarship to the forefront.”
The Tommy Goldsby Memorial Wild Game Dinner & Auction includes a wild and mild menu of game and fish. Overseeing the dinner is Ernie Mellor and his staff at Hog Wild Catering/A Moveable Feast from Memphis. Mellor is an award-winning chef and avid Arkansas hunter. He has been featured on the Food Network on the BBQ with Bobby Flay series; and numerous appearances on WREG-TV's News Channel 3 Outdoors. His barbecue has been featured at such area events as The Liberty Bowl, Memphis Redbirds games, Live at the Garden, the Memphis Air Show, Zoo Rendezvous and the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Additionally, Mellor's Hog Wild barbecue team is a three time runner-up in the Shoulder Division at Memphis
in May’s World Championship.
The event will also feature live and silent auctions featuring one-of-a-kind hunting and fishing trips including two Buck Paradise Outfitters Black Bear hunting trips in Canada valued at over $7000. Other items include notable Arkansas art, a fishing trip with Bill Dance, and a trip to Kentucky Bourbon country. Caryl Sorrells and Kim Felker are chairing the silent auction committee and Llana Smith is chairing the live auction committee.
“We will have something for everyone at auction,” noted Franklin Fogleman, chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors. “Just in time for planting season, many of our agricultural products businesses have stepped up with donations to the auction. This should be a great opportunity for farmers to pick up some needed items while helping this great scholarship.”
“Mr. Goldsby's sphere of influence across this region is so broad. From real estate to agriculture and our natural resources including hunting, he made such an impact on this area. But his greatest impact on lives across this county was with the Goldsby Scholarship that makes college accessible to our students.”
Duck Commander sponsors for the event currently include Barton Power Sports, Farm Credit Mid-South, Fidelity National Bank, Fogleman Farms, Greenway Equipment and Monsanto. Tackle Box sponsors include Arkansas Greyhound Kennel Association, A.B. Smith, Bert Robinson, Big Earl Farms, Bill and Becky Deupree, Flash Market and Green-Point AG.
Tickets to the March 12th event are available now.
Ticket prices are: $100 each or $175 for two (open seating). Anyone interested in reserved seating can purchase a table of 8 for $1,000. Reserved tables also include access to the exclusive bourbon bar at the event. To purchase tickets, visit the foundation's web site www.asumidsouth. edu/aboutfoundation/ wild-game-dinner/, or call the foundation office at
(870)733-6722.
By Diane Hampton
