By By Steve Swogetinsky/The Meridian Star
May 19, 2001
Opening Ceremonies for the 2001 State Games of Mississippi are just four weeks away, and things seem to be falling into place.
This year, the State Games will be spread over three weekends. It starts June 2 and 3 with the sailing and dressage events. The Opening Ceremony will be June 15 at Ray Stadium starting at 7:30 p.m. The Parade of Athletes kicks things off, followed by the program, fireworks and a concert. This year's musical group is U.S. of Birmingham, which will play hits from the 1980s and early 1990s.
The weekend of June 15-17 will feature the youth sports. The following weekend, June 21-24, will feature the high school baseball and basketball tournaments and the life-time sports.
The State Games board of directors announced its sponsors for 2001. They are as follows:
Founding Gold Sponsors: Rush Foundation Hospital and Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling Co.;
Gold Sponsors: The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and BellSouth/Cingular Wireless;
Silver Sponsors: AmSouth National Bank, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mississippi, CenturyTel, the city of Meridian, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors, Meridian Community College, Mississippi Power, Super Stop, Trustmark National Bank and first-time sponsor Amtrak;
Bronze Sponsors: A&B Electric, Structural Steel Services, SunCom, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Union Planters Bank and first-time sponsors Earthgrains and McDonald's Restaurant;
Torchbearer Sponsors: Ralph Morgan Logging Inc., Mississippi Valley Gas, Meridian Rotary Club, Meridian Kiwanis and Rush Medical Group.
For more information, call the State Games of Mississippi at 482-0205 or visit www.stategamesofms.org.
Steve Swogetinsky is regional editor of The Meridian Star. Call him at 693-1551, ext. 3217, or e-mail him at sswogetinsky@themeridianstar.com.