Category: News

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s Alumni Association and Foundation’s expanded Alumni Recognition Program held during Homecoming celebrations on October 28, 2023, honored nine alumni including Laurel’s Jim Rasberry as the Outstanding Alumni of the Year.

“I have never felt so honored and so appreciated. The team here has been incredible we’re all appreciative of this award,” said Rasberry.

Jones College President, Dr. Jesse Smith shared before an audience of several hundred alumni and friends during the Homecoming Luncheon and Awards Presentation that this award was bestowed upon alumni of Jones College, recognizing the accomplishments and service of former students who have exhibited exceptional service and brought honor to the College.

“One of the qualities that we admire most about Jim is that he sees the true caliber of who we are, what we are, and our community, and how special we really are. He has gone on to be an advocate for revitalizing small-town America and if you look at what’s happened to our community that infectiousness is happening all across small towns in America. We are so proud of what you’re doing, what you have done, and what you continue to do,” said Smith.

Rasberry played golf in the National Junior College Championships in Chautauqua, New York, which was his first trip to New York and outside of Mississippi, while attending Jones College from 2001 until 2003.

“It was the first time I’d ever seen it, and the only time I had seen Niagara Falls. Traveling as part of the Jones Golf team and getting to see more than just what’s going on right here in South Mississippi was a great experience because of what Jones offered and being able to be a part of an organization. It was fun. I finished 19th in the country which wasn’t too bad,” said Rasberry.

Getting to know everyone on campus and building upon the friendships he began then, was one of the biggest surprises and life-changing experiences for the founder of Rasberry Financial Services. JC’s business division chair and accounting teacher, Rick Bedwell was one of the many people Rasberry met who influenced his outlook on life.

“What was great about that accounting class was learning the value of a great attitude because Rick Bedwell has an incredible attitude to this day. Every time he walked into the classroom with a smile on his face and a positive attitude, made me feel like you know what, I can conquer this. I may not feel great about what I’m getting ready to do, but I’m going to make it happen. So, getting that attitude from Rick Bedwell really set the tone for me and I really appreciate it,” shared Rasberry.

After graduating from JC, Rasberry earned a degree in business administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. He made his mark in the financial world when he founded Raspberry Financial Services in 2001 and established a premier firm in the Southeast. He has since been named a “Leader in Finance” by the Mississippi Business Journal and he has served as a financial advisor for the National Football League Players Association advisor program. Additionally, he is a partner in a historic real estate development firm and partner in the Laurel Mercantile Co. and Scotsman Manufacturing Co., in addition to serving on the board for numerous economic development related organizations over the last decade. His wife Mallorie and he have two daughters, Lucy and Lottie and have called downtown Laurel their home since 2009.  

Other Jones College alumni honored were recipients of the “Rising Stars,” Award, Lewis S. Bateman of Laurel and current Starkville resident, Mason Irby of Meridian and current Madison resident, Alise Mathews of Laurel, and Jermarcus Ross of Laurel. Three Jones College alumni, Dr. Leander Bridges II of Laurel, Ashely Dean of Clara, and current Lebanon, Tennessee resident, and Richton native and current Petal Resident, Austin Smith, each received the “Achievement and Excellence Award,” and Dr. Dewey Garner of Raleigh, and current Oxford resident, received the “Legacy Award.” All the honored alumni were recognized with a medallion during half-time of the football game before recognizing the Homecoming Court.

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s Alumni Association and Foundation’s expanded Alumni recognition program during Homecoming celebrations on October 28, 2023, honored “Rising Stars,” Lewis S. Bateman of Laurel and current Starkville resident, Mason Irby of Meridian and current Madison resident, Alise Mathews of Laurel, and Jermarcus Ross of Laurel. Three Jones College alumni, Dr. Leander Bridges II of Laurel, Ashely Dean of Clara, and current Lebanon, Tennessee resident, and Richton native and current Petal Resident, Austin Smith, each received the “Achievement and Excellence Award.” Jim Rasberry of Laurel was honored as “Outstanding Alumni of the Year,” and Dr. Dewey Garner of Raleigh, and current Oxford resident, received the “Legacy Award.”

“We are so happy you are with us at Jones College,” Dr. Jesse Smith, President of Jones College said, greeting hundreds of alumni at the Homecoming Luncheon and Awards Ceremony. “We represent the past, present, and future. It is such a pleasure to have all of our honored alumni back on campus as we gather to celebrate your accomplishments and the lasting impact you have left on your communities. You are the embodiment of our school’s legacy, and we are proud to call you our own, as part of the JC family.”

The Legacy Award spotlights an alumnus of Jones College who has illustrated over the years continued support and has made consistent contributions to honor the College, like Dr. Dewey Garner. The retired pharmacist and pharmacy professor at the University of Mississippi and the University of Houston, graduated from JCJC in 1960, taking 18 hours every quarter. At the end of his freshman year, he said he was still undecided on a major until he won the Chemistry Award.

“I’ve figured all this is general and it will transfer…and I said well, I got this chemistry award so I must have some talent here,” Garner quipped. “But I don’t want to be working with test tubes and beakers for the rest of my life. I read pharmacy was a very people-oriented profession, but I’ve never been in a pharmacy in my life other than to sit at the fountain before the movie in Raleigh. I wound up coming to Ole Miss because it’s the oldest pharmacy school in the state. I had only been on this campus one time in my life to see a football game.”

Upon graduation from Ole Miss, Dr. Garner practiced pharmacy for 2 ½ years in New Albany, when the Dean of the Pharmacy School convinced him to return for graduate school in 1966. He joined the faculty at the University of Houston after graduation in 1970 for a year, before joining the faculty at the University of Mississippi. Garner retired in 2009, as professor emeritus of pharmacy administration and research professor emeritus in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences after serving 38 years on the faculty with 14 of those years as the chair of the department of pharmacy administration.

He served the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, the oldest and largest professional pharmacy fraternity in the world, in nearly every national office and as a member of almost every national committee. He wrote a book in 1993 on the fraternity’s history. The fraternity recognized him for his extraordinary service to the pharmacy profession with the A. Richard Bliss Grand Council Citation of Appreciation in 2009. Professor Garner served as faculty adviser to the Beta Rho Chapter of Kappa Psi at Ole Miss, and the student chapter of the National Association of Community Pharmacists.

The School of Pharmacy selected him as “Alumnus of the Year for 2009-2010, and the Mississippi Pharmacists Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2009. He served on the Mississippi Medicaid Commission’s Drug Advisory Committee from 1971 to 1985 and was one of three pharmacists appointed to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s State’s Pharmaceutical Transition Commission.

Of all his awards and honors over his lifetime, Garner shared, the Legacy Award from Jones College is the most treasured.

“Those lifetime awards are for different constituencies, but this one is a little overwhelming because when it said Legacy from Jones College, it goes back further than any of those others. I mean, it was 64years ago that I entered JCJC as a freshman,” said Garner, who met his wife Barbara of 60 years during his sophomore year at JCJC, thanks to his cousin.  The couple has two children, two grandchildren, and one, great-grandchild.

All the honored alumni were recognized with a medallion during half-time of the football game before recognizing the Homecoming Court.

ELLISVILLE – Hundreds of Jones County Junior College alumni gathered recently for Jones College’s Homecoming Luncheon which honored several alumni for various accomplishments. During that event, the Alumni Association of Phi Theta Kappa’s International Honor Society, Rho Sigma Chapter bestowed a unique award to one of its members, a 1970 JCJC graduate from Clara, Sara Smith Landrum. She was the first of the recently formed Alumni Chapter of PTK at Jones College to receive the honor of, “PTK Alumnus of the Year.”

“The activities and projects I participated in while in PTK broadened my knowledge of working with others of academic excellence,” said Landrum. “When current PTK Advisor at Jones College, Mark Brown expressed his desire to contact former members and to learn about the early days of the Rho Sigma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, I knew that I could help him, thanks to information that I had noted in my 1968-69 and 1969-70 yearbooks, The Lair.

Brown described Landrum’s work as invaluable. Building the JC database is just one of the many reasons she earned the first honor bestowed to an alumnus of the recently formed Alumni chapter of PTK at Jones College.

“She has been integral in helping us contact past members from that time. The Phi Theta Kappa International Office maintains a database going decades into the past but much of the information is outdated. Most of the PTK members before 2000, do not have email addresses. Ms. Landrum has been instrumental in providing contact information for numerous past members and helped us develop our database at JC.” explained Brown. “Sara has continually been supportive of our efforts to develop a Jones College Phi Theta Kappa Alumni Association.”

Returning to the Ellisville campus for Homecoming recently was an eye-opening event for “Sara from Clara,” as she is affectionately known to many.

“Homecoming weekend was thrilling, walking on a completely different campus compared to my memories of 53 years ago. I’ve always considered my two years at Jones to be the happiest time of my educational career.”

The Wayne County native earned the title of Valedictorian of the Clara High School class of 1968. Living in the Strengthford Community allowed Sara to live at home and take the Jones County Junior College bus to Ellisville. She shared, “JCJC was a gift to the community. I could ride the JCJC bus that originated in Clara, just like my older brother Al Smith (1967), and my siblings, Dan Smith (1975), and Syble Smith Courtney (1979).”

While at JCJC, Sara continued to earn accolades as she actively engaged in academics and related organizations on campus. She joined the first chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society at Jones College, serving as the first secretary of PTK. Coming from a family that encouraged, promoted, and even pushed education, it’s not a surprise she thrived and earned many honors and leadership opportunities. In addition to her PTK responsibilities, Landrum also served as President of the National Student Education Association and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Mississippi Student Education Association. She was named to the “Hall of Fame” in the JCJC Yearbook for Academic Excellence. She also received the Letter “J” Award for maintaining Honor Roll and President’s Lists and she was the recipient of the Robert H. McFarland Scholarship. Landrum was also honored for having the highest average of all the female JCJC students graduating in 1970.

While serving on NSEA, Sara was inspired by the NSEA advisor and her biology teacher, Shelby Price to major in biology. She continued her education at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where she was a member of the academic honors organization, Alpha Chi. She graduated summa cum laude in 1972 and returned to Clara to teach biology and chemistry at Clara High School.

Landrum began her education as a first grader at Strengthford School before it consolidated to become Clara School in 1957. Much to her dismay, there was never a reunion until it became a “burning desire in her heart” to organize the first Strengthford School Reunion in 2004, which brought 329 people from nine states to the gathering. Landrum spearheaded the reunions which were held every year except in 2020, when Covid canceled everything.

“Having a teacher’s heart is all about helping others. I find that the Strengthford School Reunions are fulfilling to me because old friends have reunited after many years of being apart. The happiness and joy in their faces brings me great satisfaction.”

Her husband of 53 years, Albert Landrum also graduated from Clara as did their daughter, Melody. Their two grandsons are currently at Clara Elementary School. In her spare time, Sara serves as the pianist/organist, Bible School teacher, and Sunday School teacher at Clara Church of God.

Jones College will hold its annual Most Beautiful Pageant on Wednesday, November 8, at 7 p.m. in the M.B. Bush Fine Arts Auditorium. Thirty-two contestants will vie for Most Beautiful, Top 10, Top 5, Best Essay, and Most Photogenic. There will also be a People’s Choice award for the contestant with the most votes from the audience. Each vote costs $1. General admission is $8, with admission for Jones College students with proper I.D., and K-12 student admission only $2. For more information, contact Emily Sullivan at 601-477-4030.

Photo by JC student, Marlee Brewer:Top Five: The Top Five contestants recognized at the Most Beautiful Pageant held last spring are pictured left to right, Amberlyn Holifield of Leakesville, third alternate; Taylor Garretson of Leakesville, first alternate; Summer Boyd of Laurel (Most Beautiful), Halle Myrick of Petal, second alternate; and Kailee Pipkins of Richton.

ELLISVILLE – Several hundred superheroes, princesses and ghouls came out to have fun at the annual Jones College Treats in the Streets on the JC campus in Ellisville. Kids played games for treats in the booths set up by JC faculty and students as a way to give back to the community. Some children participated in the costume contests for babies through teens, with the winners of the creatively dressed kids receiving a variety of goodies and sweet prizes from the JC Office of Student Affairs.

Jones College students who dressed and impressed the judges, received prizes for their efforts. The top five winners of the Costume Contest for JC students included JC childcare employee, Christina Nixon as the cowgirl, winning the overall top prize. Jones College students from Morton, Meghan Toranno, Tristen Goss and Ghenessy Lopez who dressed as The Lorax, took third place, and from Enterprise, Lainey Parker who dressed as the Balloon Dog, won second place. Honorable Mention went to Maddie Smith of Sumrall who dressed as Barbie in a Box and Mekhiya Bates of Pascagoula who dressed as Steve Harvey.

Treats in the Streets is an annual, free, community event hosted by the Jones College with various student organizations and academic and technical divisions setting up games and offering candy gifts.