April 6, 2021

East Mississippi Community College’s annual Pine Grove Arts Festival on the Scooba campus kicks off April 13 with events scheduled through April 21. Pine Grove activities on the Golden Triangle campus will take place April 13.  

“We are really looking forward to the festival and the opportunity it provides to celebrate the visual, musical and performing arts,” EMCC art instructor and Scooba campus Pine Grove Arts Festival Chairwoman Lisa Spinks said.

Some events on the Scooba campus, including a beauty pageant, a Mighty Lion Band performance and an art exhibit, will be open to the public, while others, including events at the Golden Triangle campus, are primarily for students, faculty and staff.

Attendees are asked to wear a face mask while on campus and practice social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Here is a breakdown of events:

Scooba campus

April 13

EMCC’s annual Beauty Revue takes place in Stennis Hall beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and must be purchased in advance. Call 662.476.5443 or 662.476.5077 for tickets.

About 20 contestants from EMCC’s Scooba and Golden Triangle campuses will compete for the title of “Most Beautiful” in the event that received the 2016-17 Outstanding Pageant Award by the Mississippi Association of Pageant Judges.

In addition, the “Most Beautiful” winner and the four contestants with the next highest scores will be named the “Top 5 Beauties.”

“The pageant really helps boosts the girls’ confidence,” said Tonya Hunt, an EMCC accountant who serves as the chairperson for the event. “I have seen some of them who are timid place in the pageant and they just blossom.”

April 14

The EMCC Mighty Lion Band will perform beginning at 12:30 p.m. in Keyes T. Currie Coliseum. The public is invited to attend.

The theme for the performance titled “Coronacation” will center around the novel coronavirus. The first movement will feature the melodies of “What a Wonderful World,” The Knack’s “My Sharona”— dubbed “My Corona” — and The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close To Me.”

The second movement will open with Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and will be followed by “Happy.” The performance will end on a more serious note with Disturbed’s version of the Simon and Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence.”

The event will mark the debut of the Mighty Lion Band’s newly formed indoor marching band, comprised of about 40 members from the Color Guard and percussions, brass and woodwinds sections.

“Indoor marching bands have been going on for about 10 years around the nation but we are one of the first community colleges in Mississippi to have one,” Band Director Chris King said. “We have had a blast putting this together and the indoor marching band will probably become part of our spring lineup going forward.”

The group’s New Orleans style brass band, Southern Soul, will also perform.

April 19

An outdoors spring festival for students will take place from 3-6 p.m. between the F.R. Young Student Union and the Hawkins Building. The event will feature carnival-style games and food. The Art Department will also host a rock painting session at the festival beginning at 3 p.m. Rocks and painting supplies will be provided.

April 20

The Scooba Choral Department will present two performances of the musical “Charleston,” with the first beginning at 11 a.m. and the second at 7 p.m. Both will take place in Stennis Hall. The public is invited and there is no cost to attend.

The musical, which is a comedy, celebrates the “Roaring 20s” and is complete with gangsters, jewel thieves, flapper girls and music from that time period.

April 21

An art exhibit and reception will take place in Aust Hall from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. featuring recent works of Spinks and Brejenn Allen, a graduate of EMCC and the Chicago Institute of Art.

Spinks said the show, titled “Daze,” will include a variety of works, with much of it focused on everyday life.

“Brejenn uses really bright colors in her artwork and I will select some of my art that kind of works with hers,” Spinks said.

The exhibit will be on display weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon beginning April 12 and running through the end of May.

Golden Triangle campus

April 13

The annual Pine Grove Arts Festival for students on the Golden Triangle campus will take place beginning at 11 a.m. outside the student union.

The event kicks off with an opening ceremony that will include performances by the Golden Triangle Concert Choir and an announcement of the winning entries in “Syzygy,” EMCC’s annual magazine of creativity comprised of a compilation of student submissions.

There will be games and food, along with information booths by student organizations and groups representing various EMCC programs.

A fishing rodeo will take place beginning at noon in the pond between the student union and the Johnny W. Fisher Math and Science Building, with prizes for biggest fish and most fish. Contestants will need to bring their own fishing gear.  A sign-up sheet for the fishing rodeo is posted on the door of room 401 in the Humanities & Fine Arts building.

“This is always a fun event and we are encouraging our students to come out and enjoy the festivities,” EMCC art instructor and Golden Triangle campus Pine Grove Arts Festival Chairman Scott Baine said.