STARKVILLE – For the second time in three years, the Panola County Chapter of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association and Bulldog Club have been awarded the Golden Cowbell Award.

The Alumni Association gives out only four Golden Cowbells each year to their chapters which are located all across the Southeast, Texas, New York, Illinois, Ohio, and Internationally in Korea. The award was presented on Friday, February 18 at the Annual Alumni Association Awards Banquet on the Starkville campus and was held at the Colvard Student Union.

Vice president of the Panola Dogs Judd Gentry accepted the award on behalf of the chapter. The chapter also was awarded this coveted award for the 2008 year and was awarded the National Young Alumnus of the Year in 2009.

The chapter met several criteria that are detailed at their annual leadership meeting held in conjunction with the awards banquet. The Panola Dogs give an annual scholarship to each of the three local schools, they hold annual send-off parties to local students going to Mississippi State for the first time, they hold socials three to four times per year, and they produce a quarterly e-mail newsletter.

Michael Richardson, who is the MSU Alumni Association Director of Chapter Relations and Programs, had this to say of the local chapter’s newest award, “Congratulations again to the Panola County Chapter for all that it has done to promote Mississippi State University and represent the alumni and friends in the Panola County and surrounding areas.”

Chapter president Richard Russo  also added, “I cannot say enough about the quality of our chapter officers. Judd Gentry, Dr. Lisa Newcomb, Mike Barton, Jimbo Burkhalter, Thomas Toney, and Mike Clark do an exceptional job and out work any other chapters’ officers hands down. Our membership is doing a tremendous job waving the Maroon and White banner in Panola County, but we are far from satisfied. We are going to keep working hard to expand, grow, and strive to be an even better chapter.”