Scruggs to speak at B&G banquet

By Rita Howell
Second Chance Mississippi founder Dickie Scruggs of Oxford will be the speaker for Thursday night’s Stake and

Steak banquet fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Mississippi.
The banquet’s theme this year, “Having a stake in literacy of our youth,”ties in to Scrugg’s mission of helping adults obtain high school equivalency diplomas.
Scruggs is a former lawyer and Navy fighter pilot. He is best known as the architect of the litigation that resulted in the multi-billion dollar Tobacco Settlement, and for later going to federal prison in a judicial bribery scandal.
In prison Dickie taught GED to other inmates. That experience led him upon his release to establish Second Chance Mississippi, which is a non-profit collaborative effort with Mississippi’s Community Colleges to raise awareness and funds for GED and adult education.
Dickie is a native Mississippian and Ole Miss graduate. He and his wife Diane have been married 44 years, and moved to Oxford from the Coast in 2003. The Scruggs’s have two grown children and four grandchildren, and they are members of the First Presbyterian Church.
The dinner starts at 6 at the Batesville Civic Center and the evening will also include performances by Boys & Girls Club members.
The name of the event was changed this year to “Stake and Steak,” to reflect the ongoing request for community members to take a stake in the future of youth by supporting the projects, programs and services that the club provides, according to Latasha Rice, executive director of the organization.
Currently, from 85 to 100 youngsters are served each day in the after school program, where the participants get help with homework, and take part in enrichment activities like sports, arts and crafts, and time in the computer lab.
The Batesville Public Library is presently offering small group literacy and technology discovery sessions through its My Pen program.
First Security Bank sponsors a financial literacy program for the children.
The club hosts teen nights twice monthly, when teens can come for dinner and discussion.
The club operates a summer session, and there are year-round team sports.
Tickets for the banquet are $55 per person. Call 578-7309 or 563-1392 for tickets.