'Jolly Week' returns with youth center as a goal

Gautier, Miss. (April 30, 2007) - The excitement begins even before the Jolly McCarty Memorial Celebrity Golf Classic with several area events that are scheduled throughout the week leading up to the annual tournament on Saturday.

The first event of the week, also known as Jolly Week through a special declaration from Gov. Haley Barbour, is the 17th annual Explosion of Excellence Scholarship banquet 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College gymnasium.

Explosion of Excellence, sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Jackson County and Ocean Springs chambers of commerce, honors Jackson County high school seniors who are in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes.

The Bacot/McCarty Foundation, which sponsors the golf classic, is also a major contributor to the scholarship program.

At the ceremony, each student is recognized, and $250 book scholarships are awarded to as many students as the fund will allow. Seventeen additional $1,000 Founder's Scholarships also will be awarded by a random drawing, one for each year of the program's existence.

The Pascagoula Rotary Club also will present a scholarship to a Jackson County senior at noon at their meeting.

On Friday, the silent auction and gala reception at The Opus will begin at 6 p.m.

Items expected to be up for grabs at the auction include guitars donated from musical groups Rascal Flats and 3 Doors Down, as well as items from Mohammed Ali, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron obtained from a Biloxi sports memorabilia store.

Auction winners will be able to pay using cash, Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

The golf classic, started four years ago and held at Shell Landing Golf Club, raises money for local youth, education and arts programs regularly supported by the Bacot/McCarty Foundation.

This year, however, Todd Trenchard, executive director of the foundation, has said that the money raised will go toward building a centralized youth center, most likely in Gautier, that will bring several youth organizations operating under one roof.

The tournament, gala and silent auction are expected to raise more than $150,000 for the project.