Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Sept. 22 ribbon-cutting ceremony officially will open Mississippi State's Welcome Center and the Cullis and Gladys Wade Clock Museum.
The public program and reception will begin at 2 p.m. at the east end of the Cullis Wade Depot. Both university facilities share the massive new building with the Barnes & Noble at Mississippi State Bookstore.
The ceremony precedes the second home football game, a 6 p.m. non-conference contest with Gardner-Webb University at adjacent Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field.
Regular operating hours for both the welcome center and museum are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, as well as two hours prior to all home football games.
The museum's 400-piece collection represents the lifelong fascination of Cullis Wade--a 1940 MSU electrical engineering graduate from Bogalusa, La.--with timepieces, especially their internal mechanisms. Dating from the early 1700s, the clocks and watches were purchased from throughout the United States and represent nearly every American manufacturer.
"While the welcome center has been operating for some time, we have chosen this day to formally recognize the service it provides," said center coordinator Jennifer Glaze.
"We also are honoring Mr. Wade and his late wife for making possible this intriguing and interesting exhibition of one of modern society's most invaluable instruments," she added.
Glaze said the center now offers group events for visitors of all ages and interests.
"In addition to customizing general campus excursions to match most any group's interest, we can help arrange individual visits to the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Cheese Store, Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, Veterans Memorial Rose Garden, and other special campus locations," she said.
For additional information on the ceremony, welcome center or clock museum, contact Glaze at 662-325-5203 or jkg52@msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.