Page 91 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2019

THE GREAT SOUTHERN SPORTS ASSOCIATION PARK OF THE YEAR AWARD
The City of D’Iberville has been awarded The Great Southern Sports Association’s Park of the Year award for both the
Rusty Quave Sportplex and the Bobby Eleuterius Sportplex. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department, headed by
Troy Saucier, operates and maintains the City’s parks and recreation complexes including: four soccer fields, nine baseball fields, a football field, eight tennis courts, a walking track, playgrounds/splash pad, a marina and boat launch, a river park, Fountain Pier, and two recreation/community centers.
Last year D’Iberville hosted more than 2,000 sports teams from across the region as well as numerous local teams.
The Great Southern Sports Association is a youth baseball and fastpitch organization, hosting tournaments across Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
RUSTY QUAVE
“I’ve been the mayor of D’Iberville since 1993,” Quave said. “I was elected in 1993, but back before I became mayor I did everything from working at my uncle’s Goodyear store to selling Gollott’s seafood and working in local supermarkets. I often joke that that’s how I got elected mayor — working in the grocery stores, I got to know all the housewives and went out of my way to make sure they found what they needed and got the best cuts of meat.”
All joking aside, Mayor Quave has been one of D’Iberville’s biggest supporters, helping the city grow from an initial annual budget of $1.5 million to $18 million in 2018. “You can see we’ve come a long way,” he said. “Out of 11 cities on the Gulf Coast, we have the third highest sales tax revenue, and out of 317 cities in the state we are number 17.”
Quave says he has never lost touch with the citizens of D’Iberville and that his secret to success is constantly seeking out new businesses that will improve the area for residents.
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
January 2019 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 91
D'IBERVILLE RECEIVES
MEET D'IBERVILLE'S MAYOR,