It’s an epic moment – the batter steps up to the plate, the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, and time seems to slow as the ball glides through the air and hovers over the plate. Today, neuroscientists have discovered that for athletes, time really does slow down at moments before a critical action.

And if you’d like to control your leisure and athletic time, you’ll find a win-win situation in Winona-Montgomery County, where the outdoor and recreational activity is non-stop, and the enjoyment stretches from moment to moment, from one year into the next. Here, residents feel on top of their leisure time, and on top of their game, with attractions and options like:

Old Mountain Treetop Quest Mississippi – Zip lines and treetop obstacle courses put families and fun lovers of all ages on top of the world in a wonderland adventure that draws visitors from all over the region for all kinds of excitement, for everything from K-12 school field trips to team building corporate events.

Winona Recreational Park – A top destination for Dizzy Dean and other traveling baseball leagues, this well-designed and -equipped sports facility is ready for action year-round, with five lighted baseball fields, two tennis courts, and an inviting playground area. In a city boasting a 10-mile walking track, there are many winning ways to play in Winona-Montgomery County.

Grenada Lake – A more than 90,000-acre water and recreational paradise, Grenada Lake, just from 28 miles from Winona, offers an array of outdoor fun that ranges from boating, fishing, swimming, and skiing to hiking, hunting, and bird watching to golfing, picnicking, and camping.

And remember, the Winner’s Circle location of Winona-Montgomery County also puts exciting intercollegiate and professional sports action close to home in attractions that include two NCAA Division I powerhouse teams – the MSU Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels – not to mention the pro excitement of Memphis Grizzlies basketball, the Memphis RiverKings, hockey, and the Mississippi Braves in Jackson.

All ages, all seasons, recreation is win-win in Winona-Montgomery County.

MSU – A powerhouse in NCAA Division I athletics and a high-powered research university with a Carnegie R2 ‘higher research” designation, MSU has long been known as a leader in engineering and agriculture, and is today comprised of nearly a dozen colleges, including the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Architecture and Design.

University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”) – Both a sea-grant and space-grant institution, Ole Miss is a Carnegie-designated R1 “highest research” university encompassing over a dozen degree-granting divisions including the School of Law and the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Health Sciences, and Pharmacy.

Millsaps College – Named one of the 40 “Colleges that Change Lives,” this historic private college is known for its academic rigor, rated highest in the tri-state region in the U.S. News rankings and cited as a “best buy” by the Fiske Guide to Colleges for, among other assets, an “interdisciplinary approach to world culture.”

Holmes Community College – Whether the track is academic or technical, HCC provides a convenient and high-quality solution for students seeking to succeed, with two-year associate degree programs that provide seamless transition to a four-year university or immediate career, as well as certificate programs and occupational skills training.

University of Mississippi School of Medicine/Medical Center – Founded in 1903 on the university’s Oxford campus, the Medical School moved into its new home in the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in 1955, less than a decade before UMMC became the site of the world’s first heart transplant into a human in 1963. Today, the Medical School remains at the forefront, training students in a four-year M.D. program as well as a seven-year M.D./Ph.D. program, while looking forward to the 21st century with the goal of training 1,000 new doctors by 2025.

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E. H. Sumners Endowed Scholarship Fund – for students in Montgomery County and surrounding areas. Read more here.

When you think of life in Winona-Montgomery County, you might start out thinking small, like the attractively small average student-teacher ratio of 15:1 in our schools, or average housing costs just 45% of the U.S. average. But then again, numbers like those also let you think big when it comes to life in Winona-Montgomery County. Bigger houses and bigger dreams for your children.

And those big dreams include a pathway to a no-cost college education paved by the Sumner Grant, which provides funds for qualifying students for the education of a lifetime, for a lifetime, at one of five Mississippi institutions of higher education: Mississippi State University, University of Mississippi (or, as it is more commonly known, “Ole Miss”), Holmes Community College, Millsaps College, and the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson.

If you like to play, the sky really is the limit here, starting at Old Mountain TreeTop Quest Mississippi, where zip lines and treetop obstacle courses draw fun lovers of all ages. Meanwhile, the play is well grounded and year-round at the Winona Recreational Center, a leading venue for baseball tournaments, tennis, and play. And when it comes to football, we are the winning choice – specifically, the 2A North Half State High School Champs in 2017.

The rhythm of life has always been special here, but that’s no surprise in an area immersed in blues history and legend, boasting the childhood home of blues great B.B. King and the birthplace of “Pops” Staples of the legendary Staples Singers. Today, we’re home to the annual Grassroots Blues Festival, and we’re a popular destination on the Mississippi Blues Trail with three markers, including one for Lucy E. Campbell, composer, singer, and advocate for social justice.

And speaking of grassroots, our roots are strong, as are our faith and our fabric of life, in communities rich in churches of diverse denominations, with a small-town flavor that is uniquely inviting. In our historic downtown, locally owned emporiums and eateries serve up graciousness and good eating in equal quantities, and the Montgomery County Arts Council, headquartered in a repurposed historic Ford building, puts heart and soul into productions like the semi-annual folk life play “Hill Fire”, based on real stories of Southern life, in a newly-written showcase each year. We are connected to what counts here, and we stay connected to the world through vibrant media such as our locally operated radio station and newspaper.

From engaging plays to exciting playtimes, from delicious barbecue and catfish to on-trend food trucks, from great gifting to gorgeous gardening, our way of life nurtures happiness and growth. What’s more, not only do we care about each other here, we care for our residents with excellent local and immediate healthcare services available at the Tyler Holmes Memorial Hospital.

And remember, your Winner’s Circle location in Winona-Montgomery County puts you within a convenient radius of a wealth of metro amenities and resources. For world-class healthcare that includes the University of Mississippi academic medical campus in Jackson, where University Hospital offers both Level I trauma care and Level 4 neonatal intensive care. In Memphis, health care options include specialized children’s care at the renowned St. Jude’s and Methodist Le Bonheur Children’s Hospitals.

Your shopping, dining, and entertainment options also multiply, whether Memphis or Jackson, the Golden Triangle (Starkville, Columbus, and West Point) or Oxford, with its thriving musical and club scene or legendary blues and the Bologna Arts Center of Cleveland. Superb SEC and professional athletic action all year round are also part of our winning ways here in Winona-Montgomery County.