1995

WEEK 0 F _--l,1~\ _- (o=--- _9~:::> ___

Former

Central athlete al y

receive trophy - 38 years later! h tool.: almost ~8 years. but for– mer Ea't Central Communi ty Col f~e track team member Junmy Rea of Ridgeland fi nall y received the flN place trophy he was promised b~ Coach Clayton Blount of Decatur The "official" presentation, made C) Blount during homecoming activ– a;ie' held recently on the Decatur campus, came following Blount's remarks as he was inducted into the CoUege·s Athletic Hall of Fame.

would c;till have heen JUSt th Blount not been hued by Rea years ago to work part-ume m R busine),~, ~1id-South Auct1on Jackson. Blount said Rea kept rem1 d him about the trophy so finally year, in front of a large gathc.rin.::. one of the auctions, Blount pr~~ Rea with h1s award, almo-..t ( decades later. "I was very surprised but ot-1 ously proud to receive the trO,P _l from Coach Blount," Rea a c adding.'· having the award ah p sented at homecoming activitie dunng Coach Blount's induction the Athletic Hall of Fame "as e\ more special. He was a great coac and is still, of course, a great pe1 son." ~ow. if Blount could onl) ju• locate the other track award "inoen

Blount. who also successfull y led football and men·s and women's bas- etball teams during his 16-) ear tenure ( 1953-69) on the Ea~t Central campU:.. had promised Rea and other members of the 1958 track team "a 'TOp! ~ and dinner" for anyone win– rung fir,t place honors in the state track meet. held that year at l linds Juruor College m Raymond. "I remember feeling pretty confi– dem about making such a promise to famm) and the others since the team had not worked out a lot. I reall y lhought we did not have much of a {'bance to win anything," Blount r~-alled. But Rea. a Philadelphia native. had other ideas and went on to win the 100-)ard dash and 220-yard run. Min fact. four of the five track member<. who competed won first [pla..""e bonor!>," Blount exclaimed. "I under-e timated the abilities of outstandmg tndividuals," he added. A tanner standout athlete himself

Former East Central Community College track team member Jimmy Rea (right) of Ridgeland had to wait almost four decades but he finally received a trophy for winning first place honors in a state meet as promised by Coach Clayton Blount (left) of Decatur. Rea was among East Central athletes who won various events 1n the 1958 competition but were not presented awards due to budget restrictions. The presen– tation was made during homecoming activities held recently on the Decatur campus. (EC Photo)

Blount -;aid he was "stunned" but not surprised by the success of Rea and his teammates. "Jimmy was a halfback on the 1957 and 1958 football teams and served as captain his sophomore year," Blount said, adding, "I was blessed with many good athletes like Jimmy on all my teams." Not being able to present trophies to Rea and the others was certainly a disappointment to Blount, but funds were not available for such purchas– es.

at Philadelphia High School and the University of Mississippi where he attended on a football scholarship.

APPEAR.E0 I~ :

"We had very little money in the ~S _____ _ budget for maintaining facilities and equipment and none whatsoever for items like trophies. Obv iously )URNAL____ _

CAR THAG I~ IAN____--:

;ESHOBA DE \lOCRAT_-"-7___ E \10 . RECORD_ ____

Jimmy and the others were not aware of this and were somewhat disap- pointed when awards \\.ere not pre- sented. I did buy them the meal I

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