Former Outstanding Alumnus Cecil Weston Burford, Sr. is one of four people who will be inducted into the Northwest Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Thursday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the David M. Haraway Center on the Senatobia campus.

Burford, who passed away in 1991 at the age of 83, will be posthumously inducted. He was the first male student to enroll at the college when it opened in September, 1926. He was a member of the first Ranger football, basketball and baseball teams, where he played halfback on the football team, and in basketball was a guard and also served as team captain.

According to his son, Cecil Weston Burford, Jr., one of his great loves was baseball. He played catcher on the Ranger team. Burford’s obituary reads, "He thoroughly enjoyed sports, and loved to duck hunt. He was truly a ‘people’ person who showed compassion and concern for his fellow man."

Burford was honored in 1975 as an "Outstanding Alumnus" at Northwest during Homecoming festivities on the campus. He served as vice-president of the Northwest Alumni Association from 1979-1980.

Burford was born on June 21, 1908 in the Shuford community in Panola County. He attended the Courtland School, and completed his education at Northwest from 1926-1928. In 1932, Burford married Lillie Josephine Saunders of Como, who he had met when he was a student at Northwest. They are the grandparents of Cecil Weston Burford, III, and Christopher Holmes Burford and the great-grandparents of two. Mrs. Burford passed away in 1979.

After college, Burford began a 35-year-long association in the soft drink bottling industry. He was employed by the Coca-Cola Company in Memphis and later became manager of the Coca-Cola Bottling plant in Helena, Ark. He purchased the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company in Como in 1945.

Burford was very active in his church and in the community. He was a member of Como United Methodist Church and served on several church committees. He was a president of the Como Rotary Club, a board member of the North Mississippi Retardation Center, and a board member of the Panola County Federal Savings and Loan.

Tickets for the banquet are $20 and need to be requested by May 10. For more information or to make a reservation, contact the Office of Alumni Affairs by calling (662) 560-1105.

The No. 5 nationally ranked South Panola cheerleading squad has received notice it will be featured on as the squad of the month for May.

This article will highlight the squad members from the 2005-06 school year. The cheerleaders for the 2006-07 school year have already been selected and are busy working on their new routine.
 

The Batesville Exchange Club will host its annual Caring for Kids golf tournament Saturday at Mallard Pointe Golf Course.

The tournament will be made up of four-man scramble teams on 18 holes.

Funds raised at this tournament will go to support the Prevention of Child Abuse and the Boys and Girls Club.

One of the coordinators of the event, Bro. Robert Rawson reported that child abuse in Panola County is down

"But we want to wipe it (child abuse) out altogether," Rawson said.

Co-coordinator Buddy Gray said the Exchange Club only has two fund raisers, the Golf Tournament and the Pancake Breakfast in October.

The money for the prevention of child abuse goes to the Child Abuse Crisis Center located in Oxford. Gray said some children from Panola County have gotten help from the center. The Exchange Club has been supporting these efforts for the last 15 years, Gray said.

Exchange Club member Adam Pittman is on the Crisis Center Board in Oxford.

Another Batesville Exchange Club member, Jimmy Dickerson, is the state representative for the Exchange Club for the whole state of Mississippi.

This tournament usually brings in $6,000 to $10,000 with entry fees and sponsorships, according to Gray.

The annual pre-tournament banquet will not be held this year, but lunch will be served at the tournament. There will be cash prizes for the first three places.

The tournament starts at 8 a.m. with an air horn start and will be over around noon or 1 p.m.

There are also prizes for closest to hole and the longest drive.

Tournament fees are $65 per person or $250 for team of four.

Fees cover course, cart, food, soft drinks, chips and BBQ. To register call (662) 563-4941.

"This is a good thing to help those kids get off to a right start," Gray said.
 

Reggie Bush was expected to go to Houston as the No. 1 pick but Houston suprised them all picking a defensive end in that hallowed spot.

Houston chose Mario Williams of North Carolina State as its No. 1 draft choice.

That left Reggie Bush wide open for the New Orleans Saints as their first round pick.

Only two Mississippi team players were chosen in the draft, Tre’ Stallings, offensive linemen from Ole Miss was chosen by Kansas City in the sixth round, No. 186 overall.

Mississippi State’s decorated running back Jerious Norwood went to Atlanta in the third round, No. 79.
Some players chosen from the expanded area include Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler as the No. 11 overall pick by Denver in the first round.

Also, Memphis running back DeAngelo Wiliams went to the Carolina Panthers in the first round as the No. 27 pick overall.

Also from Memphis, kicker Steven Gostkowski went to New England in the fourth round.