A Port Gibson elementary school teacher, town alderman, itinerant pastor, father of three and grandfather of eight, the Rev. Michael White has also served for the last 35 years as a mainstay of Claiborne County Boy Scout and Cub Scout activities.

If you go

Port Gibson Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts will honor the Rev. Michael White with a retirement banquet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. May 23 at Port Gibson City Hall, 1005 College St.

Next Saturday evening, White is set to “retire” from his role as John Wesley Memorial Boy Scout Troop 254’s scoutmaster. Scouts will celebrate his career with a banquet at Port Gibson City Hall that will double as an annual awards program for the Boy Scouts and Ashland Cub Scout Troop 493. Festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. and conclude at 7:30.

“I tell people that I’m taking off one of my hats,” said White, 58.

White became involved with the Cub Scouts in 1972, the same year he started teaching second grade in Port Gibson. Scouting provided a way for White to be involved with his students outside class, he said.

White served as an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 254 for several years under John Wesley — for whom the troop is named  — and became scoutmaster upon Wesley’s death.

White said that he’s most proud of expanding the number of “field trips” taken by his troop, which boasts a membership roll of 87 and 57 scouts “who participate in all the activities.” Troop members take part in bowling, skating and movie trips, White said, as well as more traditional camping activities at facilities such as the Warren Hood Scout Reservation in Copiah County.

White is a “unique individual,” said Principal Curtis Ross of Port Gibson’s A.W. Watson Elementary School, where White teaches second grade. “The town and the school rely on him for a lot.” 

Emma Crisler, editor of The Port Gibson Reveille, agrees. “He’s a good man who’s done a lot for the community.”

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Contact Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com