May 11, 2006.

Athletic banquets sometimes last too long. Some say too many awards are given.

They are, though, a welcomed reward to athletes in every sport in every school in this county.

Awards from everything from best offensive lineman to best distance runner are handed out, as are different scholarships.

The most recent ceremony was Monday night when Blake Purvis, a 4.0 student at Porters Chapel Academy, earned the first Bubba Mims Memorial Scholarship.

The honor is named for PCA’s football coach and athletic director who died in 2003 at age 46. Mims’ love of athletics, athletes and Porters Chapel will carry on.

When Purvis received the award, it was a time of reflection on a life ended too soon.

At Warren Central, three scholarships in three different sports were given in the name of four special young people this county produced.

Jonathan Ettinger, the Vikings’ gritty second baseman whose jersey would be dirty seconds after stepping on the field, was awarded the Eric Smith Memorial Scholarship.

Smith, who died of brain cancer at 16 in 2002, loved Viking Baseball and made nearly every game. His reserved perch behind the backstop cheering on his team leaves indelible memories.

That same year, two Warren Central athletes were killed in a car accident on Interstate 20. Courtney Hubert had been the dominating goalie in Mississippi as a senior in high school, earning the Gatorade Mississippi Player of the Year. She went on to play a year at Mississippi State before losing her life in the wreck.

Soccer player Kelly McGrath earned the Courtney Hubert Scholarship.

Courtney’s younger sister, Erin, died in the wreck alongside her sister. Anna Miller earned the Erin Hubert Scholarship.

Years ago, WC soccer standout Dennis Mlakar died in a car accident and his scholarship is on a rotating basis from Vicksburg High to Warren Central and from boys’ team to girls. WC soccer standout Jeremy Lawrence was the recipient of this year’s award.

The awards are a lasting symbol of the impact these people have had on athletics in this community. Some starred on the playing field, others on the sidelines coaching or behind the backstop supporting. All will be remembered through their scholarship awards.

Winners of these awards will be forever linked to those outstanding individuals who have made this county’s athletic programs stronger.

We get sad thinking of these young people and the unfairness that they’re no longer with us. But we reflect on the lives they lived, even if short, and the impact they had. And thanks to generosity on many levels, these phenomenal members of our community will be remembered.