A rose to the West Point High School football team, which will play for its fifth consecutive state championship after Friday’s 29-22 semifinal win over Ridgeland. The Green Wave will take on West Jones Friday at 7 p.m. at Veterans Stadium in Jackson as West Point seeks its unprecedented 12th state title, breaking a record for state championships it currently shares with South Panola. Obviously, there’s nothing new about the Green Wave playing for state titles, but this year the quest is even more remarkable. West Point overcame an uncharacteristic struggle during the regular season, holding a 4-3 record at one point in the season and needing a win in the final regular season game just to make the playoffs. Now, the Green Wave’s winning streak has reached six. Running that streak to seven would establish the Green Wave as the most successful high school team in state history. Regardless of the outcome of the title game, the Green Wave has again provided a season to remember. Good luck!
A rose to all those who celebrated Thanksgiving by making sure less fortunate people in our community got a taste of the holiday, too. Many of the efforts to provide traditional Thanksgiving meals were organized by groups who have been doing this for years, but there were others — people such as Johnny Hampton and Dustin Nichols — who took it upon themselves, enlisting friends and family to stage their own Thanksgiving meals program. In either case, we salute the spirit of giving represented by these efforts. With Christmas approaching, we expect a similar outpouring of care for our needy and urge everyone to seek out and support these efforts.
A rose to all of us who will be making a commitment to “shop local” this Christmas holiday season. In normal circumstances, holiday sales are crucial to the success of small businesses. That’s particularly true this year given the hardships presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have long noted, when we purchase locally, it not only supports business owners and their employees, but also creates tax revenue our cities and counties need to provide critical services. We all win when we buy local. And this year more than ever, we encourage you to support our local retailers.
A rose to Bud Tumlinson, who has stepped down as director of 4-County Electric Power Association, a member-owned utility co-op that serves seven east Mississippi counties. Tumlinson’s resignation comes after 27 years of service on the co-ops board of directors, a period marked by both growth and profitability. As representative of Monroe and Clay counties, the West Point resident has shown a commitment to providing affordable electricity to the co-op’s now 40,000-plus owners/customers. The success of any member-owned utility customer relies on good judgment and vision from its board of directors, something Tumlinson demonstrated during his long tenure with 4-County. We thank Tumlinson for his service.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
