PRCC celebrates homecoming 2012 | News

The following is a press release from Pearl River Community College:

Pearl River Community College honored three supporters, five new members of the Sports Hall of Fame and nine young women Saturday during Homecoming 2012 on the Poplarville campus. PRCC President William Lewis presented Distinguished Service Awards to Herbert Ray Nobles of Petal and South Mississippi Electric Power Association and the Alumnus of the Year Award to state Rep. Herb Frierson of Poplarville during the Alumni Luncheon.

Lewis crowned Whitney Waits of Hattiesburg as 2012 homecoming queen during ceremonies before the PRCC Wildcats played the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves at Dobie Holden Stadium.

“Herbert Ray Nobles is one of those guys you can always count on,” Lewis said. “There are countless ways Herbert Ray Nobles has served this college.”

An alumnus who played football at PRCC before transferring to then-Mississippi Southern College, Nobles has served on the PRCC Board of Trustees since 1994. A coach, teacher and school administrator, Nobles retired in 1987 after serving as the first superintendent of Petal schools.

“I’m so grateful to this institution,” he said. “If it wasn’t for football and Pearl River, I’d be a retired pulpwood hauler.”

SMEPA has supported PRCC in numerous ways over the years, including being one of the driving forces behind the college’s utility lineman technology program.

“South Mississippi Electric Power helped us establish that program, helped set up the curriculum, provided funding for that program,” Lewis said.

The association benefits from a well-trained workforce hired from Pearl River alumni, said Chris Rhodes, generation projects manager for SMEPA.

“I really think it’s SMEPA that should be grateful to PRCC,” he said.

Frierson and numerous members of his family attended Pearl River. He coached and taught high school before being elected to the Legislature in 1991. He serves as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

“Herb has become one of the most distinguished, well-respected legislators in the state,” Lewis said.

Frierson is known for fairness and his institutional knowledge of the Legislature, he said.

“It’s always nice to be recognized,” Frierson said. “I want to thank this institution for the great job it’s done over the years.”

Earlier in the day, PRCC inducted four former athletic stars and a coach into the Sports Hall of Fame - softball player Megan Dawson of Mandeville, La.; football stars Jack Gallagher Jr. of Louisville, Ky., and Sam Piazza of Ridgeland; soccer star Drew Gallant of Summit; and PRCC basketball coach Richard Mathis.

Waits, who was elected homecoming queen by the student body, is the daughter of Renee and Billy Waits of Hattiesburg.

Her court included sophomore maid Stevany Nicole Jackson, daughter of Louise Jackson and Stevenson Jackson, both of Hattiesburg; sophomore maid Presley Stiglets, the daughter of Stacey and Tracy Stiglets of Hattiesburg and the late Gidget Necaise; freshman maid Victoria Farmer, the daughter of Kevin and Ruth Farmer of Picayune; freshman maid ZyQuona McGill, the daughter of Kittie Clayton of Columbia; freshman maid Taylor Layne Smith, the daughter of Curtis and Laura Smith of Pearl; Forrest County Center sophomore maid Laykin Cierra Posey, the daughter of Ruby and Larry Posey of Hattiesburg; Forrest County Center freshman maid Whitney Ware, the daughter of Omar and Laketta Ware of Petal; and Hancock Center maid Ashley Chasez, the daughter of Kelly Powell and Frederick Chasez Jr., both of Waveland.

2nd PHOTO: Pearl River Community College presented awards to eight people during homecoming Saturday on the Poplarville campus. They include, from left, Sports Hall of Fame inductees Megan Dawson of Mandeville, La.; Jack Gallagher Jr. of Louisville, Ky.; Drew Gallant of Summit, Richard Mathis of Hattiesburg and Sam Piazza of Ridgeland; Chris Rhodes, representing South Mississippi Power Association which received a Distinguished Service Award; Herbert Ray Nobles of Petal, also the recipient of a Distinguished Service Award; and state Rep. Herb Frierson of Poplarville, Alumnus of the Year. PRCC Public Relations photo