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12 The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, Mayl7, 2023
Rivers Remembered As An “Ambassador”
Larry “Gator” Williams
Family and friends
gathered at St. Paul C.M.E.
Church on May 10 to say their
final goodbyes to Larry “Ga
tor” Rivers.
Rivers, who was a
Chatham County Commis
sioner of District Two, died on
April 29 after a bout with can
cer. He was 73.
Along with members
of Rivers’ family, the Barnard
Street sanctuary was filled with
local and state elected officials,
former Beach High School
classmates and teammates,
former Harlem Globetrotter
teammates, friends, commu
nity members and many who
admired him from afar.
During his ten min
ute eulogy, Rev. Dr. Da’Henri
Thurmond, Sr described Rivers
as a faithful member. “Before
the pandemic, he and his wife
would often attend our 8am,
11am and sometimes our 3pm
services.”
Thurmond, who has
been serving as the pastor of
St. Paul since 2008, recalled an
instance before the pandemic
started where a local middle
school principal enlisted his
help in providing mentorship
for their students. Thurmond
reached out to Rivers who did
not hesitate to help. He stated
that instead of teaching the stu
dents to do fancy tricks with a
basketball, he taught them life
skills. “He told them that bas
ketball was not about putting
the ball through the basket as it
was about respecting the game,
building character and devel
oping relationships with your
teammates.”
Others who shared
their memories of Rivers
during the service were Miller
Bargeron, Van Johnson, Linda
Wilder Bryan, Edna Jackson,
Aaron Whitely, Dr. David Hall,
and Bruce Capers.
Bargeron, a longtime
friend and filmmaker, called
Rivers an ambassador and said
he wanted to bring everyone
together. “He wanted everyone
to continue his legacy to unify
not just for this or that but for
the human race.”
Johnson, who is the
mayor of Savannah, stated that
he remembers Rivers being a
guard on the basketball court
and knew that guards were
often the floor general of the
team. “He came back home
to be a floor general in Savan
nah. He came home to inspire
young people to tell them they
could do anything they wanted
to do all while spinning the ball
on his finger.”
Wilder-Bryan, who
is the Savannah District Three
alderwoman, said she had
known Rivers for over five de
cades and used adjectives as “a
force, gentile giant, stubborn,
assertive and ambassador” to
describe him. She went on to
add that he helped several Sa
vannah natives land spots on
the Globetrotters roster such as
Tyrone Brown, Kevin Sutton,
Bruce Capers and Matthew
Jackson.
Jackson represents
District 165 for the Georgia
House of Representatives. She
said that Rivers was known by
everyone and loved working
with children through the Boys
& Girls Club while Whitley,
who served along side Rivers
as a County Commissioner
stated that Rivers was a mentor
to him.
Hall is the current
president of the University of
the Virgin Islands and a former
high school teammate of Riv
ers. Hall sent a video message
said that Rivers was a natural
fit for the Globetrotters. “He
used basketball as a career but
also as a tool to mentor and
inspire youth. He was great
er than the sport he played.”
A former member of the Har
lem Globetrotters, Capers said
that Rivers wanted to bring his
blueprint for success to Savan
nah and help the young people
because everywhere he used it
before returning to Savannah it
was successful.
U .S. Representative
Buddy Carter was unable to
attend the service but the night
before he recognized Rivers on
the house floor.
Rivers was a member
of the 1967 Beach High basket
ball team that was the first in
tegrated Georgia High School
Association tournament. After
graduating from Beach in 1969
where he was a all-state player,
he attended Mobley Junior Col
lege were he earned All-Amer
ican honors and then made his
way to Missouri Western State
where he was a all conference
player.
He was a player and
coach with the Harlem Globe
trotters for 16 years. His time
with the Globetrotters took
him all around the globe but he
knew that Savannah, Georgia
would always be his home.
Rivers returned home
to Savannah and got involved
in the community, volunteering
in schools, promoting the re
building of neighborhood bas
ketball courts and opening the
non-profit youth mentorship
organization Gatorball Acade
my to teach basketball.
Rivers served as a
Chatham County Commission
er since 2000.
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Positive Athlete Names Local
Student-Athletes “Most Positive” In
Their Sports In Southeast GA Region
POSITIVE
+ATHLETE
HOW □□ vou
□ . P. E. R A T. E 1
For the ninth consec
utive year, the Positive Ath
lete organization has named
their Regional Award Winners
for the Southeast GA Region,
where Student-Athletes repre
senting 26 different boys’ and
girls’ high school sports, two
coaches, and New Hampstead
High School have been select
ed as the “Most Positive” in
their categories.
This year, over 6,000
nominations from coaches,
principals, athletic directors,
teachers, and parents were sub
mitted for the Positive Athlete
program state-wide, represent
ing over 420 public and private
high schools. Former Forest
Park High School, Universi
ty of Georgia and Pittsburgh
Steelers star, Hines Ward, and
local businessman Scott Peder
son created Positive Athlete as
a movement for more positivi
ty in youth sports. In addition
to excellence on the held, each
nominated Positive Athlete
was required to show charac
teristics such as an optimistic
attitude, teammate encourage
ment, servant leadership, heart
for others, ability to admit im
perfections, giving 100 percent
all the time, and realizing the
team as more important than
the individual.
Here is a list of the 2022-
2023 Southeast GA
Regional Award Winners
from Savannah-Chatham
CP f2A
AWARD WINNERS
Public Schools:
Angelica De Los Santos: Jen
kins High School - Girls Alter
native (Wrestling)
Ava Goto: Savannah Arts
Academy - Girls Tennis
Caleb Smith: Islands High
School - Boys Cross Country
Eric Williams: Windsor For
est H.S. - Football
Jaleel Shellman: Savannah
High School - Wrestling
Jordan Haskell: Woodville
Tompkins High School - Boys
Track & Field
Khari Manning: Groves High
School - Boys Basketball
Laniya Harris: New Hamp
stead High School - Girls
Cross Country
Zayne Murray: Beach High
School - Boys Alternative (Ri-
flery)
In addition to recog
nizing the athletes and coach
es, New Hampstead High
School in Bloomingdale was
honored as the Most Positive
High School in the region after
an impressive number of quali
ty nominations.
All of these award
winners will be recognized
on campus at their local high
schools, and now have a
chance to win a state-wide
award in their sport category.
2023 Georgia Positive Athlete
Awards will be held in early
June at the College Football
Hall of Fame in Atlanta, and
will be a night in which all
scholarship winners and state
wide award winners are recog
nized.
The Eighth Round Film On Boxer Zeke
Wilson Produced & Ready To Launch
Zeke Wilson
Same Race Produc
tions is proud to announce
that they have produced a him
about the life of boxer Zeke
Wilson. It has now been a few
years since the event occurred
and he felt compelled to tell his
story with the hope and intent
that it will inspire and empow
er people to recognize injustice
and oppression in their every
day lives.
“I feel my story is one
worth telling, it’s a story that
will resonate with people of all
backgrounds. I found myself
faced with racial discrimina
tion, like many others in their
everyday lives. I struggled and
fought against this, eventually
triumphing for justice. My sto
ry talks about the social issues
of those days, focusing particu
larly on the misuse of authority
by both white and black gov
ernment officials,” explained
Wilson.
The him itself is to be
a very inspiring one. It shows
a number of important scenes
from Wilson’s remarkable box
ing story and describes some
of the injustices he faced, like
many others in his day. It also
gives a sample of some of the
work he had to do in order to
address the issues that he faced.
The scenes in the him
are supposed to describe the is
sues that were present and what
he did in order to address them.
This is in line with the infor
mation contained in his book,
“The Eighth Round,” which
gives people practical advice
and information on how they
can address their own injus
tices. Wilson wants to demon
strate that people who have lit
tle or no education, experience
or knowledge, particularly in
terms of a legal framework, are
still able to address any issues
they may be facing.
“I was determined
and I persevered, no matter
what the odds were. I wasn’t
highly educated, I didn’t al
ways have legal representa
tion. But I was born a fighter,
and I had set myself the task of
fighting for what was right. My
family is bi-racial and I felt I
had to speak out against injus
tices on both sides.”
Those who are inter
ested in supporting the him,
who want to learn more about
The Eighth Round’s story, or
contact Zeke Wilson, can go to
www.theeighthroundstar.com.
There are also references to
his book, which is available for
purchase through The Eighth
Round website.
Further details on the
exact release date of the movie
will be made public soon. Wil
son will also be holding a press
conference on May 30th to
talk about the upcoming him.
It will be held at the Savannah
American Legion at 1108 Bull
St. which will begin at 2:00 in
the afternoon.
Wilson would like to
give thanks to a large number
of SCAD students who helped
him it, former mayor of Savan
nah Eddie DeLoach and Nick
Palumbo for being in the him,
and Buddy Carter for helping
support the him. He would also
like to give thanks to Stan Al
len for being the executive pro
ducer, Nikki Green and Alyssa
Grove for being the director
and producer on the him and
many others who helped bring
the him to life.
Zeke Wilson, CEO and Owner
of Same Race Productions
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