Published: May 15, 2008 08:32 pm         

Chamber banquet honors athletes, coaches

NEW RICHMOND — West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins entertained an appreciative audience Wednesday during the annual Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce banquet.

Huggins shared several anecdotes about himself. He praised Wyoming County’s long-standing tradition of outstanding athletes and coaches, including Mike D’Antoni, Shawn Finney and Greg White, among others.

Huggins has 616 wins with 222 defeats in his 26-season career. He took the WVU team to the NCAA Sweet 16 most recently.

Wyoming County East High School’s boys state AA championship team was honored by the chamber and the Wyoming County Commission, and coach Jesse Lester was presented with framed newspapers by The Register-Herald’s executive editor, Butch Antolini, featuring the school’s back-to-back state championships.

“Back-to-back championships are phenomenal,” Antolini emphasized.

“None of this would be possible without God’s blessing,” Lester said, “without my great family that allows me to travel ... my great, great coaches and staff, the great support system here at East, and the great players and great attitudes. A lot of people made this possible.”

Principal Barry Smith presented awards from the chamber to the school’s theater department, which has earned seven consecutive state theater awards and was runner-up in a national competition.

Kay King was recognized as the Mullens Female Citizen of the Year for her efforts to beautify the city.

Bob Spencer of JoeFM Radio was named the Male Citizen of the Year for his support of local activities and events.

American Medical, represented by Mike Virtuals and Lee Wooten, were honored as this year’s Business of the Year.

Dr. Sam Muscari served as master of ceremonies.

Wanda Blankenship, chamber president, briefly outlined the numerous chamber projects over the past year.

“It would be hard for us to function without all the stuff the chamber does for us,” Mayor Jon McKinney noted.