The Rotary Club of Warren met Tuesday, March 7 inside First United Methodist Church for its weekly meeting. A large crowd of Rotarians and visitors were on hand to listen to the program. The first order of business was the Rotary Club voting to use a portion of their Foundation Points to recognize LaDonna Mathur for her contributions to the Imagination Library. She will now be an honorary Rotary member and a Paul Harris Fellow. The Rotary Club of Warren is heavily involved with the Imagination Library and our proceeds from the “Happy Box” every week go to the project.
Then the club heard from Warren Junior Rotarian Karis Files and will hear from Natalie Cooper next week.
Andrew Tolbert then introduced his program of UAPB Head Football Coach Alonzo Hampton. A native of Warren, Hampton accepted the job last December to become head coach of the Golden Lions. A multi-sport star at Warren High School, Hampton played college football at ULM (formerly Northeast Louisiana University) and had stints in the NFL and NFL Europe. After his playing days he coached under Bo Hembree at Warren High School. He was also the head coach at Dumas High School before becoming a volunteer coach at UAPB in 2006, which turned into a permanent position over the next few years. Hampton then coached at Western Kentucky, South Florida, Oregon, and Florida State before coming back to ULM in 2021. The bulk of Hampton’s speech focused on his upbringing in Warren and how proud he is of his hometown. He spoke about the quality education he received at Warren High School and a number of his mentors from his time in Warren. Additionally, he stressed the importance of academics and how they come first. He plans to instill the importance of academics into his players at UAPB and spoke at length about how he plans to mold them into better men, not just football players. Coach Hampton answered a few questions and wanted to thank the Rotary Club and the community of Warren. He said he’s glad to be back close to home and wants everyone in Warren to support the Golden Lions in any way they possibly can.
Top photo: (from L to R) of Rotarian Andrew Tolbert with UAPB Head Football Coach Alonzo Hampton
