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Youth Day is Saturday: Paul Bradford to be Grand Marshal
The day-long event kicks off with a parade down Front Street starting at 9 a.m. and opening ceremonies will be held on the field at 10 a.m. Games and food will be in abundance. See page 7 for more information. This year, the grand marshal will be Paul Bradford. For more than a dozen years, Bradford, who also serves as a county commissioner, has been involved in youth sports. Like a lot of people, he got involved in it through his children. "Karen and I had four boys, so we practically lived out at those ballfields," Bradford said. For the past 14 years, Bradford has coached at least one of the city's youth sports. It's something he said he truly enjoyed. But as much as the coaching, Youth Day itself was always a big event. "I love Youth Day and putting everything together for that, and the grilling and all that goes into it," he said. In addition to coaching the teams, Bradford has also broadcast a number of Thomasville High School sporting events on the radio over the past five years. "It started by me asking Jim DeWitt if he needed some help," he said. "It's been a lot of fun, and the kids love to hear their names on the radio, and we've tried to bring a little exposure to the programs; not everyone can make it to the game." All of it has been fulfilling, Bradford said. "You get emotionally involved with the kids and you try to teach them things when they're that young, and then I get to see some of them again when I'm doing the radio and see them playing at the high school level. It's good to feel you had a part in their lives." Some of those things take place off the field, like teaching the kids to give back, Bradford said. Now, he gets the satisfaction of seeing his son now coaching the kids, carrying on the tradition.
"We've spent a lot of time down there, but it was a fun time, and we met a lot of wonderful people and made some great friendships through it."
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