By Staff
Jason Cannon
This year's annual banquet to benefit Quinn's Ranch will be held April 19 at 6 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church and Ranch Director Shea Lowery has pulled out all the stops for her guest list.
Local residents and ranch supporters will sit elbow to elbow next month with some of the biggest names in Alabama football history.
"We've got Jeremiah and Simeon Castille, Major Ogilvie, Ricky Tucker, Lanny Norris," Lowery said. "And our guest speaker will be Bobby Humphrey."
Humphrey, a prize recruit for most of the major colleges, and selected the University of Alabama. He had a total of 3,420 yards rushing in his career with Alabama (1985-1988) a school record for 10 years.
"Getting him here was so exciting," Lowery said.
Humphrey was a first round draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 1990 and became the first rookie to rush for more than 1,000 yards.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl in his second season and in 2004, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Humphrey, who currently works for Ready Mix USA, was head coach of the Birmingham Steeldogs from 1999 to 2005 and holds the record for most wins in league history.
Humphrey brings with him a lot of star power but he's not the only one.
"We've still got a lot of people who we haven't confirmed yet, but they are some of the biggest names in Alabama football," Lowery said.
There are also going to be several "surprise guests" on hand.
"I can't say who they're going to be," she said. "You'll just have to come to the dinner to find out. What I can say is that if you're a fan of Alabama football, you'll be glad you were there."
The annual banquet is the largest fundraiser for the ranch. Last year's event brought in more than $40,000, which is put back into helping disadvantaged young boys.
"We've added a character education class that deals with topics that teach our boys how to become Godly young men," Lowery said.
Local football coaches have served as instructors for the course, including Russellville High School's Doug Goodwin.
For ticket information, please call 356-8900.