Several of those who attended Friday's TitleTown USA celebration are perfect representatives of what Parkersburg sports is all about.
Maxwell has been at South for 34 years and he has spent the last 26 as Mad Max. Although we've all seen his act hundreds of times, we never grow tired of it. No one can fire up a crowd like Maxwell. He is Parkersburg South's biggest cheerleader.
Although he's 61 years old, Maxwell was at Friday's rally, wearing his horned helmet and carrying the huge South flag which have become his trademarks.
"I do it for the spirit,'' said Maxwell, who was joined in the flag-bearing by Wilford Wolfe of Parkersburg High and Caleb Hornbeck of Parkersburg Catholic. "I like to pump things up. To create some energy and enthusiasm. For the good of Parkersburg."
Plus, McCullough does all of the laundry for the Parkersburg High football team. No taking home all the dirty, sweaty, smelly clothes to Mom. The players hand them to McCullough knowing the next day that will be back in their lockers clean and ready for another practice.
McCullough could be spending his time enjoying the finer things in life, but there's nothing more satisfying to him than seeing young men succeed.
He's become known for having athletes run the steep steps from Avery Street to Quincy Park and other unique training techniques. Like McCullough, he receives no pay. Rather, his reward is watching the youngsters grow in strength and confidence.
He runs the scoreboard for Parkersburg High football games and for many Parkersburg Catholic athletic events. But even if he wasn't performing that duty, he would still be there cheering on the local teams. Forshey is known for compiling the state football ratings with deadly accuracy long before the SSAC releases them each week. To him, it's a labor of love for he loves sports, especially sports in Parkersburg.
It's all about Larry Allen, who serves as the unofficial assistant athletics director at PHS.
Allen won the lucrative 50-50 drawing at Friday's TitleTown celebration. Naturally, he donated all the money to the three city high schools.
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