University of Alabama's oldest living quarterback to help lead Christmas parade

Four notable people will serve as grand marshals for the 46th annual West Alabama Christmas Parade, including the Crimson Tide's oldest living football quarterback.

“The grand marshals selected for the 2022 West Alabama Christmas Parade are Lyda Black, Clell Hobson Sr., Gary Minor and Dr. Samory Pruitt,” said Becky Booker, the parade's chairwoman. “While each is set apart by their own unique path, all four are a testament to the strength of service to the community and their impact in education and recreation across Tuscaloosa County is undeniable.”

Black is a retired associate dean at Shelton State Community College, while the 91-year-old Hobson quarterbacked the Tide in the 1953 Orange Bowl. Minor is the soon-to-retire executive director of the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority and Pruitt is UA's vice president of community affairs.

PARA sought nominations from the public and a selection committee comprised of area leaders chose Black, Hobson, Minor and Pruitt.

The committee based its selection on significant community contributions, lifetime achievements with lasting community impact and career accomplishments.

According to PARA, legendary UA football coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant served as the grand marshal of the first West Alabama Christmas Parade in 1976.

The holiday parade, billed by PARA as the largest of its kind in Alabama, is scheduled for Dec. 5 in downtown Tuscaloosa. The tree lighting on the steps of the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, 714 Greensboro Ave., is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. and the parade is set to start at 6:30 p.m.

This year's theme is "A Retro Christmas."

Here's a closer look at the 2022 parade grand marshals:

Lyda Black

Black is a retired associate dean of Shelton State Community College. She earned the Alabama College System’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence six times. She was the recipient of the John Todd Award for Exceptional Achievement in Teaching and was part of the team that developed and designed the current Shelton State campus.

She was named as one of the 2018 Pillars of West Alabama and has earned Northport's Citizen of the Year award. .

Black now serves on the board of directors and steering committee for the Kentuck Art Center and Festival. She was secretary for the Tuscaloosa County Bicentennial Commission and has served on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

Clell Hobson Sr.

Hobson was born in Tuscaloosa, attended local schools and earned football and baseball scholarships to UA. During the Crimson Tide’s second appearance in the Orange Bowl in 1953, he led the football team to a victory over Syracuse University. The final score of 61–6 set an NCAA record for largest margin of victory in a bowl game, which stood until 2008. The 55-points still stands as the largest margin of victory for an Alabama football team in a bowl game.

After college, Hobson pursued a professional baseball career. He then returned to the Tuscaloosa area, where he was a teacher and a football coach in Bibb County, Pickens County and Bessemer high schools.

He later served as principal at Davis-Emerson Middle School and served on the Tuscaloosa City Council for one term, from 1997-2001.

While Hobson is the Crimson Tide's oldest living quarterback, 93-year-old Marie "Tot" Fikes played quarterback as a UA student for the Alabama Bumble Bees in the 1948 Honey Bowl, an all-girls charity football game played at Denny Stadium.

Gary Minor

Minor, a Birmingham native, worked at the University of Alabama as head golf professional and Shelton State Community College as head golf coach before coming to work at PARA.

He started at PARA as a program coordinator and he worked his way through the ranks to recreation manager and superintendent of recreation before being named executive director.

He led the agency to earn the prestigious Alabama Recreation and Parks Association “Agency of the Year” award in 2015 and 2020, which is limited to once every five years. PARA is the only agency in the state to be awarded the honor back-to-back.

As PARA's executive director, he oversaw construction of four activity centers, the McDonald Hughes Community Safe Room and multiple playgrounds. He helped develop public access for Hurricane Creek Park and designed Van de Graaff Arboretum and Historic Bridge Park as a nature park. Both parks provide easy access to nature near urban areas.

Minor will officially retire from PARA on Dec. 31.

Samory T. Pruitt

Pruitt has served as vice president for community affairs since the division’s creation in 2004. He is responsible for developing and managing UA’s public outreach programs and providing campus leadership to enhance the quality of life within and beyond the campus community.

Since 1986, he has worked for UA in increasingly responsible positions in management and administration, including roles in the divisions of financial affairs and advancement, as well as in the president’s office before being named to his current position.

Pruitt chairs the Martin Luther King Jr. Realizing the Dream Initiative committee and serves on the leadership team of the annual UA United Way Campaign.

In 2008, he was appointed by the governor of Alabama to serve as Education Chair for the West Alabama Regional Action Commission, which covers six Alabama counties.

In 2016, he received the E. Roger Sayers Distinguished Service Award — given to a faculty or staff member who has gone above and beyond their normal duties and performed in an exceptional manner in order to further the mission of UA.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Christmas parade grand marshals include UA's oldest living quarterback