The Noxapater Attendance Center Gymnasium was the place to be this past Saturday night for fun & games and high-flying displays of amazing basketball wizardry as the Harlem Dreams entertained before a capacity crowd.
Members of the Harlem Dreams go by names like Lefty, Lil Bizzy, Road Runner, Takeoff, Springz and Pope. Lefty stated that ‘show basketball’ started in small communities, such as Noxapater. He stated, “We take pride in going into big communities and small, sharing the energy and joy.”
The Dreams performance puts one in mind of the legendary Harlem Globetrotters, whom Lefty was once a member of and two of his mentors were the famous Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal.
One might wonder how the Dreams found their way to a small-town Mississippi community like Noxapater. As it happens, Pope is originally from Starkville, MS and is none other than Jonathan Pope, the Noxapater High School boys’ basketball coach. In the past, Pope has performed regularly with the Harlem Dreams.
On Saturday night their opponents were the Noxapater All-Stars made up of a number of Noxapater Attendance Center faculty and staff and other community members, including LMSD Superintendent Randy Grierson and Louisville Mayor Will Hill.
Lefty stated that the performance was all about bringing joy and happiness to the audience and interacting with them. The performance included a game of musical chairs for the kids, and Lefty dancing with various audience members, and the awarding of door prizes. And according to Lefty, they would not leave until everyone who wanted an autograph got an autograph.
Sponsors for the event were: Bobby Pierce/American Benefit Life, Lake Tiak O’Khata, Adams Land Consulting, Inc., C. Trans, Inc., McDonald Trucking, Woodman Life, All Creatures Veterinary Services, Cooter’s Farms, Deals, Family Choice Financial, Mitch McAdory/Farm Bureau, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Renasant Bank of Louisville, Sanborn Farms, Sisson Trucking, The Citizens Bank, The Silver Goose and Woody’s of Noxapater.
